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A review by thenerdybookfairy
Black Wings Beating by Alex London
4.0
Black Wings Beating is heartbreaking. A tragic story - on so many levels. Yes, there are moments of redemption, compassion, and hope, but there is just so much sad that it rips you open as you reach them. Black Wings Beating is the classic "hero's journey" with a quest, adventure, tragedy, death, victory, villains, heroes, and the beginnings of self discovery (with 2 more books in the series to go, I'm assuming the self discovery will be complete by the end). It is an emotional roller coaster ride, and one well worth taking!
Kylee and Brysen are brother and sister - twins, who could not be more different in personality, temperament, and talents. They live in the Six Villages, which is a fiefdom of sorts, ruled by powerful "kyrgs" and overseen by the Council of Forty, who rule from the Sky Castle. Most of the people living in the Six Villages are Uztari - a race of people who are enamored with birds. The Uztari capture birds, train them, and use them to hunt, pass messages, and as symbols of power and prestige. The more elusive and/or dangerous a bird of prey is, the more esteemed the person who owns it. Pigeon racing, falconry, the buying and selling of birds, and fighting with birds in the "battle pits" are all part of the daily life of the Uztari.
Kylee & Brysen's father is Uztari. He is a gambler who verbally and physically abused Brysen, and who wanted to use Kylee to help further his own grandiose dreams and delusions. He captured and trained birds of prey in order to sell them in the marketplace, but due to his gambling and drinking, he racked up so much debt that, after he died, Kylee and Brysen were forced to continue operating this business in order to pay them off.
Their mother is a submissive, ineffectual, essentially absent parent. She is of Altari descent. The Altari religious cults have reverence for the wild, the sky, and birds. They believe the Uztari are sinners, and they consider the owning, selling, capturing, and training of birds to be blasphemy. Their mother spends her days praying for her children to stop engaging in these practices.
Kylee hated being forced into the family business. She wants nothing to do with it, and eagerly looks forward to the day that they are able to pay off their father's debt and she will be free to close down the business - not because she believes, as her mother does, that the business is sinful, but because she has no interest in it. Kylee has a natural talent for working with birds, and has a rare gift that she tries to suppress and keep secret - it is a gift she doesn't quite understand and is afraid of, and she knows that if others knew about it, they would try and use her for their purposes.
Kylee has never felt truly understood: "her father had thought she was withholding her talents out of stubbornness; Brysen was jealous of her; and her mother thought they were blasphemy. Everyone looked at her and saw what they wanted for themselves." Yet, Kylee doesn't really fully understand herself either. While she has friends, she is somewhat indifferent to relationships, and seems emotionally closed off - except when it comes to Brysen. She has a strong love and depth of feeling and connection with him.
Brysen, on the other hand, loves falconry. He is pretty good at capturing birds and training them, though not as good as Kylee. His main responsibility is feeding and caring for the birds, getting them ready to sell in the market. While he wants the family debt to be paid off, he is not as concerned and focused on it as his sister. He is also not in a rush to close the business.
Brysen is a dreamer, a romantic, and emotional. Where Kylee is level-headed, responsible, and goal oriented, Brysen is impulsive and reckless. Where Kylee is more guarded with her feelings, Brysen is open and wears his emotions on his sleeve. While Brysen loves his sister, he also harbors a resentment against her, as he believes Kylee was favored by their father because she was never beaten. He also believes that Kylee was not there for him when he needed her to get away from their abusive father. He compares himself to Kylee and feels he falls short.
This is the most heartbreaking and tragic part of the book - the fractured relationship between brother and sister due to false assumptions, defensiveness, secrets, omissions, and poor communication. Having been told endlessly by his father that he is worthless, Brysen has internalized that message. "Self loathing wasn't a solitary hunter. It formed a flock with every unkind thought it could find, and then, like crows, they mobbed." Brysen seemed to look for things - consciously or unconsciously - that reinforced his feelings of worthlessness, all the while outwardly displaying bravado, and convincing himself he is destined for great things.
Brysen is driven to prove himself as a valuable human being, and he chases the approval of others - particularly the approval and attentions of the boy he is in love with, Dymian. When it comes to Dymian, Brysen is particularly impulsive and reckless. He fights in the battle pits with his bird, Shara, to impress Dymian, and any others who might witness his victories. Dymian is a narcissistic grifter who was disinherited by his family and exiled due to his gambling and other behaviors. Dymian, unsurprinsgly, toys with and manipulates Brysen to his advantage, but Brysen refuses to see it, as he is head over heels in love with him.
Dymian, who is in debt, tells Brysen that one of the most dangerous kyrgs in Uztari, Goryn Tamir, is going to kill him if he doesn't pay off his debt to him immediately. Dymian tells Brysen that he promised to capture the most rare and sought after raptor in the nation - the legendary Ghost Eagle - and bring it to Goryn in order to clear his debt. Goryn's men, however, have beaten Dymian, making him unable to go after the bird. Brysen, fearful for the life of his lover, volunteers to capture the Ghost Eagle for him.
Intertwined with that story is political intrigue. The Kartami - a hard line, religious zealot sect that believe birds carry sin so they want to annihilate them, as well as the Uztari who tame them - have declared war. They are attacking all the heathen villages on their path to the Sky Castle, slaughtering everyone on the way. There are spies, alliances, and subterfuge galore, and you don't know who you can trust. As a reader, you're not sure who you're supposed to like, who to hate, who to root for, and who to hope fails. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? It is not always easy to tell, as nobody is completely innocent or free of baggage.
