Conclusion to My Blog

Finally, after many weeks of reading this book, I have finished it. Kenneth Oppel, as always, has written a great book that was fun and interesting to read. I still felt though, to be honest, that this book wasn't as great as his other works, which is obvious given the fact that this book was written in the shadow of the Silverwing Saga. I am grateful that he has written one final book (hopefully) for this series though.

If someone who had never heard of Kenneth Oppel before asked me whether or not I recommend this book to read, even as a prequel to the Silverwing Saga, I would not recommend it to them. I would rather they read the Silverwing Saga first, and after wards read Darkwing to complete their reading experience with the Silverwing Saga.

The book to me seemed very short, especially compared to other books by Kenneth Oppel. I wished there was more character development, especially between Carnassial and Dusk (even though they changed a lot). I felt it was not enough, and that the characters weren't as dynamic as I hoped they would turn out to be. The climax and ending was also not as exciting as I thought it would be. I wished more things happened, and that the book was longer.

Despite that, as a big fan of Kenneth Oppel, I found Darkwing very enjoyable to read for what it was. Being introduced to new characters was refreshing, as well as learning about a new world unlike the one in the other books. The world that Oppel portrayed in this book did capture my imagination, as I wanted to learn more. I enjoyed reading it lasted.

Hopefully you also enjoyed reading my blog posts. As I am now done my blogging assignment, I will no longer be making any more blog posts, this being my last one.

Thank you, for taking the time to read all of this (if you did read it)

-Paul

Chapter 24 - A New Home

Dusk and his colony finally reaches the new home he has found for them. Life, although greatly changed from what has happened, begins to return to normal. New leaders and elders are appointed, and Dusk is officially accepted by his colony for his actions. Chimera returns though, and talks to Dusk. She convinces him to go and live in her colony with her, because although the colony accepts Dusk now, they still view him as different. The book finally ends, with Dusk leaving his colony to live with Chimera's colony.

Finally, the book is over. Like I said in the previous blog post, this story relates very well to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and Primary and Secondary concerns. This is shown in the very last chapter, as Dusk expresses a desire to belong to a group, finally giving into his internal desires, and goes to live with the colony of bats, as they are called. Part of what contributed to his decision was also the fact that Slyph would not be able to live with Dusk forever. She would eventually mate, and have her own things to deal with. Dusk, being different, would not be able to mate within his colony. He would become very lonely, with no companion to satisfy his need of love. This shows how he desired the need for love and companionship.

Chapter 22 - Alone in the Grasslands / Chapter 23 - Birthplace

As the chaos within the hollowed tree trunk began to die down, Dusk and Sylph, separated from their colony, attempt to find them. Dusk soon finds the colony, somehow miraculously regrouped, and plans to meet them at a nearby tree after he went back and got Sylph. Dusk and Sylph though, end up lost as they try to find their colony again. They are then found by Carniassial and the hyaenadons, and attempt to hide in a large saurian skeleton they find.

The next chapter continues with their escape from Carnassial. They find themselves in a cave, where there were saurian eggs that were laid by an adult saurian which was dead. Dusk and Sylph argue whether or not to destroy the eggs, after which Dusk finally agrees. Just as they are about to destroy the eggs though, Carnassial and Panthera arrive. Dusk and Sylph barely make it out of the cave alive, as they were saved by the saurian as it attacked Carnassial, and killed Panthera, just as Dusk and Sylph themselves were being attacked by Carnassial and Panthera.

With the book reaching it's climax, and near its end, I can't help but think about how well this book relates to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and Secondary and Primary Concerns. Everything from the characters' desires for safety and security (evident in their constant struggle to find a suitable and safe home), Dusk's desire to fit in with the others and belong to a group, to what happens when our needs are over satisfied. With just one more chapter to go, I feel excited to finish the book.

Chapter 20 - Abandoned / Chapter 21 - Soricids

Despite being abandoned by his colony, Dusk finds that Sylph had stayed behind to wait for Dusk. She reveals that their colony split up when Nova convince part of the colony to return to Gyrokus's colony and repent for their past. Many follow Nova, but some stay behind for Dusk. The remaining colony decides to follow Dusk's advice and go with him to the place that he had found. They quickly plan to cross the grasslands, where they are most vulnerable.

This flows into the next chapter, as they make their journey across. During their crossing though, they encounter Carnassial and his pack of hyaenadons, and try to hide in a hollow tree trunk, but are attacked inside by poisonous creatures called soricids. Dusk and his colony barely escapes, although many chiropters perished, including one of the elders.

Within these two chapters, we see that there is once again a theme of trust, and also of loyalty, between Dusk and Sylph. Sylph has been shown constantly throughout the story so far to be very loyal to Dusk, even when it seemed they were mad at eat other. She trusted him, and was loyal to him. To Dusk, she was one of his few companions, and therefore, helped satisfy his need for love and companion, especially after their parents had passed away.

Chapter 18 - A New Order / Chapter 19 - Chimera

The realities of Icaron's injuries are finally realized, as he soon passes away shortly after their escape from the tree runners two days later, from his injuries. Before dying though, Icaron reveals to Dusk that the dead saurian nest he had seen on the island was indeed caused by Icaron, which surprises them both, that their father had been lying all along. Nova then takes over as the colony leader after getting permission from the next leader in line (Auster, Icaron's eldest son).

