Silverwing p2 by Kenneth Oppel
Wow, I just spent 2 hours finishing this book, and I don’t think that time was wasted!
Since last time, obviously a lot has happened (I suggest reading the previous reading journal to understand this one to a fuller extent.) In Shade’s colony’s migration, there is a major storm. Shade’s protective mother tells Shade to slow down, and land to avoid being swept into the ocean. Shade ignores her because of his stubbornness, and, coincidentally gets swept into the ocean! He gets to an island, and befriends a young outcast bat named Marina. She has flown off to this island because of a tiny little band that the humans put on her wrist. In the bat world, there is a gargantuan amount of superstition, speculation and fear surrounding these tiny rings of metal that get put onto random bats. (Just look at Marina! She got expelled from her colony because of it!)
Some bats think of the bands as a sign of “The Promise”, which I don’t remember what it is but I think its a story created by the bat god Nocturna that says the bats will someday not fear the sky or the birds and beasts. I think its bogus, kind of like taking the bible literally, but these crazy bats believe it to the point of utter and complete fear.
This book has a parallel to the church. Just look at the debate over same-sex marriage right now! Its huge, and mostly as a result of people taking the bible literally. It creates a world of trouble, as it does in Silverwing with the bands. Not a very large parallel, but still somewhat existent.
I really like Kenneth Oppel’s style of writing. He seems to be very creative, and from the times I’ve heard him read in Winnipeg, his writing style seems to be very similar to himself. In talking to him, I’ve even noticed how bat-like his physical personality is! When he talks to you, he leans back, and his face (which has very pointed features) comes out at you. Maybe some of the book rubbed off on him.
His writing style really pulls you inside this über imaginative world. I’ve noticed this more with his later books, like Airborne, but Silverwing kept me going at it. The writing style is also very descriptive, and the paragraphs are amazingly structured. The characters are really interesting, because they develop over the period of the book. It’s also sort of typical in a way, the villain that you meet later on in the book, Goth, who seems impermeable to damage. He blasts on through the winter (even though he comes from the jungle), and will stop at nothing to follow Shade and Marina to Hiberniculum. He even gets fried with a freaking bolt of lightning and lives! A tad bit unbelievable, but still makes for a good book in the end.
I’ll be reading Sunwing next. I’m looking forward to that, maybe I can finish it in a week, and I don’t have to write over one painful but good entry on it! That’d be gnarly.
Since last time, obviously a lot has happened (I suggest reading the previous reading journal to understand this one to a fuller extent.) In Shade’s colony’s migration, there is a major storm. Shade’s protective mother tells Shade to slow down, and land to avoid being swept into the ocean. Shade ignores her because of his stubbornness, and, coincidentally gets swept into the ocean! He gets to an island, and befriends a young outcast bat named Marina. She has flown off to this island because of a tiny little band that the humans put on her wrist. In the bat world, there is a gargantuan amount of superstition, speculation and fear surrounding these tiny rings of metal that get put onto random bats. (Just look at Marina! She got expelled from her colony because of it!)
Some bats think of the bands as a sign of “The Promise”, which I don’t remember what it is but I think its a story created by the bat god Nocturna that says the bats will someday not fear the sky or the birds and beasts. I think its bogus, kind of like taking the bible literally, but these crazy bats believe it to the point of utter and complete fear.
This book has a parallel to the church. Just look at the debate over same-sex marriage right now! Its huge, and mostly as a result of people taking the bible literally. It creates a world of trouble, as it does in Silverwing with the bands. Not a very large parallel, but still somewhat existent.
I really like Kenneth Oppel’s style of writing. He seems to be very creative, and from the times I’ve heard him read in Winnipeg, his writing style seems to be very similar to himself. In talking to him, I’ve even noticed how bat-like his physical personality is! When he talks to you, he leans back, and his face (which has very pointed features) comes out at you. Maybe some of the book rubbed off on him.
His writing style really pulls you inside this über imaginative world. I’ve noticed this more with his later books, like Airborne, but Silverwing kept me going at it. The writing style is also very descriptive, and the paragraphs are amazingly structured. The characters are really interesting, because they develop over the period of the book. It’s also sort of typical in a way, the villain that you meet later on in the book, Goth, who seems impermeable to damage. He blasts on through the winter (even though he comes from the jungle), and will stop at nothing to follow Shade and Marina to Hiberniculum. He even gets fried with a freaking bolt of lightning and lives! A tad bit unbelievable, but still makes for a good book in the end.
I’ll be reading Sunwing next. I’m looking forward to that, maybe I can finish it in a week, and I don’t have to write over one painful but good entry on it! That’d be gnarly.
posted by featheredtar at Sunday, March 06, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home