The Faithless Hawk

"I don’t generally recommend books that aren’t the first in a series; it’s hard to tell readers to pick up somewhere in the middle of the story. But I’m making an exception for The Faithless Hawk – go pick up the first volume, The Merciful Crow, and dive face-first into Margaret Owen’s alien – yet sadly recognizable – world, ruled by a bird-themed caste system in which the lowly Crows are the only people immune to a terrible plague that ravages the land. Fie, future chieftain of her band of Crows, is one of my favorite recent fantasy discoveries; straight-talking, swift-acting, fierce and confident in her skills. Watch her extract payment from upper-caste Phoenixes for carting their plague dead away, and you’ll be willing to follow her anywhere."