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The Bird of the River

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Eliss is a teenage girl living an itinerant life with her drug-addicted mother and young brother. Her mother, formerly a successful diver, now has trouble keeping a job because her drug habit has damaged her lungs, but she's given a chance on the Bird of the River, a huge raft-like boat that travels and trades up and down the river on year-long journeys. Eliss shows some talent as a look-out, spotting blockages and snags upriver, and even her young brother Alder, who is half Yendri and has experienced discrimination before, feels at home with the more open-minded crew of the Bird of the River, so life finally seems to settle down... but everything changes when Eliss spots a snag that, upon further examination, proves to be a nobleman's sunken pleasure ship -- containing, among other things, the nobleman's headless corpse.

The Bird of the River is the last novel by Kage Baker, who passed away earlier this year. The novel is set in the same fantasy universe as The Anvil of the World and The House of the Stag, but even though there are some references to the characters and events from the earlier novels, The Bird of the River can be read as a standalone without any knowledge of the previous books.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Kage Baker's style was her sly tone and dry wit. Unfortunately, this is mostly missing in The Bird of the River. Instead, large chunks of the novel have an almost YA-like tone. In the first half of the novel, the story flows and meanders gently, much like the river on which it is set, and mostly lacks the edge that I loved so much in the author's COMPANY novels, her other fantasies, and especially her excellent short stories. However, this apparent simplicity is deceptive, as the straightforward coming-of-age narrative also contains a dark, biting story of class and race discrimination that becomes more apparent later in the novel.

Many of the characters are usually too busy to reflect on their lives or be aware of the world outside of their small circle, but there's actually a lot happening in this novel right from the start: Eliss' brother Alder struggles with his racial identity, and Eliss herself slowly learns that there's more to the world than the poverty and discrimination she grew up in. Right on the boat, there's the mysterious Captain Glass (who gets staggeringly drunk every time the boat pulls into a harbor), the intriguing and elegant cartographer Pentra, and of course Krelan, the passenger who comes on board incognito to track down the nobleman's killer. There are a lot of interesting things going on right from the start, but it takes a while for the otherwise very observant main character, who is still adjusting to massive changes in her life, to notice them.

Part coming-of-age novel, part adventure story, part social commentary, part whodunit, The Bird of the River is a charming, enjoyable fantasy novel that's definitely recommended to readers who liked the author's previous fantasy novels. Reading it, it's hard not to feel sad that this is Kage Baker's last novel. I'm sure she had many more great stories to tell, and it's heartbreaking that we'll never get the chance to read them.

This is a melancholy book, both because of its subject matter and because it is likely the last Kage Baker book I will ever see published, given her death last January. The speculative fiction field is lessened by her loss, and this book is a reminder of exactly why.

I suspect I will be in the minority in holding this opinion. It's a slight book, both in length and in that it is one in which not a whole lot happens. The heavy-duty world-building went on in the previous two novels, and this one is essentially nothing more than a gentle coming-of-age travelogue and romance. It has a likeable young protagonist, some light adventure, some not-very-dark secrets, and a happy ending. All of that is usually enough for a young adult audience, which is why I think it will work best when aimed at that reading level.

But that's just the gloss, the stuff the publisher sees (based on the jacket description which, as always with Baker's novels, spoils some things better left unspoiled and gets other things completely wrong). At its core this novel is just as subversive as the two that came before in this gloriously zany fantasy world -- unlike 95% of fantasy written today, it is a novel about the commonplace events that make up the lives of the vast majority of people inhabiting any world, real or imagined. It very gently paints a portrait of the lower classes, the working (and non-working) poor, whose lives are counted so negligibly by the characters portrayed in most fantasy novels. It's about the everyday tragedies of a hard life, and the way small lives get swallowed up by large ones, and the difference that creates in perception.

There is a beautiful passage between Eliss and Krelan where they talk about the way they see the universe. Krelan, living amongst the nobility his entire life, waxes on about how ordered the world is, the strict hierarchies keeping everyone in balance, in their place. And Eliss, whose idea of luxury is eating at a Red House (an establishment Krelan thinks terribly declasse) breaks in to say "But there isn't any balance. That's just made up. A Diamondcut can end up dead in the river mud, and a demon can fall in love with a goddess. Things just happen. Sometimes they're even good things."

