Firewing

infobox Book |
name = Firewing


image_caption = "Firewing" first edition cover.
author = Kenneth Oppel
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = Canada
language = English
series = "Silverwing" series
genre = Children's, Fantasy novel
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = April 18, 2002
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 262 pp "(first edition)"
isbn = ISBN 9780006391944
preceded_by = Sunwing
followed_by = Darkwing

"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".

Plot introduction

When Shade's son, Griffin, is sucked into the Underworld, it is up to Shade to find him and bring him back. Griffin is a very worried character and wants his famous father to like him.

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 because he is overly cautious while the other newborns are impulsive and headstrong. Griffin's only real friend is Luna, a popular newborn who likes Griffin and is not put off by his wary attitude. However, Griffin views his tendency to worry about everything as a sign of cowardice and fears that his father, Shade, who has become a legend amongst the Silverwing colony for restoring daytime movement 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 when Luna is accidentally set on 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 Camazotz' influence, and Griffin is drawn into the Underworld.

Shade 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 assuage his fears for 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 pulled 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 because of her wing injury, begs Shade to bring Griffin back.

In the Underworld, Griffin discovers a colony of bats that are unaware that they are dead. The bats are wary of Griffin, because 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. Frieda recognizes Griffin as Shade and Marina's son and tells him of a gigantic, incandescent 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 refuses to leave without bringing Luna with him. Frieda provides Griffin with a sound map (a map created by echolocative images in his mind) to the Tree and then leaves to preach to more dead bats, 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 of the previous 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, including a vampyrum met in "Silverwing", named Throbb. Goth manages to escape from his captors and cries 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 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 pulled 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 he because 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. This light traps dead bats in the cavern by causing them to see their deepest desires. Luna becomes trapped by an illusion of her old life; Griffin is unaffected by the light, presumably because he is alive. Shade 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 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. 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. 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, of which they are wary 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 containing 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 echolocation and preventing him from locating Shade in the pitch black darkness. Zotz 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,dn 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, whereupon 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 that 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; therefore Zotz asked Nocturna to allow him to merge their two kingdoms so that the dead could become happy again. Nocturna refused, as she believed that such an act would upset that natural balance of the world. Zotz thus killed Nocturna, whereupon her body transformed into the Tree, which Zotz cannot destroy. 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 pictures created in the bats' minds by echoes.

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 'real' Zotz, but a construct made out of echoes similar to those that constitute the Underworld. Shade destroys the construct of Zotz and then frees his imprisoned allies, including Murk.

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 commits suicide by allowing 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; Shade tells him not to blame himself and that he is proud of him. Shade, Griffin, Luna, and their allies all enter the Tree. 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 the ruins of the 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 his god.

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 sensations of anything into which he passes. Content with his new existence, which Nocturna is suggested to share, Shade merges himself with Marina and Griffin, thus experiencing their joy at being reunited.

Characters

hade

Shade Silverwing is a young bat who is a runt and is often mocked by his peers, who take pride in their size and strength. While Shade's strength may be inferior to the other bats', he becomes a master of echolocation, often creating illusions or moving materials with echoes. In Firewing, Shade comes home to Tree Haven to find that Griffin's been lost in the underworld, and he goes to follow him. Eventually reuniting with Griffin and Luna with the help of a group of Pilgrims, Shade makes it all the way to the Tree only to commit suicide for his son's sake when Griffin is killed by Goth.

His name means "darkness".

Goth

Goth is a cannibal male bat, prince to the "Vampyrum spectrum", and is deceptive and cunning. He was taken from his home in the jungle by humans and seeks to return home, with his sidekick Throbb (who later dies in a lightning storm). His carnivorous nature makes him eat many kinds of animals, enraging the owls against Shade. He was killed in Sunwing in an explosion when the high priest Voxzaco drops an exploding disk, aiming to sacrifice 100 hearts within a solar eclipse. Goth is ruthless and bloodthirsty, and after being outsmarted by Shade makes it his personal goal to kill the other bat (to the point of getting distracted from his mission to kill Griffin when he sees Shade).

Goth returns to life at the end of Firewing when he disguises himself as Shade and kills Griffin, absorbing his life and returning to the living world through the Tree. He then reappears at the temple where he was killed, meeting a group of Vampyrum bats and preaching to them about Cama Zotz.

His name comes from the English word "".

Griffin

Shade and Marina's son. Due to his mixed lineage, he's physically unique as compared to the other Silverwing newborns; as a result, he's self-conscious and feels like an outcast. He is a constantly worrying over anything and everything and his overactive imagination provides him with colourful answers to the question 'what's the worst that can happen?'. He ends up being sucked into the Underworld after accidentally causing Luna's death. During his journey through the underworld to the Tree, he gains self-confidence and faith in himself. He is killed briefly by Goth, but comes back to life when he absorbs half of Shade's life (Shade having committed suicide for Griffin's sake).

His name comes from the griffin, a blend between two animals: an eagle and a lion. A fitting name for a Silverwing-Brightwing hybrid.

Luna

A Silverwing newborn, and Griffin's best friend. As a contrast to Griffin's constant worrying, Luna is carefree, daring and popular among the other Silverwing newborns. She dies from her burns when Griffin, in his attempt to steal fire from humans, drops a burning twig on her and she catches fire. Griffin meets up with her again in the Underworld, and although she doesn't recognize him at first (or realize that she's dead), convinces her to fly to the tree with him.

After realizing she had died, Luna begins to feel constant pain where she had been burned to death. Once Griffin confesses that it was his fault she'd died, Luna lashes out and attacks, nearly killing him. Eventually, even though the sight of the Tree frightened her (it appeared to be made entirely out of fire, something that terrified her due to the nature of her death) she comes back to the upper world with Griffin after absorbing half of Shade's life.

Notes

*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.

*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 beginning of the novel and very briefly at the end.

Publication history

"Firewing" was first released in Canada in April 2002. It was followed with its release in the United Kingdom and the United States in September 2002 and February 2003 respectively. Below is the release details for the first edition hardback and paperback copies in these three publication regions.

*2002, CAN, HarperCollins ISBN 9780006391944, Pub date April 18 2002, Trade paperback
*2003, US, Simon & Schuster ISBN 9780689849930, Pub date February 1 2003, Hardback

*2002, UK, Hodder Children's Books ISBN 9780340852552, Pub date September 12 2002, Paperback
*2003, CAN, HarperCollins ISBN 9780006393023, Pub date December 18 2003, Paperback
*2004, US, Aladdin ISBN 9780689869884, Pub date May 4 2004, Paperback