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| Cover design by Lauren Panepinto |
Lila Bowen (Delilah S Dawson)
Orbit, 18 October 2018
PB, 371pp
I bought my copy of this book from Waterstones in Oxford.
With Treason of Hawks, Bowen brings to a close a truly remarkable sequence of books. Starting with Wake of Vultures and continuing with Conspiracy of Ravens and Malice of Crows (links to my reviews of the earlier books), she has documented the story of, first, the girl Nettie Lonesome, an orphan living in virtual slavery on a ranch presided over by the drunken man she calls Pap and then of the man Rhett Walker, who is also The Shadow, avenger of wrongs and at times, a great bird. As the series has progressed we've seen Rhett grow and develop, take on new challenges and, most of all, fight - both to overcome the monsters that threaten him and his friends, and to own and transcend his own past
Most of all, he has struggled with his relationship with Sam, finally finding love and a sort of happiness - which was thrown into terrible jeopardy in Malice of Crows.
Set in the lawless wastes of Durango Territory, a sort-of version of the Wild West that would seem familiar if it wasn't crawling with vampires, Lobos, Chupacabras and even carnivorous rabbits, the books have taken Rhett on a bewildering tour of ranger outposts, rail camps, cursed towns and abandoned missions. It's a breathtaking world that Bowen creates (ably assisted by Tim Paul's glorious map), one full of wonders (some never explored in the books), terrors and riddles.
Treason of Hawks continues right where Malice of Crows left off with Sam bleeding to death and Rhett in despair. And that note of darkness continues with what is really nonstop action, Rhett seemingly at the mercy of a mysterious and implacable enemy, desperate to defend the little family that he has build up. In many ways I think this is the darkest of the books, Rhett having to confront not only the unexpected weakness of the Shadow to protect and guide him, and malice and strength of his opponent, but also his own nature.
Rhett has, though all his adventures, been fixated on the idea of manliness. He worries about what he, as a man, should do and tends to scorn women and girls (at one point in this book he more or less claims not to know about the daily things that need to be done to make the ranch work - mainly women's work). Here, that attitude is challenged, as is the alarmingly high casualty rate among those who follow him. Monsters they may be, invulnerable to most dangers, but immortal they;re not - and Rhett begins to lose people.
The result is that - not for the first time - he has to question everything: who he is, what he has been, his heritage as a Native person, his ability to defend those he loves. As everything seems to be going wrong, what can he hold onto?
I have loved this series and adored Rhett as a character, and it is painful to see what Bowen puts him though here. Authors truly are monsters! But what happens also feels right. Durango is a brutal crucible for a man - or for anyone - to be formed in, rife with injustice, with persecution of both the Native population and the monsters, with Rhett's beloved Durango Rangers far from being the angels of justice that he imagined. (In fact coming to terms with this fact is one of his biggest challenges). In the course of these books we've seen slavery, murder and torture and there is no tidy resolution to that - the forces behind it are too big, too strong, for resistance.
But much can be done and the book does focus on the power of love, friendship and kindness even in the face of such evils. It is in the end a quietly triumphant story, despite the losses and tears.
I'd strongly recommend this series, if you haven't read them, and if you have I'm happy to be able to report that Bowen tales the series out on a real high.
The whole thing is a fabulous achievement and I'm so glad to have read these books.
Lila Bowen kindly answered some questions when the first two books were published in 2016. You can read the interview here.
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