Today is the last day of our feature of Andrew Peterson’s wonderful series The Wingfeather Saga and the latest book, The MonsterIn The Hollows.
What do I know though? I’m almost a greybeard.
How about we ask some of the intended audience?
Two thumbs up!
I have been reading this series to my boys Nathan (11) and Matthew (9 1/2) for three years (Caleb is starting to get into it, but he has the attention span of Kalmar on a bad day). They have eaten up the antics and adventures of the Florid Sword, Peet the Sock Man, Oskar N. Reteep,the Durgan Patrol and even Sara Cobbler (a girl!).
Nathan has recently read the first two books again, so he wrote up a summary of the series. On The Edge Of The Dark Sea Of Darkness: “I like how they think they’re normal kids with a normal life, until everything changes in a few days. Then they find out Tink (Kalmar) is a king, Janner is a Throne Warden, and Leeli is a Song Maiden.”
North! Or Be Eaten: “From the Glipwood Forest to the Stranders, Dugtown, the Fork Factory, and the Ice Prairies there are challenges wherever the Wingfeathers go, and with all that excitement, why can’t you love this book!” (Why indeed?)
The Monster In The Hollows: “The Wingfeathers think they can be safe in the Green Hollows but they immediately run into problems. When they seem to have a normal life, Janner finds out that his little brother is stealing animals and the Hollowsfolk aren’t happy. As they’re about to be hanged (as my brother and I go crazy), the surprise is actually the [removed for spoiler purposes!]”
Matthew focused on Monster. “The Monster In The Hollows is really exciting. It has a lot of mystery, which I really like about it, and is one of the reasons it’s my favorite book in the Wingfeather Saga. I really like how it has a lot of cliffhangers, because my brother and I went coo-coo on a lot of the cliffhangers. I really also like the part where Janner found out that Kalmar was gone in the middle of the night and went and tracked him in the snow!
But my favorite part of all was when they figured out [a major spoiler]. I was really surprised because we thought he was [spoiler], so I was really shocked. I did also like the chapter “Artham and the Deeps of Throg”. So I am looking forward to another book.”
Ok, I had to provide a little redacting to not blow some great surprises. I hope the words of some true boys who enjoy good books will encourage you to pick this up, especially if you have kids. Even if you don’t, it is a great series to read for kids of any age!
See what else the inmates are saying for the CSFF Tour at Becky’s blog. —
I’m a little behind in my touring, but for my second post for the September CSFF Tour featuring Andrew Peterson and his most recent book in the Wingfeather Saga, The Monster In The Hollows, I wanted to offer my review of the book. For my third post, I will have some different perspectives…
I can’t help but emphasize how neat a guy Andrew Peterson is. He wrote personal letters to my boys when they wrote to him about his last book. As Mharvi Reads shows in a note from Andrew, he takes his responsibility as a storyteller seriously (you really need to read that note!).
The care he takes shows once again in Monster. He touches the heart, excites with suspense, brings humor with sneakery and spitting contests, and keeps drawing the Wingfeather children closer to their destiny. He puts in small details that makes the fantasy world of Aerwiar complete.
The book, as its companions On The Edge Of The Dark Sea Of Darkness and North! Or Be Eaten, is entertaining for adults and children. I love the deeper meanings that Andrew layers in, and my boys are on the edge of the sofa, taking in all the suspense and reacting to each cliffhanger chapter ending with “Noooooo!”
I don’t know how many people read to their children anymore, but this is a great series to read to your kids. I like doing voices, and there are many options for me to ham it up. For the Guildmadam Olumphia Groundwich, I felt her voice should really be done in a Monty Python “Spam” sketch type voice:
Any book that give you an excuse to use a Monty Python voice is a winner in my book.
The rest of the CSFF clan’s posts can be found in one location on Becky Miller’s blog. Check them out. My next post will have a special guest feature, so please stop by. —
I’m a little behind in my touring, but for my second post for the September CSFF Tour featuring Andrew Peterson and his most recent book in the Wingfeather Saga, The Monster In The Hollows, I wanted to offer my review of the book. For my third post, I will have some different perspectives…
I can’t help but emphasize how neat a guy Andrew Peterson is. He wrote personal letters to my boys when they wrote to him about his last book. As Mharvi Reads shows in a note from Andrew, he takes his responsibility as a storyteller seriously (you really need to read that note!).
The care he takes shows once again in Monster. He touches the heart, excites with suspense, brings humor with sneakery and spitting contests, and keeps drawing the Wingfeather children closer to their destiny. He puts in small details that makes the fantasy world of Aerwiar complete.
The book, as its companions On The Edge Of The Dark Sea Of Darkness and North! Or Be Eaten, is entertaining for adults and children. I love the deeper meanings that Andrew layers in, and my boys are on the edge of the sofa, taking in all the suspense and reacting to each cliffhanger chapter ending with “Noooooo!”
