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The Raincoast Saga #3
Birds of Passage
Imprisoned in the remains of an automobile from the "good times," three travelers wait through the night, held captive by a band of pyromancers. The "Fire Boss" squats beside a pyre, observing the manner in which the flames consume the human offering, the way the smoke curls into the dark sky, the arrangement of the ashes. What the fire tells him will determine the fate of the travelers. Will they be allowed to go on their way in the morning? Or will one of them - or all of them - be selected as the next offering?
BIRDS OF PASSAGE is set twenty years after the events of Morgan Nyberg's post-apocalyptic novel SINCE TOMORROW. Frost's farm, the setting of that novel, is in severe decline. If a better site for the farm is not found, the few remaining residents will soon be wiped out by the diseases ravaging the denizens of nearby Town. Frost's great-grandson, Fraser, heads into the coastal mountains of British Columbia with a few companions, hoping to find a new site for the farm. Following them is Fraser's father, Blaine, alcoholic, syphilitic, deranged, determined in his delusional way to protect his son. When Blaine appears at the settlement of the pyromancers, will he somehow rescue Fraser and his companions? Or will he turn this predicament - and the other calamities encountered on the trip north - from bad to worse?
BIRDS OF PASSAGE contains no commentary, no explanation. It is all showing, no telling. Morgan Nyberg's lucid and hypnotic prose compels the reader through scenes of danger, horror, despair, humour, deep love and unbearable personal conflict as Fraser and his companions struggle through apocalyptic landscapes natural and man made, never quite giving up hope for a better life.
BIRDS OF PASSAGE is set twenty years after the events of Morgan Nyberg's post-apocalyptic novel SINCE TOMORROW. Frost's farm, the setting of that novel, is in severe decline. If a better site for the farm is not found, the few remaining residents will soon be wiped out by the diseases ravaging the denizens of nearby Town. Frost's great-grandson, Fraser, heads into the coastal mountains of British Columbia with a few companions, hoping to find a new site for the farm. Following them is Fraser's father, Blaine, alcoholic, syphilitic, deranged, determined in his delusional way to protect his son. When Blaine appears at the settlement of the pyromancers, will he somehow rescue Fraser and his companions? Or will he turn this predicament - and the other calamities encountered on the trip north - from bad to worse?
BIRDS OF PASSAGE contains no commentary, no explanation. It is all showing, no telling. Morgan Nyberg's lucid and hypnotic prose compels the reader through scenes of danger, horror, despair, humour, deep love and unbearable personal conflict as Fraser and his companions struggle through apocalyptic landscapes natural and man made, never quite giving up hope for a better life.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2014
5 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Morgan Nyberg
17 books174 followersMorgan Nyberg was born in Ontario, Canada and grew up in farming country in southern British Columbia. After graduating from the University of British Columbia he worked as a laborer for a decade before finally settling into teaching. For most of the last 30 years he has lived abroad, teaching English as a Foreign Language in Ecuador, Portugal and the Sultanate of Oman.
His first book, The Crazy Horse Suite, a verse play, was performed on the stage in New York and was broadcast on CBC Radio. Soon after that a memoir won the CBC Literary Competition. His first venture into book-length fiction, a children's novel, Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army, won Canada's prestigious Governor General's Award. Since then he has added a further children's novel, Bad Day in Gladland; two literary novels for adults, El Dorado Shuffle and Mr. Millennium; and the post-apocalyptic Raincoast Saga, comprising The Fixer, Since Tomorrow, Birds of Passage, Medicine and Frost Oysterson. He currently lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.
His first book, The Crazy Horse Suite, a verse play, was performed on the stage in New York and was broadcast on CBC Radio. Soon after that a memoir won the CBC Literary Competition. His first venture into book-length fiction, a children's novel, Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army, won Canada's prestigious Governor General's Award. Since then he has added a further children's novel, Bad Day in Gladland; two literary novels for adults, El Dorado Shuffle and Mr. Millennium; and the post-apocalyptic Raincoast Saga, comprising The Fixer, Since Tomorrow, Birds of Passage, Medicine and Frost Oysterson. He currently lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 14, 2014
Honeysuckle and blackberries bursting from doorways and windows, and the trees, my God, the trees are everywhere, tearing apart roadways and crushing foundations. The world of concrete, steel, and glass giving away with a sigh of years as moss-clad rooftops collapse onto the furtive, desperate men who loll within. The howl of coyotes rises above the near silence, rides its furred surface, to give away once more to the whine of mosquitoes. This is the world Morgan Nyburg has envisioned for us.
Brutal and unforgiving, yet there are acts of great love and compassion. We follow Fraser, a big and strong youngster, with a sweet naivete and a lingering innocence which is thoroughly dismantled in this bildungsroman. He and his kind, several generations removed from our time, are a different breed of human; absent are many of our taboos and prejudices, but the trials of life tax the soul as always.
As Fraser goes North to find a better land for his family and friends, he is haunted by the living spectre of his father. They push through decaying cities where soul sick people clad in plastic bags beg from the ruins to a wilderness where the greatest danger is always the same species. 99 is Fraser’s constant companion, a sometimes comedic, slightly cynical foil to Fraser’s serious-faced naivete, with a penchant for using archaic idioms absorbed from the elders who remember a very different world.
And the dogs. I’ve read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, though I can’t say I’ve read them all, and not in one of them have I ever read dogs being employed the way Nyburg has. I’m amazed nobody has thought this up first, but as Nyburg has so aptly demonstrated, dogs are essential in this kind of future. They are companions, guardians, and accomplices in survival.
