March 20, 2008

Book Review: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I don’t read. I don’t have a good reason why I don’t read - I just don’t read. Sure, I’ve got a list of blogs and web sites that I check daily, but even then, if the posts get lengthy, I just skim. I don’t know why I don’t read…I guess it’s just not my thing.

In addition to not reading, I don’t do fantasy. Winged goats soaring through the heavens in search of the legendary caves of some unheard of world? No thanks. It’s not my thing.

So being the fantasy-avoiding, book-hating freak that I am, I read a fantasy book. I’ll be honest here: the only thing that made me even consider reading “On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness” is that its author is a friend of mine. That’s sad because had I not known Andrew Peterson, I may never have read this wonderful book.

I won’t give too much detail about the story…no spoilers here…I will say that there are no winged goats (maybe in a sequel?). It’s a story about the adventures of a family - 2 brothers and their sister who live with their mother and grandfather in a small town on the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (thus the title).

From the beginning, I could tell this was Andrew’s work. His sense of humor, his love for a good story, and his love of an adventure are obvious. I found myself fighting to put down the book. The story is quite captivating.

Fans of Andrew’s music may find some similar themes between his music and the book. No Peterson story about two boys would be complete if it didn’t bring to mind “Little Boy Heart Alive.” The story as a whole reminds me a bit of common themes throughout Andrew’s CD “The Far Country.” And though this similarity is a bit of a stretch, I found myself thinking of “Matthew’s Begats,” comparing the amazing details of the Great Story to the amazing details (many in the footnotes) of this story.

Bottom line: Of books, fantasy, and Andrew Peterson, I usually only care for one of the three. Give it a shot. If you like any of the three, you’ll probably enjoy “On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness” as well.

Filed under Book Reviews by Ron Davis

Comment

Trackback uri

http://www.moreron.com/2008/03/20/book-review-on-the-edge-of-the-dark-sea-of-darkness/trackback/

3 Comments on Book Review: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness »

March 20, 2008

Tanya @ 6:54 pm:

ditto.

Permalink • Reply

March 24, 2008

Moreron's Wife @ 6:02 pm:

Unlike my esteemed husband with near-perfect grammar I am an avid reader and especially enjoy a good fantasy novel. (Yes, I have read all of the Harry Potter novels & the Chronicles of Narnia.) I was very excited to read Andy’s entry into this genre of stories and was definitely quite captivated by his storytelling abilities.
The main characters in this story, Janner and Tink Igiby, are brothers who are constantly finding themselves in trouble because of their hunger for adventures. As I watch my own son I see the penchant for adventure-seeking and pranking to be something that is truly part of the man-child genetic makeup.
Andy is truly a great craftsman of words which has been exhibited through his songs and now in his stories. He immediately captures the attention of the reader with his morbid nursery rhymes and vivid imagery, yet the book has many fun names and bits of humor that keep it from being too intense for the younger reader. It is sophisticated enough for adult readers to be immediately drawn in to the story as well. I think one of my favorite mini-plots was of Podo and the thwaps. I did find myself wondering which of Andy’s children might have called tomatoes “totatoes”…
As I began reading the book the second time for my daughter’s bedtime stories I have started picking up clues to the mysterious heritage of the three precocious Igiby children. While I feel that she is not ready for Harry Potter (or Harry Totter, as my son calls him)stories, we have ready all of the Narnia tales. Most nights she fell asleep while I was reading. While this definitely has its benefits, she often did not really understand what was going on and was not truly captivated with the tale. Each night she begs for another chapter of the Igiby children’s adventures. (Maybe this is why Moreron himself was able to read this book in such a short period of time???)
At the conclusion of the book I felt very satisfied with the completeness of the book, yet anticipating the next installment in this series. I absolutely abhor books that have huge cliffhangers when I know I will have to wait months for the next one to come along. Rest assured that this tale will whet your appetite for the next book in the series, yet will not cause intense anger to be felt toward the author because too many loose ends were left untied.
I hope you will take the time to read this fantastic tale and that you will enjoy it as much as I did!