Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Animals

OUR BRAIN by Hari Hyde – Satire, Absurdist Fiction, Adventure

Our Brain, the first in a three-volume series, is an epic fantasy adventure in a bizarre, allegorical world.

This world is ruled by Our Brain, also known as The Guv’ner, a huge pinkish mass seated in a mountain range that came about through the collective will of its people. It leaped into reality from the realm of thought. And the particular thoughts that birthed Our Brain were, in the novel’s language, to “ever grow and strengthen the righteous power of government to control our lives for the common good.”

The people that benefit from this collective thinking are the Soose. Yes, pigs, but a mutated form that, while still loving mud baths, walk on their hind legs, go to college, and carry “snappers” or what we might call personal computers. Their opposite numbers are the Nags, descended from horses, who champion individualism and want to wipe out the collective sentiments of the ruling tribe.

Four Nags hatch a plan to change the direction of Our Brain and create a world of their liking.

The hero of the book, a Soose named Hennie Honeygate, sets out to discover their plan and, to his great surprise, finds himself following them inside the fleshy mass of Our Brain. Hennie and the Nags embark on a picaresque adventure.

Be prepared to have an illustrated anatomy source at hand as Honeygate chases the villains through the neurological pathways. Portions of the brain take on personalities of their own, such as a demon named Obex, labeled here as the “fabled ruler of hell” in the mythology of the Soose. The obex, in anatomy, is a canal-like structure in the upper part of the brainstem that connects the fourth ventricle to the third.

Our Brain offers political thought, social satire, and sheer nuttiness.

This story will likely appeal to those with conservative political views. Readers will find fantasy adventure mingling with satire such as that of Orwell’s Animal Farm, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, and traces of George Will, Michael Crichton, and Terry Gilliam in these pages.

February 13, 2023
RAVENS ROOST by Maggie Bates – Children’s Nature Books, Illustrated Books, Children’s Friendship Books

Maggie Bates’s Ravens Roost is a Children’s book that explores the illustrated nighttime adventures of a woman with her friend, a small frog.

This story teaches children how to be curious about forest animals, even in the middle of a wind storm. Bates is new to writing Children’s books, and cares deeply for the natural world. Her rapport with animals likely inspired her debut tale.

Ravens Roost begins with a frog sitting on a roof, wondering where ravens go at night. The woman who lives in the house decides to help the frog follow his curiosity on an adventure. First, she climbs up a tree to watch ravens soar overhead. She admires the moon and notices the birds perching in her favorite tree. She climbs down and starts her trek along a forest path as night falls and the wind picks up. The woman tucks her frog friend into her pocket for safety. Along their journey, the frog and the woman share a special friendship.

The pair get trapped in the storm and the woman feels lost about where the ravens have gone.

Illustrations of the storm, the face of the wind, and the swirling background add depth and complexity to a pivotal part in the story. These images bring the story to life and sweep the reader up in their tale.

Ravens Roost is imaginative and observant of the world, making it a good choice for building vocabulary with a youngster.

This story’s lessons come in elegant prose. After reading of the author’s love and respect for nature at the end of the book, the parallels between the lead character and the author become apparent. Some beautiful ideas from Ravens Roost are realized by letting the wind carry us away, admiring numerous ravens on a perch, or protecting a frog from harm during a storm. Maggie Bates teaches children to be curious about animals, and the world we share with them.

Although the woman and frog are different in many ways, their ability to coexist is a valuable lesson.

In the end, if we do not stop to admire the natural beauty that surrounds us, we are overlooking unlikely friendships that may form, such as a woman with a frog. Bates reminds us that nature is a sacred space in her debut tale, and this story is paramount to us appreciating nature at any age.

July 1, 2022
BARBED A Memoir by Julie Morrison – Women’s Biographies, Memoirs, Ranching

Julie Morrison saddles up to take us for a ride through the harsh dry mountains of northern Arizona and beyond in her memoir, Barbed.

Readers visit the ranch where Julie’s parents try to keep the family legacy alive. Julie reveals a cowboy’s world where she meets walls instead of doors but never gives up.

Barbed opens with Morrison living in the rainy Seattle area with her husband. But the lure of a cowboy’s life on the range – working cattle and riding horseback – beckons them both. Julie needs salvation like this for her marriage, now distant and cold.

Reality turns their idealistic, romantic fantasies into a daily grind of working the land. Julie and her husband fight the losing battles of finding enough water and grassland for the cattle and keeping recreationalists from cutting their fence lines. And worse yet, who would have thought mud would be a problem in arid Arizona? Readers learn about the workings of a cattle ranch as Morrison tries one fix after another to save the property.

Morrison realizes that the operation hemorrhages money.

To move the budget from red to black, she must make some significant changes. But the cowboys she works with as a manager meet these changes with resistance at every step. The cowboys ride the horses until their joints are out of alignment and their feet are bruised and lame. Julie’s attempt at proper horse husbandry becomes another leak in the ranch’s finances, and she struggles between the money problems of the ranch and what she can do for these poor animals. Morrison soon reaches the breaking point.

