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Darkwing (Library Binding)


4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Superior to Firewing, brings the Silverwing Saga back to its former glory, Sep 26 2007
This review is from: Darkwing (Hardcover)
Darkwing is the latest novel in Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing saga, and serves as a prequel which tells the story of the very first bat.

A definate formula is beginning to emerge in the Silverwing series; there are some concepts used here that will be familiar to people who've read Silverwing, Sunwing and Firewing. We've got the ostracized protagonist (Shade/Griffin/Dusk) who differs from the others (Runt/Hybrid/Transitional Form), his spunky female companion (Marina/Luna/Sylph), and the cunning, ruthless, meat-thirsty villain (Goth/Carnassial). Carnassial's attack against the Chiropters parallels the Owls' attack on Tree Haeven in Silverwing, the Chiropters' search for a new home parallels the Silverwings' migration to Stone Hold. However, these are merely casual similarities.

Despite its somewhat derivative nature, Darkwing holds up pretty well. Silverwing is a great book in general, and serves well as a start to the series- Sunwing continued from where Silverwing left off and tied up the loose plot threads into a neat little package. Firewing, OTOH, was rather superfluous, continuing a story that didn't need to be continued. Darkwing, however, doesn't simply pick up where the others left off, it fleshes out the series' background and expands the Silverwing mythos, while at the same time, standing on its own; one doesn't *need* to have read the other books to enjoy Darkwing.

Darkwing also succeds in other areas. The characters are interesting and engaging, and well developed. Dusk's parallels to Carnassial form a satisfying contrast. Carnassial remains a serious threat throughout the duration of the story, (unlike Goth, who degenerated into a frustratingly inept fool in Firewing.) An interesting moral dillemma is presented in the Chiropters' refusal to participate in the genocide of the dinosaurs. It's technically well written and the plot is tight and moves along at a swift and engaging pace; not once did I feel as though the story lagged, or felt the need to skim over any parts.

The prehistoric setting is a breath of fresh air, (and admittedly relavent to my interests.) The Cenozoic is an age full of weird and interesting critters that are ripe with potential that is rarely exploited. Whereas the addition of non-bat animal characters in the Silverwing cartoon was extremely detrimental, in the case of Darkwing it helps to enhance the setting. Though dinosaurs appear only twice in the book, they're given a cryptic, mysterious, somewhat spooky portrayal. 'Tis an interesting interpretation that I've only ever seen before in Paul Zindel's Raptor.

There are also a few sporadic illustrations in the book, usually at the beginnings of each chapter. They're very nice, stylised pencil drawings, and help to enhance the overall reading experience.

All-up, Darkwing is a good book that brings the Silverwing Saga back into form. On par with Silverwing and Sunwing, and *much* better than Firewing. On a scale of 1-5 I'd give it a four. I highly reccomend it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Oppel winner, Nov 6 2007
By John Burns "Author of Runnerland, a novel for... (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Darkwing (Hardcover)
Fans of Toronto superstar Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing trilogy won't be disappointed by this prequel to his bats-versus-birds saga, set in the early Paleocene epoch. The story centres on Dusk - a proto-bat with the unheard-of ability to not just glide, but fly - and Carnassial, an early mammal developing a taste for flesh. Neither can deny his unique inclinations; giving in will lead to exile, battle, and, for one of them, death. Satisfyingly, much of Silverwing's deep back story is also revealed.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Darkwing suffers from technical difficulties, July 23 2009
This review is from: Darkwing (Hardcover)
Ahem - *looking down at what I've written* - be pre-warned, I am ranting.

I enjoy children's literature as much as adult's, and picked up Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel, 2nd hand. I wouldn't have bought it new, since the last one in the set (Firewing) was absolutely appalling. He's not a particularly good writer, but they all feature bats and I'm a sucker for animal stories. I enjoyed the first two enough that I wanted to read the fourth.
I did feel vaguely annoyed at some of the natural detail in the first two, but they were rather more fantasy-based than Darkwing, which is set in the Paleocene (? Can't be bothered to double check) era, at the time when bats were first emerging as a species. I WAS able to enjoy the book... just.
I spent most of my time reading it with a distracted cloud pressing around my head because of the way the author portrayed evolution. I am left with the distinct impression that he doesn't really understand it, and if he does, deliberately ignored it so he could write the book the way he wanted.
To me, this is like having a detective story, in which, for the story to work, you must accept that bullets from a gun travel at walking speed. If you are going to twist reality so far out of proportion, you might as well make up a new sort of weapon, and not a gun, which your readers know going in, works by flinging a metal bullet very, very fast.
Similarly, if you are going to write a book about the first flying bats, be moderately realistic about it. Don't have a full fledged bat born from nothing more than, essentially, a flying squirrel - and then say that not only one miraculous animal has bypassed a few thousand decades of evolution, but that a whole flock of them have appeared at once. And same with all the other creatures whose offspring saw their opportunity to spontaneously mutate into new species at various stages of adulthood.

Kenneth Oppel writes like a child, who has got hold of a few nifty facts and loves talking about them, but has an incomplete understanding of his subject, and it shows.
I'm sure he really loves bats. I'm sure he was genuinely fascinated by all the things he learned about their behavior and evolutionary history, and he knows the Butler did it, but doesn't know what a pantry is, and thinks you get a candlestick by snapping it off a tree.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book - but not a prequel
This book is absolutely fantastic - easily as good as Silverwing. However, this is a different storyline - not part of the Silverwing Saga and not a prequel, either. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Sheryl Prowse's daughter

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Prequel
This book can either be seen as a first book in a new series or as the 4th in an old series, written as a prequel. Read more
Published on Sep 14 2007 by Steven R. McEvoy

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Prequel
This book can either be seen as a first book in a new series or as the 4th in an old series, written as a prequel. Read more
Published on Sep 14 2007 by Steven R. McEvoy

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew bats could be so charming!
Both my sixteen-year-old daughter and I read Darkwing and we loved it! It is a wonderful expansion of the Silverwing saga. Read more
Published on Aug 31 2007 by Crazy about books!

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