On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure Peril, Lost Jewels, and the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree (The Wingfeather Saga) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a big fan of Andrew Peterson's songwriting and music, so when I heard he'd written a novel I had high expectations. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness delivered. It's not great literature, it's not going to displace Narnia or Lord of the Rings in the canon of fantasy literature, it's not going to be studied in classrooms fifty years from now. But it was a ton of fun to read, and I've continued to think about some of the themes a couple weeks after finishing the book (I plowed through it in about four days earlier this month).
The characters are memorable and well-crafted, the dialogue is perfect (unimaginitive or stilted dialogue is usually where sloppy fiction loses me, and this one kept me throughout), and the plot is fun and tense and touching and a little messy, but in a good way.
I've been told that I frown a lot when I read, not because I'm unhappy but because I'm thinking and processing, and I guess when I get lost in my thoughts my expression looks sour. This book made me smile as I read it. It was fun to read and is even more fun to read aloud (I've read the first two chapters to the kids, and next is Chapter Three: "Thwaps in a Sack"; they cackled when I read the parts about falling hammers and horse nuggets; they'll love toothy cows and Peet the Sock Man and the Fangs of Dang too). But there's also plenty of tension and drama and conflict, which carries the story along.
At times it seemed a little bit derivative of The Chronicles of Narnia, until it reminded me more of To Kill a Mockingbird, but then it brought to mind Harry Potter, except when it was more like Lord of the Rings. Then there were all those times when it was completely original. There's a lot that's familiar and a lot that's original. It's a good mix.
This is Book One of The Wingfeather Saga, a series title that makes a lot more sense after reading the final few chapters. I'm going to recommend this to my friends and their kids (probably appropriate for about age 5 and up to listen to, and for age 7 and up to read), and I'm looking forward to the next book in The Wingfeather Saga.

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