The Wind Singer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wind Singer (ISBN 0749744715) is a novel written by William Nicholson and the first book of his Wind On Fire Trilogy. It was first published in 2000. The Wind Singer won the 2000 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and the Blue Peter Best Book Award for "The Book I Couldn't Put Down".
[edit] Blurb
| “ | "I Hate school! I hate ratings! I won't reach higher! I won't strive harder! I won't make tomorrow better than today! Pongo to exams!"
In the walled city of Aramanth, exams are everything. When Kestrel Hath dares to rebel, the Chief Examiner humiliates her father and sentences the whole family to the harshest punishment. Desperate to save them, Kestrel learns the secret of the Wind Singer, and with her twin brother, Bowman, set out on a terrifying journey to find the true source of evil that grips Aramanth. |
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[edit] Plot
This story is set in a time that could be in the far future or the distant past of this world or in another world altogether. Events begin in the walled city of Aramanth where families are divided into classes according to how well the head of their household performs on an annual High Examination. The classes from lowest to highest are Grey, Maroon, Orange, Scarlet and White. The city is separated into five districts partitioned in concentric circles - Grey District is the outermost district, while White District is the innermost. All the citizens wear clothes dyed in the colour of the district in which they belong to differentiate them (eg. people in grey district wear grey clothing). The Emperor is the only person permitted to wear blue. Every year there is the High Examination in which the head of every household is required to participate. Ratings are given to the examinees based upon their performance and these are added to the family rating. An increase or decrease in the rating can move the family into a higher or lower district - this is intended to ensure that all citizens vow:
| “ | TO STRIVE HARDER, REACH HIGHER, AND IN EVERY WAY TO SEEK TO MAKE TOMORROW BETTER THAN TODAY. FOR LOVE OF THE EMPEROR AND FOR THE GLORY OF ARAMANTH | ” |
Disloyalty, or any form of behaviour that does not comply with the grand plan of those in control, is dealt with harshly.
Kestrel and Bowman Hath are the twin offspring of Hanno Hath and Ira Hath, who is descended from a great prophet know as Ira Manth. After Kestrel defies the suffocating caste system of Aramanth, she is forced with her brother to escape through the sewers below the city. The twins entry into the sewers is the beginning of a dangerous task the (surprisingly) friendly Emperor endows them with to search out the Wind Singer's voice (the Wind Singer is a machine built long ago in the history of Aramanth that could create peace and defend Aramanth from the evil of the Morah). The journey leads them to the Halls of Morah, the very heart of the evil that has now taken control of the city. With their new friend, the brave but pitiful Mumpo who has an unshakeable affection for Kestrel, they cross the desert, the crack-in-the-land and a formidable forest, encountering friends and foes. Their extraordinary quest to make the Wind Singer sing again and free their people from the mental slavery of the Morah and their dreaded army the Zars is one that can never be forgotten.
