Wings

by James Lovegrove

“... sometimes you feel like the whole world's against you because of what you don't have ..." Az dreams of being like everyone else. In the world of the Airborn that means growing wings. It seems impossible, but with an inventor for a father, who knows? "Magical and thought-provoking" Times Educational Supplement

62 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2001

About the author

James Lovegrove is the author of several acclaimed novels and books for children.

James was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and, having dabbled in writing at school, first took to it seriously while at university. A short story of his won a college competition. The prize was £15, and it had cost £18 to get the story professionally typed. This taught him a hard but necessary lesson in the harsh economic realities of a literary career.

Straight after graduating from Oxford with a degree in English Literature, James set himself the goal of getting a novel written and sold within two years. In the event, it took two months. The Hope was completed in six weeks and accepted by Macmillan a fortnight later. The seed for the idea for the novel — a world in microcosm on an ocean liner — was planted during a cross-Channel ferry journey.

James blew his modest advance for The Hope on a round-the-world trip which took him to, among other places, Thailand. His experiences there, particularly what he witnessed of the sex industry in Bangkok, provided much of the inspiration for The Foreigners.

Escardy Gap was co-written with Pete Crowther over a period of a year and a half, the two authors playing a game of creative tag, each completing a section in turn and leaving the other to carry the story on. The result has proved a cult favourite, and was voted by readers of SFX one of the top fifty SF/Fantasy novels of all time.

Days, a satire on consumerism, was shortlisted for the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award (losing to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow). The book’s genesis most probably lies in the many visits James used to make as a child to the Oxford Street department store owned by his grandfather. It was written over a period of nine months while James was living in the north-west suburbs of Chicago.

Subsequent works have all been published to great acclaim. These include Untied Kingdom, Worldstorm, Provender Gleed, The Age Of Ra and the back-to-back double-novella Gig. James has also written for children. Wings, a short novel for reluctant readers, was short-listed for several awards, while his fantasy series for teens, The Clouded World, written under the pseudonym Jay Amory, has been translated into 7 other languages so far. A five-book series for reluctant readers, The 5 Lords Of Pain, is appearing at two-monthly intervals throughout 2010.

He also reviews fiction for the Financial Times, specialising in the Young Adult, children’s, science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novel genres.

Currently James resides in Eastbourne on the Sussex Coast, having moved there in August 2007 with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy. He has a terrific view of the sea from his study window, which he doesn’t sit staring out at all day when he should be working. Honest.

Reviews

[SBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story about a boy (Az) who is the only one of his race (the Airborn) who fails to be born with wings. I quite enjoyed it at first but then it took a preachy turn I didn't agree with (also I didn't really like the illustrations, which were cartoonish and didn't appeal to my tastes). The characters all live up in the air, their sky boats trawl birds, etc. Said 1000 years ago they used to live on the ground without wings but evolved. His parents had him late in life, hence the 'deformity'. He has to walk, but they do have vehicles and babies and elderly who can't fly really either. He wants wings, but when his crackpot inventor father makes him a pair he feels pressured from his family rather than loved, and wearing the wings makes him feel really 'disabled' for the first time in his life. Stupidly, his family strap them on, so heavy he almost falls over, then push him into the air to fly without even testing them, and he almost falls to his death, but luckily his brother saves him. The story is about his family accepting him as he is and him coming to terms with the fact he'll never have wings.

[Sara]

Able to dream
able to fly
coin ring
lifeless hope news
but still breath and grow
to win myself
body flesh bosh there way
able to dream
able to fly
its lovely war
life grow
the been still green
worm with nice rain
hold the tree
fly free
i can catsh the star
even that i havnt copper wings
even that i collect many kisses
i cant fly
but i can dream