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Redwing
Rowan is the sole survivor when his entire family is struck down by the plague. Alone and grief-stricken, Rowan ekes out a living by playing music on his button box in the small towns and villages of Prosper. He lives and travels in his family's old caravan, half starved and in despair. One day, he finds he has competition: a young man playing a violin. Rather than make an adversary, Rowan suggests they travel and play together, but he regrets his offer when he finds out that Samik is from the Tarzine Lands, beyond the volcanoes, and is being pursued by a vengeful warlord. And that's not all. Samik also claims to have the Sight--and what he sees (and hears) is Rowan's dead sister, Ettie. As they travel from town to town, they form an uneasy alliance, which gradually evolves into a friendship that will be tested to its limits when Samik is captured.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
62 people want to read
About the author
Holly Bennett
27 books32 followersI was born and grew up in Montreal before moving with my family to Markham, Ontario as part of the “great Anglo exodus,” that strange era when head offices were moving out of Quebec in a panic to avoid having to do anything in French. I finished high school in Ontario and went on to study English and Native Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. I wasn’t done with Quebec though, going back for two summers in Quebec City to study and work in French.
After graduation I moved with my husband John to Toronto, where I worked as a researcher for a social research company and as school secretary at the Wandering Spirit Survival School, while completing my M.Ed in adult education at OISE.
Eventually we moved back to Peterborough in search of cheap housing, and I worked as a youth employment counsellor and on a number of aboriginal research projects before landing a junior editor job with Today’s Parent magazine. It was an instant, perfect “fit” and I was there for over 25 years, ending up as editor-in-chief of Special Editions. Now I work from home as a freelance writer and editor, including as editor of Education Canada magazine, and work on my fiction whenever I can find the time.
Along the way I’ve raised three boys and have read untold numbers of wonderful books with them. But I’m not sure what flipped the switch and turned me from a person who loves reading stories to a person who loves writing them. In any case, once I got started, I became instantly addicted. Now, if I'm not working on a story, I'm looking for one!
In my “non-writing” spare time I enjoy singing in choirs, gardening, birdwatching, reading in the bathtub, and hanging out at the cottage. I volunteer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. And I’m a very good Scrabble player.
After graduation I moved with my husband John to Toronto, where I worked as a researcher for a social research company and as school secretary at the Wandering Spirit Survival School, while completing my M.Ed in adult education at OISE.
Eventually we moved back to Peterborough in search of cheap housing, and I worked as a youth employment counsellor and on a number of aboriginal research projects before landing a junior editor job with Today’s Parent magazine. It was an instant, perfect “fit” and I was there for over 25 years, ending up as editor-in-chief of Special Editions. Now I work from home as a freelance writer and editor, including as editor of Education Canada magazine, and work on my fiction whenever I can find the time.
Along the way I’ve raised three boys and have read untold numbers of wonderful books with them. But I’m not sure what flipped the switch and turned me from a person who loves reading stories to a person who loves writing them. In any case, once I got started, I became instantly addicted. Now, if I'm not working on a story, I'm looking for one!
In my “non-writing” spare time I enjoy singing in choirs, gardening, birdwatching, reading in the bathtub, and hanging out at the cottage. I volunteer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. And I’m a very good Scrabble player.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 28, 2020
Not every book works for every person.
If you need car chases in your books, this story isn't for you.
If you need gun fights in your books, this story isn't for you.
If you need balls to the wall action scenes to be interested in a story, then you'll probably find this book "boring".
However, if you like stories were two people who initially don't like each other slowly get to know one another, build a friendship and perhaps more, then this might be the book for you.
If you like two good people working to get over some bad stuff that happened in their past, then this might be a story you'd enjoy.
I loved the two main characters. I enjoyed the world setting. I loved the character growth. I loved the heck out of this book.
I'd like to say I feel sorry for the people who found it "boring", but different strokes for different folks. I didn't like some very popular books.
If you need car chases in your books, this story isn't for you.
If you need gun fights in your books, this story isn't for you.
If you need balls to the wall action scenes to be interested in a story, then you'll probably find this book "boring".
However, if you like stories were two people who initially don't like each other slowly get to know one another, build a friendship and perhaps more, then this might be the book for you.
If you like two good people working to get over some bad stuff that happened in their past, then this might be a story you'd enjoy.
