Wings (The Bromeliad Trilogy) [Import] [Audio CD]

Terry Pratchett (Author), Tony Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Somewhere in a place so far up there is no down, a ship is waiting to take the nomes home—back to wherever they came from. And one nome, Masklin, knows that they've got to try and contact this ship. It means getting to Florida (wherever that is), then getting to the launch of a communications satellite (whatever that is). A ridiculous plan. Impossible. But Masklin doesn't know this, so he tries to do it anyway. And the first step is to try and hitch a ride on a new kind of truck, a truck with wings—Concorde.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-- The last book of a science-fiction trilogy about four-inch beings who were stranded when their scout ship crashed to earth 15,000 years ago. Truckers (1990) introduced Masklin, leader of a dwindling band of nomes hunting among the hedgerows in modern England. Completely ignorant of their origins, they are guided by a small black box they call "The Thing," which turns out to be a very powerful computer. In Diggers (1991, both Delacorte), they join a group of department-store nomes to live in a quarry. In this last installment, Masklin and friends sneak aboard the Concorde and head for Florida. Their mission: to place The Thing on a communications satellite so it can rouse their waiting mother ship. Nomes are foolishly courageous, companionable, literal and innocent creatures whose repeated misunderstandings confirm readers' sense of smug superiority. The bad puns generated by their mistakes in language may amuse some readers but annoy others. Neither as complex nor interesting as Mary Norton's "Borrowers" (Harcourt) or the Lilliputians of T. H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose (Berkley, 1984), Pratchett's creatures enact a blatantly obvious parable of broadening horizons. Yet the conversational style and fast-moving plot make this cheerful, unpretentious tale useful where there is a need for accessible science fiction, or where the previous volumes have been enjoyed.
- Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

In book three of the ``Bromeliad,'' the nomes recover their spaceship and leave Earth. At the end of Diggers (p. 109), Gemma and the other nomes, trapped in a quarry surrounded by hostile humans, were saved by the appearance of an enormous spaceship. Wings is a flashback in which Masklin, Grunder, and Angalo sneak aboard a Concorde bound from London to Miami and make their way to within hailing distance of the space shuttle so that Thing can subvert its communication ports to summon their spaceship, which has been stored on the moon for thousands of years. In the process, they meet a band of wild nomes and are told that the world harbors thousands more. Gemma and Masklin leave for the stars; Grunder stays behind to communicate with humans and the other nomes. There is something a bit affected about naming a series after an orchid that harbors a colony of tiny frogs that leave their flower only when they outgrow it. Norton's Borrowers were entrancing, resourceful, and convincing; in comparison, nomes are naive, clumsy, and unlikely. Wings is resolutely earthbound, and while Pratchett can be wildly funny in his adult books, he seems tentative here. Still, young readers who liked the earlier volumes will want to read this one. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Audio CD: 1 pages
• Publisher: Random House Children's Books; Abridged edition (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846576636
• ISBN-13: 978-1846576638
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,816,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Pratchett, Terry

More About the Author

Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire "for services to literature" in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lives in England with his family, and spends too much time at his word processor.  Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terry Pratchett is spelled with two 't' s, March 29, 2000

By 

Jim Flynn, Sunnyvale CA (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings (Galaxy Children's Large Print) (Hardcover)

Anyone who has ended up here and is looking for more work by Terry Pratchett should do a search for the name spelled with two 't's. You'll find a lot more.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why only one Terry Prachet book?, November 17, 1999

By 

Tina Erwee ([e-mail]) (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings (Galaxy Children's Large Print) (Hardcover)

If you have anything against a sense of humour - Don't read Terry Prachet. Everyone of my friends are as much in love with his work as I am. If you enjoyed Wings, try a Discworld book! There is none better than Terry Pratchet to help you escape reality for a short time (it's better than any drug!).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read the Discworld books, January 19, 2000

By 

brett (London. England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings (Galaxy Children's Large Print) (Hardcover)

I too was annoyed to see that only one of Terry Pratchet's books was available with Amazon. This one was more for the younger teenagers, but the Disc world books such as Guards Guards, and Soul music, are cleverly written. The humour is subtle, and the books make you think about life with an ironic point of view. Try them all