Darkwing (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Keith Thompson (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: upper spar, saurian eggs, saurian nest, Lower Reach, Even Sylph (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—The story of Darkwing is set 65 million years ago, during the early Paleocene era just years after the enormous C-T dieback event. Dusk and his family are chiropters, small arboreal mammals that glide and feed on insects. Changes are coming to their world, and not the least of them are Dusk's abilities of flight and echolocation. Although his family stands by him, most of the colony is very uncomfortable with his flying, fearing reprisal from the birds that live above them in the trees. All concerns about Dusk's oddities or their avian neighbors are swept aside when an outcast prowl of felids, led by the bloodthirsty Carnassial, attack the colony and Dusk's special abilities help to guide his fellows and keep them safe. During their search for a new home, his quick wits are all that stand between the colony and disaster. In their quest, the chiropters encounter deadly predators, from saurian holdouts to shrewlike soricids with poisonous saliva. Betrayals from both within the colony and without add to the excitement in this adventure. Readers will feel for Dusk as he decides repeatedly not to abandon his colony, despite their treatment of him. In Darkwing, Oppel offers a celebration of difference in addition to a wonderful imagining of a pivotal moment in evolution. An author's note highlights some of the actual fossil species that appear. One cautionary note—the descriptions of animals eating each other may be disturbing to sensitive readers.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* In his Silverwing series Oppel spun a contemporary fantasy about the world of bats. In this ambitious new stand-alone fantasy, he turns the clock back 65 million years to imagine the world of the bats' earliest ancestors, which he calls "chiropters." These tree-dwelling creatures are flightless, using their wings (which they call "sails") to glide through the air, from tree to tree. Only Dusk, youngest son of the colony's leader, has made an evolutionary leap; not only can he fly, he can also see at night, using echo vision. Predictably, the others regard him as a mutant to be shunned—all but his father, who wisely considers his son's differences as gifts. Dusk's real nemesis, however, is a beast (a "felid") called Carnassial, who is the first of his kind to be carnivorous and, like Dusk, is shunned by his own. Clearly the world is poised on the brink of remarkable change, and the future belongs to these two. Oppel writes with keen insight and empathy about the condition of being "other" in the context of a richly plotted, fast-paced story that—though sometimes too heavily anthropomorphized—is captivating reading from beginning to end. Cart, Michael

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006085054X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060850548
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #674,968 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Prequel , September 14, 2007

By	Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book can either be seen as a first book in a new series or as the 4th in an old series, written as a prequel. If it is a prequel it might be a record-breaker for time span. For Darkwing is a book set 65 million years ago. It is the story of a bat named Dusk, who does not know that he is a bat. He was born of a species named chriopter, and son of the Colony's leader Icaron. However Dusk is different - his sails(wings) are furless, his coloring is darker, and he is stronger in the shoulders and chest than other chriopters.

The story is set in the animal world in a time when the dinosaurs were in the process of dying off, and most other species were becoming overpopulated. Thus, nature, in an attempt to balance the ecosystem, was allowing to emerge, new breads of predators.

Oppel writes amazing books, as is evident by his numerous awards and nominations. His accolades include over a million copies of the Silverwing trilogy, The Governor General's Award, a Michael L. Printz Honor book, and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and many others. He has accumulated book awards both at home in Canada and across the pond in the UK.

In Oppel's writings, he crafts his words and draws you into the world in ways you have never seen or imagined. Silverwing, written from a bat's perspective, is written without using any color - all the descriptions are in black, white, silvers and grays, as seen from the bat's perspective. In the same way, this book told from multiple first person perspectives, helps you see a prehistoric world from the animal's eye, whether it is the bat or Miacas.

In this book we follow Dusk and his colony as they try to find a new home in the world, after being driven from their family tree by Carnassial, who was driven from his pride for becoming a carnivore and is the leader of a smaller pride. Both Dusk and Carnassial must come to realize that the world is not as it was, and is changing fast. They must each come to grips with their differences, and help their families find their new place in the world.

The story is very well written, and will compel you to keep reading. As you turn the pages quicker and quicker, you will realize that as things in the world that long ago were racing towards change, you also will find yourself racing for the end of the book.

This book can either be seen as a prequel to the Silverwing trilogy, or as this reviewer hopes, the first in a new series about the bats from long ago. Either way Darkwing is a book to be enjoyed again and again.

(First Published in Imprint as 'Imprint's Reading' 2007-09-14)Silverwing

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Imaginative, December 27, 2007

By	Brittany Rose (Winnipeg, MB) - See all my reviews

For those of you that don't know, Kenneth Oppel writes childrens books, including a popular collection about bats including Silverwing. Darkwing is meant to serve as both a standalone book and a prequel to Silverwing, and takes place 65 million years ago as the dinosaurs died out and all sorts of evolutionary wonders were happening, not the least of which was the evolution of the bat from a (relatively made up) similar creature called a chiropter that stars in this book.

The story is relatively simple...Dusk is a chiropter that has odd qualities that make him different from the rest of his clan. Despite that, his father, as leader, keeps Dusk safe and accepted within their community. One night though, the chiropters clan is attacked and they must seek a new home. Many perils face the giant chiropter tribe as they search high and low throughout their homelands for a new place to live, facing the challenges of new predators, unfamiliar territories, and the fact their isolation on their island home has sheltered them from the realities of the evolutionary world...plus Dusk still doesn't fit in with his group, even though his oddness benefits his clan time and time again.

At first I found the book a bit slow...and quite confusing, especially when trying to figure out what a Chiropter is (an explanation occurs at the end of the book, not the beginning). Well the best way to describe it is the predecessor to a bat...they can only glide, not fly for example. Many of the other creatures the bat colony comes across are similarly confusingly named with all sorts of bizarre titles. However, about a third of the way through I actually got quite into the story. Even though it's a kids book and some things were quite predictable, much of the book was quite UNpredictable. It almost played out like a very dramatic, at times gory, at times laughable (there are two scenes where plants are used in a hallucinogenic sense...?) version of a Pixar film about fitting in and finding your way home.

Overall I really enjoyed myself reading this book. It wasn't challenging once you got past the first part, and just provided a nice easy read! I'm sure lots of kids will be lapping this up, and rightfully so.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars !A Review of the Book Darkwing!, January 10, 2008

A Kid's Review

" They've accepted me." These are the words of a young dinosaur like bat. Who shows he hates being different but does not want to be anyother way. This young bat is Dusk and after reading this whole book it just goes to show you that being a Chiropters is not at easy as you would think but then again their life can be a little like ours.

All he ever wants is to be accepted by his kin named the Chiropters. Unlike most Chiropters Dusk has special skills that one day saves the lifes of many. However being different can be a bad thing when your a Chiropters that have been different in the past are ignored, shunned, killed, even sometimes left by their own family to die. Dusk is just lucky he is the leaders son or whos knows what would happen. Although Dusk has a huge family the main characters from his family you will hear about are his mom and dad, his sister Sylph, and his older brother Auster.

I felt this was a book many people can enjoy. One of the reasons for this is well it fits with a lot of different themes. For example there is killing making it horror. Then theres the always left out Dusk making it sad. Then as a last example there are twistand turns around every corner. The passage I like the best is the one stated before "They've accepted me." this just shows that after all the hard work and punishment he had to go through he was still able to reach his goal.