Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel

"He was sailing too fast, slanting down too sharply. Whenever he’d watched the other chiropters gliding, they always seemed to be moving so serenely, hardly losing height at all. He barely felt in control".

Darkwing is an exceptional book. It is set in prehistoric times, during the Paleocene period. The characters consist of chiropters, miacis and gastornis. The main protagonist is an ancestor of bats, while the main antagonist is the ancestor of carnivours mammals.

Dusk, the main character is an outcast in his community. Being the only one with wings instead of gliders, he is constanly treated as an oddity. His community tries to exile him in many occasions, but he is saved only because his father is the leader of the colony.

In the same forest, another story is taking place parallel to Dusk's. Carnassial is also considered a nutation in his colony because of his vicious predatory instincts. He has a desire to kill live prey and eat meat. Because of this desire, he starts hunting other beasts, his own allies. This disappoints the pack leader and he is exiled. Carnassial then forms his own pack and a few other outcast Miacis join it to create something new and unknown.

Kenneth Oppel has done it again. A fantastic piece of fantasy mixed in with action and history, it is a suspenseful and captivating book that is definitely a great read for anyone of any age.

*Darkwing is the fourth book in the silverwing trilogy, but is a prequel to it as well.
Rating: 10/10




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