Do you know the Grimm Brother’s fairy tale “The Six Swans”? That’s the one about the six brothers who were turned into swans, and how their sister undid the enchantment. At least – she almost succeeded. At the end, the youngest brother’s left arm remained a swan wing.

Birdwing is the story of what happens next, as Ardwin grows up and tries to make sense of his divided loyalties – his memories of the wild life of a swan, and his need for acceptance in the world of humans.

Rafe Martin asks if it is possible to live “happily ever after” when your family has been so spectacularly torn apart.

Ardwin and his family struggle to comes to terms with their history. They are far from healed and their past haunts them.

To recap the events of The Six Swans: Firstly, a jealous second wife turned her six step-sons into swans, and doomed her step-daughter, Rose, to a life of silent suffering if she ever hoped to free them. And as though that were not enough, when Rose eventually finds the possibility of happiness in a loving marriage – her mother in law not only steals her children from her, but convinces her husband to put Rose to death.

At the end of that fairy tale, Rose is proved innocent and her brother’s regain their human shape. And though that story had a happy ending, Rafe Martin reminds us that the scars cause would not heal so easily.

One of the reminders of their painful past is Ardwin, the youngest brother who regained his human shape in all but his left arm, which remained in the shape of a swan.

This is not a book you can read in a cynical frame of mind. The young hero Ardwin takes himself very seriously in true adolescent fashion, and the author takes him quite seriously as well. Rafe Martin spends a fair amount of time relishing the visual possibilities of a beautiful, strong, shy and unselfconscious young man with a swan’s wing. There is something very beguiling about the pairing of Ardwin’s masculinity, and the very wild and feminine nature of the wing.

The wing is a wonderful narrative device. On one level it functions as a symbol of awkward adolescence. The wing is an undeniable part of Ardwin’s difference. He loves it as part of himself, and yet hates it because it marks him as a “freak”. The wing is awkward and clumsy and responds uncontrollably in response to his anger and excitement.

Ardwin remembers a moment when he was looking at himself in a mirror:

“Staring into the fire, he recalled a time, not many years back when he had been standing in front of the mirror in his chambers. His tunic was off and he found himself staring at the place where the feathers ended and smooth skin began. It was very high up on the arm, just below the shoulder. Then he had lifted his dagger and, without drawing blood, had marked the almost invisible boundary between human and the bird. He imagined cutting off the wing.”

This reminds me of that scene from the last X-men movie in which the angelic boy attempts to file off his wings out of guilt at his own difference.

The wing also has another significance, a theme which is at the core of this story – the difference between rational human and wild nature. The wing links Ardwin to the old, wild and natural magic of the past. It allows him entrance to the world of animals – through the wing, he can understand the speech of beasts and birds. But it is also a reminder of the impossibility of him ever returning to the wild life he knew when he was a swan.

There is a strong theme here, exploring the place of evil in the natural world. Was the Witch evil, or simply part of a system that does not fit in with human morality? Here an old walrus attempts to explain to Ardwin that his romanticised view of nature is far from the truth:

“Now listen, matey, if you’ve come here to experience the beauty and harmony of nature, you’ve come to the wrong place. Wait! No need to go running off. Maybe there is no right place. Nature, your nature and mine, is everywhere. But it’s an awful mess. The harmony is shot through with lots of muck and blood. My advice? Open your eyes wide, and keep ‘em that way. That’s how you want to see the world – truthfully! Right?”

This makes me think of a post I wrote about Princess Mononoke, particularly about the depiction of the Deer God. He was being of renewal and spring, as well as of decay and death. The two are inseparable.

Although there was much I enjoyed in this book, there are also some rather awkward passages. Especially towards the end of the book, as the author starts having to tie off the many threads he has been spinning. I got the feeling that he did not always know how to gracefully end off all the wild stories he had started. Some things were just dealt with too neatly and rather unbelievably. But even so, this is a lyrical and unusual book, and one that I will certainly want to read again. ( )

I am a huge fan of fairytale stories, and this novel does an excellent job of finishing the story of the Seven Swans, focusing on the boy who is left with one swan wing and one human arm. Ardwin is a boy who wants happiness, and he is dedicated to achieving it. He finds ways to do everything the two armed boys can, often surpassing their skills. He wants to be in control of his life, as he has been given both a handicap and a strength he had no choice in.

There are plenty of moments of joy in this story, just as there are moments of pain. The confrontation between Ardwin and his sister who did not complete the seventh thistle shirt in time is a prime example. How Rose Red feels guilt, and at the same time, anger toward not being thanked fully for her attempt at complete savior of Ardwin has a spotlight in this novel, which I greatly appreciated.

Yes, as all fairy tales do, this one ended with quite a contrite "Happily Ever After." I'm not sure I would have wanted it any other way. Yes, there are moments of "too easy" from a story line perspective, falling into the trap of fate and someone's greater plan But it fits in the mold of every other fairy tale out there.

It was a fun read, beautiful and lyrical at times, but still with maintenance of the plot. While I wouldn't necessarily suggest it for all age groups (as there are plenty of graphic images of blood and death) any child who can accept the original Grimm's tale can accept this completion. ( )

Birdwing is about a boy who was cursed into a swan when he and his siblings were little. His sister lifted the curse from his older brothers by weaving shirts made from sticks (That was how she had to lift the curse brought on by a witch). She did not finish his shirt. A sleave was missing so he had to live with a swan's wing instead of an arm. His village that his father ruled over was about to be attacked by the neighboring village, but the ruler over them said that the king had to make one of his sons marry one of his daughters. They chose the son with the bird's wing because all of his brothers were married already. The boy with the swan didn't like that so he left. You have to read the book to figure out what happens on his journey. I like the book because it is fantasy and I love books with imagination. ( )

If you have read or heard fairy tales, as a child or as an adult, no doubt there has been at least once, when presented with the "happily ever after", that you asked "okay, but then what?" This YA novel attempts to answer that question -- the story begins where the fairy tale of the Swan Brothers (boys who were transformed into swans by an evil stepmother but saved by their sister who, under great hardship, wove nettle shirts for them) left off -- with the youngest brother, whose shirt wasn't quite finished, and who therefore was left with one swan wing instead of a left arm.

It's interesting to see the details that are addressed here -- I think Martin very successfully and very practically illustrates what would be the reality for a boy coming home with one swan wing -- there is plenty of bitterness, family issues, and also the physical challenges that go along with such a difference.

I like that Martin spins out the possibilities of destiny and choice using the same threads -- the young man, of course, must take a journey of self-discovery and, ultimately, learn why he has the wing and choose whether he will keep it. Toward the end, though, the novel gets a little too free with it's "everything is part of the plan" attitude -- by the time the love interest turns out to be a lost princess from a neighboring kingdom, the eyes have started to roll a bit. Despite stretching the limits of credulity (which I suppose is to be expected given its fairy tale heritage), this was certainly an enjoyable read and especially recommended for those who have been wanting to REALLY finish a fairy tale.

This wonderful story of the winged boy from Grimm's fairy tale of the swan boys kept me entertained through a train ride. The story is well-plotted and moves quickly, incorporates the characters from the swan story as well as the story of the Goose Girl. I have a special love of fairy tale retellings (at least when done well), so I quite enjoyed this and definitely recommend it among the genre. ( )