This months’ book review is by my 13 year old son! He wanted to wait until school was finished before attempting ‘another’ book report. Ha! But he was looking forward to this. Let’s hear from him:

13 year old: My family and I live on a farm. We grow corn, beans, peas, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and more in our garden. We also have fruit trees, chickens, cats, and a dog. I enjoy helping in the garden and flower beds, taking care of the animals, and seeing all of our work in the garden go into our meals. I have a younger brother and sister, who help with the work and chores, too. We love to play games in the barn or on our dirt mounds. My siblings, mother, and I do something called Classical Conversations. It is a homeschool group using the classical way of learning. It has a Foundations program (4 years through 6th grade) learning various subjects as building blocks; Essentials (4th-6th grades) learning higher grammar, math, and different types of writing; and Challenge (7th-12th grades) learning many higher subjects, including Latin, writing persuasive essays, and more. I love to read. I read fantasy, thriller, classics, historical fiction, non-fiction, and more. Most recently, I finished reading the classic by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Book One of The Wingfeather Saga)

Lo, beyond the River Blapp

The Carriage comes, the Carriage Black

By Shadowed steed with shadowed tack

And shadowed driver driving.

Child, pray the Maker let you sleep

When comes the Carriage down your street

Lest all your dreams be dreams of teeth

And Carriages arriving.

To wrest you from your berth and bower

In deepest night and darkest hour

Across the sea to frozen tower

Where Gnag the Nameless pounds you.

At Castle Throg across the span

A world away from kith and clan

You’ll weep at how your woes began

The night the shadows bound you.

Away, beyond the River Blapp,

The Carriage came, the Carriage Black

By shadowed steed and shadowed tack

The night the Carriage found you.

-Skreean Nursery Rhyme

This book begins with Janner Igiby, a 12 year old boy, chanting this rhyme in his head, lying in bed, terrified of the Black Carriage passing his house. Janner lives in a snug little cottage ‘on the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness,’ with his family which consists of a mother, Nia; a one-legged pirate grandfather, Podo Helmer; a mischievous, acrophobic 11 year old brother, Tink (aka Kalmer); a crippled 9 year old sister, Leeli and her little dog, Nugget. Without a school, the kids do something called T.H.A.G.S.: Three Honored and Great Subjects (word, form, and song).

Glipwood is a small town, boasting only a few ramshackled buildings: an inn (Glipwood’s Only Inn), owned and run by Mr. and Mrs. Shooster, Shaggy’s Tavern, Books and Crannies, run by Oscar N. Reteep (appreciator of the strange, neat, and/or the yummy), other shops and houses, and the jail. Currently, Commander Gnorm, is the commanding Fang over Glipwood (under General Khrak, who is directly under Gnag himself) along with the help of other lower Fangs, including Slarb, Vop, Brak, and others. Fangs are evil, venomous, humanoid lizards, melded and shaped by two enchanted stones, the Holore and the Holoel, and the stone keeper, in the Deeps of Throg.

Today isn’t just any day for Skreeans, it is Dragon Day, where Sea Dragons migrate from their home in the Sunken Mountains to the cliffs of Glipwood to sing a mysterious and almost magical tune. People from all over Skree will come chiefly to listen to the dragons, but also for vendors, other games and festivities, and a singing bard. Another ‘attraction’ is Pete the Sock Man, Glipwoods’ madman with knitted socks around his hands.

That day after their chores, Janner, Tink, and Leeli go to see the festival by themselves. This is the day all the Igiby’s troubles begin. Today, Nugget, Leeli, and her brothers fight two Fangs to save her life; are later on captured again and again by Slarb, especially (wanting revenge for the Dragon Day fight); and eventually were almost put into the Black Carriage.

This book is probably one of my favorites so far, but definitely my favorite series up till now. My aunt started me out on this series by gifting me the first and second books (this book and North! Or Be Eaten) for my 9th birthday; and gave me the other two books (The Monster in the Hollows and The Warden and the Wolf King) later on. My brother and I bought the extras later on in our lives. The genre is definitely fantasy, but also action and adventure, set in the older times with wagons, swords, and snot wax candles.

The extra books that accompany the Saga include: Wingfeather Tales (Seven Thrilling Stories from the World of Aerwiar), Pembrick’s Skreean Creaturepedia, and A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest.

Why I love the Wingfeather books is mainly the description, adventure (especially since it is with kids my age), the climaxes at the end of each chapter, urging you to go on, and the humor and reality of the kids’ actions and phrases.

When my aunt first gave me the books at age nine, I started reading them to my 7 year old brother. And now, at 13 years old, I am rereading the series to my 7 year old sister. Currently, I am 13, my brother is 11, and my sister is 7. I really enjoy the illustrations, first by Joe Stuphin (books 1-2), Andrew Peterson (books 3-4), various authors and illustrators for book 5, and Aedan Peterson (Andrew’s son, books 6-7). They are almost sketched, black and white, so realistic, and their maps I enjoy also.

Recently, the first season of The Wingfeather Saga animated series came out (covering the first book) and me and my siblings were able to watch it all over time. It is animated like a painting, with fun voices, and to me and my siblings, doesn’t really follow the book.

I absolutely recommend this series to read aloud (when I read it my sister, she jumps up saying “No. Not the end. More, more!” at the end of every reading); you could also read it to yourself, buy or borrow it from the library for others to read, or just be content with this book review. Whichever way, I hope you enjoyed this book review; I know I enjoyed writing it. Happy Reading!

Thanks so much! It was great to read this and get to know the Saga even better. Comment below and let us know if you have read this book or series!