Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Candlewick (2007), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 528 pages
Description
After a brief reunion with his lost sister Maered, who continues to pursue her dangerous destiny in the frozen North, orphaned Hem is sent south to Turbansk for safety but, as the armies of the Dark overrun the city, he flees with his mentor Saliman, his white crow Irc, and the orphan girl Zelika to join the resistance forces of the Light and finally learn his role in his sister's quest.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ed.pendragon
All novels, and especially fantasy novels, provide the opportunity for authors to create their own worlds in which to place their characters, and in large measure what makes the story convincing is the plausibility of that secondary world. Croggon's land of Edil-Amarandh is given credible substance
Fans of Maerad from the first and second books may baulk at a volume in which she gets only passing mentions, but her brother Hem becomes as fascinating and sympathetic a character as his sister in the course of nearly 500 pages. In many ways The Crow appears as a narrative reflection of The Riddle: they straddle the same time-frame, ending with each of the two siblings meeting up with a lost friend on Midwinter's Day; one sibling travels to the north-west, the other to the south-east to gain insights into the Treesong; both become imprisoned though in rather different circumstances, having to rely on their own inner resources; both discover they have gifts that they were not aware of; and both are rightly distressed when they lose significant friends. But The Crow is not just a mirror image of The Riddle, and the dangers Hem meets and his responses to events and predicaments are strikingly different from his sister's.
The Crow is an absorbing read, and while there are stretches where nothing much seems to happen, the inner turmoil and personal growth that Hem undergoes is as essential to Croggon's tale as any burst of action is to a more conventional sword-and-sorcery novel. Love and loyalty, beauty and poetry alternate with scenes of horror and destruction and cruelty; the feeling that one is there when Turbansk is besieged, when the child-soldiers are abused, when friends are separated or re-united is strong throughout these pages and re-inforces the reader's empathy and sympathy for the youngsters in the story as they grow old before their time. It is a harsh observer who doesn't engage with Hem and Irc, his friend the white crow.
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by its characters' interaction with the geography, climate and changing seasons, and the success of The Crow and the other Pellinor books is enhanced by the impression that Maerad and Hem, Cadvan and Saliman are all inhabiting a real landscape: we are with them, almost in real-time, every step of their journeys, every rest in their tasks. It may or not help to imagine their world as perhaps that straddling what is now the mid-Atlantic ridge between Newfoundland and western Europe, sometime towards the end of the last Ice Age when sea levels were lower, but it is not essential, particularly as Croggon's storytelling skill provides the verisimilitude to convincingly transport us to this sprawling continent in the grip of unfathomable changes.Fans of Maerad from the first and second books may baulk at a volume in which she gets only passing mentions, but her brother Hem becomes as fascinating and sympathetic a character as his sister in the course of nearly 500 pages. In many ways The Crow appears as a narrative reflection of The Riddle: they straddle the same time-frame, ending with each of the two siblings meeting up with a lost friend on Midwinter's Day; one sibling travels to the north-west, the other to the south-east to gain insights into the Treesong; both become imprisoned though in rather different circumstances, having to rely on their own inner resources; both discover they have gifts that they were not aware of; and both are rightly distressed when they lose significant friends. But The Crow is not just a mirror image of The Riddle, and the dangers Hem meets and his responses to events and predicaments are strikingly different from his sister's.
The Crow is an absorbing read, and while there are stretches where nothing much seems to happen, the inner turmoil and personal growth that Hem undergoes is as essential to Croggon's tale as any burst of action is to a more conventional sword-and-sorcery novel. Love and loyalty, beauty and poetry alternate with scenes of horror and destruction and cruelty; the feeling that one is there when Turbansk is besieged, when the child-soldiers are abused, when friends are separated or re-united is strong throughout these pages and re-inforces the reader's empathy and sympathy for the youngsters in the story as they grow old before their time. It is a harsh observer who doesn't engage with Hem and Irc, his friend the white crow.
