North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson

As I mentioned in my Wingfeather Wiki blog, my wife and I were absolutely thrilled to come home from our second anniversary daycation to find North! Or Be Eaten waiting for us at our front door. I don’t think we've awaited another book’s delivery so eagerly since we ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to read together during our engagement.

We grabbed his first book in the Wingfeather Saga, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, as soon as it came out and had a great time reading it out loud to each other. It chronicles the beginning of the Igibys' adventure, three special children who have been living in hiding (unbeknownst to them) in the town of Glipwood on the continent of Skree in the world of Aerwiar. Quite a mouthful, eh? That's just the beginning...

Andrew has created a thoroughly original, quirky world full of wonderful surprises and terrifying creatures. The peoples of Skree are daily terrorized by the vicious Fangs of Dang, invaders from across the Dark Sea of Darkness who conquered Skree while searching for the lost jewels of Anniera. The jewels, it turns out, are actually the three Igiby children, Janner, Tink, and Leeli. The first book introduces you to the children and tells of their discovery by the Fangs and their escape from Glipwood under harrowing circumstances. North! Or Be Eaten picks up with their flight ... well, North ... so they can avoid being eaten.

This second book is a treat, even better than the first, but I highly recommend reading them in order. You'll better understand why and from what the Igibys are running, and you'll further be prepared to expect the random bits of humor in the story, the personalities of the main characters, and the footnotes on various pages in the book. Speaking of humor... this book is spot on! I love Andrew's wit and feel he's really improved since the last book at incorporating it more neatly into the story. I laughed out loud several times, especially when I read about Podo Helmer "quivering in a boat like a belcher's belly" and Janner Igiby being disturbed by the superfluous punctuation of the "FORK! FACTORY!" as he was about to be imprisoned in it.

In addition to imagination and humor, Andrew has filled North! Or Be Eaten with plenty of action. The plot is basically a series of clever escapes from trouble punctuated by short periods of recuperation and reflection. The character development kept me turning the pages just as much as the action. Janner's continued maturity is front and center as he grows into being a proper Throne Warden. On the other hand, Tink's spur of the moment immaturity brings a lot of heartache to the story as he rebels against his future as the High King of Anniera and gets himself in a boatload of trouble.

Speaking of boats and trouble... we learn a lot more about the mysterious past of Podo Helmer. He's just as tough, funny, and tender as always, but we also see his fears from his past catching up to him as the Igibys get closer and closer to the Dark Sea of Darkness in their flight from trouble.

Like all good fantasy children's literature, the Wingfeather Saga provides weaves sound moral instruction and personal character development into the stories (see the Chronicles of Narnia and the Chronicles of Prydain for other good examples). The characters are seen to grow in a number of virtues, including responsibility, love, faith, forgiveness, courage, intelligence, and much more. We get to see them fail, as well, and learn how they get back up to make wrongs right. I can't wait to read these books to my children and help them wrestle through the very same problems and growing pains.

To summarize... I'm a fan. A huge fan. And I want you to be one, too. I can only entice you with so many awesome things from the books before you're overwhelmed, so it will be much better for us both if you just read the stories and let Andrew introduce you to the wonderful world inside his head. You won't be disappointed.

For more fan goodness, you can check out my wife's review of North! Or Be Eaten (it's more thoughtful and complete with pictures) and the official Wingfeather Saga site. I'm trying to kickstart a fan site called The Wingfeather Wiki but never seem to have time to stoke the flames.