BookBrowse:

'Maheu's fable works beautifully, probing the relationship between creatures of the heavens and those of the underworld.' 1st Novel

From the book jacket: From the moment that he looks down on the ancient gray head of Noah, who is swinging his stone axe, the narrating crow in this unique and remarkable epic knows that these creators called Man are trouble. He senses, too, that the natural order of things is about to change.  At a time when so many of us are searching for meaning, Layne Maheu’s debut novel lingers in a masterfully rendered ancient world just long enough to ponder our fears of disaster and to watch as humanity struggles to survive, to understand, and finally to prevail.

Comment: Song of the Crow is a very difficult book to describe.  On one level it's simply the story of Noah's Ark told through the eyes of a crow named "I Am", bringing the ancient biblical story to life complete with bickering relatives and over-crowded ark, enhanced by fascinating factoids about crows. However, depending on your take on life (like Timothy) it can also be read as a meditation on man's place in the universe; think Jonathan Livingston Seagull meets The Red Tent with shades of Watership Down.

Because BookBrowse backs every recommendation with a substantial excerpt from the book itself you never have to take our word alone on any book.  In the case of Song of the Crow you can browse the prologue and first three chapters.

Layne Maheu lives with his son in Seattle, where he works as a carpenter. His short stories have appeared in the Other Voices, Northwest Review, Ascent, and others. Song of the Crow is his first novel.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in June 2006, and has been updated for the May 2007 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

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