- Paperback: 262 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada; First THUS edition (April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000639194X
- ISBN-13: 978-0006391944
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 288,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'SILVERWING is top-notch fantasy adventure writing. Go for it.' (Daily Telegraph )
'cracking stories, brimming with adventure, redolent of great mythical sagas of the past, alive with invention, thoughtful - at times profound and probing - and never faltering when it comes to thrills and page-turning power.' (Carousel )
'Fast faced, cliff-hanging action . . . Recommend this one.' (School Library Journal )
'Totally compelling . . . an excellent adventure story.' (The Scotsman )
'Oppel's achievement is to have created much more than an action adventure involving bats. This first powerful novel successfully creates a new fantasy world.' (Literary Review )
'A Jonathan Livingstone Seagull of the bat community . . . this epic journey is gripping, and details of bat life are inventively and convincingly imagined.' (Publisher's Weekly )
FIREWING: 'The third book in a riveting saga about bats ... capable of enthralling both 9-11s, as well as an older audience.' (Achuka website ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'cracking stories, brimming with adventure, redolent of great mythical sagas of the past, alive with invention, thoughtful - at times profound and probing - and never faltering when it comes to thrills and page-turning power.' (Carousel )
'Fast faced, cliff-hanging action . . . Recommend this one.' (School Library Journal )
'Totally compelling . . . an excellent adventure story.' (The Scotsman )
'Oppel's achievement is to have created much more than an action adventure involving bats. This first powerful novel successfully creates a new fantasy world.' (Literary Review )
'A Jonathan Livingstone Seagull of the bat community . . . this epic journey is gripping, and details of bat life are inventively and convincingly imagined.' (Publisher's Weekly )
FIREWING: 'The third book in a riveting saga about bats ... capable of enthralling both 9-11s, as well as an older audience.' (Achuka website ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Achuka website
'The third book in a riveting saga about bats ... capable of enthralling both 9-11s, as well as an older audience.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Oppel's Silverwing trilogy has taken a little time to grow but is now one of the most interesting around, especially for boys of 9-11. The runty hero Shade has now become a father himself and is about to meet his young son Griffin - a boy bat who, ironically, feels himself hopelessly inferior to his heroic parents. After he gets his best friend Luna burnt to death trying to take fire back to Tree Haven, Griffin buries himself in a fissure in the earth and finds himself falling into the Underworld, where dead bats live, unaware that they are dead, in the land of the evil god Zotz. While Griffin tries to persuade Luna to follow him to Nocturna's tree, and the hope of re=entry into life, Shade desperately hunts for his son, fighting off his old enemy the giant vampire bat Goth.
Oppel has created a wonderful adventure around the concept of bat heroes, blending real events (for instance, the astoundingly horrible experiements on bats in World War 2, trying to use them as guided missiles) with an imaginary culture and relgion. As in the increasingly marvellous Airborne books, what starts as an interesting SF premise gets explored and expanded into a psychology. The ability of bats to both see and sense through sonic echoes is what is most intriguing, and in Firewing this is exploited to its limit.
My only reason for giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is that the ending is deeply sad and upsetting. My son has been devouring these books, and is emotionally involved with Shade and Marina, and I'm dreading his reaction to the last chapter. However, with a 4th book in the pipeline it's possible there may be some consolation.
Oppel has created a wonderful adventure around the concept of bat heroes, blending real events (for instance, the astoundingly horrible experiements on bats in World War 2, trying to use them as guided missiles) with an imaginary culture and relgion. As in the increasingly marvellous Airborne books, what starts as an interesting SF premise gets explored and expanded into a psychology. The ability of bats to both see and sense through sonic echoes is what is most intriguing, and in Firewing this is exploited to its limit.
My only reason for giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is that the ending is deeply sad and upsetting. My son has been devouring these books, and is emotionally involved with Shade and Marina, and I'm dreading his reaction to the last chapter. However, with a 4th book in the pipeline it's possible there may be some consolation.
Format:Paperback
To be honest, this is the only book so far in this series I have not really enjoyed. Maybe it is a little too dark, or maybe it was just the story, but either way, of the four books in this series, this is the only one I am not likely to read again. Shade, our hero from the first two books, has now grown and become a father himself. After an earthquake, his son Griffin is drawn into an underground world through a fissure that has opened up. Shade realizes that the legends say, if a living being enters the underworld realm of the dead and does not escape quickly, its life will be lost. Shade is frantically searching for his son and soon realizes an old enemy is also in the underworld.
Oppel again uses mythology and legends and weaves a story of bats around them. It does fit with the other books in the series, I just happened to not enjoy it as much.
Oppel again uses mythology and legends and weaves a story of bats around them. It does fit with the other books in the series, I just happened to not enjoy it as much.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
47 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Kenneth Oppal is brilliant!
28 Jan 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Griffin, ashamed at the outcome of an utimatly fatal accident, flees into the forest, and is shortly after sucked into a dark void. Frightened and alone, he finds himself in a deadly underworld, run by the Vampyrem and their lord, Cama Zotz. All are dead there, and most oblivious to the fact. And there is no food; no water. Nobody knows he is there.