I loved the two main characters. I enjoyed the world setting. I loved the character growth. I loved the heck out of this book.
I'd like to say I feel sorry for the people who found it "boring", but different strokes for different folks. I didn't like some very popular books.
September 23, 2012
I read this because I didn't want to have dredged my library's ebooks in vain, so it's hard to get too mad at this book. I'm just not that committed to it. Which is great, because Redwing didn't really deliver.
On the one hand, you have your folksy Prosperitans with their naming people and places after things and they're so rustic that way it hurts. On the other side of the island, you got your Tarzines, and they're flamboyant and hoity-toity and smack dab in the middle of the Warlord Desert. Of course the book has to be about a fantasy Odd Couple that's also teenagers. Fate demands it.
Speaking of, there's some blink-and-you-missed-it teen boy gay questioning? I'm not sure what to call it. I know a guy kisses another guy, and the other guy wonders if the first guy is into him? And then it's Never Spoken Of Again. There's not making a big deal over it, and then there's... whatever that was.
There's a dead little sister ghost in this. Fair warning. That doesn't even count as a spoiler.
Redwing is young adult fantasy paint-by-numbers. It's not even working with a lot of numbers. I'd say pass.
On the one hand, you have your folksy Prosperitans with their naming people and places after things and they're so rustic that way it hurts. On the other side of the island, you got your Tarzines, and they're flamboyant and hoity-toity and smack dab in the middle of the Warlord Desert. Of course the book has to be about a fantasy Odd Couple that's also teenagers. Fate demands it.
Speaking of, there's some blink-and-you-missed-it teen boy gay questioning? I'm not sure what to call it. I know a guy kisses another guy, and the other guy wonders if the first guy is into him? And then it's Never Spoken Of Again. There's not making a big deal over it, and then there's... whatever that was.
There's a dead little sister ghost in this. Fair warning. That doesn't even count as a spoiler.
Redwing is young adult fantasy paint-by-numbers. It's not even working with a lot of numbers. I'd say pass.
September 12, 2015
I saw this as one of those e-book card things at the store and I went out of my way to convince my mom to let me buy it because the cover was so beautiful. But then, well, I read it.
It was just really boring... and lame... and bleh. I don't really remember much because this was a couple years ago, I just know I hated it. It was the biggest let down ever. I remember that there were these two boys who're the main characters, and one gets like captured or something, and then the other one saves them and then they kiss and it's like WHAT. THAT CAME OUT OF NO WHERE.
I don't even care if that was a spoiler because it's not like you should read it.
Anyway this is one of the very few books I've marked as one star, so I felt like explaining a little bit.
It was just really boring... and lame... and bleh. I don't really remember much because this was a couple years ago, I just know I hated it. It was the biggest let down ever. I remember that there were these two boys who're the main characters, and one gets like captured or something, and then the other one saves them and then they kiss and it's like WHAT. THAT CAME OUT OF NO WHERE.
I don't even care if that was a spoiler because it's not like you should read it.
Anyway this is one of the very few books I've marked as one star, so I felt like explaining a little bit.
December 19, 2012
Rowan loses his family in the plague in Prosper. In his travels he meets Samik who is fleeing from Jago the Tarzine Lord who Samik hit to save his family.Samik, a young musician claims he can hear and see Rowan's dead sister Ettie.
Rowan is also a musician who plays the button box and he thinks Samik's music is strange.
Adventure, struggle and friendship, Bennett has written another great book.
Rowan is also a musician who plays the button box and he thinks Samik's music is strange.
Adventure, struggle and friendship, Bennett has written another great book.
December 5, 2017
First, I think this is a good book and it will be really good for anyone to read and it’s a small book. If there was more to this book like series I probably would continue to read. Strengths of this book are when before reading the book, the setting was on an old caravan, the setting not really changes which it keeps on going. Weaknesses really I think are nothing. In my opinion, this book is just a 4.5 out of 5. “When the wind came up, whatever heat Rowan could coax from the smoky little stove seeped right through the canvas walls.” (1) Again, it can give a clue where this story can take place since it’s on an old caravan. This writing is beautiful because the setting is really great place inside like an RV and says that he travels with family and this is beautiful by just enjoying time with family going to small towns.
October 25, 2020
Two young boys, traveling alone, each trying to run from past events that have set them adrift, have very different backgrounds and very different attitudes toward the one thing they have in common: music.
