What do you think?
Rate this book
Clamour and Mischief
A clamour of rooks. A mischief of magpies.
A storytelling of crows.
All the corvids – the rooks and ravens, jays and jackdaws, crows and magpies – have the best collective nouns. A parliament and a party. Tidings and titterings, bands and trains. An unkindness.
Clamour and Mischief brings a veritable storytelling to these corvidae, this bird family known for intelligence, cunning and connection with folklore and urban legends. Our storytellers come from around the world and include award-winning and shortlisted writers, as well as fledgling authors in their professional debut.
This anthology’s sixteen striking stories, edited by Narrelle M Harris, are imbued with the humour, darkness, wisdom and magic of the birds which inspired them. Take them as a jest, a guide, or a warning – but don't, whatever you do, ignore them!
Cover art by Andrea Farley (Altocello)
A storytelling of crows.
All the corvids – the rooks and ravens, jays and jackdaws, crows and magpies – have the best collective nouns. A parliament and a party. Tidings and titterings, bands and trains. An unkindness.
Clamour and Mischief brings a veritable storytelling to these corvidae, this bird family known for intelligence, cunning and connection with folklore and urban legends. Our storytellers come from around the world and include award-winning and shortlisted writers, as well as fledgling authors in their professional debut.
This anthology’s sixteen striking stories, edited by Narrelle M Harris, are imbued with the humour, darkness, wisdom and magic of the birds which inspired them. Take them as a jest, a guide, or a warning – but don't, whatever you do, ignore them!
Cover art by Andrea Farley (Altocello)
- GenresFantasyAnthologies
248 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Narrelle M. Harris
66 books120 followersI grew up in a home bursting with books. My father was in the Royal Australian Air Force – we moved roughly every three years – and my parents were passionate advocates of reading and the importance of access to a library of ideas, no matter where we lived.
Between a childhood spent on the move yet steeped in literature, and a naturally dramatic personality, it’s no surprise I became a storyteller.
At home, and at libraries all over Australia, I read everything from Little Golden Books to The World Book Encyclopaedia. As my family moved so frequently, my companions wherever I went were the Pevensies of Narnia, a horse named Flicka and the Hardy Boys. I grew up with the characters created by Diana Wynne Jones as they too learned independence and responsibility. Miss Marple and the Dragonriders of Pern were always at my side.
Writers like Eric Frank Russell and Lois McMaster Bujold were as influential on my character and my writing as surely as Shakespeare and the Brontes. I’m still always picking up new influences, from modern writers like Emily Larkin and Neil Gaiman as well as classics by PG Wodehouse and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Before you figure I am always and forever reading, I’m a traveller too. My early years spent moving from state to state led to itchy feet. After moving out of the family home, I lived in Perth, then met Tim Richards and we decided to have adventures of our own. We moved to Egypt to teach English as a Foreign Language, then went on to Poland.
After we finished teaching, we kept travelling: we’ve been to the UK and US, to Thailand, Germany, Hungary, Syria, Jordan, France, Italy, Slovenia, Czech, and Canada – and we’re not done travelling yet.
The places I’ve visited – London, Hungary, Canada – often appear in my work, but the home of my heart is the place I write about most often.
Melbourne, Australia. The town we chose to live in always. The city I love so much she is practically a character in her own right in books like The Opposite of Life and short stories like Near Miss. I even researched the Marvellous Melbourne of the 1890s for my Holmes♥Watson romance, The Adventure of the Colonial Boy.
Given my background and all my literary influences, it’s hardly astonishing that my storytelling is eclectic: crime, adventure, fantasy, horror and romance – separately or combined.
For all the different genres I write in, everything I write generally includes the same tone and the same type of themes. They are full of the families one is born with and the families we make for ourselves. The protagonists all face challenges they’ve made for themselves as well as external threats that test them. They’re full of people who’ve made mistakes who seek to learn and to make better choices.
Whether you’re reading a vampire adventure in modern Melbourne, a Holmesian mystery in London or a racy lesbian romance in the Middle East, you’ll find humour, heart, friendships and love.
