Synopsis: “Dusk: His unusual abilities have made him the outsider of a colony where being different means being shunned. But with sunset comes massacre. And now homeless, terrified and hunted, can Dusk save the colony from destruction on the journey ahead?

Carnassial: With his abnormal blood-lust and killer instincts, Carnassial is determined that his kind will dominate every living creature – at all costs. Both lives are about to collide. But does power lie in tooth and claw, or bravery and cunning?”

Review: This is a story of ‘difference’, and the many ways in which the theme can play out for good or ill.

‘Dusk’ takes place 65 million years ago, as the dinosaurs are dying out, and, with the ensuing lack of predators, mammals are flourishing. Into this world is born Dusk, the youngest son of the leader of the chiropter (winged, furry mammal) colony. Dusk is different from his peers: he has an overdeveloped chest and shoulders, a lack of hair on his ‘sails’ (wings), large ears, and, most disturbingly of all, an intense longing to flap his sails and fly, rather than simply glide through the air. In fact, Dusk is the first bat, and while he is afraid he will be shunned, and is unsettled by his differences, he also rejoices in his ability to fly, and in his superior, and beautifully evoked, ability to use echolocation.

 “A firefly briefly sparked in the darkness, and Dusk sent out a barrage of hunting clicks. In his mind’s eye, the firefly and its trajectory gleamed and then – His breath jerked out in surprise. Silvery light bloomed out from the firefly, like ripples spreading through a pool of water, revealing a constellation of other insects – and beyond them the weave of branches on the other side of the clearing. The light slowly faded and Dusk was left staring back at the blackness.”

The chiropter’s peaceful existence is brought to a close when it is revealed that in order to secure that peace, some of the older members of the colony, including Dusk’s parents, were involved in ‘the Pact’, a form of genocide. As no creature could defeat the saurians in a fight, under the terms of the pact

 “…all the beasts agreed never to harm one another. They would work together to seek out saurian nests, and destroy the eggs. They would prevent a new generation of saurians from rising. It would take centuries, but eventually they would wipe the saurians out entirely.”

 When Dusk’s parents, among others, eventually conscientiously objected to this practice, they were shunned and had to move to the island on which Dusk was born. Added to these ethically murky waters is ruthless Carnassial, a felid (ancestor of the cat). When Carnassial gives in to his instinct to kill and eat another animal, he breaks the Pact and is shunned by the ‘prowl’ (pack), only to gather his own army of dissenters. From there on, it is a pitched battle for survival between the birds and the beasts, with finely drawn conflicts, betrayals, and moral ambiguities both within and between species. Dusk’s family does not escape unscathed.

 By the end of the story, Dusk has grown up a great deal, and is invested with a strong sense of purpose. As Dusk’s wise father told him, “Our differences can sometimes make us great, and lead us to a better future.” This is an engrossing, affecting, page-turner of a novel with a highly satisfying balance of characterisation and action. ‘Dusk’ is a prequel to Kenneth Oppel’s ‘Silverwing’ series.

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2008-06-05