Owls of the Eastern Ice

Critics Review

• Slaght has a rare gift for startling evocations of the natural world…A refreshingly old-school, tautly strung adventure

  Guardian

• Excellent…The brutality of human habitation is counterpoised with the brutality of the natural world. The reader becomes, like the author, “stunned by the quiet violence of this place.”

  The Times

• This is a tale of man’s endurance, determination and perseverance in search of this elusive and beautiful creature … wonderful

  Bill Bailey

• The remarkable story of one man’s heroic quest to save the astonishing fish owl. If only every endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned, courageous and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght.

  Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

• A gripping account of the author’s obsessive quest to save one of the world’s most magnificent birds.

  Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex and author of A Sting in the Tale

• A vivid dispatch from the front line of conservation, Owls of the Eastern Ice is engrossing and uplifting; an inspiring story of vital work undertaken with utter determination in wild and distant places.

  Horatio Clare, author of Orison for a Curlew

• Slaght’s story reveals the patience and determination of a true conservationist. And the ears and eyes of a poet. Above all, he makes the people, wildlife and landscape of the Russian Far East come alive for armchair travellers. I haven’t enjoyed a book on remote Russia as much as this since Ian Frazier’s Travels in Siberia

  Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia

• True epic. A powerful, passionate and highly readable reflection on the wildness both inside us and out there in the forest.

  Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

• A fascinating account of one man’s quest to conserve the magnificent fish owl of Eastern Asia, this is a book that feels both urgent and relevant.

  Christopher Skaife, author of The Ravenmaster

• From the very first pages, Slaght grips readers with vivid language and tight storytelling … The cast of characters he brings to life – both human and avian – illuminate the delicate symbiosis of the natural world and shed a welcome light on the remarkable creatures that are too little known. Top-notch nature writing in service of a magnificent, vulnerable creature.

  Kirkus

• A detailed and thrilling account of efforts to conserve an endangered species. . . Slaght evinces humor, tirelessness, and dedication in relating the hard and crucial work of conservation. Readers will be drawn to this exciting chronicle of science and adventure, a demonstration that wilderness can still be found.

  Publishers Weekly

• A thoroughly engaging read which will appeal both to those specifically interested in owls, as well as those with a wider interest in the natural world. Will make armchair and keyboard conservationists envious and uncomfortable in equal measures

  John Gray, The International Owl Society

• This is an epic tale of hangovers, violence and obsessive ornithology. It is a superb depiction of a far-flung corner of the world where bears, tigers and men battle with relentless environment and each other. It is a powerful antidote to saccharine nature writing; Slaght encounters such a host of pickled gritty characters that you could imagine the Coen brothers adapting it for the screen.

  The Times Nature Book of the Year

• Wonderful… If [COP26 organisers] picked it up in the jet-lagged early hours they might find their dreams haunted, as mine have been, by huge, endangered owls swooping low through their subconscious, reminding them what survival might mean

  Guardian