Wind On Fire - Plot Overview

Plot Overview

The books are set in a realm similar to ours, but separate. They tell the story of the Hath family, and the Manth people who go on a long, and harsh journey from their city-prison, to their homeland. The main characters, Kestrel and Bowman Hath, are twins that have certain powers that allow them to save their people, and friends, from an evil power called the Morah. The first book tells of the events unfolding near and inside Aramanth, the second one talks about the lives of the Manth people as slaves in The Mastery, and the third book concludes with their voyage to the homeland.

The trilogy begins with The Wind Singer, which introduces the protagonists Kestrel and her beloved empath brother, Bowman. They live in a city called Aramanth, where personal freedoms don’t exist and success depends solely on performance in universal compulsory Examinations. Kestrel is a strong-willed individual who fiercely loves her family and despises the Exams. So great is her hatred of them that she denounces all the values and principles of Aramanth, as well as denying the existence of the Emperor, the unseen ruler of Aramanth. This sets in motion a chain of events that eventually results in Kestrel, Bowman and a mentally challenged boy called Mumpo escaping from the city and going on a quest to save their people from an evil entity known as the Morah, which controls a numberless army of malevolent and deadly beings called the Zars. The children are successful, and a new era dawns for Aramanth.

In Slaves of the Mastery the people of Aramanth have become pleasant and passive, no longer in the grip of the Morah. This new meekness attracts the attention of the powerful Mastery, a realm built entirely by slave labour and ruled by the merciless Master. Aramanth is destroyed and survivors of the slaughter- including the Haths- are taken into slavery. Kestrel evades capture and sets off after her family, intent on revenge and the liberation of her people. In the course of the book Bowman finds his psychic powers growing, and discovers that he has a greater part to play in the destiny of his people than he originally knew. Ira Hath also begins to prophesise of the need of the Manth people to return to their homeland. Bowman eventually defeats the Master, destroying the Mastery and leaving his people free to seek out the homeland.

The trilogy concludes with Firesong, which sees the remaining Manth people follow prophetess Ira Hath to the Manth homeland. Contending with harsh weather, starvation and various other dangers of the wilderness, the band struggle to survive, whilst Ira grows weaker the closer they get. Bowman and Kestrel leave their family in order to train as Singer people and they finally understand their part to play in what is to come. Kestrel sacrifices herself, along with the Singer people, in a final battle against the Morah, causing the “wind on fire” to sweep the world and purge it of the evil entity. This allows the Manth people to finally reach the homeland, where they begin their lives again.