Book Brief - On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

Andrew Peterson

WaterBrook Press (March 18, 2008)

The footnote (at the bottom of page 52, referring to a word used in a song on the same page) in this new novel reads:

“Though it is impossible to be sure, most scholars agree that this is likely the song that Leeli Igiby sang at the cliffs that evening. Holoré is an ancient word with several meanings. Its most common definition is “the feeling of forgetting to do something without knowing what that thing is.” For example: Foom was overcome with holoré for the whole journey, but when he returned home to find his wife still waiting on the front steps, he realized what he had forgotten. The word holoré is also used to describe the scent of burned cookies…”

A footnote… in a novel? This fanciful novel from Andrew Peterson is full of them. From endearing features like footnotes to fantastical creatures like thwaps, rat badgers, flabbits, horned hounds, quill diggles, digtoads, and, yes, toothy cows, this first novel of the Wingfeather saga will make you smile.

“A middle-aged man named Robesbus Nicefellow, who had spent his life balancing records for the famed button merchant Osbeck Osbeckson of Torrboro, decided he wouldn’t spend one more day working behind a desk; he had always wanted to sail…Mayor Blaggus silently swore he’d never again pick his nose. “ (from the footnote - Mayor Blaggus broke his vow on the walk back to town.)

Reminiscent of our world, yet fantastically it’s own, this fantasy has appeal for both adult and young adult readers. The Igiby children live with their widowed mother and peg-legged grandfather in Glipwood in the once peaceful land of Skree. The evil, lizard like creatures, the Fangs of Dang, have invaded the land however, and tension is always present. The Igiby’s are soon at odds with the invaders and before long are on a discovery of the wild countryside and of their past.

The, often, utterly ridiculous is balanced with the frighteningly real to produce a creative and quirky novel that you will not want to end.

Rating: Hardback