I don’t know how many people read to their children anymore, but this is a great series to read to your kids. I like doing voices, and there are many options for me to ham it up. For the Guildmadam Olumphia Groundwich, I felt her voice should really be done in a Monty Python “Spam” sketch type voice:
Any book that give you an excuse to use a Monty Python voice is a winner in my book.
The rest of the CSFF clan’s posts can be found in one location on Becky Miller’s blog. Check them out. My next post will have a special guest feature, so please stop by. —
Twelve year old Janner, his younger and impulsive brother Kalmar, and his sweet but crippled sister Leeli. They are ordinary kids, loved by their mother Nia and their peg-legged ex-pirate grandpa Podo. Life for these kids is pretty normal.
Except for being chased from their home by the lizard-like Fangs of Dang. And except for surviving a harrowing journey across the land of Skree (toothy cows, bomnubbles, and the Fork Factory. Woe!) along with a daring escape across the Dark Sea of Darkness (and the dragons!).
But since they made it to the Green Hollows everything is dandy. Except the little episode Kalmar had. The one where he grew a tail. Grey fur. A muzzle and sharp teeth. And pointy little ears. It seems the Hollowfolk think Kalmar is a monster, and everyone hates them.
Oh, and Gnag the Nameless is still looking for some kids that he thinks are the Jewels of Anniera.
Janner is charged with watching over his brother, who by the way is the next High King of Anniera. As the Throne Warden, he has a duty to his country and his family. Who can blame him if he wants a different life?
I’ll have more to say about the book tomorrow, but here are some other fine folk who have more about this intriguing book:
Twelve year old Janner, his younger and impulsive brother Kalmar, and his sweet but crippled sister Leeli. They are ordinary kids, loved by their mother Nia and their peg-legged ex-pirate grandpa Podo. Life for these kids is pretty normal.
Except for being chased from their home by the lizard-like Fangs of Dang. And except for surviving a harrowing journey across the land of Skree (toothy cows, bomnubbles, and the Fork Factory. Woe!) along with a daring escape across the Dark Sea of Darkness (and the dragons!).
But since they made it to the Green Hollows everything is dandy. Except the little episode Kalmar had. The one where he grew a tail. Grey fur. A muzzle and sharp teeth. And pointy little ears. It seems the Hollowfolk think Kalmar is a monster, and everyone hates them.
Oh, and Gnag the Nameless is still looking for some kids that he thinks are the Jewels of Anniera.
Janner is charged with watching over his brother, who by the way is the next High King of Anniera. As the Throne Warden, he has a duty to his country and his family. Who can blame him if he wants a different life?
I’ll have more to say about the book tomorrow, but here are some other fine folk who have more about this intriguing book:
See, I’m part of the Christian Sci-fi/Fantasy Tour, and we just talked about a cool and creepy book called Darkness Follows by Mike Dellosso. I talked about it Monday with an overview, and Tuesday with a review.
I don’t really want to talk about it today.
Not directly, at least.
Like I said, I’m in a book tour for Christian speculative fiction. There’s cool people here that like interesting books. There’s an interesting aspect of this month’s tour I wanted to investigate.
The book was brought to us for a speculative angle – the protaganist in modern times finds pages from a Civil War officer’s journal, in his own handwriting. The book is considered in the CBA realm as “supernatural suspense.”
The thing is, the book is really a horror book.
It’s not horrible. Hor-ror. It is scary and spooky [insert Addam’s Family theme song here]. It has a purpose in its scare factor, but it definitely has the chills factor.
It seems the CBA industry is scared of labeling books as “horror.” I don’t mind that a speculative fiction tour is featuring this book, it is pretty good, and I’m glad I got to read it. I think it serves a certain type of reader, and does it without some of the hopelessness found in regular horror fiction.
I don’t have all the insights in this quirk of the CBA. For a better authority, I’ll refer you to Mike Duran on his posts concerning “Can Horror Fiction Be ‘Redemptive'” (part 1, 2, 3) and a quick discussion on covers speaking about horror here, as well as Mike Dellosso’s own words in this post.
Seemed like a good time to take on this idea of the label of “horror” vs. “supernatural suspense” to a group that enjoys speculative fiction. I’ve read CBA books ranging from a ghost story (Robin Parrish’s Nightmare, labeled as “paranormal suspense”) to vampires (Eric Wilson’s Jerusalem Undead series) that would fit into a horror genre in a normal bookstore, but don’t get promoted that way in the CBA.
Why is that?
I have my thoughts, but what say you, the well-read and clever folks of the CSFF Tour? Let me know what you think, and I’ll answer back in a few days. — Uh, to get back on track, here’s where you can find all of the other fine posts on Darkness Follows from my tourmates.
