Skyborn (first of a trilogy)
David Dalglish
ISBN: 9780316302685
Floating islands, religious oppression, spunky war-orphans.
Part of my ongoing research into "floating islands in the sky" stories, and this first book started out very neatly, but it's headed into religious territory that I don't feel particularly inclined to pursue. I've got the feeling of the writing and the world-building pretty well from the first book. I very much enjoyed the focus on their version of military academy, and on the training in magic and tactics and their equipment, and I also thought Dalglish did a very good job of describing aerial combat. If it wasn't for the religious overtones building up through the book, I would probably have stuck with the series just because it's decently written and interesting politically, but oh well.
Showing posts with label wings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wings. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Gwinna, Barbara Helen Berger
As many fairy tales do, this one begins with a father and mother desperately wanting a child.
They take their request to the Owl Mother, who grants them a child, with one condition - to send it back in twelve years.
Back home, the infant grows strong and beautiful - except for the two strange brown spots on her back, which eventually (to her mother's utter dismay) bud into wings, which begin to grow larger. Mother, desperate to keep Gwinna grounded and safe, binds them up beneath ribbons and destroys all the looking glasses.
Despite that, on her twelfth birthday, the owls come for Gwinna, and her parents are turned to stone. Now this precocious child must learn to navigate her wings, her deepest desires, and her memories of home in order to save both the Owl Mother, her own family, and her homeland. Her quest takes her to a magical place beneath the center of the world, where a kindly griffin, a beautiful dryad, and a magical harp teach her to play the music of life.
Such a pretty little story, and beautiful illustrations. The one where she and the griffin are seated beneath the dryad tree is almost biblical in style, while the one of her practicing flight on a craggy outcrop in the woods seems like it could appear in a naturalist catalog.
They take their request to the Owl Mother, who grants them a child, with one condition - to send it back in twelve years.
Back home, the infant grows strong and beautiful - except for the two strange brown spots on her back, which eventually (to her mother's utter dismay) bud into wings, which begin to grow larger. Mother, desperate to keep Gwinna grounded and safe, binds them up beneath ribbons and destroys all the looking glasses.
Despite that, on her twelfth birthday, the owls come for Gwinna, and her parents are turned to stone. Now this precocious child must learn to navigate her wings, her deepest desires, and her memories of home in order to save both the Owl Mother, her own family, and her homeland. Her quest takes her to a magical place beneath the center of the world, where a kindly griffin, a beautiful dryad, and a magical harp teach her to play the music of life.
Such a pretty little story, and beautiful illustrations. The one where she and the griffin are seated beneath the dryad tree is almost biblical in style, while the one of her practicing flight on a craggy outcrop in the woods seems like it could appear in a naturalist catalog.
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