Book Review | “CORVIDAE: an #anthology of corvids” [edited by] Rhonda Parrish published by #IndiePub World Weaver Press

Acquired Book By: Did you ever grow curious about a new publisher who produces science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre selections in both novel length and short stories? Did you ever decide to enquire with the publisher you’ve found to see if they were open to book blogger requests to read and review their selections!? This is the situation I found myself in as I was quite mystified by the offerings of World Weaver Press! Such a delightful discovery on my behalf, and a website full of inspiring reads across SFF!

When the publicist at the Press realised my passionate reaction on behalf of FAE (Volume One of this serial collection of anthologies) she instinctively knew I’d appreciate the next two in line! I received a complimentary copy of “CORVIDAE” direct from the publisher World Weaver Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Keen interest in the world of Speculative Fiction | side note: creatures:

I regularly attend #CreatureChat on Twitter wherein I get to be amongst Fantasy writers who appreciate writing creatures into the forefront of their stories. I, entered the chat as a reader who happens to be a writer of non-creature stories of SFF. Except for the surprise encouragement I had one fateful chat to write dragon fiction of which I am passionately seeking out to read more of by the authors who write dragons in a style and method I enjoy reading.

On occasion, I am happily surprised by the breadth of their creative voices for the Fantasy genre, including how they write the back-stories for their species (as they are not all dragons who gather!) and the layers upon which they give a depth to their world-building. I hadn’t set a time to think about it previously but I do happen to enjoy reading about fantastical creatures, something that came forefront to mind when I picked up CORVIDAE. I love little insights into ourselves as we read!

Corvidae
Subtitle: A flock of shiny stories!
by (Editor) Rhonda Parrish
Source: Direct from Publisher

Associated with life and death, disease and luck, corvids have long captured mankind’s attention, showing up in mythology as the companions or manifestations of deities, and starring in stories from Aesop to Poe and beyond.

In Corvidae birds are born of blood and pain, trickster ravens live up to their names, magpies take human form, blue jays battle evil forces, and choughs become prisoners of war. These stories will take you to the Great War, research facilities, frozen mountaintops, steam-powered worlds, remote forest homes, and deep into fairy tales. One thing is for certain, after reading this anthology, you’ll never look the same way at the corvid outside your window.

List of Stories included in this anthology:

“Introduction” by Rhonda Parrish
“A Murder of Crows” by Jane Yolen
“Whistles and Trills” by Kat Otis
“The Valravn” by Megan Fennell
“A Mischief of Seven” by Leslie Van Zwol
“Visiting Hours” by Michael S. Pack
“The Rookery of Sainte-Mère-Église” by Tim Deal
“The Cruelest Team Will Win” by Mike Allen
“What Is Owed” by C.S.E. Cooney
“Raven No More” by Adria Laycraft
“The Tell-Tale Heart of Existence” by Michael M. Rader
“Sanctuary” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
“Knife Collection, Blood Museum, Birds (Scarecrow Remix)” by Sara Puls
“Flying the Coop” by M.L.D. Curelas
“Postcards from the Abyss” by Jane Yolen
“Bazyli Conjures a Blackbird” by Mark Rapacz
“Seven for a Secret” by Megan Engelhardt
“Flight” by Angela Slatter

Genres: Anthology Collection of Short Stories and/or Essays, Cosy Horror, Fantasy Fiction, Sci-Fantasy, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-0692430217

Also by this author: FAE

Series: Rhonda Parrish’s Magical Menageries No.2

Also in this series: Scarecrow

Published by World Weaver Press

on 7th July 2015

Format: Paperback Edition

Pages: 234

Published By: World Weaver Press (@WorldWeaver_wwp)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Ebook

Genre(s): Fantasy | Horror | Speculative | Stories of the Corvidae

War Drama | Steampunk | Folklore | Ghost Story

Collection No.1 in this series is FAE | Info on Editor’s Blog | Info on Pub | my review

Collection No.3 in this series is Scarecrow | Info on Editor’s Blog | Info on Pub

Collection No. 4 in this series is SIRENS (click banner for info, scroll a bit)

Converse via: #DiverseSFF, #SFF, #scifi, #Fantasy & #anthology

+ #MagicalMenageries (the series tag!)

My Review of CORVIDAE:

{ am electing to highlight the stories within the anthology

which piqued my interest the most out of the seventeen offered inside }

Anthologies enrich my reading curiosities tenfold, CORVIDAE even moreso!

