All The Birds In the Sky

"Yes – Anders plays with the trope very explicitly. There are two children: one can (frustratingly infrequently!) speak to animals. One is a scientific genius. The two are on course to represent fantasy and sci fi archetypes, and – according to a vision seen by a morose and largely inept assassin – eventually destroy the world. This book is so much fun. From the moment Patricia, our witch, talks to a bird who introduces himself as Dirrpidirrpiwheepalong, you know you are in the hands of a capable entertainer. It’s pacy, it’s unpredictable, it’s inventive. And it is very playful about the tropes of nature and magic going hand in hand – very intelligently playful, questioning this separation of ‘nature’ as its own other realm. Yes! The next fantasy winner was in 2022, for the Nebula."