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LibraryThing member magnuscanis
When I first came across Hem, the protagonist of this story, in The Gift, I didn't develop anything like the same sympathy for him that I had for his sister Maerad, the protagonist of that book. So I was expecting to find The Crow a lot less stimulating than the other books in the series but
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decided to read it anyway, for the sake of completeness. I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be a very exciting, and at times very moving, story. It was interesting, too, to get a different perspective on some of the same events narrated in the previous books. Show Less
LibraryThing member saucyhp
I was quite disappointed to find this book wasn't about Maerad. I also found it quite hard to read some parts. I'm looking forward to the next one though!
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
The Third book of Pellinor but not the last, it's the story of Maerad's brother Hem. His quest for a place in the world and a way to defeat the Hulls and their master. Very interesting in that Croggon doesn't shy away from showing the reality of war to the reader and the reality of being sucked
The framing device is a little clumsy but otherwise it's a good read.
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into a cause.The framing device is a little clumsy but otherwise it's a good read.
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LibraryThing member Nikkles
The Pellinor series is still going strong. A really well written book with fantastic characters!
LibraryThing member misserin
This story IS spiritual warfare. Allegorical in the vein of Tolkien, and GOOD... not a copycat.
It's part of the Pellinor series, following The Naming and The Riddle. The Crow takes up the story of the brother of the heroine from those two books, Maerad. Hem is not only separated from the sister he
It's part of the Pellinor series, following The Naming and The Riddle. The Crow takes up the story of the brother of the heroine from those two books, Maerad. Hem is not only separated from the sister he
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only recently found out he had, but is thrown into a battle for life. A huge challenge and learning opportunity for a twelve year old! Show Less
LibraryThing member lwobbe
This, the third book of the Pellinor series, focuses on Maerad's brother Hem/Cai as he follows Saliman to the Suderain and struggles with his Bardic training. He learns his talent of healing, and puts it to good use when the refugees from battles further east look for solace in Turbansk. As the
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Nameless One's forces descend on Turbansk, Saliman and the other Bards have a plan, but it means all Turbansk will be lost. Saliman, Hem, and his white crow become refugees themselves, spying and doing what they can to thwart the forces of the Dark. As they immerse themselves in the forests of evil, Hem is visited by an Elidhu who gives Hem another part of the Song's secret. Frantic with the tragedy and edge of constant battle and war, this installment is only flawed by the delay of the fourth installment, now not due until March 2009?! Show Less
LibraryThing member tomgirl571
The Crow by Alison Croggon was not my favorite of the 3 Books of Pellinor I've read, but it was still a great read. It was entertaining and sometimes even scary. And I cried once. And yes, I do tend to like books more when they make me cry! I think it's because the characters have to be
The first 2 books in this series follow a young girl named Maerad and her friend Cadvan on their journey to find something called the "treesong." Book 3 changes direction a bit. It follows Hem, Maerad's younger brother. He has been brought to the Suderain, a land in the south, by his mentor Saliman. Their city, Turbansk, is under attack. The city's seige, Hem's escape, and Hem's travels deep into evil lands fill the pages of this story.
I found this book to be a bit slow in the beginning, but I chalk it up to the new characters. Maerad and Cadvan dominated the 1st 2 books, and I love them both dearly. So the character changes were definitely noticed. Once I got to know Hem, Saliman, and the others from The Crow (Hem and Saliman we actually meet in earlier books, we just don't know them too well), this book went a lot faster. My favorite character has to be Irc, the white crow Hem nurses back to health. The things he says are priceless and made me laugh out loud. I also love how even when Irc is surrounded by evil and in danger of death, his obsession with shiny things is still in full swing, leading him to steal a pendant from the leader of the Dark. My other favorite character is Zelika, Hem's friend. She is spritely, spicy, and has a lot of attitude. She has a thirst for revenge and a lot a energy. I connected with her immediately.