I had not given proper thought and consideration to Corvids prior to realising this anthology existed. I did a bit of research into Corvids as I wasn’t quite sure what the name was trying to tell me inside the title. It’s a word I’ve heard or read, but not one I had remembered the definition of! Imagine my surprise when I realised it’s about crows and ravens, and others like them! This gave me a bit of pause when I sat to think about how ‘many’ flocks of corvids are in my personal backyard – specifically the crows and ravens!

I have sensed the crows in particular have come at times where I needed a small hint towards something I was meant to realise myself but had yet to put finger to thought on what it might be. They tend to be quite vocal but vocalising in such a way, my family and I appear to be the only ones who take stock and notice them. Sometimes we even caw back and they respond; either in accepting our acceptance of their discourse or attempting to re-word whatever it is they are trying to convey in that moment. Crows are curious folks, but what is more unique is how they allow you to walk near them without drawing out suspicion. At least again, in regards to my family. I’ve seen others walk too close to a crow and nearly get chased off down the street!

Another reason the Corvids fascinated me back in September when I was accepting this anthology for review, is how cleverly Corvids as a whole are harbingers – they know things about life and death; they observe humanity and wrinkle out a thought about us in contrast to themselves. Why else would their eyes not their bodies follow our every move? They’re pensively aware of their surroundings but to me, they appear genuinely curious about humans – as if they are attempting to sort us out one by one.

| “Whistles and Thrills” by Kat Otis |

Kat Otis lives a peripatetic life with a pair of cats who enjoy riding in the car as long as there’s no country music involved. Her fiction has appeared in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction and Penumbra eMag.

Site | @kat_otis 

I was so captured by this war drama, so unexpectedly lovely within a collection of shorts for fantastical stories of Corvids! I was happily smitten by how Otis told her tale! She had such a strong sense for her timing of allowing her characters to give us ‘just enough’ minutes to become attached to them, that by the ending of the short itself, you nearly feel remorse for the moments you’ve missed that were not included! I was so surprised to find such an authentic sounding slice of war era drama unfolding out of the bitter cold setting of a plane crash – wherein Otis honed her skills of curating a communication between human and chough.

The Chough of her story I believe is similar to this one I found on Wikipedia. Short and spry with the capable understanding of noting whom to trust and how that trust can be used for the greater good. Otis placed us inside Morgaine’s flight from near-injury as her plane fell from the sky to a fervent choice between survival and desolation of loss. Seeing how the chough placed their faith in a woman they met in such a curiously humbling way, was quite champion of Otis to draw a bigger picture around war and what happens during war. It is so very consuming to be alongside Morgaine and the Choughs you start to align yourself with their plight whilst cheering them towards their freedom.

I would love to see this short expanded because it could definitely be written into such an inspiring novel of historical fiction keeping in step with it’s roots in SFF.

It’s one I would be blessed to read.

| “The Rookery of Sainte-Mère-Église” by Tim Deal |

Tim Deal is a writer, editor, adjunct professor, and a Bram Stoker Award nominee. His work has appeared in a number of published anthologies, magazines, newspapers, and Websites. He is also one of the Four Horsemen, the hosts of the annual Anthology Conference (AnthoCon). He holds an MFA in Fiction, an MA in Security & Safety Leadership, and is a combat veteran of the U.S. Army.

Site | @shroudmag

Similar to Whistles and Thrills, this short also felt larger than it’s small wings – there was a moment of transition between the historical ‘now’ and the ‘present’ where I felt Deal did the best at giving us such a breadth of depth to envision what his rooks were attempting to notify the world about in their quest for communication. Deal wrote rooks into a war drama scene that happens after the war, where children are exploring their surroundings and imagining what the remains of war could hold within them. It’s about childhood innocence running head-first into the realities of how the casualties of war are not identified at time of death but oft-times are found accidentally, as if waiting for a nod of compassionate condolence.

My favourite piece of this short is what happens when Birgit sees what the rooks want her to feel – to see is not enough to understand. They open her eyes through her souls ability to grasp what was left unseen and hidden until that moment where a door opens to reveal a truth ready to be set free. To see a rook kindly click over to this one via the Internet Bird Collection. Corvids like rooks have a soulful gentleness about them; their all-sensing and knowing of things, where you can tell they carry a weight on their shoulders.

This is the beauty of historical war dramas, there is so much left to be said and shared; stories root themselves to our heart as the emotion is inked out by writers who know how to write stories which pull us into their veiled worlds. More please!

| “Raven No More” by Adria Laycraft |

Adria Laycraft has stories in IGMS, the Third Flatiron Anthology Abbreviated Epics, FAE, OnSpec Magazine, Tesseracts Sixteen, James Gunn’s Ad Astra, Neo-opsis Magazine, and Hypersonic Tales, among others. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writers Workshop and a member of the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association (IFWA). Adria is also an award-nominated editor.

Site | @aklaycraft

I was quite surprised by how uniquely Laycraft relayed a story about domestic abuse and domestic violence with an underlay of fantasy, ebbing us so close to the suspense of the drama being carried out to warm us to her character’s strife in overcoming her own monster of a lover. It was quite the kismet ending, truly, as there is a strong lesson in karma folded inside this short. For such a short story, I was quite impressed by how Laycraft did not rush the ending nor did she rush the clarification her character receives by being granted a gift from the raven.

She underscored everything beautifully, giving you plenty of time to think of the harder points leading up to the conclusion, whilst enchanting us with the playfulness of the raven’s trickery; which in the end, turnt back on the raven a bit as he found his match: both in wit and intelligent humour! She keeps you guessing about how this is going to end; as it’s a bit of a hive of retrospective consequence intersecting with solemn truth and a respect for karmic retribution. So cleverly writ that you want to soak inside another of her stories to see how she will bend the next story to the will of her pen!

Any writer who can write such convicting drama within the context

of a short whilst having the breadth of a novel, is a writer

I am keenly on the watch for a next release!

| “The Tell-Tale Heart of Existence” by Michael M. Rader |

Michael M. Rader lives in Colorado with his wife and two children where he does dad things, engineers electrical things and writes spooky things.

Site | @michaelmrader

The pace of this short is felicitous and splendid; the angst of being a grad student falling to the whims of an overbearing Professor whose own intentions are not entirely untoward honourable in regards to his interference. He even used corvids as a tool to explore the personality traits of his characters, subjecting the observational data of his character to further his inquietude against his character’s nemesis. It’s a cheeky way of cross-relating science with living memory, as a way to showcase how humans can directly reflect the natural world by augmenting certain attributes of test subjects. Sometimes it’s these kinds of observations that are most telling in the end.

Murderously macabre in tempo and humour, Rader sets a stage of postmodem mayhem! His ingenious characterisations of etching in a bit of borderline insanity (if not full-on insanity, depending on your interpretation!) to the chock-full level of a nefarious plot gone sour, he has given you a curiously writ story where everything is unfolding against the grain of premeditation from the blackened heart of his character. To such an array of evolving circumstance, that sanity takes a holiday! Yet, this is what leaves you reading the short rather than glossing over it. To ferret out how far his character is willing to go to prove point over principle that only she understands being logical.

I haven’t read Poe’s classic tale, but I need not have worried.

This new tale exploits out the most telling fixture of all: how even when you push past the point of sanity, the most mocking truth is your conscience’s will to right a wrong.

| “Sanctuary” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh |

Laura VanArendonk Baugh was born at a very early age and never looked back. She overcame childhood deficiencies of having been born without teeth or developed motor skills, and by the time she matured into a recognizable adult she had become a behavior analyst, an internationally-recognized animal trainer, a costumer/cosplayer, a dark chocolate addict, and a Pushcart Prize-nominated author with a following for her folklore-based stories and speculative fiction.

Site | Blog | @Laura_VAB | Facebook

An injured crow tips off the story to envelope a young rehabitionist whose work with wildlife was shattered by a car accident that destablised an old injury from childhood. It’s the kind of injury affecting the brain and the ability to discern reality from fiction. She’s committed to helping the injured whom are brought to her facility get back to a normal life, whether they can be released or not. Yet, when she finds this female crow in the company of a quiet man whose presence is alarming to her at first and whose dedication wins over her heart lateron; sets her course to reconsider what she is effectively able to do with a crippled budget.

I hadn’t recognised the connection until I was in the thick of this short; this was the interconnecting story between ‘Corvidae & Scarecrow’! I was so caught up inside the suspense of what was happening, that my mind put a pause on what I was sensory aware of without needing the writer to tell me what was evolving into view. This has such a strong center of heart – from the moment the crow enters into care to the hours the crow become rehabbed; you feel the emotional tug of why this particular crow is important to the characters. It’s twofold in scope, whilst giving you a sombering truth of what is most important at time of death.

I am on pins awaiting the conclusion in ‘Scarecrow’ as the set-up inside ‘Corvidae’, truly gave me an ache of emotions, connecting what was truly happening vs what was perceived.

| “Flight” by Angela Slatter |

Angela Slatter, specialising in dark fantasy and horror, is the author of The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Black-Winged Angels, as well as Midnight and Moonshine and The Female Factory (both co-authored with Lisa L. Hannett). Vigil, the first book of her Verity Fassbinder urban fantasy trilogy will be published by Jo Fletcher Books in 2016, and her Tor.com novella Of Sorrow and Such with be out in October 2015. She has five Aurealis Awards, has been a World Fantasy Award finalist, and is the first Australian to win a British Fantasy Award. Angela holds an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and was an inaugural Queensland Writers Fellow. She blogs at angelaslatter.com about shiny things that catch her eye, and lurks on Twitter @AngelaSlatter.

When I stumbled inside this short, it was a breath of fresh air – especially how delicate and innocent the opening begins on the footsteps of childhood merging into an adult world – where the fancies of a child have to be put on hold for duty and court. Young Emer held an inquisitiveness about her garnishing a flight of wonderment to soak inside her gardens and the boundaries just outside of their perimeter. It is here where the child fumbles a bit to understand the dangers of what lurks outside of knowledge; where darkness can grow outside of the light. A short reprieve of freedom cast her into a bit of a discourse of shifting from girl to creature.

There is eloquence in this short – a comforting tide of life lessons and shocking realisations that only could be shared between a Mum, a daughter and an Aunt. Although the story is quite hugged closer to Horror than Fantasy; what charmed me about the story is how effortless it felt to read; to drink in this world of where magic and decrees of earnest belief shadowed the story where your own true heart had to decide what it was willing to accept and to transform evermore away from the past.

A short whose writer clearly knows her craft, as to give out such a heart-warming and tender coming-of age story right in the midst of a battle of wills which sent a young girl on a quest towards freedom.

Closing Thoughts:

I must admit, even though I did not offer a comment on a few of the shorts, as I was betwixt knowing how I felt about them when they concluded; must say, a few of them left me pensive. Of those, “The Valravn” by Megan Fennell gave me a clever idea for a Halloween costume because even though this particular story yielded such a sinister conclusion (it’s truly over the top for evilness at least for me), I would rather modify the character’s outfit a bit to be a happier sort of person. It’s the combination of the feathers and the darkness of the coat, combined with the formidable appearance of a raven without looking like a raven but having raven-like qualities in style of dress. This spoke to me far more than the story, because it was slightly more horrific than I normally read but not more intense than a murderous thriller if you think on it a bit further. Just not my full cuppa, that one.

Sorrow and hospitals walk in hand together, which is why “Visiting Hours” by Michael S. Pack truly tucked a stitching into my heartstrings. It’s not for the faint of heart because of how gruelingly realistic the ending is — it’s a story of solemn truths and heartache reality. It’s about letting go and realising a fate that you cannot stop nor fully understand. It’s not fused on hope but on acceptance of what cannot be changed but has to happen for a reason we don’t want to fathom being true.

| “A Murder of Crows (a poem)” by Jane Yolen |

Jane Yolen, often called “the Hans Christian Andersen of America”(Newsweek) is the author of well over 350 books, including OWL MOON, THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC, and HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT. Her books and stories have won an assortment of awards—two Nebulas, a World Fantasy Award, a Caldecott, the Golden Kite Award, three Mythopoeic awards, two Christopher Medals, a nomination for the National Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award, among many others. She has been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry. She is also the winner (for body of work) of the World Fantasy Assn. Lifetime Achievement Award, Science Fiction Poetry Association Grand Master Award, Catholic Library’s Regina Medal, Kerlan Medal from the University of Minnesota, the du Grummond Medal from Un. of Southern Missisippi, the Smith College Alumnae Medal, and New England Pubic Radio Arts and Humanities Award . Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates.

Site | Blog

I began reading CORVIDAE with this poem, but elected to share my thoughts as an ‘after anthological reading’ due to have keenly insightful the poem became over the course of the shorts. It’s as if this poem harkened itself knowledge of how when you entreaty to spend time with crows (and other corvids, if we were to be humbling true) you endeavour to listen and pay close attention to what is being spoken to you; as if you were the only intended listener of those words.

Picking up this anthology I was full of anticipation and a rapt sense of entering into a realm partially hidden from sight as our reality would share a world hugged so close to our own. There is so much to see, to feel and to sense – we simply have to remember to keep ourselves open to what is possible. Crows and corvids alike have messages to share with us but only those who can hear them without fright will truly understand what they are imparting to us.

This book review is courtesy of: World Weaver Press

REMINDER:

Follow the threads of past #SFFLunch convos by seeking out #SFFLunch!

