A Worthwhile Journey

Warning: High Geek level Alert (But, read to the bottom for a free book offer!)

A good part of my adolescent years were spent on distant shores. I traveled extensively throughout junior high and high school years. I enjoyed several of my trips and some of them...I've never quite been able to return from completely. One of my first trips abroad was spent treading after the dawn with the noble Reepicheep the courageous Peavensie brood and the mighty Aslan throughout Narnia. I journeyed alongside Frodo and Bilbo across the Shire. And I hid in awe from the great Druid Allanon in the land of Shannara. I too felt a sense of homesickness whenever I heard the words Caer Dallben in the land of Prydain. And for almost a decade I journeyed with King Trent and his friends throughout the world of Xanth.

So it was with a sense of excitement that I agreed to provide a blog review for Andrew Peterson’s new book On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness (Edge). Andrew Peterson (AP), as you may recall, is one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists. He’s in the mold of Rich Mullins and is one of the few artists whose CD’s I will purchase sight unseen unheard.

So when I first heard that AP was writing a novel, I was filled with some trepidation. I knew he could carry a tune, but could he carry a story?

I’m pleased to report that the answer is yes.

Edge spins the tale of a small family in a small village. Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby are the three youngest members of the Igby family who live with their Mom and Grandfather in the township of Glipwood in the land of Skree.

Glipwood had been, in a happier times, a gentle village along the coast of the Dark Sea of Darkness. But in recent decades, things had taken a more ominous turn. Coming across the Dark Sea, from the land of Dang, were hordes of Fangs, vicious lizard-like animals. They followed the bidding of Gnag the Nameless whose thirst for land and power are unquenchable.

After years of an uneasy occupation, the situation in Glipwood begins to change. The Igby children attract the unwelcome attention of the local Fang garrison. Edge then details a series of adventures as the three children (plus their relatives) try to stay alive in the midst of the ensuing calamities.

Three things I liked:

1) After a gradual start (and these narratives must always start slow) the novel flows well. The numerous brief chapters (51!) stretched across 284 pages make for a tightly paced novel that is ideal for the ten minute attention span of this YouTube generation. Or to a bed time story that (I suspect) was the genesis for this narrative.

2) The world is complete. Peterson has given much thought to the development of the backstory to the land of Skree. The work is filled with appendices, footnotes, and illustrations that guide the reader (often humorously) through the text. Since the subtitle for this work is The Wingfeather Saga Book One, I suspect that AP has only shared a bit of what he has up his sleeve.

3) The spiritual dimension is not overdone. One must indeed walk a fine line here, but the best Christian fantasy writers never preach or browbeat the reader. Aside from a few explicit references to a Maker and a brief myth of Dwayne and Gladys (Adam and Eve figures) the religious element is only hinted at. God is seen in this story, but never explicitly and never completely. (Of course, since this is exactly how God operates in our own lives, it is an excellent choice for an engaging narrative.)

Three things I didn’t like:

1) The evil is not terrifyingly portrayed. Ralph Wood, an English/Theology professor from Baylor is an expert in the works of the Catholic authors J.R.R. Tolkien and Flannery O’Conner. He has said that one reason why contemporary Christian writing is inferior to that of prior generations is because we no longer have the ability to adequately depict Evil. We have sentimentalized Evil. And if the danger and the evil is not severe and powerful enough, then the salvation (or euchatastrophe to use Tolkien's word) cannot be as powerfully seen. At their worst, the Fangs reminded me of the Sleestaks from the land of the Lost, or the Gorns from Star Trek. Dangerous enemies to be sure, but not terrifying.

2) The names were pretty simplistic. This is a hard criticism, but a necessary one. The author of a fantasy genre must use names that sound ancient and authentic, but may not actually be so. The Fangs of Dang, though alliterative, doesn’t pack enough punch. (By contrast, for example, the reader shudders when Gandolph first mentions the Mountains of Moria. And the informed reader might be aware that Moriah is intimately connected with the idea of sacrifice.

3) An inconsistent narrative tone. AP breaks up some of the tensions in the book by making references that are aimed at the teen level. He mentions the favorite meals of the Fangs are maggotloaf and booger gruel (for which he provides a recipe) and that the ratbadger’s greatest defense is its “eggish flatulence.” With numerous winks to the reader, AP breaks up any rising tension with these humorous asides. I suspect that the reason these are included is to hit a targeted tween/teen audience. But when the characters are in jeopardy, these silly asides serve to undercut the narrative tension. I must point out that these factors are what make this book so enjoyable to my 12 year old.

Overall, the likes outweigh the dislikes. Andrew Peterson demonstrates that his remarkable creative abilities transcend the musical and enters the narrative as well.

I’m glad I read On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness. Kadie and Scooter are also reading it. We’ve had a few enjoyable conversations about the book, and it is a rare thing for us to be reading the same works. It has brought us together for some fun conversations and introduced some inside jokes to our little family.



Now for the contest. One of the nicknames of my family (found above) was taken directly from one of the fantasy series I mentioned in my first paragraph. In the comment section below, the first reader who can tell me which nickname and which series the name appears, I will send a free copy of Andrew Peterson’s book On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness.