Blurb: Deep in the wilds of Scotland, land of ancient warrior kings and myths, there is a deep secret. The secret is a colony of beavers, a species that is craved for their fur pelts, but vilified for what humans consider to be the destruction of their land. No beaver has been spotted in Scotland or England for over five hundred years, until the young beaver, Dunwattle, is sighted! Dunwattle’s flight is driven by the presence of a ghostly figure, a figure of a mysterious young girl who is almost one thousand years old. And now Dunwattle is destined to be destroyed for revealing the hidden colony, but his best friend Locksley is determined to save him. Will their ancient beaver colony survive?
Reading this book takes quite a lot of stamina. I loved the map on the first page and the end notes and chapter sample at the back of the book but I kept wishing there was a list of the characters because there are so many of them - three young beavers - Dunwattle, Locksley and Yrynn, a wise swan named Elsinore, an evil lynx named Grynfill, several humans who want to find evidence that beavers are back in the UK, two ghost children - Lorna and Fergus, a mythical wolf pup - Stellamara, a brave Otter mother named Glory and her two young babies - Iggy and Edy, and several adult beavers who are teachers and council members, the leader of the beavers Castor Aquarius (Oscar of Was Meadow) and Snert of the Snout who plans to over throw the current leader. There are also references to Scottish history and Edward Longshanks; The stone of destiny now in Westminster Cathedral; Henry VIII; royal protection of swans; and modern-day drones.
Swans and beavers do actually live in a symbiotic relationship. Like beavers, trumpeter swans eat a wide variety of aquatic plants, such as pondweed, wild rice, and algae; and they prefer shallow wetlands less than six feet deep. The tops of old beaver lodges also provide excellent nest sites for swans, who seek existing mounds surrounded by water and less than 600 feet from shore.
"What of course the two-legs did not realise is that their precious land would be entirely worthless if the water table was not maintained. If water-storing wetlands disappeared, farmers would not be able to farm, and species of birds and insects would simply vanish as well. Water meant life. Water shaped continents, and the beavers were the builders of these continents through their meticulous maintenance of the water table and their creation of ponds like the one in Glendunny."
I recommend this series for readers aged 10+ mainly because the humour is quite sophisticated and also because the action constantly switches between scenes and characters and so readers have to hold together several complex story strands. Younger readers might also struggle to understand the prejudice against Yrynn, whose ancestors have come to the UK from Canada is given the derisive name of Canuck. There is also a delicious political edge to Kathryn Lasky's writing. I remember these themes were explored in her Guardians of Ga-Hoole which I read many years ago.
Luckily enough is resolved at the end of the first book so readers are not left hanging but there are also enough incomplete threads to leave you keen to read the sequel.
Fans of Redwall, Podkin One-ear and Endling will enjoy this new series.
