Author Talk: Ray Nayler on PALACES OF THE CROW

A conversation and book signing with award-winning author Ray Nayler (The Mountain in the Sea)

Join Bards Alley as we welcome D.C.-based speculative fiction author Ray Nayler for a discussion about his new novel Palaces of the Crow!

Nayler won the Locus Award for his debut novel The Mountain in the Sea and the Hugo Award for his novella The Tusks of Extinction. With Palace of the Crows, he shifts from science-fiction to alternate history, following four disparate teenagers as they fight to survive a winter in the woods of World War II-era Lithuania. They find unlikely allies in each other and a flock of hyper-intelligent crows.

The conversation will be moderated by Brent Cassell, the leader of Bards Alley's science-fiction/fantasy book club, and a book signing will follow. In addition to "Palaces of the Crow," paperback copies of Nayler's backlist will be available for purchase. To reserve a specific title for pick-up, call the store at (571) 459-2653.

Free registration is required here: eventbrite.com/e/author-event-ray-nayler-palaces-of-the-crow-tickets-1987077378931?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

ABOUT THE BOOK

Neriya, a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a biologist, has befriended a local flock of crows in her shtetl. Czeslaw is an underage Polish soldier who deserts the Red Army and runs into the freezing Lithuanian woods. Kezia is a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivization. As the German blitzkrieg crashes across the border in June 1941, all three are caught up in the onslaught. Along with Innokentiy, an abandoned boy who cannot speak, they are driven into the primeval forest, where they survive by forming an unbreakable bond with one another-and with Neriya's intelligent crows, who for years have been bringing her intricate gifts suggesting they are no ordinary corvids.

As the war goes on, the crows warn the children of danger and help them hide from the human threats of the forest-not only the Germans but also Russian deserters, Polish partisans, fascist Lithuanian police, and the other bandits and outcasts wandering the benighted landscape.

From a Ray Bradbury Prize and Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist, and Hugo and Locus Award winner, Palaces of the Crow blends history and haunting speculative wonder into a story of survival, loyalty and the fragile beauty of life in the darkest of times.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Nayler is the author of the Locus Award-winning novel The Mountain in the Sea and the Hugo Award-winning novella The Tusks of Extinction. Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. He has served as international advisor to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and as visiting scholar at the George Washington University's Institute for International Science and Technology Policy. He lives in Washington, DC.