Amazon.com
The idea for this book might have come from National Enquirer: hideous demonic monsters invade England, laying it waste and devouring most of the inhabitants. Embargoed by the rest of the world, the English barricade themselves underground. After five years on the defensive, an armored, heavily-armed train is built to attack and, if possible, find the source of the plague: the Cockatrice Belle and her crack Cockatrice Corps crew. The train sets out for Manchester, and by chance it picks up Sauna, a young girl who embodies both cause and cure.
Joan Aiken's characters are evocatively Dickensian and strange--Sauna, Dakin, Clipspeak, Bellswinger, Tom Flint. This send-up of every other alien-invasion story is a quirky, inventive fantasy.
From Publishers Weekly
Respected for her suspense (The Embroidered Sunset) and children's fantasy (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase), Aiken turns here to adult fantasy, only partially hitting her mark. Monsters called "cockatrices" invade Britain and drive the bulk of the population underground. The country's hopes are pinned on the Cockatrice Corps, who travel from London to Manchester via armor-plated train to battle the foul creatures. Two children travel with the Corps: drummer Dakin Prestwick and his orphaned cousin Sauna Flow, both of whom escape from their nasty Aunt Monsoon. Sauna's precognitive abilities give the Corps a much needed advantage?but they also make the girl a target for the evil behind the cockatrices. A missing book of occult lore written by one of Sauna's ancestors may hold the key to dispelling the monsters. When Sauna is kidnapped, the Cockatrice Corps must save her and recover the book before the enemy does. While the writing is punchy, the story lacks the depth and polish of Aiken's previous work. She adopts a hybrid tone that mixes whimsy with menace, resulting in a murky morality tale that is awkwardly poised between adult and childlike sensibilities. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA. Cockatrice is the generic term used to refer to the basilisks, Mirkindoles, gorgons, snarks, and other monsters who have invaded the British Isles via the damaged ozone layer. Sauna, gifted in telepathy and precognition, is the first to see them. Before long, the human population is decimated and the country is ravaged. Heroic recruits, known as the Cockatrice Corps, board an armed train and traverse the infested land. Dakin Prestwich, Sauna's cousin, is one of those recruits. Dakin and Sauna are the major protagonists in a cast of characters that ranges from demons to archbishops, from noble hounds to ignorant buffoons. The story itself is a collage of science-fantasy adventure, social commentary, morality play, and sinister farce. It is narrated in a matter-of-fact, often affectless tone that reads like a bizarre dream or surreal tale. There is humor, too, but it is often a savage humor, one that slides easily into horror. Adding to the dreamlike quality of the narration is the fact that the events are treated unevenly: some action is skimmed over while some seems to be held under a magnifying glass; some details are systematically explained while others appear out of nowhere. Like a dream, the story seems to exist in a reality deeper than logic. Readers may be reminded of Alice in Wonderland, Douglas Adams's Life, the Universe and Everything (Pocket, 1991), and the movie trilogy Star Wars, and even Ghostbusters. And, like Nancy Farmer's The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (Orchard, 1994), The Cockatrice Boys is amazingly unique in both conceptualization and execution. It defies categorization and its images are sure to linger in readers' minds.?Lorna Kundert, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In her first adult fantasy novel, Aiken creates a whimsical tale of evil monsters invading England through a hole in the ozone layer. A trainful of volunteers venturing north on the Cockatrice Belle to deliver food to Manchester and destroy the invaders are assisted by drummer boy Dakin and his girl cousin Sauna, who can see through walls and into the future. Recommended for YA and fantasy collections.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Aiken provides an entirely successful dark fantasy in which England has been overrun by monsters collectively named cockatrices, and humans have been driven to living underground. A small band of heroes makes a desperate journey to Manchester to deliver food in an armored train. Surviving by the skin of their teeth, they then become involved in an even deadlier quest--to find the origin of the cockatrices and end their invasion. The dominant themes here are carrying on amid horrors and needing unusual self-knowledge to fight what cannot be understood, and Aiken handles both very well. Overall, the book echoes the European experience of World War II, which was very different from the American experience, but it will not disappoint readers of any land or clime on that account. Not at all. Roland Green
From Kirkus Reviews
First adult fantasy novel from a well-known purveyor of children's fantasies (Cold Shoulder Road, 1995, etc.). Following climatic change, the British Isles are invaded by an entire menagerie of comic-horror monsters that rapidly turn the countryside into a depopulated wasteland. The government forms the anti-monster Cockatrice Corps and commissions a specially armored and armed train, the Cockatrice Belle, which will fight its way through to Manchester with a cargo of carrots to relieve the famine there. Young Corps drummer Dakin Prestwick is particularly pleased, since in Manchester live his cousin Sauna and her weird old Aunt Florence. The Belle reaches Manchester without too many mishaps, and Sauna and Dakin are reunited, though Aunt Florence mysteriously vanishes. Sauna, with her precognition, receives a message two days before it's sent, to the effect that the Belle must proceed into Scotland to confront the source of evil. So, joined by Dr. Wren, the Archbishop of Lincoln, the treacherous Tom Flint, and a doleful Gridelin hound that understands only German, the train proceeds to Fife, where Sauna and Dakin must locate a manuscript written by the medieval alchemist Michael Scott before the bad guys can grab it and make their conquest permanent. Whimsical and sprightly, but not even half worked-out--and the ending just fizzles. A mystery why this one was singled out for adult consumption, but Aiken's going to have to work much harder if she hopes to grab the attention of a mature audience. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"Readers will be reminded of Alice in Wonderland. . .and the movie trilogy Star Wars."--School Library Journal
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