Planet of the Owls — Mike Philbin

The world is coming to an end, and the angels don't give a damn. Oxford, England: Marcus (who works part-time at the falafel kiosk in town) awakens to find a giant black and white bird at his window. He's sure that's what he sees: a giant bird with feathers that throb with sinister portent. He shakes himself awake and gets ready for work, unaware that his world no longer exists. Beijing, China: Su-Ki Chin (a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl) stands at the bus stop with her schoolmates, but their bus never arrives. Returning home, she finds the family chickens have gone berserk, chasing her brothers around the yard and leaving her parents for dead. It's like she's in a dream-the chickens tower over her terrified brothers. She will soon become one of those hybrid birds. Planet of the Owls, a new genreclectic novel by UK-based artist/writer Mike Philbin, is a split-narrative story that tells of the time-and-space traveling powers of the Gods who have finally arrived on planet Earth in the guise of birds: robins, crows, magpies and owls. An age-old political conspiracy is revealed among the angel clan, and mankind becomes its innocent victim. The fate of the Earth lies with Marcus and Su-Ki Chin-only their extra-species love can save a planet about to be abandoned by the Gods. Planet of the Owls is a radical new interpretation of 'spirituality' as seen from a higher dimension.