It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying. It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world. In each era, a child shall be chosen. Their task is to find a dark messiah known only as the Crowman. But is he our saviour –or the final incarnation of evil? Black Feathers, the latest novel from Joseph D’Lacey, is a story in two halves. The narrative alternates between a couple of separate, but interconnected journeys. The first strand is the story of Gordon Black, a young boy born into the present day just as the world we know is beginning to come apart at the seams. The evil that Gordon faces off against appears in the form of a group known only as The Ward. They have infiltrated every level of government and big business in an effort to control what precious few resources remain. The Ward’s sole purpose? To locate and destroy the individual known as The Crowman. I was reminded a little of Norsefire, the near faceless fascist villains that feature heavily in Alan Moore’s masterpiece V for Vendetta. You see, D’Lacey is being...