All in all, this was a great read. If you've read books 1 and 2, read this one too. It's weird because Maerad and Cadvan aren't in it at all, but it's still fun to read, and fun to meet new characters. I especially loved seeing Hem's transformation from child in the beginning to young adult at the end. I can't wait to read book 4.
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well-written in order for me to connect with them at all. But more on that later.The first 2 books in this series follow a young girl named Maerad and her friend Cadvan on their journey to find something called the "treesong." Book 3 changes direction a bit. It follows Hem, Maerad's younger brother. He has been brought to the Suderain, a land in the south, by his mentor Saliman. Their city, Turbansk, is under attack. The city's seige, Hem's escape, and Hem's travels deep into evil lands fill the pages of this story.
I found this book to be a bit slow in the beginning, but I chalk it up to the new characters. Maerad and Cadvan dominated the 1st 2 books, and I love them both dearly. So the character changes were definitely noticed. Once I got to know Hem, Saliman, and the others from The Crow (Hem and Saliman we actually meet in earlier books, we just don't know them too well), this book went a lot faster. My favorite character has to be Irc, the white crow Hem nurses back to health. The things he says are priceless and made me laugh out loud. I also love how even when Irc is surrounded by evil and in danger of death, his obsession with shiny things is still in full swing, leading him to steal a pendant from the leader of the Dark. My other favorite character is Zelika, Hem's friend. She is spritely, spicy, and has a lot of attitude. She has a thirst for revenge and a lot a energy. I connected with her immediately.
All in all, this was a great read. If you've read books 1 and 2, read this one too. It's weird because Maerad and Cadvan aren't in it at all, but it's still fun to read, and fun to meet new characters. I especially loved seeing Hem's transformation from child in the beginning to young adult at the end. I can't wait to read book 4.
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LibraryThing member LaserWraith
I wished it stayed with Maerad's POV, but oh well.
LibraryThing member hailelib
Book three of Croggon's Pellinor series, this installment follows the adventures of Hem and his new companions, Irc (a white crow he rescues) and Zelika, a refugee fleeing the front lines after the destruction of her city. Hem has to grow up considerably in this story and he discovers something
Since it had been over a year between Book Two and Book Three, it took a couple of chapters to get back into the story. However, without being too heavy-handed about it, Croggon included enough back story in the first chapters to pull me back into the world she has conjured into being. While this is YA (Hem is 12) it's at the more mature end of YA.
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about the part he must play in the final confrontation with the Nameless One.Since it had been over a year between Book Two and Book Three, it took a couple of chapters to get back into the story. However, without being too heavy-handed about it, Croggon included enough back story in the first chapters to pull me back into the world she has conjured into being. While this is YA (Hem is 12) it's at the more mature end of YA.
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LibraryThing member devilish2
This book, the third in the series, is particularly dark, with the feeling of threat and unease woven throughout the second half of the book. Some of the imagery is particularly unsettling, especially that regarding children, with sections that reminded me of Nazi concentration camps. I say this
With all of that said, I still enjoyed the journey, the friendships and the magery.
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because this book is listed in the Junior section of my local library, which I'm not entirely sure is suitable, I would suggest Young Adult would be more appropriate.With all of that said, I still enjoyed the journey, the friendships and the magery.
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LibraryThing member funstm
The Books of Pellinor are a high fantasy series that is a more accessible version of Tolkein's Lord of the Rings with the same richness of imagery and world building but with straightforward names and a less complicated history. That said it could also be that The Books of Pellinor are less
The Books of Pellinor are set in the land of Edil-Amarandh - a land which has been on the precipe of danger for years - ever since Sharma, the Nameless One stole the Treesong from the Elementals (Elidhu) and broke the song. Cadvan of Lirigon is working against the dark but there's only so much he can do - until while on a mission he runs into Maerad - a slave girl who can see through his invisibility. Soon they're travelling together and finding that all is not right in the land. Then Maerad leads Cadvan to a boy named Hem and nothing is the same. Maerad and Hem have an instant connection and it's not long before Cadvan realises nothing happens without a reason and that only by working together can the light prevail.
Like the second book in the series, the third book picks up after the group flees Norloch but this time focusing on Hem and Saliman and their journey to Turbansk in the south. This novel runs concurrently to The Riddle. I had great expectations for this book because the first two of the series were absolutely brilliant. And it delivered.
This book may actually be my favourite of the series. I like Maerad but Hem is my favourite character and an entire book about him is perfection. I liked how he came to find his passion for healing and his talent for spying. And I adored the relationship between him and Saliman - I loved that he found he could love and trust and rely on Saliman to look after him and protect him and just be there for him. And IRC!!! I loved Irc the Crow and his thieving ways.
Only Irc seemed untouched by the rising despair that pervaded Turbansk. He told Hem, with a hoarse chuckle, that it was a good time for him: he was building an impressive collection of shiny spoons, buttons, and other treasures filched from the palace, which he had hidden somewhere under the eaves of the roof.
Croggon, Alison. The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 3) (p. 147). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition. And I adored how Hem outwitted him.
Irc could count, but only up to five (a useful disability for Hem, who regularly emptied Irc’s treasure troves — as long as he left five objects, the crow didn’t notice anything was missing).
Croggon, Alison. The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 3) (p. 177). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.
Zelinka was fiery and I loved the friendship between her and Hem. And my heart broke for Hem when he found out she died. Poor Hem. It was a brutal blow. And it sucked - he loved her - he was going to marry her. Especially since he went all that way and she was dead before he even entered the compound. I was heartbroken by it. I really liked Zelika and I would've liked to see them make a go of it afterwards. I'm glad Saliman was there for Hem when he found out. Hared was a total badass and I would've loved to see the meeting between him and Hem after he'd disobeyed all his orders but returned with all the intel. I've got the feeling it would've been impressive.
531 pages and it felt way too short. It was fantastic and I adored every minute. 5 stars.
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intimidating because they're not as famous or as widely read as Tolkein. The Books of Pellinor are set in the land of Edil-Amarandh - a land which has been on the precipe of danger for years - ever since Sharma, the Nameless One stole the Treesong from the Elementals (Elidhu) and broke the song. Cadvan of Lirigon is working against the dark but there's only so much he can do - until while on a mission he runs into Maerad - a slave girl who can see through his invisibility. Soon they're travelling together and finding that all is not right in the land. Then Maerad leads Cadvan to a boy named Hem and nothing is the same. Maerad and Hem have an instant connection and it's not long before Cadvan realises nothing happens without a reason and that only by working together can the light prevail.
Like the second book in the series, the third book picks up after the group flees Norloch but this time focusing on Hem and Saliman and their journey to Turbansk in the south. This novel runs concurrently to The Riddle. I had great expectations for this book because the first two of the series were absolutely brilliant. And it delivered.
This book may actually be my favourite of the series. I like Maerad but Hem is my favourite character and an entire book about him is perfection. I liked how he came to find his passion for healing and his talent for spying. And I adored the relationship between him and Saliman - I loved that he found he could love and trust and rely on Saliman to look after him and protect him and just be there for him. And IRC!!! I loved Irc the Crow and his thieving ways.
Only Irc seemed untouched by the rising despair that pervaded Turbansk. He told Hem, with a hoarse chuckle, that it was a good time for him: he was building an impressive collection of shiny spoons, buttons, and other treasures filched from the palace, which he had hidden somewhere under the eaves of the roof.
Croggon, Alison. The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 3) (p. 147). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.
Irc could count, but only up to five (a useful disability for Hem, who regularly emptied Irc’s treasure troves — as long as he left five objects, the crow didn’t notice anything was missing).
Croggon, Alison. The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 3) (p. 177). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.
Zelinka was fiery and I loved the friendship between her and Hem.
531 pages and it felt way too short. It was fantastic and I adored every minute. 5 stars.
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Subjects
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
528 p.; 5.8 inches
ISBN
0763634093 / 9780763634094
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