Awards
Jane: In 2017, my ghost/crime story Jane won the Athenaeum Library’s Body in the Library prize at the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia.
Other nominations and shortlistings include:
Fly By Night (nominated for a Ned Kelly Award 2004)
Witch Honour (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize as Witching Ways in 1998)
Witch Faith (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize in 1999)
Walking Shadows (Chronos Awards; Davitt Awards in 2012)
__
Narrelle's erotica published as NM Harris is listed on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Between a childhood spent on the move yet steeped in literature, and a naturally dramatic personality, it’s no surprise I became a storyteller.
At home, and at libraries all over Australia, I read everything from Little Golden Books to The World Book Encyclopaedia. As my family moved so frequently, my companions wherever I went were the Pevensies of Narnia, a horse named Flicka and the Hardy Boys. I grew up with the characters created by Diana Wynne Jones as they too learned independence and responsibility. Miss Marple and the Dragonriders of Pern were always at my side.
Writers like Eric Frank Russell and Lois McMaster Bujold were as influential on my character and my writing as surely as Shakespeare and the Brontes. I’m still always picking up new influences, from modern writers like Emily Larkin and Neil Gaiman as well as classics by PG Wodehouse and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Before you figure I am always and forever reading, I’m a traveller too. My early years spent moving from state to state led to itchy feet. After moving out of the family home, I lived in Perth, then met Tim Richards and we decided to have adventures of our own. We moved to Egypt to teach English as a Foreign Language, then went on to Poland.
After we finished teaching, we kept travelling: we’ve been to the UK and US, to Thailand, Germany, Hungary, Syria, Jordan, France, Italy, Slovenia, Czech, and Canada – and we’re not done travelling yet.
The places I’ve visited – London, Hungary, Canada – often appear in my work, but the home of my heart is the place I write about most often.
Melbourne, Australia. The town we chose to live in always. The city I love so much she is practically a character in her own right in books like The Opposite of Life and short stories like Near Miss. I even researched the Marvellous Melbourne of the 1890s for my Holmes♥Watson romance, The Adventure of the Colonial Boy.
Given my background and all my literary influences, it’s hardly astonishing that my storytelling is eclectic: crime, adventure, fantasy, horror and romance – separately or combined.
For all the different genres I write in, everything I write generally includes the same tone and the same type of themes. They are full of the families one is born with and the families we make for ourselves. The protagonists all face challenges they’ve made for themselves as well as external threats that test them. They’re full of people who’ve made mistakes who seek to learn and to make better choices.
Whether you’re reading a vampire adventure in modern Melbourne, a Holmesian mystery in London or a racy lesbian romance in the Middle East, you’ll find humour, heart, friendships and love.
Awards
Jane: In 2017, my ghost/crime story Jane won the Athenaeum Library’s Body in the Library prize at the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia.
Other nominations and shortlistings include:
Fly By Night (nominated for a Ned Kelly Award 2004)
Witch Honour (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize as Witching Ways in 1998)
Witch Faith (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize in 1999)
Walking Shadows (Chronos Awards; Davitt Awards in 2012)
__
Narrelle's erotica published as NM Harris is listed on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 18, 2024
Find more book reviews at: https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogsp...
Clamour and Mischief is an anthology of short stories with the connecting theme of birds, or more precisely corvids (birds from the crow family).
I do love anthologies as the stories are short, giving instant satisfaction, and can be picked up and put down without fear of losing the plot line.
Corvids have been used prolifically in novels. Just read any fantasy where ravens are the harbingers of bad news and death, even transforming into demons.
Clamour and Mischief includes 16 short stories with very diverse themes such as doom, death, superstition, manipulation, myth and kindness. Something for every reader's taste.
Two of my favourite stories were The Jackdaw Maiden by Katya de Becerra and Kupara and Tekoteko by Lee Murray.
The Jackdaw Maiden is an atmospheric tale of a young princess who was born with feathers and blamed for all the village ills, she befriends the birds and goes on to save the life of her sister.
Kupara and Tekoteko is a story of kindness and friendship set in New Zealand. Tekoteko oversees the village and asks Kupara (the raven) to help him do acts of kindness, to relieve the suffering of people living around them, as Teketeko is carved from wood and cannot move.
