FernFolio

For Dusk and his colony, life in the giant sequoia, far from the politics and alliances of the beasts on the mainland, is peaceful and happy. As a young chiropter, Dusk’s only worries concern his furless sails and overcoming an almost irresistible urge to beat those sails and try to fly when, since the dawn of time, chiropters have been gliders and not flyers. Though some in the colony whisper about his odd appearance, with his furless sails, his heavy chest and shoulders, his missing claws and his weak back legs, Dusk’s father, Icaron, is the leader of the colony and defends his youngest son against even the most pervasive mutterings.
When news reaches the island that the last of the saurians is dead, Icaron and other elders hope that the end of the great and terrible predators will see the beginning of an age of peace and prosperity. However, the extinction of the saurians ends the great Pact among all animals, and the chiropters come under attack from increasingly cunning and vicious enemies. Too late, Icaron’s colony learns that it has been lulled into a false sense of security, a lesson for which it pays a high price. When disaster strikes and the odds against survival become overwhelming, it is Dusk, with his new abilities, who must lead his colony to safety in a world undergoing massive evolutionary upheaval.
With Darkwing, Kenneth Oppel returns to the bat (or proto-bat!) protagonists of his celebrated Silverwing series. Oppel writes evocatively of our world in that time before history began, and sets the reader to dreaming. A wonderful story!
FernFolio Editor