That viewpoint is exactly the viewpoint so often missing from fantasy worlds. This loosely related trilogy, no matter its outer trappings, has always been about the value in seeking happiness, in forming families, in striving to be true to individuals rather than principles, and in enjoying life today, because it is a fragile thing. And that message, when delivered in such a gently beguiling way, is one I hope resonates with everyone who reads it.

The Bird of the River seems at first glance to be a YA novel, given the inferred but never stated ages of its protagonist Eliss (who may be about 15 when the book begins) and her half-brother Alder (who may be about 10). Their mother Falena is in poor health and addicted to "yellow" (a transparent renaming of opium), leaving Eliss in charge of the family's daily survival. Falena is a sea diver, who since her sailor-husband drowned has sought support for herself, and fathers for her children, in a series of disreputable and/or transient "uncles" (some of them gang lords). Eliss pressures Falena into accepting a job on an enormous, colorful barge called "Bird of the River," a permanent home for numerous families and sub-communities. Falena drowns soon after rescuing Wolkin, the mischievous little son of Mr. Riveter, the first mate. The barge therefore becomes the childrens' home and community. Mr. Riveter and his family informally adopt them. Others keep an eye on them, especially the formerly high-class female cartographer Pentra and the enigmatic Captain (who may be at least partly a water god). As the children float up the river and visit various communities, they receive an education in the broader world. (I was at times reminded of Huckleberry Finn.) Alder is taken under the wing of Yendri passenger Mr. Moss, who puts Alder in touch with his half-Yendri heritage and encourages Alder to begin making his own decisions about his future.

The action of the plot, intertwined with this coming-of-age story, begins with Falena's discovery of a corpse in the river (which brought on the heart attack that killed her). Shortly thereafter, a spindly, unattractive boy called Krelan, of about Eliss's age, seeks refuge on the barge. Some reviewers have described Krelan as a professional assassin, but in fact, he is clever but entirely inexperienced at such work. His family are hereditary servants of another very powerful family (and have become wealthy in their own right), whose job is to do whatever that family requires. Krelan has been charged with avenging the death of the Lord Encilian whose body was found, but he suspects it is not the real reason he was sent away. Nonetheless, he is firmly dedicated to what he has been told is his duty. Eliss is attracted to him and helps him to investigate Lord Encilian's fate, which seems to be connected with a series of recent pirate attacks on cities along the river.

Despite its YA trappings of teen love and adventure, Bird of the River explores profound ideas about personal identity, whether a family is inherently biological, racial and social prejudice, whether wealth brings happiness and/or real security, education from books versus experience, and duty versus personal choice.

Bird of the River also makes a moving statement about art as the definition of a life. The barge has its own group of musicians, one of whom composes a moving (and immediately popular) ballad called "Beautiful Falena," as a tribute to Eliss's mother. At first Eliss is distressed because the ballad romanticizes her mother's hard life, but eventually she sees the truth in many of its metaphors. At the end of the book, she thinks, "Only Alder and I will remember what [Falena's mistakes] were, and when we forget she'll still be a beautiful song." I do not know whether Kage Baker was yet fatally ill when she finished writing Bird of the River, but this could stand as a tribute to her. What we will remember is not the struggling writer who lived unglamorously in Pismo Beach, but her wonderful books. I only hope there are a few more of her stories still unpublished.

It's hard not to separate feelings of personal sadness at Kage Baker's too-early death in January 2010 from one's feelings reading her posthumous novel The Bird of the River, emphasizing the book's own bittersweetness. And it's impossible, once done, not to mourn in addition to the person the loss of such talent. Bird of the River is, in many ways, a fitting final (or first final) book for the author.