The lands of Prosper and Tarzine share an island but are opposites in almost every way. The people of these two lands are uneasy neighbors. So when Rowan and Samik first encounter each other in a town square, things get off to a rough start.
When the two decide to work together to ease the hard road ahead for both of them, they have no idea of the danger that lies in wait.
This was a lovely way to spend a chilly afternoon, wrapped in the folklore, beliefs, and music of a make-believe world.
The lands of Prosper and Tarzine share an island but are opposites in almost every way. The people of these two lands are uneasy neighbors. So when Rowan and Samik first encounter each other in a town square, things get off to a rough start.
When the two decide to work together to ease the hard road ahead for both of them, they have no idea of the danger that lies in wait.
This was a lovely way to spend a chilly afternoon, wrapped in the folklore, beliefs, and music of a make-believe world.
May 19, 2020
Bennett is an author I'll find more. Her curses are creative, believable drizzly Backender country, musical exiled Samik and orphan Rowan Redwing uncomfortably becoming friends.
November 3, 2016
In the country of Prosper, fifteen-year-old travelling musician Rowan is the only survivor when his family is struck with plague. Devastated, he is trying to make a living on his own when he runs into the arrogant Samik, a musician and wine-seller’s son from the country of Tarzine who is on the run from a Tarzine warlord he crossed. They both realize that they will make more money if they work together, but what really decides Rowan is the fact that spirit-seer Samik sees the ghost of Rowan’s beloved sister Ettie keeping watch on him. What Rowan doesn’t know is that teaming up with Samik puts him right in the Tarzine warlord’s line of fire when he comes to Prosper seeking vengeance.
I both liked and disliked this book. As a fantasy, Bennett has done some decent world-building and I appreciated the map and how geography separated the two lands. I also liked how she set up the music and the music trade (though Anne McCaffrey did it better), and the details of travel and towns and so forth. Samik and Rowan are distinct and believable characters, though Samik was sometimes so arrogant I wanted to smack him.
Four things, however, didn’t work so well for me. First, Bennett didn’t set up the magic of the world at all; Samik’s spirit-seeing and Ettie’s interaction with the world was about it. Readers don’t get any more magic, or any explanation of the system of magic, which is something avid fantasy readers generally look for. Second, I also thought she used a stereotypical shorthand for good/evil by making Prosper like The Shire/England and Tarzine like Calormen/Arabia--can’t we ever get away from that? Third, Samik’s supposed homosexuality just barrelled out of left field and contributed nothing to the plot. If the author wanted to include it, either it should have been an unremarkable part of him from the start, like his love of liquor and pubs, or it should have been crucial to the plot or the teens’ relationship in some way. I have no idea what she was trying to do with that, and it went nowhere anyway. Last, I just didn't appreciate the drinking and hungover vomiting and graphic violence and loss of bowel control. Unnecessary.
I both liked and disliked this book. As a fantasy, Bennett has done some decent world-building and I appreciated the map and how geography separated the two lands. I also liked how she set up the music and the music trade (though Anne McCaffrey did it better), and the details of travel and towns and so forth. Samik and Rowan are distinct and believable characters, though Samik was sometimes so arrogant I wanted to smack him.
Four things, however, didn’t work so well for me. First, Bennett didn’t set up the magic of the world at all; Samik’s spirit-seeing and Ettie’s interaction with the world was about it. Readers don’t get any more magic, or any explanation of the system of magic, which is something avid fantasy readers generally look for. Second, I also thought she used a stereotypical shorthand for good/evil by making Prosper like The Shire/England and Tarzine like Calormen/Arabia--can’t we ever get away from that? Third, Samik’s supposed homosexuality just barrelled out of left field and contributed nothing to the plot. If the author wanted to include it, either it should have been an unremarkable part of him from the start, like his love of liquor and pubs, or it should have been crucial to the plot or the teens’ relationship in some way. I have no idea what she was trying to do with that, and it went nowhere anyway. Last, I just didn't appreciate the drinking and hungover vomiting and graphic violence and loss of bowel control. Unnecessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2014
Okay...So I really don't even know what to say about this book. I was just so bored. This definitely wasn't my cup of tea... I mean caravans..can we say Oregon Trail Much?
