The Haven by Graham Diamond

[cromagnonman]

Now I strongly suspect that reader reaction to this particular book rests largely upon how one feels about having talking animals in their adult fiction. If one is adamant that such should be confined to children's books then no amount of compensatory blood and guts is going to convince you otherwise and will probably only serve to render such all the more incongruous in any case. But for all its noble wolves and wise old parrots this is most definitely not a children's book. It is a war story and a bloody and uncompromising one at that.

The setting is a distant future when mankind has been reduced to a rump numbered in the thousands and clossetted in an ancient stone citadel called The Haven. Surrounding it on all sides is - so far as anyone knows - an endless forest ruled over by packs of savage dogs who have long forsaken their status of being man's best friend in favour of being his most implacable enemy instead. When a cunning and charismatic dog warlord called Toland arises and succeeds in uniting all the packs of the forest into a single army then the stage is set for a cataclysmic clash to determine which species has mastery of the world.

Now I'll concede that this interspecies communication does take some getting used to. Fortunately it is largely limited to wolves, dogs and birds. Had the rabbits shown the slightest intent of chipping in with bunny wisdom - and seeing as how this book was originally published by the Playboy Press in 1977 that wasn't an inconceivable prospect - then I would probably have chucked the book aside myself. And that would have been a shame as I ended up really enjoying it.

The book follows two seperate strands; the first involves the idealistic Lord Nigel and his efforts to persuade the council of the Haven to let him lead an expedition into the forest to seek new lands, while the second centres on the war itself. Central to both strands is the vigourous Captain Desmond (inspiring nomenclature not being one of Diamond's creative strengths: Basil, Rolf and Nevil are other featured players). It is action man Desmond who commands Lord Nigel's foray into the forest and also returns in time to lead the defence of the besieged Haven.

The book certainly isn't without its shortcomings; Diamond offers no explanations as to the circumstances that brought mankind to such reduced straits. Nor does he tell us why one stone fortress alone should survive whatever fate befell the ancients. It would have been interesting to know. But the question I most wanted answered was how the farmer - who is murdered by dogs in the opening chapter - came to have his severed head fixed atop a planted pitchfork. Dog paws not being exactly reknowned for their dexterity.

Whatever the validity of such grievances they are more than compensated for by plenty of bloody combat. There are two really great pitched battles and a number of skirmishes involving snakes, a bear and vampire bats.

Diamond went on to produce four sequels to this book centring on Stacy the Empire Princess. As I recall them they took the series down a diluted avenue; not precisely YA but not far off. This original novel is made of meatier stuff. The characterization may be thin but the blood is thick and freely flowing.