Wind on Fire
Wind on Fire — (2000-2002) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Kestrel Hath’s schoolroom rebellion against the stifling caste system of Aramanth leads to explosive consequences for her and her family: they are relegated to the city’s lowest caste and are ostracized. With nothing left to lose, Kestrel and her twin brother, Bowman, do the unthinkable: they leave the city walls. Their only hope to rescue the rest of their family is to find the key to the wind singer, a now-defunct device in the city’s center, which was once the course of happiness and harmony in Aramanth. But the key was given to an evil spirit-lord, the Morah, in exchange for the Morah’s calling off its terrible army of Zars. Armed with desperate bravery, wits, and determination, Kestrel, Bowman, and a tagalong classmate set off to find the key. Along the way they meet allies and foes, but in order to succeed in their quest, they must face the most sinister force of all: the powerful Mora
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The Wind Singer by William Nicholson
The Wind Singer is a children's novel and so comes with all the pluses and minuses of that genre. The pace is quick with little room or time for digression or a lot of descriptive detail. The upside is that the book never once bogs down and keeps pulling the reader along. The downside, though how much of a downside will mostly depend on age and expectations, is that characterization suffers a bit and there are a few places where it would have been nice to have gotten a more full picture (both visually and in terms of plot context/background).
The story is a typical kids' dystopia but with more of a fantasy cast rather than a sci-fi one which is often the case. The city of Amaranth is the dystopia in question. Within its walls the people are strictly divided into castes (denoted by clothing color as well as assigned houses) ba... Read More
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Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson
Slaves of the Mastery picks up several years after the events of The Wind Singer and in plot and structure is similar to its predecessor, though not as original in thought or imagery. Once again, the book examines a dystopic setting. In this case it is The Mastery, a city-state of slaves and masters, one of whose leaders has raided the Manth city and taken its inhabitants, including the main characters from book one, into slavery. The book once again focuses on the Hath family (including this time Pinto, the baby in book one, who is accorded more of a place here) and a small circle of friends as they first are first taken, then herded into a forced march from Amaranth to The Mastery, then attempt to escape.
Kestrel and Bowman, the two siblings and the main focus, are separated early on and as d... Read More
More by William Nicholso
Noble Warriors — (2005-2007) Young adult. Publisher: This first novel in the Noble Warriors sequence begins when sixteen-year-old Seeker’s older brother is publicly humiliated and — with no explanation — exiled from the Nomana, a revered order of warrior monks. Seeker refuses to believe that his beloved older brother is capable of committing a betryal that would warrant such severe consequences, so he sets off alone on a journey to rescue his brother and find out at last what really happened. Along the way he meets two other young people who are on quests of their own, and in a shocking turn of events, the three are soon caught up in a harrowing and bloody race to save the Nomana — and themselves — from destruction. An epic coming-of-age story about courage, friendship, desire, and faith, Seeker marks the beginning of a riveting new series.
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(1948- )