The shifting nature of publishing has allowed excellent novelists such as Morgan Nyberg to get their content out into the world without losing creative control, but self-publishing is not without its challenges. Authors have to work tirelessly to promote their work through social media. Birds of Passage is the kind of novel I can’t help but feel would have gotten a widespread acclaim if it were published traditionally twenty years ago or so, when post-apocalyptic fiction wasn’t really a genre in itself. Birds of Passage makes you yearn for this beautiful tomorrow, while flinching at the senseless nature of things. It is a book that I won’t easily forget.
Brutal and unforgiving, yet there are acts of great love and compassion. We follow Fraser, a big and strong youngster, with a sweet naivete and a lingering innocence which is thoroughly dismantled in this bildungsroman. He and his kind, several generations removed from our time, are a different breed of human; absent are many of our taboos and prejudices, but the trials of life tax the soul as always.
As Fraser goes North to find a better land for his family and friends, he is haunted by the living spectre of his father. They push through decaying cities where soul sick people clad in plastic bags beg from the ruins to a wilderness where the greatest danger is always the same species. 99 is Fraser’s constant companion, a sometimes comedic, slightly cynical foil to Fraser’s serious-faced naivete, with a penchant for using archaic idioms absorbed from the elders who remember a very different world.
And the dogs. I’ve read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, though I can’t say I’ve read them all, and not in one of them have I ever read dogs being employed the way Nyburg has. I’m amazed nobody has thought this up first, but as Nyburg has so aptly demonstrated, dogs are essential in this kind of future. They are companions, guardians, and accomplices in survival.
The shifting nature of publishing has allowed excellent novelists such as Morgan Nyberg to get their content out into the world without losing creative control, but self-publishing is not without its challenges. Authors have to work tirelessly to promote their work through social media. Birds of Passage is the kind of novel I can’t help but feel would have gotten a widespread acclaim if it were published traditionally twenty years ago or so, when post-apocalyptic fiction wasn’t really a genre in itself. Birds of Passage makes you yearn for this beautiful tomorrow, while flinching at the senseless nature of things. It is a book that I won’t easily forget.
June 18, 2014
Birds of Passage, the second book in The Raincoast Trilogy, is a darker, more sombre novel than the first; a harsher glimpse of a transitory journey through a decaying world. The book evokes a bittersweet melancholy, where the remnants of human civilization are more profoundly marked as a dying breed.
The book begins years after the events of the first, in a world that has devolved considerably. Frost’s Farm still exists, but the people there cling to faded hope as disease and death ravage their settlement. The characters of the first book, Noor, Daniel, Wing, have given way to the new generation, Cloud, 99, Fraser, and Fraser’s dad, Blaine. Birds of Passage is their story, full of sadness and tragedy. They have one hope, to go north and find a new place to settle, a new place for the farm.
The novel portrays its unforgiving world honestly, and convincingly, depicting a compelling vision of a ruined society struggling to endure and stay alive. It has some interesting things to say about human nature, both its savagery and nurturing aspects, and our survival instincts as a species. I may not have agreed with everything the author wove into the story, but it made for fascinating reading. The book focuses on action over reflection, external stimuli over internal, perhaps a bit too much for my liking, but still manages to weave an intriguing and captivating story. The pace slows and meanders in the middle of the book, when the characters find themselves embarking on a journey away from the farm, but not enough to be overly detrimental to the plot.
However, the book is not without its problems. I found the central characters in this book slightly less engaging than the first, perhaps due to the lack of an unifying character such as Frost in the original novel. The story is told as more of an ensemble piece, and while it does work, for me the depth of characterization was somewhat deficient at times. I found the character of Fraser especially frustrating, with the motivation for some of his actions incomplete. Without a more in-depth look at the bond between father and son, I found it hard to sympathize with Fraser’s loyalty to Blaine. This limitation is somewhat mitigated with flashback scenes near the end of the book, but it may have been a case of too little, too late.
I don’t think the book is quite as good as the first in the series, it is still a terrific novel, and one I recommend.
The book begins years after the events of the first, in a world that has devolved considerably. Frost’s Farm still exists, but the people there cling to faded hope as disease and death ravage their settlement. The characters of the first book, Noor, Daniel, Wing, have given way to the new generation, Cloud, 99, Fraser, and Fraser’s dad, Blaine. Birds of Passage is their story, full of sadness and tragedy. They have one hope, to go north and find a new place to settle, a new place for the farm.
The novel portrays its unforgiving world honestly, and convincingly, depicting a compelling vision of a ruined society struggling to endure and stay alive. It has some interesting things to say about human nature, both its savagery and nurturing aspects, and our survival instincts as a species. I may not have agreed with everything the author wove into the story, but it made for fascinating reading. The book focuses on action over reflection, external stimuli over internal, perhaps a bit too much for my liking, but still manages to weave an intriguing and captivating story. The pace slows and meanders in the middle of the book, when the characters find themselves embarking on a journey away from the farm, but not enough to be overly detrimental to the plot.
However, the book is not without its problems. I found the central characters in this book slightly less engaging than the first, perhaps due to the lack of an unifying character such as Frost in the original novel. The story is told as more of an ensemble piece, and while it does work, for me the depth of characterization was somewhat deficient at times. I found the character of Fraser especially frustrating, with the motivation for some of his actions incomplete. Without a more in-depth look at the bond between father and son, I found it hard to sympathize with Fraser’s loyalty to Blaine. This limitation is somewhat mitigated with flashback scenes near the end of the book, but it may have been a case of too little, too late.
I don’t think the book is quite as good as the first in the series, it is still a terrific novel, and one I recommend.
May 29, 2015
Just WOW!!
I loved this story. I couldn't put this book down. The characters were so real. This author painted pictures with words so vividly. I am anxiously, almost patiently waiting for book 3. Well done!!!
I loved this story. I couldn't put this book down. The characters were so real. This author painted pictures with words so vividly. I am anxiously, almost patiently waiting for book 3. Well done!!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews