The Wind Singer - William Nicholson
Amazon.co.uk: The Wind Singer (The Wind on Fire Trilogy): William Nicholson: Books
Name of the book: The Wind Singer Author: William Nicholson Genre: Children's, fantasy Brief review: This is very much a children's book and that would be the only reason I did not rate it 5 out of 5. I just seem to relate better to teen or young adult fiction.
Having said that, this is a masterpiece of a book and definitely deserving of the awards that it won (the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and the Blue Peter Best Book Award). William Nicholson has invented a world and a society completely unlike our own. His ideas are absolutely unique and often quite surreal. The city of Aramanth is (according to Wikipedia) a meritocratic dystopia and coupled with the urban setting, it reads almost Kafkaesque at times.
The story follows the journey of three children as they escape the city and search for the mystical Wind Singer which they are told will heal the city of it's evil and ambition. They encounter strange and wonderful cultures which Nicholson describes in great detail and they travel through underground mud mines, deserts and forests in this epic journey.
All in all a great story and I give it 4 out of 5.