Sunwing
Encyclopedia
Sunwing is a popular children's book written in 1999 by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel
. It is the second book in the Silverwing
series, preceded by Silverwing
and succeeded by Firewing
.
s, the bat
s find a Human building, and fly inside, thinking that Cassiel might be there. Inside, they find an artificial forest filled with many other bats. After a lecture by the apparent leader, Arcadia, stating that the building is a paradise
, the Silverwings discover that they cannot escape and that Cassiel is not among the bats they find there.
Shade becomes increasingly distant from the others, wishing to find a way out. Soon, several bats disappear, including Shade's friend, Chinook Silverwing. At first, this causes a panic, but they are all calmed by Arcadia, who claims that they are heading to a better place and are "chosen" to do so.
After being advised by the Silverwing elder
Frieda that he will "listen his way out", Shade discovers a way through the river that runs through the forest. Joined by Marina, who convinces Shade that he would never make it on his own, they escape through the river. They find another artificial forest, this one filled with owls.
The owls awaken and attempt to kill both bats, who find temporary refuge in a tree hollow
. The owls try to flush them out, but are stopped when a soporific vapor spreads through the forest. Several owls are captured by the humans, while Shade and Marina manage to escape to yet another identical forest through the river. A Boreal owl, Orestes, son of the Owl King, also follows them.
Shade and Marina talk to Orestes and try to convince him to believe in what is happening. Afterwards, Goth (who has been recaptured by military scientists) attacks Shade. Goth almost kills Orestes, but Shade uses an image generated by echoes to give the owl enough time to escape. Goth chases the two through the forest, but is thwarted by humans, who capture him and Orestes.
To learn more about the building wherein they are, Shade and Marina sneak into the core of the building. They eventually reach a room of bats that are being used for an unknown purpose. When Shade gets closer to investigate, he is captured.
Shade is put into one of a series of metal troughs. There, the humans shave a patch of fur from his skin. A metal disc
attached to a string is stitched into his belly, and a metal stud is placed into his ear. Shade is then put into a container, where he finds Chinook and other bats.
Shade questions Chinook about the purpose of the studs and discs, but he is unable to respond. The container is placed on an airplane flying south.
As she explains, Arcadia tells the bats not to believe her. As a result, only Freida, Ariel, and two other Silverwings escape through the door. They then encounter a Graywing colony, led by one Achilles Graywing. The Silverwings inform them not to enter the building and are told that the owls have located and laid siege to Hibernaculum, killing several bats as what the owls believe as punishment for Goth and Throbb's action in the previous book. Devastated at this news, they decide to follow the Graywings to Bridge City, which is possibly the only safe haven left for bats. Marina decides to there recruit some bats to help her go south and rescue Shade.
In the plane, Shade and Chinook unlock the door, only to find another one. As Shade opens it, he finds it leads into another cage, which contains Goth. With the help of the other bats, Shade and Chinook manage to close the door. As a result of their activity, they are released into the air. Shade finds out that they are on the outskirts of a city beside a massive jungle
. He sees with terror that this is Goth's homeland. The metal tracker in each bat's ear induces them to fly into a certain building. Shade, for his part, reels back in horror as the bats who meet the building trigger the disks, which explode on impact, leading them to a terrible death.
Shade manages to stop Chinook from crashing. Chinook realizes his parents, Plato and Isis, were caught in the explosions. Shade manages to remove Chinook's disk; however, when Chinook tries to remove Shade's disc, they both fall into a river, where a pike
rips off Shade's disc and eats it. Consequently, an explosion occurs underwater, sending up a large waterspout. The two drenched bats make it to shore, where Chinook saves Shade's life by killing an attacking mantis
the size of Shade himself. They then meet a bat by the name of Caliban, who shows them a place where survivors of the bombing are hiding from the bloodthirsty Vampyrum spectrum, a cannibal race now ruled by Goth upon his father's death. Shade begins to learn more about the Vampyrum Spectrum from a weakened bat named Ishmael.
by his priest. According to the prophecy, if a hundred hearts are offered to their god Camazotz
, the coming solar eclipse
will last forever, allowing Zotz to rule both the Upperworld and Underworld
. This privilege has been withheld, says the priest, by Nocturna, Zotz's twin sister, who is worshipped by the Northern bats. If Goth makes the sacrifices, Zotz may overcome Nocturna forever.
Meanwhile, the Silverwings make their way to Bridge City. There, a council of war is held about the rumored threats to the bats. There is some relief when the northern rat
King Romulus (who became the ruler after his brother Remus fled the kingdom, convinced that a plot to poison him was afoot) comes and pledges his help to them.
