Swordbird [Import] [Paperback]

Nancy Yi Fan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2007

Swordbird is an epic new fantasy from twelve-year-old child prodigy Nancy Yi Fan, which will be published globally by HarperCollins. An exciting and action-packed tale of birds at war, this novel shows how friendship and courage can overcome tyranny. Stone-run Forest was once a peaceful place, but suddenly the local woodbird tribes, the Cardinals and Blue Jays, find themselves at odds -- precious food supplies have been stolen and fighting has broken out. Unbeknown to the woodbirds, the evil hawk Turnatt has been turning the tribes against one another as part of his evil strategy to take over the forest. He has already enslaved many captives from the surrounding tribes, who he's been forcing to build an evil fortress in which he plans to confine all the woodbirds. And the Cardinals and Blue Jays are to be his next victims. Thanks to an escaped slavebird Miltin, the woodbirds learn of Turnatt's strategy. But the only way to save the forest is to call on the legendary Swordbird -- the heroic bird of peace. Young birds Aska and Miltin fly off on a dangerous mission to find the Leasone gem -- paired with an ancient song from the Old Scripture, this is the only way to conjure Swordbird's help. But will they return in time to save the forest, or even make it back at all...When Nancy Yi Fan was in sixth grade she learned about terrorism and September 11th. That night she had a startling dream about birds at war. And the next day she started writing Swordbird to convey her message of peace to the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books; 1ST edition (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007250738
• ISBN-13: 978-0007250738
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,861,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Yi Fan is the New York Times Bestselling author of Swordbird (2007). She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and has been a straight-A student since elementary school. She spent the first part of her childhood in China, where she was born in 1993. Birds, a lifelong passion of the author's, provided the inspiration for Swordbird and her new fantasy novel Sword Quest (2008). When she isn't talking and writing to readers worldwide, she kayaks, performs martial arts, and takes good care of her pet lovebirds, Ever-sky, Dippler, and Pandora. She currently lives in Florida with her parents.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A solid first try, considering, but..., May 2, 2007

By 

R. C. Hall - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Swordbird (Hardcover)

First off, even though I am an adult (or as close to one as I'll ever be), I read a great deal of children's fiction and enjoy reading it, so I'm not necessarily looking for the same type of depth and complexity that an average adult would expect from fiction.

That said, I had to force myself to finish reading this one; it kept losing my interest no matter how often I came back to it. With so many people at the publisher apparently involved in this book, I'm surprised that no one was able to help the author smooth out the dialogue, for one thing. As much as I wanted to like the characters, they felt like Redwall extras, and I'm sorry to say that I never really found myself caring what happened to them. The story's style and structure also felt like Redwall retreads.

I can understand that allowances have to be made for young authors, and this author is, of course, highly gifted for her age. But the fact remains that, if it were not for the "hook" of the author's age, I don't think this book would have gotten published, especially not by a major publisher, and if you're going to read the book solely for its own merits, you'll wind up being disappointed. (I can see, however, that it would be a great inspiration to other young writers.)

The one thing I really loved about this book were the detailed pencil illustrations of the birds -- remarkably realistic and yet with their own personalities. I wish they hadn't started repeating, though; I would have liked to see more.

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing what this author will do in several more years, as her skills catch up with her talent.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 26, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Swordbird (Hardcover)

I was quite surprised when I read an article in a magazine about this book that was being released soon, and was written by a 12 year-old author. Next time I was at the bookstore, I picked up a copy, eager to see how well people around my age could write, and get published. As soon as I began to read, I noticed that the book didn't flow quite as smoothly as good a book should. Unlike most books of the same genre that I've read, Swordbird was almost difficult to continue reading due to a cliche plot and cast of characters. I was continually reminded of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, with the great banquets of food, the evil tyrant constructing a fortress, and the peace-loving protagonists. Swordbird even mentions a tapestry of the great warrior, Swordbird, just like Redwall's tapestry of Martin the Warrior. And while Swordbird did contain some vivid sensory descriptions, they appeared infrequently. The plot of the story itself was not extremely complex or deep in meaning. Parts of the book were also akward and even childish and didn't quite fit in with the rest. I do congratulate this young author on her determination and persistence in writing the book and having it published, but it fell short of my expectations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth reading unless your under twelve., January 27, 2009

By 

Rachel Carpenter "A Young Writer's Opinion" (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swordbird (Paperback)

I'll try to be breif, because all in all, I did not like this book.

Throughout the book I continually lost focus because it was an overall dull book. In fact, I quickly found that I couldn't care less about the outcome of the book by the time I reached the end of chapter one. This, however, I could make myself overcome and so I finished it. But then I reached the end, if you could call it that. I was definately dissappointed. The story just stopped. Throughout the entire book there was what I figure was meant to be a complex fight between good and evil, but then suddenly, evil was defeated and the story ended.

I just find that after finishing the book, I wish I hadn't wasted the time.