Ice Feathers

by Elizabeth Kay

What would you do if you were thirteen, and your aunt wanted to marry you off to get rid of you? Kura decides to steal her uncle's flightless riding-bird, the vicious and unpredictable Plume, and set off to find her real parents. This is Antarctica, ten thousand years ago, when for a short time just the coastal strip is ice-free. It's a bit like prehistoric New Zealand - all the evolutionary niches have been filled by birds, and the main predator is a giant eagle. Joeli is also running away from home because he thinks he's killed his tutor-parrot, the clever and self-opinionated Kohuru. Kura and Joeli have loathed one another for years, and are appalled when they realise they must travel together. It's a dangerous world. There are killer eagles, the bounty rider hired to reclaim Plume, the sadistic chieftain The Varka... and the bitter cold... Kura's search for her parents becomes entangled with an attempt to thwart the Varka's plans, risking both her own life and those of her friends. If you enjoyed The Divide Trilogy you'll like this.

314 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2014

About the author

Elizabeth Kay is the daughter of a Polish father and an English mother. She originally went to art school, and she is also an illustrator. She has an MA in Creative Writing, and does some teaching and editing. During a varied writing career - from radio plays and short stories to poetry and novels for both adults and children - she has won a number of prizes, including the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and the Canongate Prize for short stories. Elizabeth lists as her hobbies travelling to obscure destinations and trying not to get eaten by the local wildlife.

Reviews

[Katie Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant book! Fair warning, I went into this thinking it was a children's stories about dinosaur birds but the descriptions of crime and punishment to put it lightly and the reality of living among wild animals was certainly a different tone to what I had expected.

I loved all of the characters and while some of the reveals were clearly obvious, there were some surprises. I'm just upset there isn't more to the story as I quite happily would have read a part 2 or 3.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this latest book by Elizabeth Kay. Unlike the Divide series, Ice Feathers is set in our world albeit a long time ago. The characters are just as strong and likeable (maybe more so) and the plot had me reading until I reached the end and wanted more. I want a terror-crane!

Some might find it a little preachy on the destructiveness of man (much as the Divide series showed the ills of Globalisation), but as I happen to agree with the sentiment, I think it's very well done and very thought-provoking.