The Wind Singer has been our shared class book for the last two terms. It is a story of three young people who are forced through circumstance to undertake a perilous journey to seek the fabled voice of the Wind Singer, in order to bring happiness to their city.
William Nicholson has imagined a world that contains a variety of cultures, described in rich engaging chapters. From the introduction to the ordered world of Aramanth; the city controlled by exams and ratings, to the simple life of the mud people living in the Underlake, to the feuding nomadic tribes of the Baraka’s & Chakas, Nicholson sweeps the reader along in a rollercoaster of action and suspense.
The characters are superb. Twins Bowman & Kestrel rebel against the tyranny of Aramanth, and together with the ‘hopeless’ Mumpo, set out to discover the voice of the Wind Singer. On the way they meet the powerless Emperor, the simple mud people and the fierce nomad warriors of the great wind driven city of Ombaraka. Ombaraka and its rival city of Omchaka are fantastic creations from the fertile mind of Nicholson and the wind battle between these two tribes was a highlight of the book.
A story moulded along the lines of all great quest adventures, the three children face seemingly insurmountable odds at every turn. Their triumphs and close escapes are well constructed and explained. The final challenge, the march of the Zars, the endless army that cannot die, proved to be a riveting affair, and the reader is enticed to find out how the three young heroes might possibly escape disaster.
The Wind Singer is the first of three books and the adventures continue in Slaves of the Mastery & Firesong. A great read for all ages the Wind Singer is one of those books you just hope that Hollywood will turn into a movie.
William Nicholson has imagined a world that contains a variety of cultures, described in rich engaging chapters. From the introduction to the ordered world of Aramanth; the city controlled by exams and ratings, to the simple life of the mud people living in the Underlake, to the feuding nomadic tribes of the Baraka’s & Chakas, Nicholson sweeps the reader along in a rollercoaster of action and suspense.
The characters are superb. Twins Bowman & Kestrel rebel against the tyranny of Aramanth, and together with the ‘hopeless’ Mumpo, set out to discover the voice of the Wind Singer. On the way they meet the powerless Emperor, the simple mud people and the fierce nomad warriors of the great wind driven city of Ombaraka. Ombaraka and its rival city of Omchaka are fantastic creations from the fertile mind of Nicholson and the wind battle between these two tribes was a highlight of the book.
A story moulded along the lines of all great quest adventures, the three children face seemingly insurmountable odds at every turn. Their triumphs and close escapes are well constructed and explained. The final challenge, the march of the Zars, the endless army that cannot die, proved to be a riveting affair, and the reader is enticed to find out how the three young heroes might possibly escape disaster.
The Wind Singer is the first of three books and the adventures continue in Slaves of the Mastery & Firesong. A great read for all ages the Wind Singer is one of those books you just hope that Hollywood will turn into a movie.
