Firesong Synopsis
The books are set in a realm similar to ours, but separate. They tell the story of the Hath family, and the Manth people who go on a long, and harsh journey from their city-prison, to their homeland. The main characters, Kestrel and Bowman Hath, are twins that have certain powers that allow them to save their people, and friends, from the Morah. The first book tells of the events unfolding near and inside Aramanth, the second one talks about the lives of the Manth people in The Mastery, and the third book concludes with their voyage to the homeland.
Led by Hanno and Ira Hath, thirty-two mostly Manth survivors of the fall of the Mastery search for the fabled Homeland. Ira knows that as long as she feels the warmth on her face, despite the wintry conditions, they are heading in the right direction. She also knows that, according to the prophecy, she will die when they reach the homeland. She grows weaker with every step. Hanno must keep up the spirits of the marchers on the gruelling. This is the final volume of The Wind on Fire trilogy which began with The Wind Singer, continued in Slaves of the Mastery before culminating in this one.
KEY CHARACTERS IN WIND FIRE TRILOGY
Kestrel Hath: One of the most active characters throughout the trilogy. A strong-willed girl, she causes trouble by telling the authorities exactly what she thinks of the system. At the end of the third book, Kestrel becomes part of the army to permanently destroy the Morah and consequently dies. She and her twin share a telepathic bond, but use this ability less as they get older. Note: She only dies physically. Before she leaves Bowman, Bowman reaches into her mind and they become one. They see through each other's eyes and think together. This way Kestrel lives on through Bowman and they are always together.
Bowman Hath: Kestrel's twin brother. He is somewhat empathic, and can 'read' peoples' hearts and minds. This ability helps them a great deal through their quest. He can cry easily and is afraid of heights. He is much calmer than his sister. He originally thought he was a Singer, but at the end of the series it is revealed he is the ‘meeting place’, as he has experienced the power of both the Morah and the Singers.
Maslo Inch: The Examiner in the first book.
Pinto (Pinpin) Hath: Kestrel and Bowman's younger sister. She takes her first test at the age of two at the beginning of the story. As she grows older she becomes infatuated with Mumpo, to the point of hating her sister, through jealousy of Mumpo's adoration of another.
Hanno Hath: Kestrel, Bowman and Pinpin's father. He works as a librarian, and although intelligent ‘Likes books, not exams’, meaning the Haths cannot achieve a very high family rating. A covertly rebellious man, he is placed in an education group, which is more like prison. He can see why his family would want to rebel against the system, and respects this, but is not openly rebellious himself until his incarceration. Ho loves his family dearly.
Ira Hath: Hanno's wife. Descended from the great prophet Ira Manth, she often enjoys using her 'prophetess voice'. She decides, after Kestrel and Bowman begin their quest and her husband is imprisoned, to actually act as a prophetess, wearing forbidden many-coloured clothing and standing at the foot of the wind singer to preach to the people. Throughout the second and third book, her prophesising powers grow as her strength weakens. She eventually leads the Manth people to their promised land, but dies before she herself reaches it.
Mumpo: A dribbly, smelly boy who is at the bottom of Kestrel's class. As the books progress, however, he matures and becomes surprisingly endearing. Kestrel hates him in the first book and is angered that he joins her quest, but learns to like him. In the second book he trains to be a warrior for the mastery, and falls in love with Pinpin, whom he eventually marries.
Sirharasi (Sisi): Features only in books 2 and 3, she is a beautiful but spoiled and childish princess, who has an arranged marriage to Ortiz, heir of the Master. After falling in love with Bowman, she rebels and refuses to marry, which throws the whole country of the Mastery into chaos.
Albard: A.K.A. the Master, a rebellious Singer. In Firesong he teaches Bowman how to use his powers.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781405239714 |
| Publication date: |
7th April 2008 |
| Author: |
William Nicholson |
| Publisher: |
Egmont Childrens Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Suitable For: |
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| Recommendations: |
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About William Nicholson
William Nicholson was our Guest Editor in April 2010 - click here - to see the books that inspired his writing.
