Audiobook Review - The Ravenmaster

A great audiobook I listened to in recent years is called The Ravenmaster, written and read by Christopher Skaife.  The author is a Yeoman in the British Army who is in charge of taking care of the ravens in the Tower of London.  Prior to listening to this audiobook, I had no urge to visit the Tower of London, but now it is on my bucket list.

The author freely admits that he is not a scientist, and does not attempt to push the book as a scientific work.  He has had many interesting adventures with these birds, which make it into the book along with some very interesting history and mythology surrounding the Tower of London.

The reason the ravens are kept at the tower is based on a legend that there needs to be a certain number of ravens at the Tower of London, or the monarchy will fall.  He delves deeply into this legend, and comes to the conclusion that no one really knows where the legend started.  In going into the legend, he also goes over a lot of interesting history.

Some of my favorite passages in the book have to do with the mischief in which these birds engage.  For instance, one of ravens is good at getting sandwiches from the tourists.  It lands next to them when they are eating on the picnic bench.  Most people are so surprised at the sight of this large bird, that they drop their sandwich, which the raven grabs and flies away.

Another raven is good at flying in silently, and grabbing bags of crisps (chips in North America).  Before the person knows what is happening, the raven grabs the crisps with one foot, rips open the bag with its beak, fills its beak with crisps, and flies away.

Another interesting aspect of the ravens is the pecking order.  Ravens are highly intelligent birds, and they have a very definite pecking order within their flock.  At night, the ravens are put in enclosures, and they insist on being put in the enclosures in a certain order.  One time, the author and his wife had  dinner reservations to celebrate his birthday.  He thought that he could put the ravens in the enclosures in a different order just for that night; he was wrong.  The raven that thought it should be in first saw what was happening, and would not allow him/herself to be caught.  They never did make it to dinner that night.

The ravens at the Tower of London have their wings trimmed, but they are no longer rendered flightless after an accident several years ago.  One raven walking around near the top of the tower tried to leap from one perch to another, and did not survive the jump.  After that, they decided to lightly trim the feathers to discourage long distance flight.  If a raven is determined enough, it can fly away.  The staff then has to go try to retrieve the raven.  Since ravens are highly unusual in London, people often call the tower if one is seen.  However, some never return.

It was nice to listen to the author reading his own book.  Christopher Skaife is originally from the Dover area of England, and has a fun accent.

I highly recommend this audiobook.  It covers many interesting aspects of life with the ravens at the Tower of London.