Black Wings Beating draws you in immediately, and keeps you reading to the end. There is a lot to unpack in this novel, and my description here just scratches the surface. I couldn't put it down, and I look forward to the next book in the trilogy!
To Buy Black Wings Beating Click Here:
Kylee and Brysen are brother and sister - twins, who could not be more different in personality, temperament, and talents. They live in the Six Villages, which is a fiefdom of sorts, ruled by powerful "kyrgs" and overseen by the Council of Forty, who rule from the Sky Castle. Most of the people living in the Six Villages are Uztari - a race of people who are enamored with birds. The Uztari capture birds, train them, and use them to hunt, pass messages, and as symbols of power and prestige. The more elusive and/or dangerous a bird of prey is, the more esteemed the person who owns it. Pigeon racing, falconry, the buying and selling of birds, and fighting with birds in the "battle pits" are all part of the daily life of the Uztari.
Kylee & Brysen's father is Uztari. He is a gambler who verbally and physically abused Brysen, and who wanted to use Kylee to help further his own grandiose dreams and delusions. He captured and trained birds of prey in order to sell them in the marketplace, but due to his gambling and drinking, he racked up so much debt that, after he died, Kylee and Brysen were forced to continue operating this business in order to pay them off.
Their mother is a submissive, ineffectual, essentially absent parent. She is of Altari descent. The Altari religious cults have reverence for the wild, the sky, and birds. They believe the Uztari are sinners, and they consider the owning, selling, capturing, and training of birds to be blasphemy. Their mother spends her days praying for her children to stop engaging in these practices.
Kylee hated being forced into the family business. She wants nothing to do with it, and eagerly looks forward to the day that they are able to pay off their father's debt and she will be free to close down the business - not because she believes, as her mother does, that the business is sinful, but because she has no interest in it. Kylee has a natural talent for working with birds, and has a rare gift that she tries to suppress and keep secret - it is a gift she doesn't quite understand and is afraid of, and she knows that if others knew about it, they would try and use her for their purposes.
Kylee has never felt truly understood: "her father had thought she was withholding her talents out of stubbornness; Brysen was jealous of her; and her mother thought they were blasphemy. Everyone looked at her and saw what they wanted for themselves." Yet, Kylee doesn't really fully understand herself either. While she has friends, she is somewhat indifferent to relationships, and seems emotionally closed off - except when it comes to Brysen. She has a strong love and depth of feeling and connection with him.
Brysen, on the other hand, loves falconry. He is pretty good at capturing birds and training them, though not as good as Kylee. His main responsibility is feeding and caring for the birds, getting them ready to sell in the market. While he wants the family debt to be paid off, he is not as concerned and focused on it as his sister. He is also not in a rush to close the business.
Brysen is a dreamer, a romantic, and emotional. Where Kylee is level-headed, responsible, and goal oriented, Brysen is impulsive and reckless. Where Kylee is more guarded with her feelings, Brysen is open and wears his emotions on his sleeve. While Brysen loves his sister, he also harbors a resentment against her, as he believes Kylee was favored by their father because she was never beaten. He also believes that Kylee was not there for him when he needed her to get away from their abusive father. He compares himself to Kylee and feels he falls short.
This is the most heartbreaking and tragic part of the book - the fractured relationship between brother and sister due to false assumptions, defensiveness, secrets, omissions, and poor communication. Having been told endlessly by his father that he is worthless, Brysen has internalized that message. "Self loathing wasn't a solitary hunter. It formed a flock with every unkind thought it could find, and then, like crows, they mobbed." Brysen seemed to look for things - consciously or unconsciously - that reinforced his feelings of worthlessness, all the while outwardly displaying bravado, and convincing himself he is destined for great things.
Brysen is driven to prove himself as a valuable human being, and he chases the approval of others - particularly the approval and attentions of the boy he is in love with, Dymian. When it comes to Dymian, Brysen is particularly impulsive and reckless. He fights in the battle pits with his bird, Shara, to impress Dymian, and any others who might witness his victories. Dymian is a narcissistic grifter who was disinherited by his family and exiled due to his gambling and other behaviors. Dymian, unsurprinsgly, toys with and manipulates Brysen to his advantage, but Brysen refuses to see it, as he is head over heels in love with him.
Dymian, who is in debt, tells Brysen that one of the most dangerous kyrgs in Uztari, Goryn Tamir, is going to kill him if he doesn't pay off his debt to him immediately. Dymian tells Brysen that he promised to capture the most rare and sought after raptor in the nation - the legendary Ghost Eagle - and bring it to Goryn in order to clear his debt. Goryn's men, however, have beaten Dymian, making him unable to go after the bird. Brysen, fearful for the life of his lover, volunteers to capture the Ghost Eagle for him.
Intertwined with that story is political intrigue. The Kartami - a hard line, religious zealot sect that believe birds carry sin so they want to annihilate them, as well as the Uztari who tame them - have declared war. They are attacking all the heathen villages on their path to the Sky Castle, slaughtering everyone on the way. There are spies, alliances, and subterfuge galore, and you don't know who you can trust. As a reader, you're not sure who you're supposed to like, who to hate, who to root for, and who to hope fails. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? It is not always easy to tell, as nobody is completely innocent or free of baggage.
Black Wings Beating draws you in immediately, and keeps you reading to the end. There is a lot to unpack in this novel, and my description here just scratches the surface. I couldn't put it down, and I look forward to the next book in the trilogy!
To Buy Black Wings Beating Click Here:
