Firewing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Title Firewing

Author	Kenneth Oppel
Country	Canada
Language	English
Series	Silverwing
Genre(s)	Children's, Fantasy novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Released	April 2002
Media type	Print (Paperback & Hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-00-639194-X (first edition, paperback)
Preceded by	Sunwing

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.

[edit] Plot introduction

When Shade's son, Griffin is sucked into the underworld, it is up to Shade to find and bring him back.

[edit] Plot summary

The novel begins with the introduction of Griffin Silverwing, the son of Shade and Marina. Griffin has difficulty relating to the other newborn bats due to the fact that he is overly cautious while the other newborns are impulsive and headstrong. Griffin's only real friend is Luna, a popular newborn who also genuinely likes Griffin and is not put off by his wary attitude. However, Griffin views his tendency to worry about everything to be a sign of cowardice and fears that his father, Shade, who has become a legend amongst the Silverwing colony for restoring the sun to the bats, will reject him when he returns from Stonehold with the other male adult bats.

Upon discovering a group of human campers in the forest, Griffin decides to steal some of the camp's fire for his colony, hoping that the act will impress his father. Unfortunately, Griffin’s plan goes horribly wrong and Luna is accidentally set of fire and horribly burned. Upon discovering that Luna's injuries may be fatal, a guilt stricken Griffin flies off into the lower levels of Tree Haven. While hiding the Tree's lower levels a crack appears, possibly the result of either a natural earthquake or Cama Zotz' influence, and Griffin is sucked into the Underworld.

Shade meanwhile has also felt the earthquake and discovers another crack that leads to the Underworld. Sensing Zotz's presence in the crack, Shade becomes convinced that something is wrong and flies to Tree Haven in order to check on Marina and Griffin. Upon reaching Tree Haven, Shade finds that the tree has been devastated by the earthquake and that Marina's wing has been injured. Shade searches for Griffin and eventually discovers that he has been sucked into a crack in the ground. Against the advice of the other Silverwings, Shade decides to go into the crack and rescue his son. Marina, unable to go with Shade due to her wing injury, begs Shade to bring Griffin back.

Meanwhile in the Underworld, Griffin discovers a colony of bats that are unaware that they are dead. The bats are wary of Griffin due to the fact that as he is still alive he appears to glow to them. Griffin discovers that the recently deceased Luna has become a member of the colony and has no memory of him. Fortunately for Griffin, a group of Pilgrims, bats who attempt to convince the other inhabitants of the Underworld that they are dead, appear at the colony to try and convince the colonists that they are dead. One of the Pilgrims is Frieda, a former elder of Griffin's colony as well as one of Shade's mentors. Frieda recognizes Griffin as being Shade and Marina's son and tells him about the Tree, a huge burning tree which supposedly sends dead bats that enter it to another, more enjoyable afterlife. Frieda believes that the Tree will send Griffin back home as he is alive and not dead.

Griffin decides to follow Frieda's advice and travel to the Tree but he refuses to leave without bringing Luna with him. Frieda provides Griffin with a sound map to the Tree and then leaves to preach to more dead bats but not before warning him that it is difficult for many bats to accept their deaths. Griffin manages to get Luna to remember him and convinces her to travel with him to the Tree.

Meanwhile, Goth, the antagonist from the last two books, awakens in the Underworld and discovers that he is dead. Confused by his surroundings, Goth is easily captured by a group of Vampyrum Spectrum, who set him to work hollowing out a tunnel in the Underworld's "sky" with a group of enslaved bats. Goth manages to escape from his captors and cries out for Zotz to come to him and explain to him why he is being punished. Zotz does appear and reveals that Goth's failure to free Zotz during the last eclipse has displeased him and that Goth will spend the next few thousand years working to create a tunnel to the world of the living before being condemned to an eternity of torture.

Goth manages to bargain with Zotz to spare himself from such a horrible fate. Zotz agrees to give Goth another chance provided that he proves his loyalty to him. Zotz thus sends Goth to go kill Griffin and sacrifice his life to Zotz. In return, Zotz promises to give Goth the life of the next living creature that is sucked into the Underworld, which may not be for thousands of years.

Shade meanwhile, has encountered a group of dead bats who are attempting to reach the Tree. The group later encounter a dead Vampyrum Spectrum named Murk, who is also travelling to the Tree. Despite their misgivings at having the cannibal bat traveling with them, the group allows Murk to travel with them. Shade eventually discovers the colony of dead bats that Griffin had just left, thus allowing him to know that his son is still alive.

Goth eventually manages to catch up with Griffin but discovers that Griffin is much stronger than him as Griffin is still alive. Griffin manages to fight off Goth and then flees with Luna, leaving Goth behind. Zotz taunts Goth for his failure and then tells him that Griffin's strength will decrease during his time in the Underworld while Goth's strength will only increase. Zotz also tells Goth that Griffin is Shade's son in order to give Goth extra incentive for killing Griffin.

Griffin and Luna eventually enter a cavern, which contains an odd light, which traps dead bats in the cavern by causing them to see their deepest desires. Luna becomes trapped by an illusion of her old life but Griffin is unaffected by the light, presumably because he is alive. Shade finally manages to catch up to Griffin but has a difficult time convincing his son that he is real as Griffin believes that Shade is actually an illusion that the light is creating. Shade eventually manages to convince Griffin that he is real, however as Shade begins to remove Luna from the cavern he is attacked by Goth.

