Walter Wangerin

Walter Wangerin's profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free.

The Book of the Dun Cow

Kelsey Lynn

I read this book as a child and lost my copy years ago. 
 One day while exploring my local bookshop, I happened upon a similar copy to the one I had and had to buy it. This is one of those books that stayed with me since childhood, I could barely remember it, but I had mentioned it enough that when I brought it home, my partner was convinced I already owned it.
 I decided to give it another read, to partially justify its purchase, and to see if it holds up in my head as an adult, as it did to me as a child. It absolutely did.
 
 The general plot is enough to intrigue anyone it's described to. The end of times, set in a world of animals on a "farm" ruled over by a beautiful rooster named Chaunticleer, the "antichrist" like the character being a Cockatrice born on another farm that tries to take over the world. 
 
 The book is that, and so much more. We follow Chanticleer, and his roost, as they slowly learn of the darkness spreading in their land. The cockatrice has been born, a child of Wyrm who dwells within the earth and is the embodiment of all that is evil. This book doesn't pull its punches, it's firmly rooted in its animal world, but it's easy to forget. There are pain and heartbreak and real fear. There is murder and rape and war. The description of a hen bashing her body on a rock in her nest to crush the eggs inside her after being raped by cockatrice is something that will stay with me forever, it's so visceral. I cared for all the characters and cried multiple times. 

 But in all this darkness the authors deliver something else to us in startling realism, hope. Amongst all the pain and death, Chaunticleer is a constant golden (literally) beacon of hope, and you cling to it, hoping the animals will see through. The author expertly crafts this world and its inhabitants. Bringing it to life, and making the stakes even higher because of it. They also aren't afraid of making situations feel hopeless. Few books have succeeded in utilizing the animal vehicle outside of standard kids lit (even there some do way better than others, Redwall, Poppy). Animal Farm and Watership down are two of them, and both succeed because the author never loses their connection to the animal world, and never pulls their punches. 
 
 I highly recommend this to anyone to read, a beautiful book, that will fill its reader with emotions and a book that truly utilizes it's characters well. I'm so glad I reread it, as it feels more important now than it did to me as a child. I believe this book will stick with me even more now that I've read it again, and in another 15 years, maybe I'll pick it up again to rekindle that pain and hope it instilled in me at 15, and at 29.

The Book of the Dun Cow

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