Showcases of World Weaver Press Titles:

FAE (review)

Disclosing my keen interest in CORVIDAE + Scarecrow (#BookishNotBookish No.6)

UPCOMING: SCARECROW on Saturday, 28th November! Originally I was so keenly bent on reading these anthologies in October as I love curling into suspense stories around Halloween, but to be honest, there is a heap of sci-fi intermixed with the fantastical and horrific I altered my plans! Thus, I’m posting my reviews during the rest of my Sci Fi November loveliness! Til soon, dear hearts!

Considering next:

The first two FAR ORBIT anthologies as a third one is on the way,

as there are open submissions happening right now (click for more info):

Before my conversation with their publicist Ms Wagner, I hadn’t realised I wanted to carry forward reading Ms Parrish’s anthologies before yielding to trying my hand at their Space Opera anthologies. I haven’t read Space Opera is such a long time, I felt it might be good to return to it – as I am focusing on this style of story during Sci Fi November and the Sci Fi Experience which runs December 2015 through January 2016.

And, then during #SFFLunch today, I was cheerfully encouraged to give this new release a whirl: The Falling of the Moon by A.E. Decker! (see info on World Weaver Press Blog) Wherein I had a nice convo about how I had hoped Wednesday Addams would find her true love as I grew up watching the tv series and motion pictures. This reference was extending out of this tweet they shared with me, as the quotation referencing Wednesday is embedded in the transcript of the convo.

Thx #SFFLunch + @WorldWeaver_wwp + @lauraharvey1535 cluing me into #newbook for #SFF readers who <3 #WednesdayAddams https://t.co/bUIq5wzmMH

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) October 30, 2015

You’ll have to stay tuned to see what I am going to be reading next, as to add to my hard choice of a next read, is the alluring new anthology (also pitched to me by Ms Wagner!) entitled: Frozen Fairy Tales of which launched me into a swirl of delight simply by reading the synopsis of the stories! It was nearly as if those stories were picked for every reader like me who loves a bit of Winter in their lives whether they live in a humid volcanic zone of insanity OR if they live in the heart of blizzard country!

Reader Interactive Question:

What do you love the most about folklore and mythology becoming re-envisioned through the heart of taking corvids and humans on a journey through adversity and life experiences where both worlds interconnect with each other in a harmony that encompasses you heart and soul?

Creatures in SFF previously explored on Jorie Loves A Story:

Silver Tongue by AshleyRose Sullivan (review)

Moonflower by EDC Johnson (review)

The Haunting of Springett Hall by E.B. Wheeler (review)

{SOURCES: Author Biographies, Rhonda Parrish biography, Book Synopsis and Book Cover of “Corvidae”, and all promo badges/banners for Corvidae along with banners for SIRENS and FAR ORBIT were provided by World Weaver Press and used with permission. Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter. Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards Badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2015.

I’m a social reader | I tweet as I read:

Reading heap of lovelies for #spooktaskically keen #SFF: Corvidae & Scarecrow, also #TheBarter! It's #CosyHorror but so eerie! #SFFLunch :)

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) October 30, 2015

Jorie follows #SFFLunch by soaking back inside #CORVIDAE #anthology of #SFF by @WorldWeaver_wwp #HalloweenReads rock my world w/ #CosyHorror

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) October 30, 2015

.@kat_otis so caught inside Whistles & Trills via #CORVIDAE I nearly wasn't ready for the story to exit the pages! Clever #wardrama in #SFF!

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) October 30, 2015

Read a succession of tweets from Halloween about CORVIDAE & Scarecrow.

am seriously enjoying #amreading CORVIDAE by @WorldWeaver_wwp! a bit more #horror than FAE evenso, it's the quality of the stories I <3 most

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) November 1, 2015

.@shroudmag 2nd war drama knitted inside #shortstory of #CORVIDAE another favourite of this #SFF #anthology; rooks have a soulful gentleness

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) November 1, 2015

Comments via Twitter:

.@WorldWeaver_wwp This #SFF #anthology is #unputdownable & lovely! Lushly imagined shorts https://t.co/ue3g07Vg3i! pic.twitter.com/8NWvPxxrPR

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) November 22, 2015

.@Laura_VAB on pins awaiting conclusion in ‘Scarecrow’ as set-up inside ‘Corvidae’ truly gave me an ache of emotions https://t.co/ue3g07Vg3i

— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) November 23, 2015

.@aklaycraft ‘She underscored everything beautifully, giving you plenty of time to think of the harder points’ #SFF https://t.co/ue3g07Vg3i — Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) November 23, 2015

.@kat_otis Such a beautiful war drama captured w/in scope of #fantasy (#CORVIDAE); would <3 to devour a fuller story https://t.co/ue3g07Vg3i

— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) November 23, 2015