The main character is a young girl--Ellis--who thanks to her mother's addiction to an intoxicating weed, is forced to be mature beyond her years in order to take care of both her mother and her younger brother Alder (himself burdened by light of being a "greenie"--a half-breed human/Yendri). Ellis gets her mother a diving job on the huge river barge Bird but things soon go tragically awry, leaving Ellis and Alder alone. How they slowly, painfully find their way to their various places in this world is one plot line. Another begins with the discovery of a dead body in the river and the arrival of a sudden new passenger, a young boy named Krelan: who killed the dead man and who Krelan are two of the book's mysteries. A final one, and the last major plot strand, involves the recent rise in bandit raids on the towns along the river and what is allowing them to be so suddenly successful.

Set in the same world as The House of the Stag and Anvil of the World, but standing wholly on its own, Bird is a gentle, elegant little novel (under 300 pages) that meanders as smoothly and easily as the river at its heart. The episodic nature of the plot, with the barge pulling into town after town, allows Baker to show us a variety of small cultures and examine both class and race in differing contexts. The search for the murderer and the constant threat of bandit attack lends a suspenseful air to much of the book. But the real beauty of the novel lies in its slow revealing and development of its main characters: Eliss finding her way to becoming perhaps part of the barge's family, as well as a young woman who may be open to love; Alder's struggle to find his true heritage in the half of his culture (his father's side) that up to now has been denied him; Krelan's true nature opening up bit by bit. The side characters are also lovingly depicted, each with sharply distinguished personalities from the first mate's young boy to the ship's independent-minded female cartographer to my personal favorite, the mysterious captain who locks himself into his cabin with drink at every landfall, not coming out until they're back on the water.

My only complaint, and it's a small, infrequent one, is that as with Anvil of the World, the environmental aspect is a bit heavy-handed (and I speak as one who agrees with everything she says); a lighter touch there would have been preferred. And I suppose the murder/bandit mystery isn't all that difficult (mostly because we've all read/seen far too many murder/caper books/films), but really, this isn't a plot-driven book. It's simple without being simplistic, quiet without being dull, elegant without being removed or aloof; it's a slow, lovely ride down a meandering river that keeps opening up little by little revealing not huge vistas but tiny beautiful moments. I was sad when it was over, though it ended as it should have, and even sadder at the thought that we won't have the chance to return or read its like from Baker again. Well-recommended.

Now that I've gobbled this book down in less than 24 hours from receiving it, I'm inspired to go back and read the other books in the series, and then I will probably do the same with the Company novels. It's a crying shame that Kage Baker died so very much too soon. How I would have loved to go on reading books like these for another 20 or 30 years. What a mind she had! She created worlds so complete that I feel I can walk right into them, and characters so wonderful that I wanted to be their best friend. The prose is flawless, the story quiet and yet never becalmed. A pleasure through and through.

This very appealing book is the third and last volume in a trilogy set in a fantasy world that is both very like and very much unlike our own. In fact, unless she had an unpublished manuscript or two in the drawer, it's the last work we will see from Baker, who died of cancer in 2010. (Which means fans of the "Company" novels are never going to find out what happened in 2355, dammit.) While the setting is the same as in the first two volumes (which are interconnected, though not exactly prequel-sequel), the story is entirely independent. In structure, it's both a bildungsroman and a picaresque novel, following the adolescent Eliss Hammertin and her half-brother, Alder (whose father was a Yendri, a fact which often gets them thrown out of many communities of the Children of the Sun) on both the long road to adulthood and on the long river from the sea to Karkateen. Their mother, a drug addict, doesn't last long after she finds employment on the BIRD OF THE RIVER, a huge snag-boat that travels constantly up and down the great river, keeping the way clear for navigation. Eliss turns out to have a gift for spotting snags, wrecks, and other dangers from the masthead. Alder, not having been raised by those he comes to consider "his people," just wants to find a place in the world where he can fit in. The crew includes the mysterious Capt. Glass, a mountain of a man who never goes ashore, as well as the continually overworked and easily exasperated First Mate, Mr. Riveter, and his assorted family. Then there are the boat's musicians, who are stoned most of the time, and the cartographer, an educated woman in her own relationship with a Yendri, and a variety of others who will hold your interest. And then a body is found in the river which proves to be that of a missing young Lord, missing his head -- a discovery which is soon followed by the appearance of Krelan, an unprepossessing young agent of the Diamondcut family, who want revenge for the murder. The story gets more complicated from this point and Eliss's life becomes more complicated, too. (And where are all those pirates and village-raiders coming from? Is it all connected?) The characterizations are first-rate and the flow of the often-exciting plot is handled much better than Baker sometimes was capable of. Too bad there won't be any more of these.

