Review of Anima: The Bird House by  ericmalves

This is Eric's debut novel and it delivers on what it might be like to slowly turn into a bird over the course of several months, including the problems, fears, sorrows, and, ultimately, the joys of becoming something new.

The story is written from the first-person perspective of Lyle, an average young man who is living at home while attending community college. A syndrome, known as Anima, is striking humans randomly and causing them to gradually transform into any of a variety of animals. The process varies for each individual, sometimes moving quickly, often taking months to years, but always, inevitably, completely transforming them into their destination animal. How the syndrome spreads (or if it is a communicable disease at all), how it works, and how the destination species is selected are completely unknown. Those so stricken immediately find themselves ostracized by society and, so, form their own support groups and rely on help from out-of-network health care providers who are dedicated to serving these special cases.

Lyle learns early on that his destination species is a red-tailed hawk. The process starts with minor things such as eye color and visual acuity, but soon progresses, in stages, to growing a tail, feathered torso, a beak, and so on over the course of about four months. He falls in with a group of other "hybrids" in a sort of halfway house where they share their experiences and offer emotional and physical support to each other during the frightening and difficult adjustments that occur with each phase of change. Lyle makes new friends, gives and receives support, and, ultimately, must watch his friends pass into their final animal forms. Whether they still possess human emotions or memories is completely unknown, adding to the anxiety of their ordeals.

As a person who has, his whole life, desired to be a bird, I love this book. There are many ways to tell the story of what a journey into being another animal might be like, but I think that Eric has chosen the most relatable one. Lyle is completely clueless about birds and is surprised by every new layer of change and describes the experience in non-technical terms that anyone would understand. This perspective will be relatable to more than just those of us that are dedicated transformation-lovers. At the same time, his fear of losing his humanity is acutely apparent, both as he changes and his friends change around him. Their final moments of transformation are both frightening and beautiful, much like dying from the perspective of their friends. Eric handles these emotions wonderfully and ultimately has crafted a deeply personal journey into what it means to be human, even if we lose our outward humanity.

Whether you are a Therian, a person who carries a feeling of "species dysphoria," or simply someone who fantasizes about being something else, I think you will love this book. There are soft cover and digital editions available on Amazon or from the author. Check it out:

https://anima.ericmalves.com (warning, site may be under construction so be patient)

Disclosure: There was no compensation for this review. This is a copy of the review on my website at https://aetusart.com/blog/hal-s-new.....eric-malves-80