All but Shade, his father. And Shade plunges into the underworld to seek his son, given but two days by the elders of his colony.
But, as usual, Goth is there. Given orders by Cama Zotz to destroy Griffin, and thus take his life, he is stregthened and cloaked by Zotz.
But Shade and Griffin are not without accomplices. A new cast of characters [including Frieda and another "good" cannibal bat] sets out to recieve sanctuary from a mystical tree created by Nocturna.
This book is fast paced and exiting. Kenneth Oppal knows how to balance: to weigh the readers patiance. The perspective swiftly changes from Griffin to Goth to Shade and then back again, all the time satisfying the reader.
All but Shade, his father. And Shade plunges into the underworld to seek his son, given but two days by the elders of his colony.
But, as usual, Goth is there. Given orders by Cama Zotz to destroy Griffin, and thus take his life, he is stregthened and cloaked by Zotz.
But Shade and Griffin are not without accomplices. A new cast of characters [including Frieda and another "good" cannibal bat] sets out to recieve sanctuary from a mystical tree created by Nocturna.
This book is fast paced and exiting. Kenneth Oppal knows how to balance: to weigh the readers patiance. The perspective swiftly changes from Griffin to Goth to Shade and then back again, all the time satisfying the reader.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
A True Furry Fantasy
18 Mar 2003
Format:Hardcover
I'm 15 years old and an above average reader for my age. This book is for 12 year year olds, they say.
Yeah right.
After I finish a book, I ususally sit there and digest it; maybe mention it to a friend later, and not conciously think about after a few hours. I finished 'Firewing' almost a day ago now and have not stopped thinking and talking about it. I can't seem to put it down, even though I've finished it!
'Firewing' is the sequel to 'Sunwing' is the sequel to 'Silverwing'. In a nutshell, Shade Silverwing's son, Griffen, is sucked into the Underworld where he has a limited amount of time to find his - dead - friend, convince her she's dead, and try to find a way out. Meanwhile, his father comes and tries to rescue him; he also has to defend himself and his son against his enemy, Goth, but finds that it is rather hard to kill a dead-beast. Oh yeah, and the 'evil' god Cama Zots is trying to take over the Upper World (i.e., land of the living) the entire time. And there's no real food or water. And then...
Well, just read the book and you'll find out all about the horrible accident at the begining, the friends everyone meets, and you even get to ponder if the gaint, canabil bats are really all that evil.
If you have read "Redall," (by Brian Jacques) Shade is remarkably similar to Matthais, as he is small but brave and is trying his best at a new concept: fatherhood, while his son is trying to cope with having a father known for his heroic deeds.
'Firewing' has action, suspense, friendship, and a great ending (though I'm still trying to decide if it's happy or not...) I'd reccomend this book to anyone of any age, wheather you normal read 'furry fantasies' or not.
Gosh, if you like reading at all you'd like this book.
Yeah right.
After I finish a book, I ususally sit there and digest it; maybe mention it to a friend later, and not conciously think about after a few hours. I finished 'Firewing' almost a day ago now and have not stopped thinking and talking about it. I can't seem to put it down, even though I've finished it!
'Firewing' is the sequel to 'Sunwing' is the sequel to 'Silverwing'. In a nutshell, Shade Silverwing's son, Griffen, is sucked into the Underworld where he has a limited amount of time to find his - dead - friend, convince her she's dead, and try to find a way out. Meanwhile, his father comes and tries to rescue him; he also has to defend himself and his son against his enemy, Goth, but finds that it is rather hard to kill a dead-beast. Oh yeah, and the 'evil' god Cama Zots is trying to take over the Upper World (i.e., land of the living) the entire time. And there's no real food or water. And then...
Well, just read the book and you'll find out all about the horrible accident at the begining, the friends everyone meets, and you even get to ponder if the gaint, canabil bats are really all that evil.
If you have read "Redall," (by Brian Jacques) Shade is remarkably similar to Matthais, as he is small but brave and is trying his best at a new concept: fatherhood, while his son is trying to cope with having a father known for his heroic deeds.
'Firewing' has action, suspense, friendship, and a great ending (though I'm still trying to decide if it's happy or not...) I'd reccomend this book to anyone of any age, wheather you normal read 'furry fantasies' or not.
Gosh, if you like reading at all you'd like this book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Firewing
28 Sep 2006
Format:Paperback
BOY.that was one of the greatest books... until the end! Gosh! First griffin(shades son) is trying to find the tree of life to get back to his normal world,but theres this problem.!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!at the very end, griffin gets bitten by his fathers dead worst enemy and dies, then shade commits suicide!!!??? You heard me right, dead,but since its the underworld hes aliuve but still has a body to uh live in.Right?? I hate thAt part but its not the worst!then griffin and the bat he killed at the very beginning (luna) get his life force, and go back to theyre world,while dead shade,making a stupendously unsatisfying ending flys through the portal and gets back in the world as a sort of nothing that can feel what its like to be anything,but can NEVER COMMUNICATE to anyone(not even other spirits). sounds more like eternal torment than eternal paradise.At the end you can just "assume" that griffin married the bat who he killed!and luna married the bat that she strangled half the life out of(literally)because he killed her.I dont realy understand the happy ending in that.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
