The Council of Animals by Nick McDonell. I don't know if it's just me or the zeitgeist of the entire publishing world, but this is another novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. This time, humanity has caused an unspecified Calamity (an extinction-level event, at least for people); the few survivors, mostly under-prepared for subsistence living, are clinging to a tenuous existence; and representatives of the different animal groups meet to decide whether to kill and eat these remaining humans. What follows, through episodes of debate, diplomacy, subterfuge, and misadventure is a lesson in trust, compromise, creative problem-solving, and tough-decison-making. McDonell imbues the animal protagonists with enough relatable intelligence and personality to fully anthropomorphize them but never loses their purely animal instincts, perspectives, and behaviors. The result is a narrative that is both real and fantastical, both instructive and entertaining, and always engaging.This was a read-in-one-go book.
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