Which creature would you like to be?

Written by: Alastair Chisholm @alastair_ch #IAmRaven

Cover Illustrated by: Karitas Gunnarsdottir #KaritasGunnarsdottir and #RayTierney

Map illustrated by: Jennifer Eckwall @WhoIsJensine

Published by: Nosy Crow @NosyCrow

Published on: 10th April 2025

Price: £7.99

First line:

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Age: 9+

Thanks to Toppsta for the review copy.

What’s it all about? On a mysterious other world away from Earth, humans have tried to settle. After a conflict (this will be explained in the book). Humans now move around within huge mechanical beasts in particular zoned areas. If they stray into another animal’s zone, fights can occur. This is the story of how Brann, originally of construct, Raven, but now of construct, Cub, tries to find her friends (from Raven) and work out what Dragon did to them. The answers lie in the North.

Why should I read it? Initially, I found this book very confusing to read (this is book 2 in the series: sequel to I Am Wolf) and I couldn’t work out what was going on: were the animals human or the humans animals? However, after about 5 chapters, I was hooked. The pace of the story is really great. I read it within a few days, as I couldn’t put it down. The story goes from one emergency to the next with a few flashbacks in between to Brann’s time on Raven. The best thing about the story, though are, and I guess this should always be the case, the characters. Brann’s slow realisation of the power and misunderstanding of fear are a brilliant lesson to all readers. She learns: don’t mask things, accept them, and then move forward with them. Mastering fear is not blocking it out, but learning to cope with it. As I always say, any story with a map at the front is going to be a good story. The world is neatly described and you definitely start to get a feel for it. I wonder: does the map come first or second in creation? Good map = good story has always been my rule, apart from in one case.