My copy originates from its first publication - in 1982, but Temple has since re-released it with a few of the facts updated as people learn more about the behaviour of these extraordinary birds.
This novel is rather like the Watership Down of my country (except not quite as famous). This was my world as I read this, and this also is the kea's world.įor those not informed on New Zealand wildlife, the kea is the only alpine parrot in the world, and one of the most intelligent non-primate species that there is. What more suitable place to read this novel than while on holiday in Fiordland? Whilst reclining in the beanbags in Milford Lodge, watching the rain stream down outside - the dark shapes of the beech trees rising in a perfectly penetrable wall, and above them sheer and rocky cliffs, streaming with waterfalls.
This new and revised edition brings his inspirational characters to life for another generation. It is a celebratory parable of the natural world of which we are all a part, a realm of myth for all to love and treasure. They seek adventure and discovery but instead become involved in farce and tragedy before they discover freedom in an unexpected way.In Beak of the Moon, Philip Temple has given us more than a great novel. Inspired by the prophecies of the great yellow kea, Glintamber, Strongbeak leads a group of rebellious young birds in a quest for a new world beyond the mountains. The destruction they bring causes hardship and corruption to kea society and forces young Strongbeak to flee the tyrannical boss Highfeather. Using kea as characters, the book is deeply and authentically rooted in this famous alpine parrot's raucous lifestyle and Southern Alps environment.In the remote valley of Kawee, the timeless world of the kea is suddenly disrupted when strange wingless birds appear. Beak of the Moon was the bestselling novel of 1981, an instant classic that has since been described as 'unique in New Zealand literature'.
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