''Firewing'' is a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

written by the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author,

Kenneth Oppel Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer. Biography Oppel was born in Port Alberni, and spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England, ...

. It is the third book of the '' Silverwing'' novel series. The books include '' Silverwing'', '' Sunwing'', and the prequel '' Darkwing''.

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 , Pub date April 18, 2002, Trade paperback * 2003, US, Simon & Schuster , Pub date February 1, 2003, Hardback * 2002, UK, Hodder Children's Books , Pub date September 12, 2002, Paperback * 2003, CAN, HarperCollins , Pub date December 18, 2003, Paperback * 2004, US, Aladdin , Pub date May 4, 2004, Paperback

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' praised Oppel's writing, calling it "beautiful in its evocation of the bat world". However, they noted a "problem with voice in the story", noting some poorly-worded sections. They added, "Such inelegant writing is unfortunate in the midst of a fine tale". ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

s John Peters did not discuss Oppel's writing. Peters said the novel has "plenty of rousing action; special effects on a grand scale; a leavening of humor as well as stimulating thoughts on the nature of life, death, the afterlife, loyalty, courage, honesty, and other essential topics more than compensate for iffy internal logic".

References

{{reflist 2002 Canadian novels Canadian fantasy novels Novels by Kenneth Oppel Silverwing (series) Children's fantasy novels Fiction about deicide 2002 children's books