A summary of "The Bird-Eating Bird" by Alexey Pekhov Automatic translate

This 2024 dark fantasy tells the story of the clash between the inhabitants of the capital of Aiure and ancient deities. Raus Lungenkraut survives the magic of the alien world of Ila without ill effects. He searches for traces of his missing brother. The story arc unfolds a conflict between aristocrats and monsters plotting to destroy humanity.

The novel won the Fantlab Book of the Year award. It opens the "Birds and Sunshines" series and is listed as the first volume in the cycle.

Plot summary

The narrative begins with a scholarly feast. Botanist Kalevi Toi celebrates the appointment of his colleague, Aurelius Pnob. On a dark street, the professors are surrounded by cultists. The criminals wear cloaks of owl feathers. The cultists kill Pnob with hidden magic. Kalevi Toi is captured. The scientist dies of exhaustion in a locked cell. His consciousness is transferred to the dimension of Il. The goddess Autumn Bonfire kisses the professor. The contact infects the botanist with a deadly rot.

The plot shifts to a mercenary expedition. The Strawcloaks squad makes its way through the wastelands. The worldbuilding describes the Il as a distorting space. Commander August Nam holds a draw. The squad requires human blood to power a magical flower. Raus escapes the fate of the executioner thanks to the return of the scouts. Soldiers Jean and Manishka bring back a dying defector. The sorcerer Bolokhov takes the soldier’s life. Magic restores sunlight.

Cemetery of the Brave

Raus acts as a guide. He is immune to the harmful stones of Ila. The hero leads the squad through a lunar crater. At the bottom of the depression, the mercenaries find Odelia Lil. The wife of Raus’s older brother has been unconscious for eight years. Nearby lies the young sorceress Ida Refrair and her bodyguard Larchenkov. Ida survived an attack by cult soldiers. The crater contains the remains of the Third Line Regiment. Odelia is being transported unconscious on a horse.

Defense of the border fort

The mercenaries reach the Sixteenth Underith. The fort protects the borders of Aiure. Inside the Underith, Raus meets Ida. During the night, a sabotage occurs. A small parasite grows into a massive antlion. The monster tears through a portal. The Bloodbender enters. Suani serves the Autumn Bonfire. The creature is searching for Odelia Lil.

The monster kills the garrison soldiers. Raus leads Ida away from danger. Bloodroot uses magic, turning people into blooming clover. The defenders use artillery. A massive female Killi nicknamed Fat Mommy fires a cannon. Cannonballs and grapeshot tear the monster to pieces. Odelia is taken away by Vogelfeder officials.

The Threat to Aiure

The mercenaries travel to the capital on a slow train. Raus delivers the mined stones to the merchant Liam. The hero takes gold for the goods. His niece, Elfie, is waiting for Raus at home. Elfie is studying the anatomy of Ila creatures. Raus lives in the old Owl Tower district. An alien tree grows on the top floor of Raus’s apartment. The hero waters the roots with water and earth from the wastelands. The scientist Ambroise is collecting data for a monster encyclopedia.

Secret Service investigator Tim Klewe brings Raus to the plantations. Cascades of Sunlights are blooming outside the city. The plants provide energy to all the sorcerers of Aiure. A black rot is devouring the crops. Raus deduces the source of the infection. The Lightbringers want to destroy the capital’s magic. Without the sorcerers, the city will fall to the Birds’ attack. The Birds have enslaved humanity for centuries. The legendary hero, Clawpaw, banished the monsters in the past.

Raus visits Frohk Heidekraut. The old aristocrat remembers the story of her ancestor. Autumn Bonfire has become the mistress of mold. The goddess uses rot against humanity. Odelia wields Pearl Magic. This power can halt the decay of plants. Vogelfeder investigator Udo Traugesland interrogates Raus. Raus conceals her knowledge of the cultists’ plans.

Arena fights

Raus goes to the Sunny Pavilion. Spectators watch gladiators fight monsters. The hero seeks contact with Odelia through her brother, Thomas. An attack occurs in the arena’s dungeons. Unknown assailants release a Brainshaker. The creature dominates people’s minds. Raus and Ida descend into the tunnels. The ambassador’s wife, Varvara Ustinova, hides in an empty cage.

The plot accelerates. Brainshaker paralyzes Raus with a beam. The left side of the hero’s face goes numb. Ida fires a pistol. Raus finishes off the monster with a pitchfork. The hero intercepts the mercenaries. The cultists wanted to obtain the monster’s extract. The liquid enhances the deities’ magic. Raus stabs the enemy mage with a dagger. Augustus shoots the shooters.

Cult mercenaries track Raus at night. The Silver Branch sorcerer attacks near the Ervenord River Canal. The carriage falls 9 meters into the water. Raus rescues Elfie. A mercenary friend, Crybaby, kills the pursuers. Raus pays for Crybaby’s escape from Aiure.

Return from the Void

Odelia needs a weapon. Raus buys weak runes from the underground merchant Liam. Then Frok allows his grandson to take powerful crystals from the family safe. Frok wants Odelia dead. Raus brings the stones to his brother’s wife. The woman hides in Rain’s old house. Odelia reveals the secret of her absence.

For eight years, she was a prisoner of the Deepshaker. Rain is dead. Odelia was infected with the Silt and became a Vyitini monster. She retained her sanity for the sake of revenge. Odelia arrived in the city to eliminate Meadows. The Lightbringer is spreading the rot. Odelia asks Raus to leave. She does not intend to surrender to the Aiure authorities.

Cult mercenaries storm the building. Odelia blinds her enemies with corpse wax magic. She draws energy from the enemies’ stones. The enemies perish in a bloody mess. Raus and Odelia flee to the river. Meadows catches up with the fugitives on the street.

Destruction of the city

The Lightbringer unleashes his power on the residential areas. Buildings crumble to dust. Ervenord overflows its banks. The river drowns the ruins of the Alien Quarters. Odelia casts spells. She saves Raus with a magical dome. The woman pins Meadows to the ground with glowing spears. Odelia withstands the Lightbringer’s counterattacks.

Meadows uses rosemary branches. The plants pierce Raus. Odelia sacrifices the last of her strength. She kills Meadows at the cost of her own life. Odelia gives Raus Rain’s old sword. The woman falls into a fissure in the earth. Odelia stops the infection of the sunshines. Meadows’ death saves the capital from losing its magic.

Raus remains lying on the riverbank. Rot dissolves his flesh. Elfie finds Raus at night. She slits her guardian’s throat with a knife, saving the man from a long, painful agony.

Rebirth

One day passes. Raus opens his eyes. He awakens in his home’s greenhouse. A magical tree has woven a new body for the hero. The plant has healed his fatal wounds. Elfie drowned the mangled remains in the river. The girl had cared for the tree for many years. The plant thanked its owners by saving Raus.

Raus and Elfie examine Rain’s blade. Elfie unscrews the counterweight from the hilt. The weapon concealed a secret compartment. The heroes find a round object inside the secret compartment. The ancient rune "Birdeater" has returned to the world. The artifact grants sorcerers boundless energy. The hero Clawfoot used this very stone to kill Birds. The rune never runs out. Raus receives the greatest legacy of his family.