Shade hastens to rescue his father, who they discover is now a captive of Goth's clan. On the way, both Chinook and the owl prince Orestes are captured by a small group of Vampyrum spectrum.
Later, Shade is alerted by the oracle
Zephyr of the dark prophecy. Though reluctant, Shade plays into fate's hands through his attempts to complete his quest. Meanwhile, Marina and the survivors of the Silverwing colony are led to the Southern rats, led by Cortez via waterways. After some negotiation, the rat General Cortez agrees to help the Silverwings, because his own son is a captive of the Vampyrum spectrum.
At Statue Haven, Shade is contemplating the loss of Chinook and Orestes when he notices something burrowing into Statue Haven. To his joy, he finds himself reunited with his mother and Marina.
Shade, Marina, Shade's mother Ariel, and a group of Rats led by General Cortez enter the pyramid to free the rat prisoners. Shade manages to convince Cortez to free the owls. In the midst of the confusion, the tunnel collapses, and the Spectral Bats attack. Cortez and his rats retreat; later, Cortez decides to return at the insistence of Marina. A battle ensues between Vampyrum spectrum and their intended victims, with help from the freed prisoners. During the battle, Goth chases Shade, intending to kill him, but Shade is able to protect himself with sound. Subsequently, Shade discovers his father, Cassiel.
At this point, the high priest Voxzaco realizes that there is no way by which to sacrifice 100 hearts before the brief eclipse ends, except by use of the explosive disc Goth had brought with him. He therefore attempts to drop it on the pyramid.
Inside the pyramid, the battle is still raging; Ishmael is shown sacrificing himself to save his trapped brother. The battle appears to be shifting in the northerners' favor when Shade notices the disc falling towards the pyramid. Realizing that it would be catastrophic if it dropped while the eclipse was still active, he uses sound waves to keep in place. He manages to keep it aloft long enough for most of the northern bats to escape; exhausted, he lets it drop, destroying the pyramid and killing all inside.
Victorious, the northern group returns to Bridge City, where a war platoon of owls led by Orestes' father, King Boreal, are approaching. Meeting for a truce, Shade and the elders attempt to negotiate. With Orestes' help, Boreal relents and gives the bats the right to fly in the daylight. Afterward, Frieda, the eldest of the Silverwings, dies peacefully.
Later, in the northern forests, a new Tree Haven is being built for the Silverwings. Shade's mother Ariel is selected as a new elder. Chinook is adopted, at Shade's suggestion, by Ariel and Cassiel. Cassiel and Shade are helping to make the new echo chamber, wherein the history of bat-kind will be kept in the form of pictures formed by sounds in the bats' minds, when Cassiel remarks that Shade wanted to be made an elder, despite being barely a year old. Shade replies that Cassiel did as well, and says that hotheads like themselves do not make good leaders.
Shade then leaves to find Marina. She races him to a stream, eventually winning herself and curling up before Shade can find her. She states that Chinook had offered to make her his mate, but reveals (to Shade's astonishment) that she has refused, and intends to be Shade's mate instead. Ariel arrives soon afterward, already knowing Marina's intentions. Shade and Marina then fly to see the sunrise, concluding the book.
Kenneth Oppel
Kenneth Oppel is a Canadian author. Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, he spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England and Ireland....
. It is the second book in the Silverwing
Silverwing (series)
The Silverwing Book Series is a series of books by Kenneth Oppel featuring the adventures of Shade, a young bat.-Synopsis:When Shade Silverwing breaks an age-old law, looking at the sun, the owls burn down his beloved Tree Haven. They go to Hibernaculum where they rest for the winter. Along the...
series, preceded by Silverwing
Silverwing (novel)
Silverwing is a best-selling children's novel, written by Kenneth Oppel, first published in 1997 by HarperCollins. It tells the story of a colony of silverwing bats. The tone and artistic ambition of this series of bestsellers has been compared to the classic animal novel Watership Down...
and succeeded by Firewing
Firewing
Firewing is a children's book written by the Canadian author, Kenneth Oppel. It is the third book in the series including two others: Silverwing, and Sunwing. There is also a fourth book in the series called Darkwing, which is a prequel to Silverwing.-Plot:The novel begins with the introduction of...
.
