Blog Tour: War of the Wind

Today I am on the War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson blog tour. My stop on the tour is a book review.

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Title: War of the Wind

Written by: Victoria Williamson

Cover design by: Sadie Butterworth

Published by: Neem Tree Press

War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson was published by Neem Tree Press in September 2023. It is another well-written eco-thriller by Victoria Williamson, which leaves you thinking and highlights how technological initiatives can be misused and manipulated.

On a remote Scottish island, fourteen-year-old Max’s life changes forever when he loses his hearing in a boating accident. Struggling to make sense of his new life and finding it hard to adapt in school, he begins to notice other — even stranger — changes taking place when a new wind farm appears off the island’s coast.

With the help of three school friends with additional support needs, Max discovers that a sinister scientist, Doctor Ashwood, is using wind turbines to experiment on the islanders. They must find a way to shut down the government’s secret test before it spins out of control…
Blurb from War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson

It felt very realistic that the government persuaded the islanders to accept the wind turbines with the promise of mobile phones and internet access. But when the wind turbines arrive on the island, the animals start behaving oddly: cows stop producing milk, dogs become aggressive, sheep huddle together, the seagulls no longer visit and a carpet of black bats lay dead on the rocks. Soon all the people become bad tempered and start to argue and fight. Max believes he has not been effected as he can’t hear the noise emanating from the wind farm substation.

As usual with a Victoria Williamson novel, there is a wide range of diverse fully-rounded characters who have been portrayed with empathy and understanding. Each have their own problems to overcome, such as Max, the main protagonist, who is coming to terms with becoming deaf after a boating accident; Beatrice (Beanie) Lewis who has Down Syndrome and is coping alone when her aunt becomes seriously ill; highly intelligent David who is unable to communicate until he gets his new speaking computer and Erin who was deaf from birth and harbours a lot of pent up hostility to the way people treat her.

I particularly liked Max’s character arc and how he starts off being angry at his predicament of losing his hearing to the point he rejects everyone’s offers of help seeing it as sympathy and disappointment. He blames them for his isolation as feels they are not doing enough to include him. Finally he recognises his own behaviour has been a major contribution to his isolation as he has rejected their offers of help, such as refusing to join in and not communicating his feelings to the teachers or his parents.

One thing that really niggled me was the cover as it says in the story there are three wind turbines but in the illustration there are four. I felt this should have been spotted before the book went to print.

As with most of Victoria’s books she has donated 20% of her royalties to a charity. This time it is the British Deaf Association in order to support their work campaigning for equal rights for Deaf people and empowering Deaf people to achieve access to their local public services. The BDA also did a sensitivity read to ensure the characters show a realistic representation of those living with hearing loss.

Another great book by Victoria Williamson that I would highly recommend. Suitable for KS2 and higher.

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About the Author

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK.

Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Her previous novels include The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, and Hag Storm. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

You can buy copies of War of the Winds by Victoria Williamson from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

To follow the rest of the tour check out the schedule below:

You can read reviews of War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62027879-war-of-the-wind and Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Wind-Victoria-Williamson/dp/191110750X/

You can read my reviews of a few of Victoria Williamson’s books here:

You can read my interview with Victoria Williamson about the writing of Norah’s Ark here: The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour – Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson.

You can see my spotlight on The Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson published by Scotland Street Press here: Blog Tour – The Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson.

You can view my spotlight of The Haunting Scent of Poppies by Victoria Williamson published by Silver Thistle Press here: Blog Tour: The Haunting Scent of Poppies by Victoria Williamson

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: www.strangelymagical.com and follow her on X @strangelymagic

I would like to thank The Write Reads for inviting me to take part in this ultimate tour. Thank you.