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A review by mr_cinder
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
4.0
Rating: 8 out of 10
This was an awesome read and I loved it! This was a recommendation from a friend, and let me begin saying he was right about this being a great book!
I really enjoy books about animals in general, so I might be biased here. But there's just something about them that makes them a lot easier to connect with. Might be the fact that they have an overall ageless feeling, or because they don't feel as gendered as most fictional people. Or maybe it's simply because animals are cute!
I'm not sure about the answers to any of these questions, but I do know for a fact that this book made it extremely easy for me to get attached to the characters! Shade, Marina, Frieda were are lovable and memorable characters. Their characterizations were really well written and I had a lot of fun following them throughout the story.
Something else that really made me love this book was the main villain, Goth. I usually love villains POVs, and this time wasn't the exception! I was surprised by how much the book showed, despite it being classified as a childrens story, and I'm quite glad the author decided not to restrain himself to make Goth seem less brutal while still keeping inside the boundaries of the genre.
Even thought the characters more than make up for it, I found the plot to be basic compared to other fantasy books. It was a traveling story and while it wss entertaining for the most part, it dragged at some scenes and had some slight pacing issues. However, as someone who doesn't like many traveling stories, I could get through this one with next to no trouble, so I don't think it was a major problem.
The universe of Silverwing is captivating. The worldbuilding itself may not be the strongest (since the book takes place in a world that's almos exactly like ours) but the magic and bat culture are both very original and full of surprises. The way the bats use their echolocation mixed with a little of fantasy elements made it unique to the series.
The writing was just as brilliant, in my opinion. It was easy to read and conveyed emotions without effort. The actions flowed well and the reading was smooth! I also really liked the detail about the narration never mentioning any color besides black, white and silver; I hadn't noticed it while reading but I think it's really neat!
Silverwing is definitely a novel worth reading. It's fun, imaginative, and full of sympathetic characters! I'm sure most people will love it, and I recommend it to anyone who likes books centered around animals or just fantasy in general!
This was an awesome read and I loved it! This was a recommendation from a friend, and let me begin saying he was right about this being a great book!
I really enjoy books about animals in general, so I might be biased here. But there's just something about them that makes them a lot easier to connect with. Might be the fact that they have an overall ageless feeling, or because they don't feel as gendered as most fictional people. Or maybe it's simply because animals are cute!
I'm not sure about the answers to any of these questions, but I do know for a fact that this book made it extremely easy for me to get attached to the characters! Shade, Marina, Frieda were are lovable and memorable characters. Their characterizations were really well written and I had a lot of fun following them throughout the story.
Something else that really made me love this book was the main villain, Goth. I usually love villains POVs, and this time wasn't the exception! I was surprised by how much the book showed, despite it being classified as a childrens story, and I'm quite glad the author decided not to restrain himself to make Goth seem less brutal while still keeping inside the boundaries of the genre.
Even thought the characters more than make up for it, I found the plot to be basic compared to other fantasy books. It was a traveling story and while it wss entertaining for the most part, it dragged at some scenes and had some slight pacing issues. However, as someone who doesn't like many traveling stories, I could get through this one with next to no trouble, so I don't think it was a major problem.
The universe of Silverwing is captivating. The worldbuilding itself may not be the strongest (since the book takes place in a world that's almos exactly like ours) but the magic and bat culture are both very original and full of surprises. The way the bats use their echolocation mixed with a little of fantasy elements made it unique to the series.
The writing was just as brilliant, in my opinion. It was easy to read and conveyed emotions without effort. The actions flowed well and the reading was smooth! I also really liked the detail about the narration never mentioning any color besides black, white and silver; I hadn't noticed it while reading but I think it's really neat!
Silverwing is definitely a novel worth reading. It's fun, imaginative, and full of sympathetic characters! I'm sure most people will love it, and I recommend it to anyone who likes books centered around animals or just fantasy in general!