Griffin manages to escape from the cavern with Luna but Shade is lost in a black river that flowed through the cavern while Goth's back is broken during the struggle. Griffin and Luna continue on their journey to the Tree with Shade's allies, while Shade manages to escape from the river. However, unknown to Shade, Zotz heals Goth's wounds and carries him off to set a trap for Shade.

Griffin and Luna discover another colony of dead bats that are aware that they are dead. A member of the colony named Dante explains that they have chosen to spend the rest of eternity contemplating philosophy rather than enter the Tree, which they are wary of as no bat who has entered the Tree has ever returned. Luna meanwhile has regained all of her memories of her old life and realizes that Griffin was responsible for her death. Luna angrily lashes out at Griffin and injures him, which shocks her out of her anger. Griffin forgives Luna for her assault and realizes that it has shown him that he does not want to die in the Underworld. The two then set off for the Tree again.

Shade meanwhile is lured into a trap by Zotz and finds himself facing off against Goth again in a cathedral, which contains stone gargoyles that hold Shade's allies, whom Zotz had imprisoned. Realizing that he is no match for Goth in physical strength, Shade mutilates Goth's ears, effectively blinding Goth's eco vision and preventing him from locating Shade in the pitch black cathedral they are fighting in. Zotz however intervenes and tells Goth that his plans have now changed. Goth is to kill Griffin, take his life and then return to the Upper World. He will be joined by Phoenix, the Vampyrum Spectrum bat who had been Goth's jailer during his time as a slave. Phoenix will return to the Upper World by taking Shade's life and then she and Goth will restart the worship of Zotz on the Upperworld.

Zotz causes Goth to appear to be Shade in order to fool Griffin and then dispatches him to kill Griffin. Zotz then tells Shade how he and Nocturna, the god of Shade's people, had once ruled the world equally, with Nocturna ruling over the living and Zotz ruling over the dead. However, many of the dead became unhappy with their lives and Zotz thus asked Nocturna to allow him to merge their two kingdoms so that the dead could become happy again but Nocturna refused as she believed that such an act would upset that natural balance of the world.

Zotz thus killed Nocturna but her body then transformed into the Tree, which Zotz cannot destroy since it is alive. The Tree has provided the dead with an escape from Zotz' realm, which infuriates Zotz. During his story, Zotz informs Shade that the entire Underworld is built out of sound. Shade uses this information to his advantage and uses his echo vision to bore a hole in the cathedral and thus allow himself to escape. Zotz attempts to stop Shade but Shade realizes that Zotz cannot harm him as he is still alive. Shade also comes to realize that what he is facing is not the actual Zotz by a construct made out of sound. Shade destroys the construct of Zotz and then frees his imprisoned allies, even Murk though he hesitates for a moment before doing so.

Griffin and Luna reach the Tree and are about to enter it when Goth, disguised as Shade, reaches them. Griffin is fooled by the disguise and is killed by Goth who devours Griffin's life and then enters the Tree just before Shade and his allies reach him. Shade apologizes to Griffin for failing to save him and then tells Griffin to stay where he is while Shade flies up into the sky. Whispering an apology to Marina, Shade then allows himself to fall to the ground, which kills him and releases his own life force, which he wishes for Griffin to take. Both Griffin and Luna are able to absorb Shade's life force and thus return to life.

Griffin apologizes to his father for all the trouble he has caused but Shade tells him not to blame himself and that he is proud of him. Shade, Griffin, Luna and their allies all enter the Tree and despite Griffin's efforts to hold on to his father the two are separated and Griffin and Luna are returned to the Upper World. Meanwhile, the newly reborn Goth, under the directions of Zotz, discovers a temple which was once used to worship Zotz. Goth also discovers a group of Vampyrum Spectrum, whom he begins to indoctrinate with the teachings of Zotz.

Griffin and Luna return to Tree Haven and are met by Marina, who is overjoyed to see that Griffin is alive. Unbeknownst to them, Shade is also present, in an invisible and immaterial form, which allows him to experience the sensation of any living animal he passes into. Content with his new existence, Shade merges himself with Marina and Griffin, thus experiencing their joy at being reunited.

[edit] Notes

• Kenneth Oppel has reportedly finished the next book of the Silverwing series, which is entitled "Darkwing." The novel will serve as a prequel to the Silverwing trilogy. According to statements given by Oppel, prior to him writing Darkwing, he intended for Shade to return in the next Silverwing novel. However, as these statements were made years ago and as more recent comments indicate that Darkwing will focus on a new protagonist, it is possible that Oppel has since changed his mind about Shade's return.

• While Zotz remains imprisoned in the Underworld by the end of the novel, he has two plans in place that could free him. The first plan is Goth's efforts to rebuild Zotz' followers and have their descendants free Zotz at the next solar eclipse. The second plan is the tunnel Zotz is digging to the surface, which he claims will allow him to suck enough living creatures into the Underworld as sacrifices to empower him enough to seize control of the living. As the upcomming Silverwing novel Darkwing will be a prequel to the series it is unlikely that either of these plot lines will be resolved soon.

• While the novel ends on a happy note, with Griffin and Luna reunited with their families, the reaction of Griffin's family members to Shade's death is not seen. It is unknown if the impact Shade's death has had on his family will be shown in any future Silverwing novels.

• Unlike the previous two novels in the Silverwing trilogy, Marina is not one of Firewing's main characters and appears only during the begining of the novel and very briefly at the end.