You may not look at a group of crows in quite the same way again after reading The Mob. Clem Martini has invented a whole culture and history for the Crow, in which we, as humans, are one of the enemies. Kalum, with wisdom and authority as one of the elder crows, is our guide into the world of the Crow. As official Chooser, he tells us of the events around this particular year’s Gathering, which is set to go down in the annals of the family Kinaar for the worst of reasons. A terrible winter storm mirrors the storm that rages when a group of younger birds form an illegal Mob, determined to seek revenge on ‘The Red’, a marauding cat who has killed one of the young female crows for sport.

The Mob rose like a cloud and fell like a storm. In an instant, Crows were raking the cat’s fur, pecking everywhere at once. The attack was coordinated in a way I had never witnessed before, no one bird staying close enough or long enough to get caught by the Red’s flailing claws, each beak darting in to pull and poke and stab.

Kyp, the leader of the Mob, is temporarily banished from the Gathering, forming the beginning of a rift in the flock. Weather and cats threaten the Family’s very existence, and it is only courage, faith, desperation and the assistance of a sympathetic human, that enable them – or some of them – to survive.

Martini’s Crow Chronicles trilogy, of which this is the first book, provides an unusual and interesting way of looking at some of life’s big questions where the eagerness of the young is pitted against the wisdom and experience of the old. Tension is created through vivid description and close examination of motive, feelings and belief.

Readers of 12 plus who enjoy an intellectual challenge would enjoy this book.

2008-01-04