Part I
At the beginning, Shade bumps marina and his fellow friends of the Silverwing colony are flying in the middle of the winter, Shade wishing to find his father Cassiel. After surviving an encounter with owlOwl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s, the bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s find a Human building, and fly inside, thinking that Cassiel might be there. Inside, they find an artificial forest filled with many other bats. After a lecture by the apparent leader, Arcadia, stating that the building is a paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
, the Silverwings discover that they cannot escape and that Cassiel is not among the bats they find there.
Shade becomes increasingly distant from the others, wishing to find a way out. Soon, several bats disappear, including Shade's friend, Chinook Silverwing. At first, this causes a panic, but they are all calmed by Arcadia, who claims that they are heading to a better place and are "chosen" to do so.
After being advised by the Silverwing elder
Elder (administrative title)
The term Elder is used in several different countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority...
Frieda that he will "listen his way out", Shade discovers a way through the river that runs through the forest. Joined by Marina, who convinces Shade that he would never make it on his own, they escape through the river. They find another artificial forest, this one filled with owls.
The owls awaken and attempt to kill both bats, who find temporary refuge in a tree hollow
Tree hollow
A tree hollow or tree hole is a semi-enclosed cavity which has naturally formed in the trunk or branch of a tree. These are predominantly found in old trees, whether living or not...
. The owls try to flush them out, but are stopped when a soporific vapor spreads through the forest. Several owls are captured by the humans, while Shade and Marina manage to escape to yet another identical forest through the river. A Boreal owl, Orestes, son of the Owl King, also follows them.
Shade and Marina talk to Orestes and try to convince him to believe in what is happening. Afterwards, Goth (who has been recaptured by military scientists) attacks Shade. Goth almost kills Orestes, but Shade uses an image generated by echoes to give the owl enough time to escape. Goth chases the two through the forest, but is thwarted by humans, who capture him and Orestes.
To learn more about the building wherein they are, Shade and Marina sneak into the core of the building. They eventually reach a room of bats that are being used for an unknown purpose. When Shade gets closer to investigate, he is captured.
Shade is put into one of a series of metal troughs. There, the humans shave a patch of fur from his skin. A metal disc
Bat bomb
Bat bombs were bomb-shaped casings with numerous compartments, each containing a Mexican Free-tailed Bat with a small timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats which would then roost in eaves and...
attached to a string is stitched into his belly, and a metal stud is placed into his ear. Shade is then put into a container, where he finds Chinook and other bats.
Shade questions Chinook about the purpose of the studs and discs, but he is unable to respond. The container is placed on an airplane flying south.
Part II
Marina is clinging to the plane, but is soon thrown off by the turbulence. Concerned for her friend's safety, she flies to the entrance to bring Freida, Ariel, and the rest of the bats out of the building for their own safety and helping Shade. Before going in, she jams a stick into the entrance to prevent it from closing.As she explains, Arcadia tells the bats not to believe her. As a result, only Freida, Ariel, and two other Silverwings escape through the door. They then encounter a Graywing colony, led by one Achilles Graywing. The Silverwings inform them not to enter the building and are told that the owls have located and laid siege to Hibernaculum, killing several bats as what the owls believe as punishment for Goth and Throbb's action in the previous book. Devastated at this news, they decide to follow the Graywings to Bridge City, which is possibly the only safe haven left for bats. Marina decides to there recruit some bats to help her go south and rescue Shade.
In the plane, Shade and Chinook unlock the door, only to find another one. As Shade opens it, he finds it leads into another cage, which contains Goth. With the help of the other bats, Shade and Chinook manage to close the door. As a result of their activity, they are released into the air. Shade finds out that they are on the outskirts of a city beside a massive jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
. He sees with terror that this is Goth's homeland. The metal tracker in each bat's ear induces them to fly into a certain building. Shade, for his part, reels back in horror as the bats who meet the building trigger the disks, which explode on impact, leading them to a terrible death.
Shade manages to stop Chinook from crashing. Chinook realizes his parents, Plato and Isis, were caught in the explosions. Shade manages to remove Chinook's disk; however, when Chinook tries to remove Shade's disc, they both fall into a river, where a pike
Esox
Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae — the esocids which were endemic to North America, Europe and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present.The type species is E. lucius, the northern pike...
rips off Shade's disc and eats it. Consequently, an explosion occurs underwater, sending up a large waterspout. The two drenched bats make it to shore, where Chinook saves Shade's life by killing an attacking mantis
Mantis
Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...
the size of Shade himself. They then meet a bat by the name of Caliban, who shows them a place where survivors of the bombing are hiding from the bloodthirsty Vampyrum spectrum, a cannibal race now ruled by Goth upon his father's death. Shade begins to learn more about the Vampyrum Spectrum from a weakened bat named Ishmael.
