Customer Reviews

Swordbird

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The story, simple as it might seem to be, contains something profound and meaningful to the world: it sows the seeds of peace and freedom in the hearts of children who read it. You can find volumes of bloody, gory battles for adults, yet you can hardly find such a story for children that, through an idyllic world of birds, so gently and yet so vividly illustrates the price of battle, the value of life, the weight of peace and freedom.

A book that's great all the way.

After my friend told me about this book (we're both the author's age), I was very excited to find a book that was written by someone who understands what the age group is like. Boy, were we in for a disappointment.

People all say "oh, this is a wonderful book for children!" but all the inaccuracies and predictable plotlines got annoying. It also didn't help that the book was like a spin-off from the Redwall series. Sorry, but the only good thing in it were the illustrations. Maybe there is a reason why most authors are adults.

The blue jays and cardinals are friends, but the hawk Turnatt turned them against one another. As they find the truth and reband, they need the help of Swordbird, a legendary hero. And so they undergo a journey to find him...

THEMES: Peace and freedom, bravery and selflessness

MESSAGES: What does fighting bring us? Fear, misery, hatred, and death. Even the smallest bird has courage and strength.

WRITING: poetic, concise, compelling. Good story structure, with humor, tragedy, suspense and rhythm. Has a fair sprinkling of SAT vocab!

TARGETTED AUDIENCE: ages 8-12, and anyone else who is young at heart.

Recommended HIGHLY!

I bought this book for my 10 year old grandson who read the book in 2 days. He said he really liked it and the fact the characters were birds really amazed him. I gave it a five star rating on his recommendation.

Swordbird actually turned out to be somewhat of an annoyance to read. The plot was weak, the dialouge boring, and the setting very non-descript. Anyone who considers this a good book should probably read more. Swordbird is a sad excuse for a novel, and makes me ashamed to call myself an author. Don't waste your money on the half-baked characters and dry jokes that are contained within the pages Nancy Yi Fan penned. I will give her credit for her age, but that is not a valid excuse.

When I heard of Nancy in an American Girl magazine, I was immensely interested. Even when I hadn't read it yet, and just seen the brief summary of the book and her picture, my thoughts were as followed: "Holy heck! Maybe a kid can be an author after all! I should try harder." So after a few seemingly elongated months, I got the book from the book store. I was extremely disappointed in the book.

First off, the plot line was very dry and overused. Although I haven't read Redwall, I have read the first two books of the Mistmantle Chronicles (I haven't seen the third anywhere) and a few other pieces of fine literature having to do with little critters that sip cordials and nibble on fruit pastries. I found that this book incorporated too much of this. I love the 'animals talk and eat like people' idea, but after so many books about it it just gets very drab.

Secondly, I found the writing very crude and messy. I feel Nancy would be better off with a single descriptive words than three overused words. I would hope HarperCollins actually took some time on this book to clean up her text, but it doesn't seem much like this--more like they were in a huge rush to get the book onto shelves.

My third complaint about this book is very harsh, but I'm telling my true opinion. I felt that when I was reading the book I was reading an online fan-fiction of those 'critter' novels I mentioned above. The characters are dry and don't seem real, and I didn't really care what happened to them. That might have also been that Nancy had numerous characters--like she wasn't culling them, (like an author should) just grabbing them from the crowd and then letting them be part of the story.

Although I found the book very childish, she does have talent for her age. Hopefully she can make it blossom as months are peeled off the calender. I hate leaving a bad review (especially on a book, because book reviews are personal) but I felt the need to. If you have a child seven, eight, or maybe nine they may enjoy the book, but if you are older or more experienced reader you most likely will find it overly boring and redundant.

--Willow, aged 11

I was very excited to see that this book was written by a young girl. I think it's wonderful that Miss Fan had the dedication and drive to see her book published. She obviously has a talent for writing, and I would like to see what she might do given a few more years. That being said, overall I found Swordbird disappointing.

The birds on the cover art and the line drawings inside are just gorgeous. But that isn't enough to make up for the inconsistent writing, which at times is quite juvenile and awkward. Here's an example, "Slime-beak shivered like a leaf, partly because of fear and partly because of the hawk's bad breath." Another poorly constructed sentence, "Turnatt perched side by side with his captain, Slime-beak, drinking chestnut beer and wine and talking in a newly built room of Fortress Glooming." seems to wander on and on. Though the majority of the prose is better, bits like this stick out and detract from the story.

The author also makes an error in reporting that the blue jays are "light and agile", contrasted with the "muscular and heavy framed" cardinals. Anybody who knows the least bit about birds knows that cardinals are considerably smaller than blue jays. My bird guide specifies that jays are about 12'' at maturity, while cardinals are about 8.5" long.

The plot, characters, and setting are all borrowed from Brian Jacques world of Redwall. Swordbird is like a Redwall fanfiction piece. Even the description of the food is Redwallesque, including chestnut beer and fruit pastries. There is a mythical warrior involved, the bad guys are pure evil, and the good creatures are beyond reproach. Everything is very familiar, yet the story doesn't flow well, and events often seem contrived.