Son of the Whirlwind

Silver Brumby #7

by Elyne Mitchell

Wirramirra is still a foal when he sets off, with his mother Yuri, to seek his father, the legendary Silver Brumby, Thowra. But the journey is fraught with danger.

Wirramirra's life is continually threatened, if not from jealous attacks by other foals who see him as a future leader, by man - always seeking to capture this free-spirited wild horse. Battling through fire, lightning and blizzards, the road to Thowra stretches on forever and Wirramirra begins to wonder if he will ever read the end.

Genres: Animals, Horses, Childrens, Fiction, Australia, Young Adult, Audiobook

158 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Elyne Mitchell is an Australian author best known for her Silver Brumby children's series, which tells the story of brumbies that roamed the Snowy Mountains in the Australian Alps, in particular a pale brumby named Thowra.

In 1988, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to literature, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Charts Sturt University in 1993.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was confusing, to say the least. The entire story revolves around Yuri and Wirramirra's journey to find Thowra, and it is continuously implied that he may not be alive any longer. The journey itself is dull, as both Yuri and Wirramirra are rather colourless characters, and the reader is constantly bogged down by a feeling of dread that Thowra might be dead. From memory, we were never told either. A depressing end to the Silver Brumby saga. Readers are recommended to stop reading after Silver Brumby Kingdom, and go away with happy memories rather than a confusing, vague ending.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been years since I've read the other Silver Brumby books, so in part this was great as an ode to Thowra and the love I had for those books. On the other hand it's full of 'Thowra was so special his spirit roams and is tangible and he may or may not be also a white hawk in spirit" and the supernatural aspect of this combined with the characters constant visions and dreams made the whole thing a bit wishy washy and disappointing, certainly without the actual real spark of the others. It seems that rather than writing a new story with that spark EM just wants us to remember the spark from old books over and over.

[Karen L · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the worst of the Silver Brumby books - even Silver Brumby, Silver Dingo is a little better - and is a real slog. I read somewhere that Mitchell felt pressured to write this story because her fans were horrified that she had killed Thowra off at the end of the previous book, and it shows.

This story follows Yuri and her foal by Thowra, Wirramirra, a silver colt. Yuri is just as flat and bland as a character as in the previous book, somehow made worse because now she is a mother and yet remains incredibly unintelligent. Kulali has to save her from herself multiple times and she nearly gets Wirramirra killed at the start of the book, before actually getting Kulali killed later. She insists on travelling to Thowra's country to find him, yet the journey that took only a few days in the previous book seems to take an excruciatingly long time in this one.

The book takes on a bizarre taste of the supernatural, with the constant references to Wirramirra basically being Thowra reborn, and the white hawk being heavily implied to be Thowra shapeshifted. Additionally, Wirramirra is constantly referred to basically as if he was Thowra's only silver son, when Lightning and Baringa exist.

But worst of all is the timeline holes the story creates. Before this story, it was easy enough to imagine that the events of Whirlwind took place some years after the events of Kingdom. However, partway through this story, Yuri, Wirramirra and Karee meet Kalina. Now, apart from the pure ick that Yuri openly settles for Kalina because she can't have Thowra and Kalina looks rather like him, Kalina is given a definite age.

Kalina, who was born at the end of Kingdom and is Baringa and Dawn's son, is described as being four years old. By the time Yuri and Wirramirra meet Kalina, it has been two years since the end of Whirlwind, which means Kalina was a two year old during the events of Whirlwind. Which means that Thowra, Boon Boon, Golden and Storm have gone from being sprightly and alive during Kingdom, to aged and dead, in just two years.

An additional hole in the story is that Kalina takes everyone to the Tin Mines at one point, and even into Dale's Creek - and yet there is no mention of his own sire, or that he might take Yuri and Wirramirra to the Canyon, which would be a perfectly logical place to take them.

It also means that the eclipse in Moon Filly happened during the events of South, which the characters in South DEFINITELY would have noticed, and that the fire in South happened during the events of Moon Filly, which again, should have been noticed. While I appreciate that Mitchell was trying to tie the characters together, the choice of Kalina, and the age given to him, immediately blows several large plot holes in her timeline, which really affects the enjoyment of the story.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't love horses and dislike this book, but I've just found the tail end of the series increasingly disappointing. This one in particular doesn't seem to go anywhere except in circles and I miss the adventure and the energy and the straightforward story telling. Also nothing resolves. All one has are hints and questions.

[Pip Snort · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reuniting of the line of Yuri and Thowra in this story of the wild alpine brumbies. Very much more mystical than pragmatic, this was an ode to the call of the wild beauty of the mountains.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last book in the series is a real let down. It's about Yuri and Wirramirra, her son. Both are drawn back to the mountains where Thowra went, leaving them behind when he did. Wirramira faces fights, snow storms and being hunted by man, while always searching for the silver horse that always seems just out of sight.

It is as well written as the other books, but I found the story itself disappointing. It is a bit wishy washy, with no real purpose and nothing to hold it together. I know the idea is not to say what had happened to Thowra at the end of the last book, but without an answer either way, the story just doesn't work. A real shame, as I have enjoyed reading these books.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah this last book is a bit of a downer on the series. I remember being quite disappointed when I got this, we spend the whole book chasing the ghost of Thowra and never catch him and it's just kind of bland.

Yuri and Wirramirra don't really have much when it comes to personalities, both of them being focused only on finding Thowra and they don't talk much either.
After the rest of the books it's a meh ending and I only wish it was better.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Wirramirra but there were parts of this book that are too flowery and repetitive. It doesn't really go anywhere. The action parts with Karee are good, but I would have liked Kalina to be more like Baringa and Thowra. There is no talking and I know I didn't read this book as much as I read the first four.

[bluetyson]

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[Christine Meunier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great addition to this wonderful series. More at http://equus-blog.com/son-of-the-whir...