Kage Baker's tragic death in January 2010 robbed the SF world of one of its greats. Her last novel, The Bird of the River, was published later that year (I believe there are still some unpublished short stories, but this is the final novel). The story is written with the same quiet elegance as most of her work. This book is simply fantastic.

This is the story of a river boat named the Bird of the River and a young brother and sister who have to make their way on it after their drug-addicted mother dies in a horrible accident. They also have to figure out their place in the wider world, and thankfully their pseudo-family on the boat will help them with that. Young Eliss is the main character, a teenager who excels at being able to spot river snags that must be destroyed or maneuvered around. As the oldest, she has to take care of her half-brother, a boy with mixed heritage - he's half "Greenie," a race that is horribly looked down upon by the humans of this world. Add to the mix a new passenger who is travelling incognito to search for a lost member of his rich family and a ship's captain who gets wildly drunk every time they reach port, and the reader gets a sense that all is not right with Eliss's world.

The Bird of the River is set in the same universe as The Anvil of the World and The House of the Stag, Baker's previous fantasy novels. However, it is entirely self-contained; while there are a few references to the other two books, there is no connection between them. Instead, Baker has written a classic river journey novel populated by quirky characters that are exceptionally well-written.

There is an overarching story to the whole book, a thread that moves along like an undercurrent throughout the story, but the book is basically Eliss's story of growing up. She has been the main responsible person in her little family as they've travelled from place to place, her mother getting odd diving jobs to keep them alive until her addiction inevitably ruins it. Once Eliss and her half-brother are orphaned, she has to prove herself worthy of staying on the ship or else they will be put off. Once she does, the crew become like family to her, and they help her navigate the usual trials of a teenager, including young love.

There is a mixture of warmth and wonderful humor in Baker's prose (the ship's captain is a real treat, even more so once Baker reveals his secret). True poignancy tinges Eliss' story, as well as that of the young man searching for the lost family son. Krelan's story is the driving engine behind the whole book, even though it's not the main purpose of it. The two stories mesh together perfectly, much like the two characters' burgeoning relationship.

The Bird of the River is a fairly short book (268 pages in the hardcover) and incredibly tight - not a wasted word or storyline in it. Every word is important, even if its purpose is simply to build the characters into interesting people who readers can enjoy. It's quiet, possessing no broad themes like Baker's "Company" novels. This isn't an "exciting" book, but Baker's writing will suck you in anyway.

It's sad that Baker's death will rob the world of more tales like this one, set in a world that she had only explored in these three novels and a few short stories.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book © Dave Roy, 2011

Plot Summary: Teenager Eliss and her 10-year-old brother Alder have had a rough life. They've endured innumerable ups and downs fueled by their mother's drug addictions and many boyfriends. When the mother manages to secure work as a diver on a substantial river boat, Eliss and Alder think their luck has finally changed for the better until their mother dies during an easy dive. Fortunately Eliss has proven her work ethic, and her talent for spotting underwater obstacles soon cements her place on The Bird of the River. Two different events start to shape Eliss's life: first, her brother starts to pull away from her and wants to join the Yendri people in the forest, and second, a young aristocrat joins the ship under a seemingly innocent pretense, but it becomes clear to Eliss that Krelan is not what he seems. By helping Krelan, Eliss puts her talent for keen observation to work, but will her efforts only help Krelan assassinate someone?

The Bird of the River is the equivalent of a chicken soup fantasy. It's warm, nourishing, and comforting, but no one is going to proclaim it a culinary genius. If it's guilty of being a tad prosaic compared to flashier fantasies, I will say that it is high quality from start to finish. Since I'm accustomed to Kage Baker melting my mind with her science fiction novels (The Company series), it was kind of a treat to see her take a slower, softer approach with this novel, and reading it was like gently rocking in a hammock to and fro.


