Silverwing (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Silverwing


image_caption = "Silverwing" first paperback edition cover.
author = Kenneth Oppel
cover_artist = Jacobson/Fernandez
country = Canada
language = English
series = "Silverwing" series
genre = Fantasy, Young-adult
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = April 24, 1997
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 217 pp "(first edition)"
isbn = ISBN 9780006481447
preceded_by =
followed_by = Sunwing

"Silverwing" is a best-selling fiction novel, written by Kenneth Oppel, first published in 1997 by HarperCollins. It tells the story of a colony of silverwing bats. The tone and artistic ambition of this series of bestsellers has been compared to the classic animal novel "Watership Down". Silverwing is the second installment of the Silverwing series, following the prequel Darkwing.

Plot summary

The main character is a young bat named Shade. The novel and its immediate sequel, "Sunwing", tell the story of the struggle of Shade and his friends to find his father and free bats from an ancient and unjust punishment. The second sequel, "Firewing", describes the adventures of Shade's child.

The bats' punishment came about long ago when a great war was fought between the birds and the land animals. The bats, sharing aspects of both, declared themselves neutral. At the end of the war the birds won and the land animals lost. The birds called the bats cowards and the land animals called them traitors. As a result, the bats were banished to the night, never to see the sun again without suffering terrible penalties. This back-story is inspired by one of Aesop's fables. Shade sets the main plot of the novel in motion when he impetuously defies that law, and inadvertently initiates a chain of events that leads to the destruction of his colony's home, forcing their premature migration, and his separation from them.

When separated from his colony, Shade is found by a Brightwing bat named Marina, and soon the two are in a city where pigeons are very angry with the two bats. They are then beaten by the pigeons. The reason for this is that "two giant cannibal bats" have murdered a few pigeons; therefore Shade and Marina are being held responsible for the killings.

While the two small bats escape, the scene changes to focus on the two giant bats ("Vampyrum spectrum", the False Vampire Bat) on the night they escape from a zoo. Their names are Goth and Throbb.

Soon after escaping, Shade meets with a bat named Zephyr (who reveals to Shade that his long absent father is still alive) and is attacked by an owl (who is also chasing him after the death of the pigeons). Goth defends him by attacking and eating the owl, and introduces himself and where he is going. It turns out he needs Shade's help to find his home jungle. Shade suggests that he can find his colony first, who can help Goth in his search for his homeland. Marina believes that Goth and Throbb should not be trusted, but Shade trusts them because they saved them from the owl.

Shade realizes the truth when he sees Throbb eating a Brightwing. Shade hurriedly flies away and collides with Marina, whom he feared had been killed. They soon escape after Goth and Throbb are shot by darts from a human's airplane.

Later, they meet with Goth and Throbb again, but escape into the sewer. There, they are captured by rats and are treated as spies by their leader, Prince Remus, who sends them to be eaten by Remus's crazy brother Romulus. Romulus, who is revealed to be entirely sane (having pretended insanity to avoid being killed in his brother's usurpation of power), provides cover for their escape, hinting meanwhile that he considers rats and bats to be close kindred. This belief has its roots in the presence of a skin membrane extending from either of Romulus' forelegs to the corresponding hind leg.

Shade and Marina are eventually captured by Goth and Throbb. Goth speaks of his god, Camazotz, declaring that the said Zotz has greater power than Shade's ancestral goddess Nocturna. When Shade half-believes Goth's story, he soon gives the impression of deciding to go with Goth to the jungle to grow big and strong, permitting Goth to kill the Silverwings. Shade is given a bat to eat; despite his disgust, he swallows a piece when the two Spectral Bats threaten Marina. This gives him the opportunity to drug Goth and Throbb with a soporific herb. While the False Vampires sleep, Shade and Marina escape. They are chased by owls, then by Goth and Throbb. During the fight, Throbb is hit by lightning and bursts into flames. Goth survives, but only by a scant margin.

After they leave, Goth moves again, and kills a bird. He soon vows revenge against Shade.

Shade and Marina meet up with Shade's colony, telling stories of what had happened to them. The colony decide to go in search of Shade's father, Cassiel. Chinook, another juvenile of Shade's age, volunteers to help. They plan to go after hibernating, but Shade wishes to go now. The story ends with Shade starting to fall asleep, with Marina and Shade's mother Ariel beside him.

Characters

Shade is the protagonist of the series. He is a runt Silverwing, and often mocked by his peers, who take pride in their size and strength. While Shade's strength may be inferior to the other bats', he is a master of sound, often creating illusions or moving materials with echoes.

While he is a well-mannered bat in general, Shade is inquisitive and carries a bit of pride. That would be his downfall, as that was the first domino to fall in the chain of events that created the setting for the book. When Chinook, the pride of the colony, was boasting of his talent and superiority, Shade had offered to let him come take a peek of the Sun. They were caught in the action, and as a result, the owls burned down Tree Haven, the Silverwings' home for as long as they could remember. Shade was almost executed for it, but his mother managed to save him from the colony's anger.

Marina, a Brightwing bat, is Shade's newfound friend. When Shade had been blown away by the storm, she met him. She is quite bigger than Shade, and doesn't fail to remind him of it. In the book Sunwing Marina becomes Shades mate.

Chinook is Shade's rival and the biggest and strongest newborn of the colony. All the bats admire him, and he claims to have caught two tiger moths which are known by all the others in the colony to be an extraordinary achievement by such a young bat. Shade loathes him for his airs and size. His parents are Plato and Isis. In the book Sunwing they become friends after he saves Shade from a giant bug.

Frieda is an elder of the Silverwing colony. She is wise in many ways, and makes good decisions. Frieda has a silver band on her forearm. She was a a large contributor to the rebellion against the owls fifteen years previous.

Ariel is Shade's mother. She had protected Shade from the wrath of the rest of the colony. She had lost her mate, Cassiel, before Shade was born.

Goth is a sly and smooth-talking cannibal bat, half responsible for the murder of several pigeons. He is a prince in his own colony, and worships Cama Zotz, the brother of Nocturna, whom the Silverwings and other bats like them believe in. Goth lived in the jungle, but had been captured by humans.

Throbb is another one of the cannibal bats. Unlike Goth, he is a coward and according to Goth he feeds on carcasses already killed by other cannibal bats in the jungle. He later dies in a lighting storm.

Television series

"Silverwing" has been adapted into a successful 13 episode, animated television mini-series, shown on the Canadian cable channel Teletoon and currently being shown on Toon Disney's Jetix. These episodes have also been strung together to make 3 movies. The whole series is now available on DVD.

External links

*http://www.silverwing.ca/home.htm
* [http://silverwing.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Silverwing Wiki]