{"product_id":"palaces-of-the-crow","title":"Palaces of the Crow","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A story skillfully sown with dramatic surprises. . . [\u003ci\u003ePalaces of the Crow\u003c\/i\u003e] presents an extraordinary alien intelligence that happens to make its home here on Earth.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Sam Sacks\u003ci\u003e, Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"It shouldn't surprise anyone that the crows come out looking better than their human counterparts in Nayler's latest work of speculative fiction.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Colin Dwyer, NPR\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Over the last four years, Ray Nayler has become one of the most consistently fascinating science fiction writers working today. \" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, Most Anticipated Books of 2026\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An impassioned paean to togetherness even in the midst of the chaotic isolation of war and to the power of storytelling to keep memory and hope alive.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e-Publishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ereview\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A brilliant . . . blend of history and fantasy . . . Nayler's tale is packed with human brutality and the nobility of animals and their complex minds, never descending into sentimentality . . . [an] impressive novel.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e-\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e (starred \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ereview\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A searing epic about the horrifying costs of war and the terrifying process of sanitizing the past to protect the guilty and the complicit; it wraps readers in its intensity from the first page. Highly recommended.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e-\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Ray Nayler's \n\u003ci\u003ePalaces of the Crow\u003c\/i\u003e is an evocative and deeply human portrait of survival and awe along the Eastern European front of WWII.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e-Laura Hubbard, \u003ci\u003eBookpage\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBorn in Quebec and raised in California, \n\u003cb\u003eRay Nayler\u003c\/b\u003e lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani, and Vietnamese. Nayler is a Foreign Service Officer. He previously worked in international educational development, and he served in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was the Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He also served as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is currently Diplomatic Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn Ray Nayler's speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNeriya, a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a biologist, has befriended a local flock of crows in her shtetl. Czeslaw is an underage Polish soldier who deserts the Red Army and runs into the freezing Lithuanian woods. Kezia is a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivization. As the German blitzkrieg crashes across the border in June 1941, all three are caught up in the onslaught. Along with Innokentiy, an abandoned boy who cannot speak, they are driven into the primeval forest, where they survive by forming an unbreakable bond with one another--and with Neriya's intelligent crows, who for years have been bringing her intricate gifts suggesting they are no ordinary corvids. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the war goes on, the crows warn the children of danger and help them hide from the human threats of the forest--not only the Germans but also Russian deserters, Polish partisans, fascist Lithuanian police, and the other bandits and outcasts wandering the benighted landscape. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the Ray Bradbury Prize and Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist, and Hugo and Locus Award winner, Ray Nayler, \n\u003ci\u003ePalaces of the Crow\u003c\/i\u003e blends history and haunting speculative wonder into a story of survival, loyalty and the fragile beauty of life in the darkest of times. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/02\/2026 (EAN 9780374620752, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780374620752, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 pg. 65 (EAN 9780374620752, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 12\/30\/0001 (EAN 9780374620752, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eNayler, Ray\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eRay Nayler \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of the critically acclaimed novel \n\u003ci\u003eThe Mountain in the Sea, \u003c\/i\u003e which won the Locus Award for \"Best First Novel,\" and was a finalist for the Nebula Award and the \n\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times' \u003c\/i\u003eRay Bradbury Prize. Called \"one of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction\" by \n\u003ci\u003eLocus, \u003c\/i\u003e Nayler's stories have been published in \n\u003ci\u003eAsimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Analog Science Fiction \u0026amp; Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy \u0026amp; Science Fiction, Lightspeed, \u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eVice\u003c\/i\u003e, and \n\u003ci\u003eNightmare, \u003c\/i\u003e as well as in many \"Best Of\" anthologies. His stories have won the Clarkesworld Readers' Poll and the Asimov's Readers' Award, and his novelette \"Sarcophagus\" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"MCD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496205582614,"sku":"9780374620752","price":34.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780374620752.jpg?v=1783057511","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/palaces-of-the-crow","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}