Soonchild

Russell Hoban

In the cold north, when Sixteen-Face John, a shaman, learns that his first child, a soonchild, cannot hear the World Songs that inspire all newborns from their mother's wombs, he sets out on a quest that takes him through many lifetimes and many shape-shifts, as well as encounters with beasts, demons and a mysterious benevolent owl spirit, Ukpika, who is linked to John's past.