Palaces of the Crow: A Novel
May 2026 · Sold by MCD
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About this ebook
In Ray Nayler’s speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect.
Neriya is a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a biologist and has befriended a flock of crows in her shtetl. Czesław is an underage Polish soldier who escapes into the freezing Lithuanian woods after deserting the Red Army. Kezia is a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivization. As the German blitzkrieg crashes across the Lithuanian border in June 1941, all three are caught up in the onslaught. Along with Innokentiy, an abandoned boy who cannot speak, they are driven into the primeval forest, where they survive by forming an unbreakable bond with one another—and with Neriya’s intelligent crows, who for years have been bringing her intricate gifts that suggest they are no ordinary corvids.
As the war goes on, the crows warn the children of danger and help them hide from the human threats of the forest—not only the Germans but also Russian deserters, Polish partisans, fascist Lithuanian police, and the other bandits and outcasts wandering the benighted landscape.
From Ray Nayler—winner of the Hugo and Locus Awards and a finalist for the Ray Bradbury Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award—Palaces of the Crow blends history and haunting speculative wonder in a story of survival, loyalty, and the fragile beauty of life in the darkest of times.
Neriya is a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a biologist and has befriended a flock of crows in her shtetl. Czesław is an underage Polish soldier who escapes into the freezing Lithuanian woods after deserting the Red Army. Kezia is a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivization. As the German blitzkrieg crashes across the Lithuanian border in June 1941, all three are caught up in the onslaught. Along with Innokentiy, an abandoned boy who cannot speak, they are driven into the primeval forest, where they survive by forming an unbreakable bond with one another—and with Neriya’s intelligent crows, who for years have been bringing her intricate gifts that suggest they are no ordinary corvids.
As the war goes on, the crows warn the children of danger and help them hide from the human threats of the forest—not only the Germans but also Russian deserters, Polish partisans, fascist Lithuanian police, and the other bandits and outcasts wandering the benighted landscape.
From Ray Nayler—winner of the Hugo and Locus Awards and a finalist for the Ray Bradbury Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award—Palaces of the Crow blends history and haunting speculative wonder in a story of survival, loyalty, and the fragile beauty of life in the darkest of times.
In Ray Nayler’s speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect.
Neriya is a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a...
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Ratings and reviews
1 review
Lorena Dinger
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May 19, 2026
Although Nayler's previous books included violence & gore, they felt more hopeful. This was too bleak for me. I liked the premise of four young people from different oppressed cultures surviving World War II in the Lithuanian woods with the help of hyperintelligent crows. I liked the found family vibes. I thought the book was well written, but I was expecting science fiction, & this is historical fiction with minimal speculative elements. I wanted more of the crows & less of the horrors of war.
About the author
Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani, and Vietnamese. Nayler is a Foreign Service Officer. He previously worked in international educational development, and he served in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was the Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He also served as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is currently Diplomatic Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University.
Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani, and Vietnamese. Nayler is a...
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