I hadn't previously come across any of the 16 authors featured in the anthology however I now have a few names I will be researching past works.
Some of the stories in this anthology were a bit too gruesome for me but the thing with anthologies is if one story doesn't suit you can move onto the next as it just might be the discovery of a new author you love.
4 stars averaged over the 16 stories.
Clamour and Mischief is an anthology of short stories with the connecting theme of birds, or more precisely corvids (birds from the crow family).
I do love anthologies as the stories are short, giving instant satisfaction, and can be picked up and put down without fear of losing the plot line.
Corvids have been used prolifically in novels. Just read any fantasy where ravens are the harbingers of bad news and death, even transforming into demons.
Clamour and Mischief includes 16 short stories with very diverse themes such as doom, death, superstition, manipulation, myth and kindness. Something for every reader's taste.
Two of my favourite stories were The Jackdaw Maiden by Katya de Becerra and Kupara and Tekoteko by Lee Murray.
The Jackdaw Maiden is an atmospheric tale of a young princess who was born with feathers and blamed for all the village ills, she befriends the birds and goes on to save the life of her sister.
Kupara and Tekoteko is a story of kindness and friendship set in New Zealand. Tekoteko oversees the village and asks Kupara (the raven) to help him do acts of kindness, to relieve the suffering of people living around them, as Teketeko is carved from wood and cannot move.
I hadn't previously come across any of the 16 authors featured in the anthology however I now have a few names I will be researching past works.
Some of the stories in this anthology were a bit too gruesome for me but the thing with anthologies is if one story doesn't suit you can move onto the next as it just might be the discovery of a new author you love.
4 stars averaged over the 16 stories.
January 6, 2023
A wonderful anthology of corvid based stories that offers something for everyone in terms of plot whilst having a consistently high standard of writing. My favourites were Branwen and the Three Ravens and The Language of Birds but found all sixteen stories fascinating and thoroughly enjoyed each one.
December 13, 2022
A lovely anthology from Clan Destine Press, offering a wealth of both feathered and fleshed protagonists, it's a sweet and sometimes sorrowful collection. It's that which has me giving four star, since there are a few stories in the book that feel like they leave the reader bereft of hope.
That's not the bulk of the anthology though, and I absolutely adored editor Narrelle M Harris' tale "Seven for a Secret." It's a story so full of verve and voice, it's the book's shiniest gem, being mischievous, flighty, funny, and the absolute definition of clamor and mischief.
RJK Lee's "Build Another Nest for Phantom Feathers," needs a shout-out too, it's a near-future story that's curious, a good sort of confusing, and has the grace of legend, while "All That Glitters" from GV Pearce is a rousing good caper with a satisfying conclusion. "The Past is Not a Present" turns birthdays and reincarnation on their heads, and "Watchers" from Alex Marchant, brings an understated darkness with its feathered witnesses to the day King Richard fell at the battle of Bosworth.
With sixteen tales offering dark and light, this book will definitely please those who love their corvid kin, in all their raven, crow, jackdaw, and jay glory.
That's not the bulk of the anthology though, and I absolutely adored editor Narrelle M Harris' tale "Seven for a Secret." It's a story so full of verve and voice, it's the book's shiniest gem, being mischievous, flighty, funny, and the absolute definition of clamor and mischief.
RJK Lee's "Build Another Nest for Phantom Feathers," needs a shout-out too, it's a near-future story that's curious, a good sort of confusing, and has the grace of legend, while "All That Glitters" from GV Pearce is a rousing good caper with a satisfying conclusion. "The Past is Not a Present" turns birthdays and reincarnation on their heads, and "Watchers" from Alex Marchant, brings an understated darkness with its feathered witnesses to the day King Richard fell at the battle of Bosworth.
With sixteen tales offering dark and light, this book will definitely please those who love their corvid kin, in all their raven, crow, jackdaw, and jay glory.
