Official Review: The Feral Menace by Phillip Leighton-Daly

[Sam Ibeh]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Feral Menace" by Phillip Leighton-Daly.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Humans naturally crave power, fame, greed, and violence. The desire to rule and dominate everyone through war and deceit has been the most conscious drive for humanity. All these dynamics were given full play in The Feral Menace. Power, trust, betrayal, and utter defeat were recurring themes in this short narrative.

Pompous Toady, the revolutionary leader of the feral armies, is determined to hold his grip on power and destroy any opposition he is to encounter in the process. In his quest for dominance, he makes a pact with the devil (figuratively) to destroy his enemies. He has no idea that he is being played and used. What fate awaits Toady? Will he succeed in his quest or suffer betrayal?

Ingeniously, Phillip Leighton-Daly portrays some human attributes and shortcomings through a well-written, satirical fable. It quickly brings back memories of the classical work of George Orwell, Animal Farm. Fables always tell beautiful and critical stories.

It was a complete short fictional story that used animals through humor, irony, and ridicule to expose and criticize mankind's stupidity and vices, particularly in contemporary politics and other topical issues such as war and global warming, climate change, and racism.

What I like most about the book is the moral consciousness the author tries to evoke in the reader by highlighting the various vices humans perpetrate in the world. Through his imagination, he creates empathy in the reader for animals and plants, who are victims of consistent hunting and killings. I also like that the author does a lot of research to come up with alternative names for the animals in the story; it presents a refreshing moment of education for the reader. There are references to good pop culture music and events, which make it very relatable. It will indeed be a fun ride to read this professionally-edited and well-written book.

My only concern about the book is its close similarity with George Orwell's Animal Farm, both in the narrative style and brevity. There were also excerpts from Orwell's 1984 novel. For instance, the anthem read by the Gestapo to Toady was similar to the anthem read to Big Brother.

I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars because of the moral lessons it teaches. I won't give it a 4-star rating because it is way too similar to George Orwell's book — I expect authors to be unique, even if they're borrowing a leaf out of other people's works. I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys animal stories, especially young adults. This book contains pictures that connect with these kinds of readers.

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The Feral Menace
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[Valkyrie9]

It is most certainly high praise to compare a work to George Orwell's Animal Farm, and there appears to be many important topics covered in this tale. Such a pity that the author borrowed a little too much from Orwell, and did not make it completely his own. Thanks for the honest review.

[rahilshajahan]

Its unfortunate that the author drew too many similarities into George Orwell's works; I think he was trying to portray a 21st century Orwellian style. Thanks for an enlightening review!

[Zainabreadsnow]

A satirical fable! Sounds incredible. Thank you for the incredible review!

[Menace Crypto]

I love that the author focuses on vices common in the world today. Nice review, I really enjoyed it.

[Raluca_Mihaila]

Thank you for your informative review! Maybe the author was influenced by Orwell so much, that he didn't realized how similar his style became.

[Rukitejevbo02]

I'm not one who's interested in animal stories, so I'll have to pass. Thanks for the review.

[GNerd]

Sounds like animal farm. Your review was informative. Thank you

[Tim Toby]

Looks like a good story but definitely not my type.
Thanks for the review