Darkwing (32 page)

After writing three books about bats, all set more or less in our own time, I became interested in the long-ago origins of these fascinating creatures. I wondered how long they’d been soaring through the skies of our world. How and when did they get their wings and learn to fly?

The oldest bat fossil we have is about 50 million years old, and reveals a creature that looks almost identical to a modern bat. So it’s possible that the earliest bats were flying around as far back as the reign of dinosaurs, more than 65 million years ago. Some scientists think that bats evolved from small shrew-like mammals that lived in trees and glided on membranes between their elongated hand and finger bones.

In
Darkwing,
I tried to imagine what these pre-bats might have been like. Dr. Brock Fenton, a world-renowned bat expert at the University of Western Ontario, patiently answered many of my questions, and shared with me his theories on how bats might have evolved the ability to echolocate. I am very grateful for his generosity and expertise. Ultimately, Dusk and the other pre-bats
in my story—I call them chiropters—are fictional creations, and not the result of rigorous scientific research.

As the last dinosaurs died out, mammals started to become much more numerous and varied, perhaps because their main predators were disappearing. Since we have no fossil record of a pre-bat, we have no way of knowing exactly when they evolved into modern bats. For the purposes of my story, I chose the early Paleocene epoch, 65 million years ago.

All the characters and creatures in my book are based on real species, most of which lived during this epoch—give or take a few million years. Carnassial was inspired by an early mammalian carnivore called
Miacis,
which might have looked a bit like a modern pine marten.
Miacis
was an agile predator and had evolved uniquely shaped teeth (called carnassials!) that allowed him to shear meat from his prey.

During the same epoch there was also a giant bird called
Gastornis
(or
Diatryma)
that was seven feet tall. Though it couldn’t fly, it was a swift runner and a terrifying hunter. The equids in my book are based on a hoofed animal called
Phenacodus,
which scientists used to think was an ancestor of the horse. And the soricids that Dusk and his colony encounter are based on a tiny and voracious species of shrew with red teeth that excrete a paralyzing neurotoxin. I hope never to encounter one at night.

The Paleocene was a fascinating period of earth’s history, full of drama and change, and it seemed an ideal setting for this story of the very first bats—the only mammals capable of powered flight.

KENNETH OPPEL is the author of many books, including
Airborn,
winner of the Governor General’s Award;
Skybreaker,
winner of the Red Maple Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award; and the million-copy-selling Silverwing Saga. His most recent novel is
Half Brother.
Kenneth Oppel lives with his wife and three children in Toronto. Visit his website at
www.kennethoppel.com.

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“This is a thrilling page-turner that will captivate young and old alike. Oppel’s consummate skill at inhabiting the minds of non-human creatures is on stunning display here as Dusk’s story races from thrilling discoveries to heart-stopping perils.” —
Quill & Quire
(starred review)

“Full of Oppel’s characteristic breath-taking suspense, heart-stopping adventure and kid-like bat characters.” —
Toronto Star

“Captivating reading from beginning to end.” —
Booklist
(starred review)

“An intelligent and original thriller…. Dusk becomes the world’s first bat, and like the X-Men, his abilities are double-edged, isolating yet saving him before he finds a new home.” —
The Times
(London)

“The suspense kicks in immediately, and the final chapters are as tautly written as anything in a contemporary thriller…. But it’s the characters who make the story, and they are characters in the fullest sense, well-drawn and appealing, whether they flap, glide or walk on all fours.”—
The Globe and Mail

“Rich sensory details bring to life the Paleocene epoch of 65 million years ago—the steamy heat, heady fragrances, giant sequoias and vast grasslands. Lively prose and sheer imagination make Oppel’s fourth bat story another winner.” —
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

“Filled with adventure and characters both sympathetic and fearsome, this exciting fantasy convincingly brings to life a long-ago world at a time of rapid change.”
—Kliatt
(starred review)

“This novel manages to combine elements of adventure, survival, action, and mystery…. Fans of Brian Jacques’ Redwall stories and
Watership Down
will enjoy meeting Dusk and the other animals which populate this ancient world.”—
VOYA
(starred review)

“There is … so much outsized pre-historic action that readers will be happily swept along for the ride.” —
Horn Book

“Kenneth Oppel’s latest work will leave you breathless.”
—Canadian Materials

“Oppel offers a celebration of difference in addition to a wonderful imagining of a pivotal moment in evolution.”
—School Library Journal

BOOKS BY KENNETH OPPEL

Half Brother
Starclimber
Skybreaker
Airborn
Darkwing
Firewing
Sunwing
Silverwing
Dead Water Zone
The Live-Forever Machine

(For Younger Readers)
The King’s Taster
Peg and the Yeti
Peg and the Whale
Emma’s Emu
A Bad Case of Ghosts
A Strange Case of Magic
A Crazy Case of Robots
A Weird Case of Super-Goo
An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs
A Creepy Case of Vampires

Darkwing Copyright © 2007 by Kenneth Oppel.

Published by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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EPub Edition AUGUST 2007 ISBN: 9781443411233

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