Kenneth Oppel: Silverwing (AudiobookFormat, 2001, Recorded Books)
audio cassette
English language
Published Jan. 6, 2001 by Recorded Books.
When a newborn bat named Shade but sometimes called "Runt" becomes separated from his colony during migration, he grows in ways that prepare him for even greater journeys.
Read this as a kid, but re reading as an adult, I felt that the ending of the novel felt a little weaker than the ending. A lot of reliance on happenstance over anything. I still think it makes an interesting kid's read though
Picked this trilogy up from the library after enjoying the author's "Airborn" trilogy very much, so was a bit surprised to find how much this differed in style and theme. To my surprise it's all about bats; specifically the silverwing bat colony (there are many different types of bats with different names). The main character is Shade, a runt of the colony eager to prove himself and to go on his first migration flight; on the way he encounters various adventures and meets Marina, a Brightwing bat kicked out of her colony because the humans had caught and tagged her with a metal ring. Various escapades ensue among which Shade discovers he has unusually sensitive echolocation that allows him not only to "hear" better than most bats but also to project sound "illusions" and even cause damage. Along the way they also meet Goth, a huge carnivorous jungle bat who …
Picked this trilogy up from the library after enjoying the author's "Airborn" trilogy very much, so was a bit surprised to find how much this differed in style and theme. To my surprise it's all about bats; specifically the silverwing bat colony (there are many different types of bats with different names). The main character is Shade, a runt of the colony eager to prove himself and to go on his first migration flight; on the way he encounters various adventures and meets Marina, a Brightwing bat kicked out of her colony because the humans had caught and tagged her with a metal ring. Various escapades ensue among which Shade discovers he has unusually sensitive echolocation that allows him not only to "hear" better than most bats but also to project sound "illusions" and even cause damage. Along the way they also meet Goth, a huge carnivorous jungle bat who turns into the villain of the trilogy.
I enjoyed the story, simple though it was (definitely a YA book) and the description of the differences between the bats and how they use echolocation. I enjoyed less the odd mix of the supernatural , with bat gods performing bat god miracles and so on. Seemed this could have been an excellent and fascinating book from the perspective of the bats living their lives in parallel to the humans, without needing to bring in elements of mythology that took the story entirely out of the realm of the potentially "real world" we live in.
In the tradition of other children’s animal books, like Watership Down, Silverwing is often amusing and bizarre and brutal, though it unfortunately often drags without wings.
