Melodie Muses On A Boy Who Wants To Grow Up

Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

2473

Abstract

ed, Siwular was much like a horse to the family. In the universe of Gravity’s Arrow, the absence of electricity in day-to-day life, (and perhaps a leftover cultural aversion to using fossil fuels, as it is set in our far future), means there are no internal combustion engines in use. Instead, advances in genetic engineering have plugged the gap that vehicles once filled. Siwular descends from genetically engineered birds capable of lifting into the air while carrying heavy loads, such as people, and able to be trained to be guided by their riders — much as horses are. The family really like her — she is precious and valuable and good-natured.</p></blockquote><blockquote id="5d8b"><p>As for what became of her — they could not take her with them, and hoped that the village would either auction her to one of their own, give her to someone who would treat her well and have need of her, or delegate responsibility to those in the Green River Council where Hanu had been very influential. The family had no time to drop notes through doors, saying what they wanted done with Siwular, and dared not leave notes or letters in their home lest it give away the beast’s significance to the fugitive family, and result in Siwular incurring the wrath of their pursuers. They hoped reason would prevail in their absence — they had many friends and hoped her interests would be looked after when they had gone.</p></blockquote><p id="c554">Hanu is Fhiro’s mother — an important figure in their community.</p><p id="e23e">Maybe Fhiro never got to know, maybe none of them were ever able to go back, but on the strength of that answer I have decided that it’s a happy ending. Siwular was taken in and well looked after by Hanu’s friends on the Green River Council.</p><h1 id="dff9">Melodie Trudeaux Is All About The Animals</h1><p id="ea2a">That’s why Melodie has homed in on the animal angles of every one of the books she muses on. Melodie Trudeaux is the alter-ego of crime writer, Penny Grubb.</p><div id="a74d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-alter-ego-is-a-childrens-writer-1188c6eb9dec"> <div> <div> <h2>My Alter Ego Is A Children’s Writer</h2> <div><h3>She stopped my criminal career in its tracks — but only temporarily</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://mi

Options

ro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*NQbWkHROdHFlsSz7nbuckg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="2c3a">Melodie’s latest, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Same-Colour-Melodie-Trudeaux-ebook/dp/B09NZJ311F">Horse of the Same Colour</a>…</p><div id="b015" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/horse-of-the-same-colour-7645dde8dc3b"> <div> <div> <h2>A pre-teen fantasy by Melodie Trudeaux</h2> <div><h3>undefined</h3></div> <div><p>undefined</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*BZzGxoskB-rqqsYrJUOXRg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="9bd2">… is a MABLE 2022 spotlight book along with <a href="https://getbook.at/gravitysarrow"><i>Gravity’s Arrow</i></a><i>.</i> Please come and join Melodie and all the other authors <a href="https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/">at Fantastic Books Publishing’s</a></p><div id="fe3a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-might-be-in-love-with-mable-55cbc196abfb"> <div> <div> <h2>MASSIVE AUTUMN BOOK LAUNCH EVENT</h2> <div><h3>SEPT 17th to OCT 30th 2022. Good Books, Board Games, Lotsa fun…</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*sOdNiKDPZvBGUqaJ57X1zw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="c484" type="7">It’s free and it’s fun!</p><h2 id="7409">Explore more musings and some pondering here:</h2><div id="f5be" class="link-block"> <a href="https://pennygrubb.medium.com/list/6c79b9d64ef2"> <div> <div> <h2>Ponderings and Musings from Penny & Melodie</h2> <div><h3>Exploring odd angles of books with their authors</h3></div> <div><p>pennygrubb.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*40a7fd98d243338a2a013354c08eb8cbf21f629d.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Melodie Muses On A Boy Who Wants To Grow Up

Image reproduced with permission from Fantastic Books Publishing

Gravity’s Arrow by Jack Mann is a space adventure and a growing-up story set on a huge stage that we get to see bit by bit. It’s suitable for all ages and has moments of humour and of drama that will appeal on different levels.

The opening is a young boy off to visit the place his father works. It’s a routine journey for his father, but it’s not routine for Fhiro, 12 years old and by his reckoning, on the edge of adulthood. For him, it’s an exciting new experience. Not only is he visiting the underwater lab, but he also gets to travel there by air, sitting on the back of the family’s giant bird, Siwular.

During the visit, something goes dramatically, catastrophically wrong. Fhiro is lucky to escape with his life, but he gets through and thinks that’s the worst that can happen. Oh, but it’s not!

Siwular has to be left behind!

There’s an awful lot that his parents and older brother have been keeping from him and his little sister. Fhiro understands about her — she’s pretty much a baby — but he’s indignant on his own account. He’s pretty much grown up.

Not only are things looking bad, but tensions have been threaded through every area of their lives. They have to leave the place Fhiro has always called home, and they have to leave quickly, precipitously, with what they can carry, which isn’t much. And Siwular has to be left behind!

Book cover reproduced with permission from Fantastic Books Publishing

What happened to Siwular?

Here’s what I said to Jack Mann:

Fhiro’s family’s relationship to Siwular seems similar to that of people and their horses, would that be a fair comparison? They clearly thought a lot of the bird as they named the ship after her, but they had to leave her behind. What became of her?

Here’s Jack’s answer:

Indeed, Siwular was much like a horse to the family. In the universe of Gravity’s Arrow, the absence of electricity in day-to-day life, (and perhaps a leftover cultural aversion to using fossil fuels, as it is set in our far future), means there are no internal combustion engines in use. Instead, advances in genetic engineering have plugged the gap that vehicles once filled. Siwular descends from genetically engineered birds capable of lifting into the air while carrying heavy loads, such as people, and able to be trained to be guided by their riders — much as horses are. The family really like her — she is precious and valuable and good-natured.

As for what became of her — they could not take her with them, and hoped that the village would either auction her to one of their own, give her to someone who would treat her well and have need of her, or delegate responsibility to those in the Green River Council where Hanu had been very influential. The family had no time to drop notes through doors, saying what they wanted done with Siwular, and dared not leave notes or letters in their home lest it give away the beast’s significance to the fugitive family, and result in Siwular incurring the wrath of their pursuers. They hoped reason would prevail in their absence — they had many friends and hoped her interests would be looked after when they had gone.

Hanu is Fhiro’s mother — an important figure in their community.

Maybe Fhiro never got to know, maybe none of them were ever able to go back, but on the strength of that answer I have decided that it’s a happy ending. Siwular was taken in and well looked after by Hanu’s friends on the Green River Council.