Morrison’s exploration of self bolsters her in this harsh world. She sees the success of other ranch women and a select few men, people who support her efforts and encourage her even when she wants to drop from exhaustion and self-recrimination.

This memoir does not pussy-foot around complex issues that women experience in business or marriage.

Morrison never lets conflict stop her, though she acknowledges that depression can hold her back. Her bravery will inspire readers who might not have to stand toe-to-toe with hardened cowboys or encounter rattlesnakes during an average workday. As she works through the problems of the ranch, she also works through her own self-discovery.

She sees her father, a man she loves, as so pressured to continue the family legacy without incurring more expenses that he perpetuates problems rather than helping her solve them. Until her arrival, his deference to “the cowboy way” had gone unchallenged – as something acceptable. In addition, the similarity between the cowboys who work her family’s ranch and her husband shines too bright to ignore. Morrison pulls the cover off the lies we tell ourselves as women to remain in the security of failed relationships and not seek the path of healing and strength.

This memoir opens the book on a fascinating, nontraditional life filled with adventure and mishap.

Morrison, alone, supports her ideas and dreams of a better world for the horses she cares for – and for herself. However, the harsh life she lives and the disappointments she suffers do not break her. They move her forward toward the healing she needs.

Barbed abounds with sagacity and affirmations that ring true for readers who may never set foot on a ranch or ride a horse. This tough, savvy woman shows us how to persevere and survive in the harsh climate of a failing business and a failing marriage. She teaches us how to let go of what doesn’t work and find what does, and how to keep trying – even when all doors seem to be firmly shut. Morrison keeps on knocking.

Julie Morrison’s aptly titled memoir, Barbed, connects her myriad of encounters into one cohesive tapestry. She faces the difficulty of not backing down or taking the easy path of giving up and embraces what happens when she reaches the other side. Does she find Nirvana? Morrison finds a life worth living, and she moves forward to contentment. She saddles a new horse and rides a new path, and in the end, she finds herself.

November 17, 2021
DIGGER: SIERRA and the CASE of the CHIMERA KILLER by Robert D. Calkins – YA, Mystery/Thriller, Crime Fiction

Artfully constructed with lightning pacing, Robert D. Calkins’ Digger: Sierra and the Case of the Chimera Killer is a must read for mystery/thriller fans and for animal lovers alike, especially those who know that a dog well-trained can be much more than just a pet.

Teenager Bryce Finn and his Golden Retriever Sierra share the spotlight as the novel’s human hero and canine heroine. As a determined duo doing SAR (search and rescue), they are just about the best in their Washington state region, time and again proving Sierra’s reliability and wholehearted enthusiasm for the often grisly “game” of locating decomposing corpses.

There’s a serial killer on the loose in Kitsap County, targeting young female runaways, drug users, and prostitutes. Sheriff Elroy Patterson asks for some extra funds from the county council, above the objections of the hard-nosed conservative councilor, Garrison, who mockingly calls the supposed killer a “chimera”– an imaginary monster. The council overrides him and grants Patterson the money, and the press latches onto Garrison’s weird term – so the hunt for the Chimera Killer is on.

Tracking down the serial murderer becomes the new shared obsession of Bryce and Sierra, although one rescuer, Alan Granger, seems curiously determined to make the pair look bad – but with no success. Whenever Bryce tells his pet to “find Digger” she’s all too willing to please, knowing that a ball game will be her reward.

But Bryce has another obsession: he’s finally getting a chance to woo Katie, his first foray into young love. Katie is reciprocating by taking an active role in SAR, a romantic interest in Bryce, and developing a fondness for his amazing canine. Meanwhile, more bodies are being discovered, which as Bryce notes, is both a victory for law enforcement and the SAR team, but a sad day for the victim and family.

Author Robert D. Calkins, himself a SAR dog handler in the very county where this multi-layered plot takes place, has set out to educate as well as entertain. He offers fascinating details of the canine/human relationship, even to the tone of voice (high-pitched and childlike) that is best used to reward one’s dog for success in locating the sought-after person or object. Anyone interested in effective dog training will find this book a manual of best practice, as numerous tips are cleverly embedded in dramatic scenarios that will keep you turning the pages.

This book will interest YA readers through adults with its teen characters out-doing many of the grown-up pros in solving crimes. More seasoned readers will also find themselves charmed and intrigued by the subtleties of a mystery well-conceived and cinematic.

Calkins’ earlier works centering around this subject are suitable for the middle-grade readers and includes Digger, Sierra Becomes a Search Dog, and Sierra the Search Dog Finds Fred. The author’s fourth book is Bryce Bumps His Head, a chapter book for beginning readers. Although Digger: Sierra and the Chimera Killer could be considered a flagship novel, the author tells us he is working on a sequel. Now that’s something to be excited about!

May 30, 2017