Bird Deity (John Morrissey, Text)

Shorter novels have made a strong resurgence in recent years – particularly in science fiction – and John Morrissey’s (Firelight) debut fiction novel, Bird Deity, sits squarely within this zeitgeist. The story offers a brief but potent slice of a much larger narrative about an alien world and the humans who have come to exploit it. Among them is David, a “Scout” whose job for the past decade has been to steal artefacts from the “Ashies” – the pejorative name given to the planet’s original hominid lifeform – artefacts that have a strange and dangerous effect on memory. With his contract ending, David is preparing to return to Earth when he’s approached by an anthropologist who wants to study the group. One last trip into the wilds, well paid and off the books – it seems straightforward. But while the Ashies may be seen as docile, other forces within the planet are not, and David is soon pulled into the memory of a world and its people, forced to confront an ancient, incomprehensible presence and the realisation that nothing – including himself – is what he believed it to be. Bird Deity is a cosmic-horror-tinged story about purpose, loss and exploitation, depicting the latter not as a dark and terrifying force, but as a ponderous, inefficient machine powered by the lost and desperate – those who destroy without fully understanding what they are erasing, even when the damage is to themselves. A compelling read for fans of Ray Nayler and Claire G Coleman.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Stefen Brazulaitis has been a bookseller with a special interest in science fiction and fantasy for 30 years and is the owner of Stefen's Books in Perth. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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