Part III
Goth, reaching his home in an ancient Mayan pyramid, is anointed king and told of a prophecyProphecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
by his priest. According to the prophecy, if a hundred hearts are offered to their god Camazotz
Camazotz
In Maya mythology, Camazotz was a bat god. Camazotz means "death bat" in the K'iche' language. In Mesoamerica the bat was associated with night, death, and sacrifice.-Etymology:...
, the coming solar eclipse
Solar eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
will last forever, allowing Zotz to rule both the Upperworld and Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. This privilege has been withheld, says the priest, by Nocturna, Zotz's twin sister, who is worshipped by the Northern bats. If Goth makes the sacrifices, Zotz may overcome Nocturna forever.
Meanwhile, the Silverwings make their way to Bridge City. There, a council of war is held about the rumored threats to the bats. There is some relief when the northern rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
King Romulus (who became the ruler after his brother Remus fled the kingdom, convinced that a plot to poison him was afoot) comes and pledges his help to them.
Shade hastens to rescue his father, who they discover is now a captive of Goth's clan. On the way, both Chinook and the owl prince Orestes are captured by a small group of Vampyrum spectrum.
Later, Shade is alerted by the oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
Zephyr of the dark prophecy. Though reluctant, Shade plays into fate's hands through his attempts to complete his quest. Meanwhile, Marina and the survivors of the Silverwing colony are led to the Southern rats, led by Cortez via waterways. After some negotiation, the rat General Cortez agrees to help the Silverwings, because his own son is a captive of the Vampyrum spectrum.
At Statue Haven, Shade is contemplating the loss of Chinook and Orestes when he notices something burrowing into Statue Haven. To his joy, he finds himself reunited with his mother and Marina.
Shade, Marina, Shade's mother Ariel, and a group of Rats led by General Cortez enter the pyramid to free the rat prisoners. Shade manages to convince Cortez to free the owls. In the midst of the confusion, the tunnel collapses, and the Spectral Bats attack. Cortez and his rats retreat; later, Cortez decides to return at the insistence of Marina. A battle ensues between Vampyrum spectrum and their intended victims, with help from the freed prisoners. During the battle, Goth chases Shade, intending to kill him, but Shade is able to protect himself with sound. Subsequently, Shade discovers his father, Cassiel.
At this point, the high priest Voxzaco realizes that there is no way by which to sacrifice 100 hearts before the brief eclipse ends, except by use of the explosive disc Goth had brought with him. He therefore attempts to drop it on the pyramid.
Inside the pyramid, the battle is still raging; Ishmael is shown sacrificing himself to save his trapped brother. The battle appears to be shifting in the northerners' favor when Shade notices the disc falling towards the pyramid. Realizing that it would be catastrophic if it dropped while the eclipse was still active, he uses sound waves to keep in place. He manages to keep it aloft long enough for most of the northern bats to escape; exhausted, he lets it drop, destroying the pyramid and killing all inside.
Victorious, the northern group returns to Bridge City, where a war platoon of owls led by Orestes' father, King Boreal, are approaching. Meeting for a truce, Shade and the elders attempt to negotiate. With Orestes' help, Boreal relents and gives the bats the right to fly in the daylight. Afterward, Frieda, the eldest of the Silverwings, dies peacefully.
Later, in the northern forests, a new Tree Haven is being built for the Silverwings. Shade's mother Ariel is selected as a new elder. Chinook is adopted, at Shade's suggestion, by Ariel and Cassiel. Cassiel and Shade are helping to make the new echo chamber, wherein the history of bat-kind will be kept in the form of pictures formed by sounds in the bats' minds, when Cassiel remarks that Shade wanted to be made an elder, despite being barely a year old. Shade replies that Cassiel did as well, and says that hotheads like themselves do not make good leaders.
Shade then leaves to find Marina. She races him to a stream, eventually winning herself and curling up before Shade can find her. She states that Chinook had offered to make her his mate, but reveals (to Shade's astonishment) that she has refused, and intends to be Shade's mate instead. Ariel arrives soon afterward, already knowing Marina's intentions. Shade and Marina then fly to see the sunrise, concluding the book.
Trivia
- Sunwing was first released in Canada in August 1999. It was followed with its release in the United Kingdom and the United States in January 2000 and February 2000 respectively. Below is the release details for the first edition hardback and paperback copies in these three publication regions.