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Black Feathers

Black Feathers

Dark Avian Tales - An Anthology

by Ellen Datlow
Paperback
Publication Date: 13/03/2018

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There's definitely a dark side to the avian. Birds of prey sometimes kill other birds (the shrike), destroy other birds' eggs (blue jays), and even have been known to kill small animals (the kea sometimes eats live lambs). And who isn't disgusted by birds that eat the dead--vultures awaiting their next meal as the life blood flows from the dying. One of our greatest fears is of being eaten by vultures before we're quite dead.

Is it any wonder that with so many interpretations of the avian, that the contributors herein are eager to be transformed or influenced by them? Included in Black Feathers are those obsessed by birds of one type or another. Do they want to become birds or just take on some of the "power" of birds? The presence or absence of birds portends the future. A grieving widow takes comfort in her majestic winged neighbors, who enable her to cope with a predatory relative. An isolated society of women relies on a bird to tell their fortunes. A silent young girl and her pet bird might be the only hope a detective has of tracking down a serial killer in a tourist town. A chatty parrot makes illegal deals with the dying. A troubled man lives in isolation with only one friend for company--a jackdaw.

In each of these fictions, you will encounter the dark resonance between the human and avian. You see in yourself the savagery of a predator, the shrewd stalking of a hunter, and you are lured by birds that speak human language, that make beautiful music, that cypher numbers, and seem to have a moral center. You wade into this feathered nightmare, and brave the horror of death, trading your safety and sanity for that which we all seek--the promise of flight.
ISBN:
9781681776583
9781681776583
Category:
Fiction
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
13-03-2018
Language:
English
Publisher:
Pegasusbooks
Country of origin:
United States
Dimensions (mm):
228.6x152.4x236.22mm
Weight:
0.46kg
Ellen Datlow

ELLEN DATLOW has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for over thirty-five years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION.

In addition, she has edited more than a hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies. She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor.

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