Manor Farm is now a petting zoo, a menagerie with alpacas, geckos, and magpies. However, corruption and hostility persist in this small, dystopian society. Contaminated water, infected feed, and undernourished creatures are everywhere and a mysterious illness, Wufflu, is spreading. Meanwhile, a ruling pig is involved in shady deals, returning with cash. What is he selling? What is the source of this new feed that makes them all sick? Biles writes a modern version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm that includes a pandemic disease, fake news, and hatred of differences. Witty, funny and somewhere sad.
“This was clearly his cue to leave, but Cosmo didn’t move. Instead he told Roussel about his plan to unite the farm around a new drove, and his hope that the magpies would help him do this. The elderly magpie, who had been listening with some impatience, shook his head.
“It is our role to observe and advise, not to choose sides,” he said. “And anyway, however do you expect to win, when it’s so much easier to unite the animals against something than for it?”
Cosmo told Roussel that he still believed, despite everything, that the majority of animals could still be called upon to be reasonable. Roussel cackled meanly, then said, “What is reason ?”
“The ability to make choices,” Cosmo said, feeling once again like Roussel’s student, but confident in his response. “Logically, based on past experience.”
Roussel nodded vigorously, although less in agreement, and more as if he was satisfied that Cosmo had fallen into his trap.
“In which case,” the old magpie said, “surely the least reasonable thought of them all is to expect your fellow animals to be reasonable… seeing as that conclusion isn’t based on any past experience whatsoever.”
And with that he disappeared into the tinkling forest of reflective glass.”