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On Swift Wings: The Travails of Cygnus Kindle Edition
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$19.95 - Paperback
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Double Winner of the 2020 Reader Views Literary Awards - Humor/Satire, Canada West Region
Readers' Favorite 2020 Book Award Finalist - Literary Fiction
Indies Today Book of the Year - 2020 Finalist
When flight 1726 crashed into the ocean, and I found myself alone on the ocean, I had no idea of the fantastic adventures that lay before me. I was desperate only to find my way home to my family and the world that I called home.
The sole survivor of that ill-fated trans-oceanic flight; I was thrust into places not recorded or experienced in these past three hundred years. Surviving on my paltry wits alone I encountered mysterious islands occupied by human-enslaving horses, immortals, sorcerers, necromancers, giants, and even miniature human civilizations.
As the well-informed reader will surely know, my story has been told through many diverse lenses, but only this account will suffice to describe and elucidate upon my experiences of these places. On Swift Wings is the full, true, and complete accounting of my fantastic adventure.
On Swift Wings is an action and humour-packed satirical adventure fantasy, rich in vivid detail, following the style of Jonathan Swift.
Readers of all ages are sure to love this award winning novel by debut author Brett Wiens.
Read On Swift Wings today and explore these fantastic worlds!
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJuly 1, 2019
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Editorial Reviews
Review
- "This is a must-read for anyone looking for a good adventure." - Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
- "A unique and wonderfully detailed literary fantasy novel." - IndieReader
- "A stunning satirical debut novel" - Paige Lovitt for Reader Views
- "On Swift Wings is a satirical work that delivers a fascinating tale as Wiens breathes new life into the world of Gulliver's Travels through Cygnus's adventures. Intelligent writing that evokes commentary and conversation." - Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite
- "Brett Wiens is a master storyteller and this novel, the work of a rich imagination, is littered with humor. A spellbinding and delightful read." - Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite
- The book is filled with detailed descriptions and the author puts great effort into creating vivid settings for his unique scenes - Malcolm P - Amazon.com
- This is a fantastic modern version of Gulliver's Travels! The update was very well done. It wasn't just the same story set in current times; it was a similar story that reflects it's origins, and also how the world has changed to become where it is today. The story is told with humour and intelligence - a truly enjoyable read! - Snowflake - Amazon.ca
- The descriptions of the unknown lands were very vivid. I can still picture some of the scenes in my mind very clearly, days after completing the book. The beings that were encountered were also described in detail. The reader is able to feel a sense of each society as a whole, as well as get to know some individuals in that land. - Snowflake for OnlineBookClub.org
- On Swift Wings: The Travails of Cygnus is a fabulous retelling of Gulliver's Travels that is embellished with the trappings of 21st century living. The account is narrated by the initially guileless Cygnus in a detached and comically analytic manner. The writing style with its formal language brilliantly recalls a more refined time in human history. The humor is subtle and pervasive, making the book enjoyable for adults and children of any age. A fitting compliment to Jonathan Swift, On Swift Wings is a wonderful adventure laden with deep meaning and complex characters, a worthy tribute to a classic book some 300 years in the making. - Nicki Flowers for Indies Today
From the Author
From the Back Cover
On Swift Wings is a modern satirical fantasy adventure that lampoons contemporary life and dogma in a wonderfully sardonic allegorical style. Swathed in stunningly painted worlds, it is a study of current society that contains within it both the truth and hope that we so desperately need.
"A must-read for anyone looking for a good adventure." - Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite"A unique and wonderfully detailed literary fantasy novel." - IndieReader"A fantastic modern version of Gulliver's Travels! - Snowflake for OnlineBookClub"A stunning satirical debut novel" - Paige Lovitt for Reader Views
2020 Reader Views Literary Award Winner - Satire2020 Reader Views Literary Award Winner - Canada West 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist - Literary Fiction --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B07T1JTKHL
- Publisher : BW Literature; 3rd edition (July 1, 2019)
- Publication date : July 1, 2019
- Language : English
- File size : 3851 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 386 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,278,422 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,990 in Travel Adventure Fiction
- #2,281 in Humorous Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #2,371 in Literary Satire Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Brett Wiens is an award winning author from Calgary, Canada. He writes fantasy/adventure novels with a satirical lens on the world. His writing is founded on a keen interest in geography and languages. His work takes inspiration from classical writers like Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy and others.
His first novel, On Swift Wings, was begun while reading to his baby boy before his first birthday. He would read classic novels like Gulliver's Travels and realized that the content wasn't as relevant to today's society as it had been when it was written. He started writing On Swift Wings as a thought experiment in how those islands might have evolved having interacted with the eponymous character of the original work, and how a modern character might interact with those new lands.
Fascinated with geography, history, politics, and economics, the book became a personal Petri dish to experiment and explore curious new worlds, places, and interactions, while taking sometimes subtle, and other times more overt swipes at modern society, much as Mr. Swift did in his work.
Brett Wiens was born in Calgary, Canada in 1981. He has a bachelor's degree in Geography and a masters degree in Geographic Information Systems. He has won awards for his anti-racism poem, "Just One Little Rock."
His second novel is currently in development.
Customer reviews
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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I feel that retellings have to be done well in order to merit the act of telling a story over again. Particularly classics; if there isn't anything new to add why bother, and at the same time readers and fans of the originals want enough of the core story to be present and characters to be at least somewhat recognizable.
I think that this adaptation was done well.
My favorite bit was Part 3 into Part 4, with the introduction of sorcerers and teleportation through the fabric of time. Science fiction elements being introduced into what is a classic satire/fantasy story is an interesting twist. This too is something that has been done before, but takes a certain amount of cleverness to pull off. I think that in this case it was successfully handled.
Top reviews from other countries

Beautifully painted scenes and locales that really stick with you.
Some parts of the story had me in tears, others gave me goosebumps. The island of the Loogenage was a wonderful short-story adventure in itself.