Product Description

In Aramanth, exams are everything, deciding where people should live and what they should wear. When Kestrel rebels, her family are sentenced to the harshest punishment. In order to save them and to restore happiness to Aramanth, Kestrel knows she must restore the voice of the wind singer, an ancient statue standing in the city's square. She embarks on this dangerous mission with Bowman, her twin, and along the way they encounter Mumpo, the silly, smelly school dunce who adores Kestrel. Their daring journey encompasses the Mudpeople, the malevolent Old Children and bloodthirsty desert tribes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147130 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Wind Singer is the first novel in a trilogy that holds enormous promise--and looks set to deliver on that promise. Set in a time that could be many years in the future, or perhaps even in the past, in a world that has somehow been lost in time, the people are divided into groups according to how well they perform in The High Examination. If they fail, they are de-classed, if they pass they are promoted and allowed to live in the more attractive spaces of the city of Aramanth. Disloyalty, or indeed any form of behaviour that does not fit into the grand plan of those with the power, is dealt with harshly.

Kestrel and Bowman Hath are twins, and we first meet them on the day their baby sister is about to take her first test. She fails, but the family is disgraced further when Kestrel is labelled as a "wild child" and is sent to Special Teaching--a place from which she may never escape--and her father is banished to the Residential Study Course. But Kestrel has met the Emperor, and he told her the history of the Wind Singer--the monument that overlooks the city but no longer has a voice.

What follows is an intense adventure following the children as they embark on a dangerous journey beneath the city and through the Underlake--a stinking lake of decomposing matter that is bigger than Aramath itself and is inhabited by the real, and sometimes extremely dangerous, underclasses--as they search for the Wind Singer's voice. The journey leads them to the very heart of the evil that has taken control of the city, and with their new friend, Mumpo, in tow, they endeavour to wade through the darkness in their extraordinary search for truth.

The Wind Singer is a truly imaginative, fantastical and distinctive adventure story that grips from the very beginning and absolutely refuses to let go, even at the very end of the book. Cinematic in his approach (the descriptions of the people and places are indeed so large and vivid that you can almost smell them as well as imagine them), William Nicholson taps into the nerve centre of the reader, introducing characters that invoke passion--and compassion--and putting them in situations that are at times so intense that it is almost possible to imagine you are there with them as they wade through the dangerous underbelly of their world in the hunt for light.

As challenging as it is entertaining, The Wind Singer is a book that will surely make its mark on the memory of the reader, and will appeal as much to adults who enjoy fantasy writing as it will to younger readers. Age 11 and over. --Susan Harrison

Review
The first part of a planned trilogy, this fast-moving fantasy conjures up exciting and extraordinary images. It is set in the imaginary city of Aramanth, in which citizens must continuously pass exams to get on in society. Kestrel Hath rebels against the system, and is forced to flee Aramanth. She takes up the quest to find and bring back the voice of the 'wind singer' that she thinks is destined to free the city. Some spectacularly cinematic scenes make this a remarkable debut into children's books. (11+ yrs) Winner of the 2000 Gold Smarties award for readers aged 9-11. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

Fabulous!
I bought this book on impulse, put off reading it for several days, and then finally got around to it on a wet Sunday afternoon. About four heart-rending, nail-biting, stomach-churning hours later I ran out of my house, got into my car, drove into town and bought the sequel. Then I went on line and bought the final installment of the trilogy from Amazon.

This book is, in a word, amazing. A review on the back compares it to Star Wars, and it is correct. The scope of this book is astonishing, and what is equally astonishing is how warm-hearted and human it manages to remain despite its epic qualities.

Having read several reviews here on Amazon that complain about unanswered questions in the book, I should like to point out that it is the FIRST in a TRILOGY. If all the questions were answered then why would you go back and read it's sequels? Of course some of the deeper and more profound themes are not neatly tied in a bow - though I can assure you that they are eventually. What is important is that the individual story-lines and character conflicts within each individual volume are satisfactorially resolved by the end of each book.

I would also like to say that while I enjoyed the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy from Phillip Pullman, I don't consider them superior to this series of books in any way, mostly because I found Pullman's grasp of children's development under pressure to be a little superficial. He does not convey, as Nicholson does, the way that people, regardless of age, can be transformed into something base, glorious or dangerous depending on circumstance, while still remaining themselves.

In closing, I would advise any parent to buy these books for their children - but don't let them get their hands on them until you've read 'The Wind on Fire' first.

Wind Singer
In the story of Wind Singer, the twin siblings Kestrel and her brother Bowman, live in the strange, dystopian city of Amaranth. Ruled by slogans reminding its citizens to strive harder and aspire to create the perfect community, Aramanth's psychic atmosphere is somehow contaminated by the evil influence of the Morah. This place is every child's ultimate nightmare of a rigid, never ending system of school and examinations. Each individual and family is continually graded, and moved up and down in the ranks (color coded) of their society, depending on exam results. The twins are part of a loving family of five who just do not fit into the system.

After attending her two-year-old sister's first (disastrous) test, Kestrel rebels, gets herself and her family in serious trouble, and wins the dog-like devotion of the sniveling underachiever Mumpo. A series of bizarre events result in the three children (Kestrel, Bowman and Mumpo) fleeing the city (where Kestrel's parents struggle on, attempting to foment rebellion) on quest to the Halls of Morah to regain the silver voice of the wind singer. This missing piece is essential to bring back kindness to their city.

As Kestrel says to her brother 'You're the one who feels, and I'm the one who does.' Her talent for action and his telepathic ability to commune with the minds of others slide them through a series of exciting and dangerous adventures in the salt caves, with the mud people, and across the barren plains to the Great Way. They travel by land-sailer and on the backs of wolves and eagles. Following close on their footsteps are first the 'old children' whose very touch is debilitating, and later the endless and unstoppable Zars, who chant 'Kill, kill, kill.'

The quest brings about a transformation of Mumpo, first into a skilled mud diver and 'rainbow porcupine' and eventually into an important participant, whose positive attitude forces the other two to re-evaluate their early contempt and pity for him and to wonder about his origins. This is an unusual fantasy, Wind Singer is a compelling read, full of surprising encounters and fast-paced action.

I recommend this book specifically to those who enjoy fictional novels with lots of adventure. However, I can imagine lovers of other genres also enjoying this book. The author uses descriptive words and flowing ideas, making the book engaging and easy to read. Although fiction, Wind Singer shows the reader a real side of human behavior. A book for all ages, Wind Singer can be a philosophical tale or merely a fun story to read. I enjoyed reading Wind Singer, and I recommend this book to others that might enjoy it as well.

One of the best books I've every read
William Nicholson grabbed my attention from the first page and didn't let go until I had read the final word. The characters were believable and I was swept into their world of excitement.

Kestrel Hath was a likeable character and the story was full of suspense. Although I knew how the story would end, I didn't know how events would unfold.

I can't wait to read Slaves of the Mastery.