January 26, 2023
Have you ever wanted to spread black wings and soar, or caw from the highest branches? Yes...then this anthology is for you. "Clamour and Mischief" shows us the world - past, present, and even future - through the crow's eye. The stories here are fantastic, imaginative, and several are steeped in history and folklore - from Irish mythology to the tales of the Maori, and from the Australian outback to a Japanese future. You'll glimpse Edgar Allan Poe through the window, and maybe even enter his abode to leave your corvid mark on literature. Put your human mindset aside as you open this anthology and enter the world of the crow. A fine anthology from a wonderful Australian publisher, Clan Destine Press.
December 6, 2022
As the editor of this book, of course I love every story in it! I hope you do too.
December 27, 2022
‘The corvids gather. Crows and ravens, jackdaws and jays.’
What a marvellous anthology this is! Sixteen stories inspired by corvids. Dare I confess my ignorance? I find it difficult to differentiate crows from ravens? I thought I was seeing crows on my regular morning walks out of Adaminaby and nicknamed a particular tree ‘the Murder Tree’ because I saw quite a few crows hanging out there together. While I now think they are ravens, I am not changing the name of the tree. What mischief they are plotting, as they survey the paddocks around them? They are clearly intelligent birds: just look at the Ravens at the Tower of London, preventing the downfall of the monarchy since at least the 17th century.
Back to the anthology. While I enjoyed every story, four really captured my attention:
Kūpara and Tekoteko by Lee Murray, Branwen and The Three Ravens by Dannye Chase, The Girl and The Crow by RD White and Murder of Crows by George Ivanoff.
While some stories are light and others are dark, each is entire. Each corvid was brought to life and literally fly off the page. Pity (or in some cases admire) their companions. Heed the advice on the back of the book: ‘Take them as a jest, a guide, or a warning – but don’t, whatever you do, ignore them!’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
What a marvellous anthology this is! Sixteen stories inspired by corvids. Dare I confess my ignorance? I find it difficult to differentiate crows from ravens? I thought I was seeing crows on my regular morning walks out of Adaminaby and nicknamed a particular tree ‘the Murder Tree’ because I saw quite a few crows hanging out there together. While I now think they are ravens, I am not changing the name of the tree. What mischief they are plotting, as they survey the paddocks around them? They are clearly intelligent birds: just look at the Ravens at the Tower of London, preventing the downfall of the monarchy since at least the 17th century.
Back to the anthology. While I enjoyed every story, four really captured my attention:
Kūpara and Tekoteko by Lee Murray, Branwen and The Three Ravens by Dannye Chase, The Girl and The Crow by RD White and Murder of Crows by George Ivanoff.
While some stories are light and others are dark, each is entire. Each corvid was brought to life and literally fly off the page. Pity (or in some cases admire) their companions. Heed the advice on the back of the book: ‘Take them as a jest, a guide, or a warning – but don’t, whatever you do, ignore them!’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 8, 2024
This is a fantastic anthology filled with magic, mystery and humour.
My original short story "Quoth the Raven" is the finale of the book. It's a much lighter but darkly humourous revisioning of Edgar Allan Poe and the creation of his most famous work - The Raven.
Overall this anthology offers an array of subjects, styles and perspectives, each original story providing a unique voice for the corvids of myth and folklore. I really enjoyed all the stories and am so proud that my work is included with these other tales by truly talented short story writers.
My original short story "Quoth the Raven" is the finale of the book. It's a much lighter but darkly humourous revisioning of Edgar Allan Poe and the creation of his most famous work - The Raven.
Overall this anthology offers an array of subjects, styles and perspectives, each original story providing a unique voice for the corvids of myth and folklore. I really enjoyed all the stories and am so proud that my work is included with these other tales by truly talented short story writers.
June 4, 2023
I loved the diversity of bird stories. Excellent voices within. Great cover art. Highly recommend.
I do have a story in the middle of this anthology about a family of birds in a near future displaced Japan full of singing and cyberpunk and dark fantasy.
I do have a story in the middle of this anthology about a family of birds in a near future displaced Japan full of singing and cyberpunk and dark fantasy.
April 28, 2023
I have a story in this excellent anthology! It's about a girl covered in feathers who can talk to birds.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews