The best thing about this book is the idea of a mythical heron made out of rain, which can take any form and shape of water it pleases when it pleases, and which has powerful control over the local weather conditions. But there's no way this badass bird would be captured and contained in modern times by the first group of dumbasses with an oilcloth and a small cage of metal bars that find and attempt it. I'm offended on the bird's behalf.

However that's how this blandly told eco-allegory tale would have it. It has an interesting setup, with the rain heron myth telling leading into a modern day setting of an unnamed country where climate change disasters have led to societal collapse and military coup. The storytelling however doesn't fulfill the promise and the prose is just average, leading to disappointment. Soldiers are looking for a hermit woman they hope can lead them to the bird. You know they'll find her and they do. Then you know she'll lead them to the bird and she does. You don't know that absolutely nothing will happen from the military rulers having control of the bird. I mean, nothing. Zip happens. What a blown opportunity from their point of view, I tell you what.

Instead the novel focuses on the character development of the soldier who lead this mission, a turning away from world building into characterization which is unfortunate. The world of the novel is left quite vague, while the character development is nothing you wouldn't expect, unexceptionally told. The rain heron is really beside the point for all of this once it has helped serve as catalyst, featuring some rather too-obvious symbolism involving an eyeball and sight which later leads to a stomach turning passage involving a "river of pus" streaming down someone's face. Sorry.

The premise then is greater than the execution. It's not bad, it's just disappointing. ( )

Good book. A page-turner. Unusual, i a way. ( )

Much more mature, still fantastical but recognisable as Tas ( )

A remarkable little fable, a truly worthy novel. ( )

I went into this not knowing what to expect. In fact, I'm not even sure how I became aware of this novel but I'm so grateful that I did.

Told in four parts, The Rain Heron introduces us to three seemingly disparate stories and then unites them seamlessly later on. Set in a country torn apart by the climate crisis and political turmoil, the novel focuses on several different characters.

Ren is a woman who has turned her back on what's left of civilization and retreated to a solitary life on a mountaintop. Her only interaction is to trade occasionally with a man and his son. A young soldier and her small troop come to her and insist on her help in finding the mythological rain heron.

A young girl living in a peaceful coastal town, Zoe lives an idyllic life helping her aunt collect ink from squid in a traditional and secretive way. But that all changes when the Northerner and the storms come to town.

A tender hearted medic forced into taking a military role walks a thin line and finds it difficult to separate his morals, his loyalty, and his duties.

Written in both third and first person, the characters are awash in depth and complexity. Even the landscapes are imbued with emotion from verdant mountaintops, to deep dark seas, to dried up plains, the locales serve to create an almost hypnotic atmosphere.

The Rain Heron was utterly captivating. Mixing fable with dystopian eco-thriller, Arnott has woven a spellbinding tale filled with greed and generosity, danger and comfort, love and brutality, horrifying ugliness and breathtaking beauty all in equal measure. ( )