Seriously...I can't even rate the writing of this story because I was just sooo uninterested. I forced myself to finish it. Time to have a party cause I DID. Woot. Determination for the win. Yea buddy!
Okay..so this was about a boy name Rowan, whose family got killed by the plague. I mean..really..the plague? Is this time of the Babylonians or something? Anyway, and he is trying to find work, and he runs into some guy whose name is Samik... Aydin... he has two names, yep. Not confusing at all. So the whole time...they are bickering...and trying to find work by playing their instruments.
*Yawn*
Now, there was a little twist to the story, Rowan's younger sister Ettie, who died of the Babylonian time plauge, is a ghost and is kinda..maybe..sorta..protecting Rowan.. and then saving Samik-Aydin. That was pretty much the extent of the story. Throw in some vomit and a grown man shitting himself and there you go. All finished.
Seriously...I can't even rate the writing of this story because I was just sooo uninterested. I forced myself to finish it. Time to have a party cause I DID. Woot. Determination for the win. Yea buddy!
Okay..so this was about a boy name Rowan, whose family got killed by the plague. I mean..really..the plague? Is this time of the Babylonians or something? Anyway, and he is trying to find work, and he runs into some guy whose name is Samik... Aydin... he has two names, yep. Not confusing at all. So the whole time...they are bickering...and trying to find work by playing their instruments.
*Yawn*
Now, there was a little twist to the story, Rowan's younger sister Ettie, who died of the Babylonian time plauge, is a ghost and is kinda..maybe..sorta..protecting Rowan.. and then saving Samik-Aydin. That was pretty much the extent of the story. Throw in some vomit and a grown man shitting himself and there you go. All finished.
April 26, 2013
Disappointed--really liked Warrior's Daughter, and the Bonemender series was pretty good, so I was expecting a good YA fantasy. It's a YA fantasy, but it's just OK. I didn't really care about the characters, and wasn't swept up enough by the story to suspend disbelief. Also, pretty forgettable--it's been years since I read The Bonemender series or W.D., but I remember the basic plot, and how I felt about the main character. It's only been a few days since I read this, and I needed to read the goodreads summary to remind myself what the story was about.
**yeah, really forettable--I picked it up last night, took me a few paragraphs before I thought 'hey, I've read this before, but skipped through to remember the basic plot which I couldn't dredge up, but then I did. My initial review pretty much sums it up, although I might drop the rating to 1 star if I were to do that again.
**yeah, really forettable--I picked it up last night, took me a few paragraphs before I thought 'hey, I've read this before, but skipped through to remember the basic plot which I couldn't dredge up, but then I did. My initial review pretty much sums it up, although I might drop the rating to 1 star if I were to do that again.
August 27, 2014
I enjoyed Redwing; I thought her setting and characters were beautifully crafted, and the story was funny and intriguing. However, I did have a wee problem with her villain. I am a very firm believer in having villains be frightening, and I really wasn't feeling it with Jago. Sure, he could have been scary when he was in possession of all his faculties, but once she crippled him, the scare factor was gone. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Redwing quite a bit. I really liked Rowan and Aiden (even though sometimes you want to take them and knock their heads together for stupidity) and Shea was a very nice touch.I had a small heart attack with the whole kissing thing; I had to re-read that scene about six times to process it. I also absolutely DEMAND a sequel; my friends and I agreed that we want more!!
March 6, 2016
I received an ARC copy of this book and I'm thankful for that because I found myself unable to get into the story. I thought, upon requesting this book, that I would enjoy it a lot based on its synopsis. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver.
October 29, 2013
I didn't like this book at all. The beginning was slow and once it picked up there wasn't anything to keep it interesting. One thing that I have to say that was good is that the setting was very realistic, if there was a different storyline in the same setting it would be a really good story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2013
Another good one by Holly Bennett. Story line is pretty simple, solid world building, and always an observation or perspective that has me re-reading bits as I go along. 14+
September 16, 2013
Wanted to like it, but the story aimlessly meandered through the first half and I never really came to the point of rooting for the main characters. Wish it was more satisfying.
April 25, 2014
Redwing was really slow. I like it. If I had to read one book again I would read redwings because I want to get the story more. You should really read it.
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April 11, 2016 An exciting story with great characters that the reader will cheer for.
November 20, 2023
The worldbuilding is so wonderful. one of my all time favorite books!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews