One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is one more in the vein of animal kingdom books, the classic one of course being Watership Down. Sorrow doesn't approach the skill, majesty, or emotion of Watership Down but that's hard to fault it for, as few books do. The problem is not that it doesn't hold up well against a classic but that it doesn't hold up well against your average book either.

The story's premise is sound enough. Birdom is threatened by a great evil in the form of marauding magpies committing genocide against the other species. One lone robin, seemingly the last of his kind, is sent by a Great Wise Owl, part of the Great Council, on a quest to enlist the aid of three other Bird families. The second half of the b... Read More