Ms. Baker filled her story with realistic young people who find that growing up isn't a grand adventure, but rather a series of small decisions that can add up to something worthwhile. Although this isn't a young adult novel per se, it does focus on teenage characters, and it could easily be enjoyed by teen readers as well. The relationships within the story, between Eliss and her brother, and Eliss and Krelan, were beautifully done and the way they evolved felt so true.

I made one mistake though. The Bird of the River is a sort of conclusion to Baker's trilogy which began with The House of the Stag (2009) and continued in The Anvil of the World (2010), so apparently I read the last book first. My crime is not terribly heinous, since each story is a coming of age tale that focuses on new characters each time, but I did miss out on Ms. Baker's world building efforts. She assumes with "Bird" that the reader is already familiar with her fantasy world, and so different cultures are referred to casually, and demons are talked about like commonplace creatures. Whoops. I'll have to go back and read The House of the Stag next.

I was so sad to learn of Ms. Baker's death early this year, as she had become one of my favorite authors. And while I was a bit disappointed in 'The House of the Stag' (4 stars instead of 5 for me), this next phase of the story arc was a real pleasure to read. I liked the characters, the story, the setting -- and finished it knowing there should have been at least one more novel in this series.

When a job goes fatally wrong for their mother, teenage Eliss and her younger half-brother Alder find themselves orphaned and marooned on the barge "Bird of the River". The crew takes pity and lets them stay on and the pair hope to have finally found a 'home' that welcomes them. They've lived a rough and itinerant life as a result of their irresponsible mother: Alder is half Yendari, and Eliss has had to make up the difference when their mother was wasted from smoking yellow weed.

Eliss takes to sailing on the "Bird" as though born to it, and quickly distinguishes herself as a look-out, calling out the lay of the water as they travel upriver. One day while at port, a mysterious young man, claiming to be a lord's son, seeks refuge on the ship. Then the Bird and its crew finds port town after port town in trouble from marauder demons wreaking havoc on the citizenry. And Eliss watches events unfold from her perch on the look-out.

Baker's prose is lovely and simple, every word placed carefully (even the few instances of profanity). The pacing is consistent and just right for the story she's telling. It's a pleasant and fluid read.

Eliss has never spent time on the river before, and as the PoV character we discover it through her eyes. And what a sharp and observant girl she is. This makes her an excellent look-out, but it's also inconvenient at times as there are people on board with secrets to keep. The world around her is varied and fascinating, from the quite-real gods, to the 'demons', to the Yendari race who live among the trees, to the port towns and their individual quirks. She sees it all. At first she doesn't really understand what it is she's seeing, as she's still coping with the loss of her mother, and experiencing what the world is really like for the first time. Eventually, though, she does understand, and it's tempered with her increasing maturity.

Baker draws her characters with a deft and gentle hand. THE BIRD OF THE RIVER is the story of Eliss' coming of age, and how she must not only forgive her mother's trespasses, but also allow young Alder to learn about his father's people. Krelan comes a little later, but plays an important role in helping Eliss to discover her gifts and that her life has meaning and value. I enjoyed Eliss and Krelan's blossoming friendship, as they found comfort in their companionship, and are able to see each other's strengths despite their flaws. The Bird's crew are a fascinating mixture of old and young, educated and coarse, mundane and supernatural.

The story begins benignly enough, but then there's the mystifying demon attacks on the port towns, as well as Krelan's assignment to find the murderer of his master's son that leaves a trail of clues across several port towns. The story darkens, and like the characterization, the plot unfolds carefully, until they reach their final destination and everything culminates to a satisfying conclusion. But BIRD is not only an adventure-mystery. It's a commentary on duty, prejudice, how wealth doesn't necessarily equal happiness, and a host of other themes worth contemplating.

This isn't a big, fat fantasy book. But it doesn't have to be. While it's perfectly suitable for a YA audience, adults will enjoy it too. It's a thoughtful, enjoyable story about how just living one's life is the best healing balm for loss.

**This review was posted on Elitist Book Reviews. For more reviews and interviews stop by our blog.**