Seventh Raven

by Peter Dickinson

In a bungled attempt to kidnap an ambassador's son, four revolutionaries make hostages of a hundred children rehearsing an opera.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Crime

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Peter Dickinson was an English author and poet widely respected for his children's fiction, detective novels, and imaginative speculative writing. Raised partly in southern Africa before continuing his education in England, he developed an early fascination with adventure stories and classic literature, influences that later shaped his narrative style. He attended Eton College and later studied at King's College, Cambridge, before beginning a long association with the magazine Punch, where he worked for many years as assistant editor, reviewer, and resident poet. Dickinson eventually left journalism to pursue writing full time, publishing works for both adult and younger audiences. His crime novels featuring detective James Pibble earned critical praise, while his fiction for children established him as one of Britain's most distinguished authors in the field. Over the course of his career he produced nearly fifty books that combined historical imagination, fantasy, and thoughtful reflections on human behavior. He achieved rare distinction by winning the Carnegie Medal twice, for Tulku and City of Gold, recognition that placed him among the most celebrated children's writers in Britain. Dickinson also received numerous other literary honors and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In addition to fiction, he wrote poetry and essays, and his work continued to influence generations of readers and writers in the field of children's literature.

Reviews

[Gretchen Rubin]

I loved this book. Dickinson never disappoints. Very different from his others, but I'm noticing a trend: he often involves characters who are ambassadors or diplomats of some kind. Interesting.

[Debbie Gascoyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so outstanding. Dickinson may have received (deservedly) the Carnegie medal for Tulku, which is also wonderful, but this is so thoughtful and still absolutely relevant. It's interesting re-reading it as an adult with so much having happened in the world since it was published. Dickinson's portrait of well-meaning but somewhat fuzzy-brained liberal middle-class intellectuals encountering, effectively, terrorists, but terrorists on the "correct" side, is absolutely spot-on. It could be interestingly compared with Ian McEwan's Saturday, which addresses some of the same ideas.

[Nefeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this book, I didn't expect it to be so good. To tell you truth, once I read the first 20 pages I thought about leaving it unread and starting another book. However, I am really grateful for the fact that I decided to read the next 10 pages and then choose whether to finish the book or not. This must be one of the best decisions I have ever made, because the outcome was amazing (may this be a lesson for you that you should never judge a book from the 20 first pages)

So, let me summarize this book briefly for you: Doll, the main character (17 years old) is in an old church with her mum, rehearsing for a Christmas opera with a bunch of children. However, one of the children, is an Ambassador's son and his role in the Christmas opera is the seventh raven (I know, spoilers, but I can't help myself!). 4 (I think) people attempt to kidnap this child but they fail and are stuck in the church for 3 days with all the children and teachers (and yes, they have guns). I think that this is enough for you to understand what this book is about :)

Now, the reason why I found this book so amazing is because the plot had so many twists (classic Nefeli, loves the plot twists). I also found that Doll wasn't so annoying as I thought that she was going to be. Despite the fact that the whole book was focused on 3 days, the days that all the characters where in the church, the book was not boring at all, and I actually finished in two days time (and yes, I am proud about that!).

Anyway, even though you probably haven't heard about this book (it is not that popular), I totally recommend it to you, especially if you are experiencing a reading slump, because this action-packed adventure is so so good, that it will surely amaze you.

[Sean]

Such an enjoyably strange book.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas opera of Elijah, Jezebel and Ahab becomes a hostage drama when Juan (‘One’) O’Grady of San Matteo joins the cast. A nice touch that the seventh is One.