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

Andrew Peterson is my favorite living singer. The reason that I identify the category of “living singer” is so that I don’t have to try to figure out whether he’s actually moved beyond Rich Mullins in my estimation. He is that good, though.

Andrew Peterson also has a number of traits that I share — he has a deep love of fantasy fiction, and apparently a great knowledge thereof. In one of the bios on his blog at The Rabbit Room, there is mention made of the cyclops in the movie “Krull.” Outside of my family, I don’t know many people who know “Krull.” It is a good movie, though … you should see it. (Look for Liam Neeson in one of his first appearances, by the way.)

So, that brings us to On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. The book is quite a lot of fun to read, and a good fantasy/adventure. Bear in mind, this is kids’ lit. If you’re looking for the depth of “The Lord of the Rings,” then you should probably look elsewhere (In fact, if you’re looking for “The Lord of the Rings,” I highly recommend “The Lord of the Rings.”). But if you’re looking for a good light read, this is a good choice.

It has a lot of the familiar elements of kids’ fantasy — the heroes are kids (in this case the three Igiby children: Janner, Tink, and Leeli), there is the pet dog (Nugget), the wacky grandfather, and the plot has some familiar themes. I’ll hit on those later because I want to pile all spoilers and potential spoilers at the end.

The monsters, especially the Fangs, are repulsive and vile. Snakelike with large fangs dripping venom and tastes for such foods as maggotloaf and small children, they’re properly frightening while stupid and greedy enough to make themselves comical.

The story looks at familiar fantasy themes — courage, sacrifice, loyalty, a hidden family past, longing for a lost father, and overcoming some family resentment, especially sibling rivalry. Not everyone is as he or she seems in the oppressed town of Glipwood, and that makes for a lot of the genuinely interesting business.

Peterson also fills his world with enough oddities to remind you that this is a fantasy world — as if the Fangs and the dreaded Black Carriage weren’t quite enough. Podo (the grandfather) keeps having to remove thwaps from his totato garden, for example. The local bookseller has a ridgerunner for an assistant. The story opens with the annual festival celebrating the arrival of the sea dragons as they migrate across the Dark Sea of Darkness. Among the more-feared creatures are the dreaded toothy cows, the ugly face of which graces (to use the term loosely) the back cover.

Where Peterson really shines in this writing is the extra flair that he included. To help explain his story, he has filled the book with footnotes, citations from the various scholars of Skree. Some of these are just funny, others are fairly-factual, and at least one (commenting on the name of the Dark Sea of Darkness) is downright poignant, to the adult reader. Quite cleverly, Andrew Peterson has written a book that exists on more than one level, and therefore can be easily appreciated by both kids and adults.

The book presents a fairly-well-developed history for the land of Skree, which might not seem that new or creative, but Andrew Peterson took the time to write songs and nursery rhymes for the characters to sing, poems to recite and review, and maps. My wife, in particular, loves books with maps in them. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness contains maps of Skree as well as Glipwood Township. What more could you want?

This is the first book in the Wingfeather Saga, a series the length of which I don’t know yet. Based on this first book, I have high hopes for the rest of the series.

WARNING: AFTER THIS POINT, I INCLUDE COMMENTS WHICH MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS. I’LL TRY NOT TO GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY, BUT THIS WARNING IS ALL YOU GET.

Naturally, the Igiby family is a lot more important than the children know. Of course, there’s more to Peet the Sock-Man than anyone knows at the beginning of the book.

The conversations about Peet between Nia (the mother of the Igiby kids) and Podo are great foreshadowing, Adult readers will probably see a lot of the final bits coming, but kids won’t necessarily. When Janner asks Peet if “Peet the Sock-Man” is his real name, and he answers, “What is a real name?” then asks Janner if Janner Igiby is his real name … Adult readers will get it. Kids might well just continue to believe that Peet is crazy.

The story also leaves heroes with flaws. Podo doesn’t forgive Peet for his failures (which we don’t know until the very end of the story) until after Peet has saved the kids’ lives several times. The need to forgive, though, is discussed. The bad decisions that come from not considering forgiving Peet are clearly demonstrated — when Podo wants to head straight for the Ice Prairies, when Nia forces his hand and demands that they head to Peet’s home.

As one would expect from a kids’ story written by a Christian singer-songwriter, the language is fine, and there’s really nothing to concern parents in terms of sex, language, or such. That is, unless you’re offended by the word “dang.” The villainous Gnag the Nameless rules Skree from across the Dark Sea of Darkness, in the fearsome land of Dang. I have known people who view any use of “dang” as offensive, and if you’re one of them, then this might be a problem.

It’s fun, it’s light-hearted, it treads the familiar territory of kids’ fantasy literature with a different kind of style, entitling Andrew Peterson to his own niche among authors, as well as among songwriters.

Enjoy.