On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness offers humor, adventure and mystery

This middle-grade, fantasy novel offers humor, adventure, and mystery. Boys will appreciate the disgusting descriptions of maggotloaf and relate to the bravery required to leap into danger to accomplish feats of valor for the greater good.

In On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson (Book One of the Wingfeather Saga), Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby live in a dangerous world where toothy cows, horned hounds, ratbadgers, and Fangs from Dang lurk.

Janner feels hemmed in at 12 because his mom and grandfather require him to look after his younger siblings: Leeli, who is lame, and Tink, who despite his fear of heights, is always dashing into danger before thinking it through. Janner wishes to be free to do what he wants and to be trusted to go places alone.

On the day of the Dragon Day Festival, Janner gets to go to town without an adult. This privilege turns into a gripe because his siblings accompany him. However, Janner soon learns that the reason he isn’t allowed to go about alone involves a family secret that leaves him in all sorts of stressful fixes, the first involving the kidnapping of Leeli by Fangs. Throughout the story, the Igiby family must deal with these nasty, smelly creatures. Janner questions the wisdom of his mother and grandfather for ransoming them with jewels that Gnag the Nameless (a nameless evil) seeks. An especially evil Fang, Slarb, intends to kill the Igiby family for humiliating him.

This story includes fighting oppression and fear, finding a treasure map, and making a startling discovery.

Who protects them? Who can they trust? Aren’t the children worth more than these stupid jewels that are causing so much trouble? The kids seek many such answers.

Chapters are short in this novel that introduces the Wingfeather series. I haven’t yet read any of the rest of the series, but a family I know and my children recommended them with enthusiasm. If fantasy interests you, pick up a copy of this book and see if it swoops you into the story, cascading you to the end, to find, the saga has just begun. The series includes four novels.

What are you reading? Do you prefer series or stand alone novels?

Feature Image by Evgeniy Gorbenko on Unsplash.