William Nicholson was born in 1948, and grew up in Sussex and Gloucestershire. He was educated at Downside School and Christ's College, Cambridge, and then joined BBC Television, where he worked as a documentary film maker. There his ambition to write, directed first into novels, was channelled into television drama. His plays for television include Shadowlands and Life Story, both of which won the BAFTA Best Television Drama award in their year; other award-winners were Sweet As You Are and The March. In 1988 he received the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award. His first play, an adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage, was Evening Standard Best Play of 1990, and went on to a Tony-award winning run on Broadway. He was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the film version, which was directed by Richard Attenborough and starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. Since then he has written more films - Sarafina, Nell, First Knight, Grey Owl, and Gladiator (as co-writer), for which he received a second Oscar nomination. He has written and directed his own film, Firelight; and three further stage plays, Map of the Heart, Katherine Howard and The Retreat from Moscow. His novel for older children, The Wind Singer, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award on publication in 2000, and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2001. Its sequel, Slaves of the Mastery, was published in May 2001, and the final volume in the Wind on Fire trilogy, Firesong was published in May 2002. A further epic trilogy – Noble Warriors – has seen been published to much acclaim and began with The Seeker, continued with Jango and culminates in Noman. He lives in Sussex with his wife Virginia and their three children.
Q&A
Where do you get your ideas?
There’s where, and there’s how. Where is easy to answer. The material that forms my ideas comes from my life, from the people round me, from the books I read, and more than I sometimes realise, from newspapers and magazines. I pick up a lot of strange stuff from news reports. Also of course, travel opens the mind to other ways of doing things, and I have travelled a lot in my life.
But then, when you have such a vast mass of trivia lodged somewhere in the memory, how do you pull out the bits you need at the time you need them?
I find the answer is day-dreaming. Often I know what I want to happen next, but not how or where it will happen. For example, I might know I want my hero to face a terrible danger - but what danger? So I let myself daydream. I let the situation float about in my head for a while, sometimes for days. Then along comes some random thought that goes click! and connects. It’s not quite as random as it seems. By preparing, by being ready, the useful idea has somewhere to go when it comes along. I think it’s important not to force this process; and equally important to be willing to make changes later, when a better idea surfaces. Finally, there’s something about this having-ideas game that people often forget to mention: it’s blissfully satisfying.
What inspired you to write ‘The Wind Singer, your first novel for teenagers’?
There were two spurs to writing the first book. One was simply a desire to write something for myself, not for a film production company, in which I could make anything happen – anything at all. I wanted the fun of invention, of story-telling my way. The second spur was an irritation with the amount of tests my children were put through at school. I don’t like or value exams, and I hate to see the way children are being judged by their performance at these strange rituals. So I invented a world that took the obsession with exams to its logical extreme, and started writing. Then of course, the story went off in unexpected directions. And that’s the fun of writing. Who is your favourite character? I love all my characters, of course, but I have a way of loving best the ones I've been writing most recently. So that means I love Seeker, Morning Star and the Wildman most right now.
How do you come up with the names of your characters?
I take a lot of trouble over names. Often I’ll change a character’s name several times during the writing of the book, until it settles down and feels right. The meaning of the name, or the associations of the sound, have to connect with the character – so Kestrel is fast and dangerous and beautiful, like the hawk, and Mumpo is mumbly and pooey, at least to start with. Also I try to give people from the same group similar names. All the Manth people have names ending in –th or –ch or –sh, and all the mud people have names ending in –um. This is very much what happens in the real world.
How long does it take you to write your books?
It all depends how many other things I’m writing at the same time – I also write film scripts, and plays – but in general, a book takes me about a year to finish. Have you always wanted to be a writer? Yes, I have. Even as a child of five I was trying to write books. But it’s taken another forty-five years to get anyone to publish them.
Did you know The Wind Singer would be part of a trilogy?
When I started writing The Wind Singer, I thought of it as one book. I didn’t know if anyone would like it or want to publish it. Then when it was accepted by a publisher, I realised there were many unanswered questions in the story. So then I planned the other two books. Are your characters based on real people? None of my characters are direct portraits of real people, but nothing comes from nowhere, so of course there are characteristics in them from people I know. The person I use most in creating characters is myself. I have many different types of people inside me – so do you – so does everybody. I’m shy and I’m confident. I’m gorgeous and I’m hideous. I’m young and I’m old. I’m male and I’m female, and sometimes I’m a cow or a pig. It’s all there if you look for it.
What tips would you give someone starting out as a writer?
If you want to write books, you have to do two things: read books, and write. It sounds obvious, but only by writing a lot will you get any good. The better the books you read, the better your own writing will be. Then it’s just a matter of keeping on writing. You won’t get good by giving up. I was useless for a long time, but slowly I got better. You can do it too. If you feel strong enough, show your work to others, and listen to their criticisms. It hurts - but if you listen, you'll get better.
What is your favourite book by another author?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Click here to read a Q&A with the author from top children's publisher Egmont.
More About William Nicholson
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