We once again follow Carnassial, this time only with Panthera, as they travelled with the hyaernadon pack as they go to the place where the saurian nest was. Carnassial admires their hunting ability, and realizes that he can only become a the ruler of all creatures if he uses his wit, rather than strength. He plans to manipulate the hyaenadons.

Chapter 19 is when things start to get very interesting. After Nova became leader, it was decided that the best thing to do was for Dusk to go search for a suitable home for his colony. Since he was faster than the others, he could scout areas faster. Dusk could see from the top of a tree a suitable home in the distance, but it is far away across barren land (no trees for the chiropters to land on). Dusk goes to see if it really is suitable first. There, he meets other creatures, who look exactly like him. They called themselves bats. He meets a female bat named Chimera, who offers him refuge within her own colony of bats, just like Dusk. Dusk agrees, but must first go back to inform his colony. When he returns, he finds no one is there.

These two chapters have a common theme of trust, and betrayal of trust. Icaron's confession that he did indeed kill those saurians on the island went against his beliefs, which had gotten the colony in a lot of trouble (being rejected by the previous chiropter colony). Dusk, and indeed the whole colony trusted Icaron, that his beliefs were right, and that Icaron practiced these beliefs. Instead all along he had killed those saurian despite his beliefs. This in a way, also took away from Dusk his sense of security. Another act of betrayal was also when Dusk's colony seemed to have abandoned him when he returned to them.

Chapter 16 - Tree Runners / Chapter 17 - The Feast

We now follow Dusk and his colony as they try to find themselves a new home. This is a difficult task, as no creature would let them stay int heir territory. After the Saurians were gone, the creatures that inhabited the world now no longer had any predators to hunt them, and many species flourished. This posed a problem though, as there can only be so much food to go around for everyone. The creatures were now competitive for territory. The colony eventually finds the perfect place, in an area inhabited by tree runners (they seem to be early forms of apes). They offer the colony refuge, and help Icaron with his wound from the felids. This place seemed perfect, as the tree runners didn't eat the same things as the chiropter, and were friendly to them.

The next part of this chapter follows Carnassial and his prowl. After leaving the island, Panthera, a felid who was once a companion to Carnasssial, returns to him. The prowl then travels north, until they finally find a place to call home.

The next chapter, The Feast, sees Dusk and his colony, as they prepare for a "feast", organized by their new hosts. It turns out to be a trap though, and that the tree runners intended to feed the chiropters to another large creature, a diatryma, who demanded food from the tree runners in return that the creature will protect them.The chiropters barely escaped, this time with several casualties.

After wards we follow Carnassial and his prowl, as they meet another new creature, called a hyaenodon, which are four times the size of felids, and are also carnivores. They seek the help of the felids to hunt for saurian eggs, which still remained even though they thought the saurians were gone. The two groups form an alliance.

A comparison of size between Carnaissial (on the left) and a hyaenodon (on the right)

Once again, from reading these two chapters, I saw Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in action. This was shown in Dusk's colony, and Carnassial's prowl, as they searched for a new. They needed food, security, shelter, and safety, which they attempted to find as they traveled along the mainland, and eventually found it.

Another thing I noticed too, were the primary and secondary concerns. I noticed how after the saurians became extinct, that all of the other creatures, no longer preyed upon by predators, began to flourish. This resulted less food and land for all of the creatures. This was what happens when their primary needs are over satisfied (food, shelter, etc). As a result of this over satisfactions, there was now poverty, some violence, and inequality.

Chapter 15 - True Natures

We now follow Carnassial and his prowl as they hunt for food on their island. A few days after the chiropters left the island, Carnassial slightly changes his plans, as he was originally planning to hunt the chiropters. Fortunately there was an abundance of other prey on the island. Carnassial is completely shocked though, when he discovers he was no longer the only predator. While hunting, a giant owl suddenly swoops down, and kills one of the felids. Carnassial and his prowl decide to leave the island.

A felid carried away by a large owl

The next part of the chapter once again follows Dusk. His colony finds a safe and secure place to stay within Gyrokus' colony, where there is constant guard throughout the perimeter. The day goes well, until the Gyrokus discovers that Dusk's colony was the one which broke from the Pact. The mood immediately changes, as Gyrokus criticized the colony for doing so. In the end, Icaron turns down the offer made by Gyrokus to allow their colony to stay, and decides to leave their place of refuge.

The chapter once again changes characters as it goes to Carnassial. Carnassial and his prowl were beginning to leave the island when they were stopped by Patriofelis and a small army of warriors. Patriofelis gives Carnassial and his prowl one last chance, but they refuse. Suddenly an owl comes and attacks the felids. In the confusion, many felids are taken away (including Patriofelis), and Carnassial and his prowl reach the mainland. He escapes, because his prowl now outnumbered the other felids, many of which were carried away.

The more I read this story, the more I see how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs relates to all of this, and how the characters in the story are constantly trying to meet their needs. For example, after Carnassial discovered that the island was not safe even to himself (his security was taken away), he decided to leave the island in search of a safer place. The same can be said for Dusk and his colony. The island was no longer safe to them, so they left in search of a new home. There is the constant struggle to meet their needs.