Note: To avoid SPOILERS below, make sure you’ve already read Book 1 (see that review here).
- book 2 of a fantasy series, focusing on 3 siblings
- long journey with many dangers, injuries, suspense, and encounters with new kinds of creatures
- themes include: courage, creativity, perseverance, forgiveness and the importance of family
- convo: pipe smoking, deaths/grief, one kiss described
Type: chapter book
Ages: 9-14
Author: Andrew Peterson
This book sure had my attention from the very beginning! The three Wingfeather children and the adults with them go through all sorts of difficult situations, one of which splits them up for a good chunk of the story. The book focuses mostly on the two boys and how they are even split up from each other after being separated from the rest. Janner, the oldest, especially has a hard time of it. He is forced to work at a depressing factory and is subject to a lot of physical pain (getting beat up, whipped, and other forms of mistreatment). He matures and grows through it all.
It behooves me to note that I, as a mother, am more affected by the evil ways children are treated than younger readers are. Scenes where children are crying or being tied up or treated poorly are hard for my heart but seem to be of equal intensity as other scenes for kids who read the same parts.
The bond between the family members reaches a new peak in this installment as the children find a way to communicate (for lack of a better term) when separated. I loved the mother’s description of “magic” in chapter 57:
“What’s magic, anyway? If you asked a kitten, ‘How does a bumblebee fly?’ the answer would probably be ‘Magic.’ Aerwiar is full of wonders, and some call it magic. This is a gift from the Maker…but it is clear the Maker put the power there when He knit the world. If it seems as though we have uncovered some secret, it is only because the wars of the ages concealed what was once as common as grass…
The old stories might call it magic, but I call it beauty. I might even call it love…Never try to become its master, but serve it. Allow it to be what the Maker meant it to be.”
Nia, North! Or Be Eaten
Peterson has a marvelous writing talent. The characters have depth the reader can’t help but connect with, and the imagery is fantastic. “Several weeks ago, the Glipwood Township had been wrecked by a mighty storm that descended on Skree like an apocalyptic stomp of the Maker’s boot.” And: “These thoughts floated in his mind like dandelion seeds in a warm wind.”
The story is interrupted with humor at times, which breaks up the intensity just enough to keep the pages turning. One of my favorite funnies was when someone was about to die and “determined to grab a good [book]…so that whoever discovered him would know he had good taste in literature.” Heh.
Here are a couple more great quotes:
“I don’t know what old Gnag has planned for you, but you just trust the Maker and…and do like your father would have you do. Do like me and yer ma would have you do. Don’t just follow your heart. Your heart will betray you.”
“It is true the Shining Isle is smoke and ashes and that darkness is wide over the land. But your long memory has failed you. Of all creatures, you should know that the darkness is seldom complete, and even when it is, the pinprick of light is not long in coming–and finer for the great shroud that surrounds it.”
The third book is now calling my name. I’ll link to the other books below as I review them. Happy reading!
Thoughts on Wingfeather Book 1: The Dark Sea of Darkness
Thoughts on Wingfeather Book 3: The Monster in the Hollows
Thoughts on Wingfeather Book 4: The Warden and the Wolf King