The Plague

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

The second volume in the Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles trilogy,
The Plague features Kyp, one of The Mob’s heroes. Narrated by a new
character, Kata, who is ostensibly sharing a portion of Crow history,
the three-part tale begins with the Family’s being decimated by a
fatal sickness and Kym, another of The Mob’s major characters, being
captured by humans. The story’s surprising villain is Kuper, someone
the trilogy’s readers believed had bravely perished during the
Family’s snowstorm battle with the cats.

A vengeful Kuper, thinking the Family had abandoned him and jealous of
Kyp’s relationship with Kym, tries to kill Kyp. Badly wounded, Kyp
escapes and, after recovering, flies eastward in search of Kym. By the
time Kyp reaches the east coast, he has acquired five companions, three
of whom possess talents that will ultimately contribute to Kym’s being
successfully rescued. After Kyp’s group encounters a band of more than
100 leaderless crows, mostly yearling plague survivors, Kuper re-enters
the story as the leader of the Collection, an enormous flock that seeks
to absorb all smaller bands it encounters. After escaping Kuper and the
Collection, Kyp, his five companions, and the yearling flock arrive in a
city where they eventually locate Kym and other birds who are being held
in a medical research facility. Using Kata’s thieving abilities,
Kwaka’s prescient visions, and Erkala’s skills in communicating with
rats, Kyp is able to free almost five dozen birds, including Kym, during
an exciting fire-filled episode. The book’s conclusion sees Kyp
leading the flock westward to the Gathering grounds, but Martini has
foreshadowed Kyp’s likely continuing conflict with Kuper.

A good read filled with more Crow lore, The Plague frequently relies on
credibility-stretching chance happenings to advance the plot.
Recommended.