Customer Reviews

Wings (The Bromeliad Trilogy)

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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.

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!).

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

The Bromeliad trilogy soars to a grand finale with "Wings," the companion volume to "Truckers" and "Diggers." This tale runs parallel to the second book of the series, and brimming over with Terry Pratchett's usual wit and satire... and a mild dose of insanity.

Now that humans are returning to the quarry where the tiny nomes live, the nomes must somehow find a new place to live -- and fast. So Masklin is following the instructions of the Thing (a computer who is smarter than all the other characters put together) and going on a secret mission with Angalo and the Abbot to Florida.

After they sneak aboard the Concorde, freak out the stewardess and hijack the plane, the nomes learn that none other than Richard Arnold (grandson of Arnold Bros, founder of The Store) is on board. Now they must somehow send the Thing into space, so it can contact the spaceship and whisk the nomes away. Easy? No way.

Technically, anybody who has read the end of "Diggers" will know exactly what will happen in "Wings." But like flying on the Concorde, it's the ride that's half the thrill. "Wings" is a little tighter and funnier than its predecessors, partly because it has a much smaller cast -- the small bickering trio, plus the Thing. It doesn't get much better than that.

The nomes are fun protagonists, partly because they're so likably naive about the world in general. If they were left alone, they would probably produce a cute little civilization, and their naivete produces plenty of entertaining humor (Concerning the sound barrier: "All right, own up. Who broke it?"). Pratchett manages to make us laugh with the nomes, not at that.

The long-suffering Masklin has a new slew of problems the moment he leaves, ranging from the Thing refusing to talk to him to Angalo razzing the stewardesses. Atheistic Angalo and the abbot just avoid biting out each other's throat. But it's the Thing's dry, superior guidance that really steals the show.

Pratchett brings his Bromeliad trilogy to a close full of action, suspense, and frogs. A witty and wild ride on the Concorde, and not one to be missed.

Wings is the third and final volume of the Bromeliad (following Truckers and Diggers).

Masklin, Gurder and Angalo have just left the quarry and are heading to the airport in hope to go to Florida, where they can put the Thing on a space shuttle so that it can call the Ship. Following Grandson Richard, 39, they board the Concorde.

What somewhat surprised me with Wings is that it's not only the conclusion to a tremendous adventure: the story really gets a level deeper, as the relationship between the nomes and the Thing develops. And don't worry, you still get those hilarious puns such as the one about frogs who have "such a tiny life cycle it still had trainer wheels on it"!

The Bromeliad trilogy is a gripping story, extremely funny and easy to read, but it's also a story about how the world around you can always amaze you if you only look a bit further than just at your direct neighbourhood. I highly recommend it to both children and grown-ups alike!

I've read all three books in the Bromeliad series and found them very interesting, touching, and funny (and I've heard the audio version of Diggers and feel the narrator did a great job). Just to let people who haven't read any of these books know, the first (Kirkus) reviewer spelled two of the characters names wrong...making me wonder if he really read or listened to any of these books before giving his review.

Wings is a wonderful, fanciful tale. It is also the third book in a series and is best read in order. Terry pratchet's work is always strong enough to stand alone, but I wouldn't want to miss a single book from any of his series.

Wings is a fabulous book, funny by itself, but even funier if read along with Truckers and Diggers books. It is a good children's book, and something my 11 year old brother enjoyed reading immensly. I'm not from the UK, but America, however I went to England this summer and was Prachetised by my friend Naomi, whose family we stayed with. I wish you had more of his work, since the only place I've seen it for sale was in Broxbourne.

I read the first two books of the trilogy a long time ago and only recently got given this book as a present. Iyt was just as good as the first two. Maybe not too sreious, but great fun. I would really reccomend this trilogy.

The task at hand for Masklin is very clear: find the Ship that will get the nomes away from Earth. But it should have been explained with a bit more detail. For starters: where is that Ship located? The Thing says that it is hidden somewhere in space, but that completely ignores that space turns out to be bigger than everything. At least Masklin has found out that there is a way to get into space. It's to be found in Florida. Now it is only a matter of getting in that big white bird, with the strange name of Concorde. At least that is the start of a plan.

With Wings Terry Pratchett concludes his Bromeliad Trilogy. This book tells the story of Masklin's quest for The Ship and plays in parallel to the second book Diggers. The story really gets going now. The action is hilarious and the contact with the Humans gives the book an added edge. Not only is this episode funnier that the previous two, but it also has an extra layer of depth. The analogy with the Bromeliad frogs becomes clear and shows us a nice piece of moral fairytale. Wings clearly brings the trilogy to a higher lever and you can take that literally.