Book Review |
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Sunwing |
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| . | By
Kenneth Oppel |
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| This is the 2nd book in the series which follows the lives of a
colony of bats. The first book - Silverwing - was excellent but this one was even better! In this book, Shade, Marina and some of the others in the "Silverwing" colony set off to look for a place they have heard of. A human place where bats are welcome. A place with huge forests, safe from the owls where they can live in peace. Maybe they will find the meaning of the metal bands which the humans give to some bats, maybe they will find Shade's father! How wrong could they be? These humans have no love for bats, there is no peace in these forests and - perhaps worst of all - they find Goth! What do the humans want with the bats they lure into these artificial forests? I won't tell you but I will tell you that I did not guess it and it kept me wondering a long time! The book is based on a true idea that someone had (I can't say more without spoiling it). All I can say is that I hope no one ever tries such a thing again! This is one really exciting book! There seems to be no way home for the little bats this time and at one point there seems to be no hope for the world at all! It was scary in places and the atmosphere was tense for most of the book! The books are written in the third person but Shade is the main character and we are told a lot about his private thoughts and feelings. There is a lot of dialogue and it works well, you can almost hear them talking to each other because it seems natural and true to character. Mr Oppel is a very descriptive writer and he pays a lot of attention to the detail of the surroundings so you can imagine yourself there with the bats. He must know a lot about bats and the book is quite informative and I think I learned a lot about them and the way they use their echo-location. It is an excellent book and if you are not interested in bats already then you will be after reading this! Iestyn Evans - September 2000 |
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