North! Or Be Eaten: Choppy At First, But Ends Strongly

North! Or Be Eaten is written by Andrew Peterson. It was published in 2009 by Waterbrook Press. It is the sequel to On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

Spoilers for On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them. In order to survive, the Igibys must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies, where the lizardlike Fangs of Dang cannot follow. First, however, they have to escape the monsters of Glipwood Forest,¹ the thieving Stranders of the East Bend,² and the dreaded Fork Factory.³ But even more dangerous are the jealousies and bitterness that threaten to tear them apart, and Janner and his siblings must learn the hard way that the love of a family is more important than anything else.
1. All possessing very sharp teeth.
2. Murderous scoundrels, the lot.
3. Woe!

As with On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, it took me a while to get into the book. As much as I enjoy the quirkiness of the world, at the beginning I wished it was a bit more serious. But once Peterson hits the tension, the book gets really good. I do wish that it was slightly less uneven, though. The seriousness of the events happening does not mesh well with the silliness of the world, in my opinion. In fact, once the serious things start happening, the silliness stands out even more as really odd and out of place.

I thought Janner in the first book was annoying, but in this book, he really developed a lot and came into his own. The point where I really got involved in the book was when Janner gets taken to the Fork Factory. That’s where I thought Peterson finally started balancing things better than in the beginning. I’m hoping that Peterson continues the Janner-centric viewpoints in the next books, because Janner is looking to become a very awesome character. Also because I can’t stand either Tink or Leeli. They’re both boring, flat characters, especially Leeli, who’s like this bundle of golden candy floss that makes your teeth ache every time she’s in a scene. At least Tink had an interesting development at the end (also, thank goodness they’re calling him Kalmar now. Tink is an awful nickname).

Peet! You remain both awesome and tragic.

Also, the Triple Twist Reveal at the end involving the dragons’ warning is pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting that.

Rating: 4/5

Recommended Age Range: 12+

Warnings: Some slightly gruesome details.

Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade

“Ah!” Oskar said. “I see it now, too.” He studied the cover and binding of the book. “This isn’t the original cover. Whoever replaced it, however many years ago, didn’t know the language either and placed the new cover backward. What we thought was the first page is actually the last. See?”

It all looked the same to Janner, but it was fascinating nonetheless.

“I think, Highness, with what I know of languages and what you remember of Hollish, we might be able to translate this.” Oskar looked at Nia eagerly.

Overall Review:

North! Or Be Eaten starts off slow, but once Janner hit the Fork Factory I couldn’t put it down. I hope that Tink and Leeli get some of the development that Janner got during this book, because as of right now I can’t stand either one of them. I am looking forward to some of the plot developments, though, because Peterson has proven that he can spin a good plot reveal. I just wish that there was a better balance between serious action and plot and silly world.

You can buy this here: North! Or Be Eaten

On The Edge Of The Dark Sea Of Darkness: New Look!

Note: I’ve actually wanted to change the look of the blog for a while…so I finally did! I thought the black-on-peach text of the previous theme was a bit hard on the eyes, so now we have good old black-on-white. (And it will be much easier for me to hide spoilers!)

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is written by Andrew Peterson. It was published in 2008 by Waterbrook Press. It is the first book in the Wingfeather Saga.

Andrew Peterson spins a riveting tale-for-all-ages, following Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby and their trusty dog, Nugget, in escape from the vicious Fangs of Dang who seek the lost jewels of Anniera. Quirky characters and their world of wonders—from the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness to the deadly Glipwood Forest and beyond—set the stage for this epic adventure…

Thoughts:

When I first started reading the book, I thought, “This guy is trying way too hard to make this book quirky and fun.” Luckily, once the plot gets going, Peterson eases off the quirkiness just enough to make a nice blend of serious and not-so-serious.

I enjoyed the originality of the world and the fun characters, especially Peet (whose story actually gets really tragic towards the end). I thought that the three kids were a little flat and uninteresting, and Janner was annoying, but I really only noticed it at the beginning. Like the quirkiness, once Peterson gets things going, he gets better with handling his tone, the world, and the characters. I do wish he had done more with Leeli, though, who acted like (and was treated like) she was much younger than she was. I also wanted more screen time with her, so I hope she gets more.

Points to Peterson for making an obvious plot less obvious! After the Big Reveal, I thought, “Huh, that was actually pretty obvious,” but before the Reveal I didn’t think so. Or maybe I was just expecting a “What You See Is What You Get” sort of thing, so the Reveal was more surprising. I did figure it out beforehand, but only because Peterson throws in a hint a few chapters before he reveals it. I didn’t figure it out from the very beginning, which I tend to do if it’s an incredibly obvious Reveal. So, yes, points to Peterson for at least masking it.

Also, I thought this was pretty gruesome for a children’s/MG book. Or maybe I just don’t like reading about lizards eating dead things. Gross.

Rating: 4/5

Recommended Age Range: 12+

Warnings: Some slightly gruesome details involving flesh-eating lizards and their food, fighting/violence.

Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade

“What do you think all these little pinholes are all over the map?” Tink asked.

“I dunno,” Janner shrugged. “Probably from mice. Or bugs. Look!” Janner pointed at an image of a dragon in the bottom, right corner of the map. “Does that look familiar to you?”

Tink shook his head.

“Remember the Annieran journal in the crate from Dang? That looks like the same dragon.”

Tink pointed to an inscription above the dragon. “The Jewels of Anniera,” he read, his face puzzled. “What are the Jewels of Anniera?”

Overall Review:

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness starts off a bit too flat and quirky, but once the plot starts going everything evens out and gets better. I did enjoy the quirkiness, even if it was a little much at first, and I loved the quirky details of the world. Peterson did a good job disguising and twisting around his (pretty obvious in hindsight) plot. It’s not a fantastic book, but there’s definitely the potential there for the sequels.

You can buy this here: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga)