On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree.
By Andrew Peterson

After college, in the absence of a real social life, I started collecting imaginary musical friends--people who thought like me, shared my tastes in music, and didn't know I existed. It was fun. I followed trails through album liners, downloaded free samples from grassrootsmusic.com, and listened to Amazon's (scarily on-target) recommendations. Amazon is where I found Andrew Peterson. Listening to a 30-second sample of "Nothing to Say," I thought, "Smart, God-glorifying lyrics, gorgeous harmonies, syrup-free arrangements... Andrew Peterson is my friend." I bought Carried Along, followed by each successive album as it came out. I became an Andrew Peterson fan. I think part of why I like his music so much is that Andrew Peterson knows who he is. You get the strong impression from his music that he's not going to go all rockstar on you. He's just going to keep singing happy folk songs about Jesus in an adorable if slightly Kermit-esque voice. He's great at it, and he knows it.

Sometime in the last year, I read on MySpace that my friend AP was getting a children's book published. I gulped. This could be cool, or it could be really bad. Part of me said, "Oh AP, wouldn't it be safest to stick to folk songs?"

Of course I planned to buy all the books in the Wingfeather Saga no matter what. I'm a loyal fan, after all. But what if he was stepping out of his depth? What if Andrew Peterson is a brilliant songwriter but not an author? This wasn't an unreasonable fear. Writing novels is hard. Why risk being bad at something new when you can keep being good at the same old thing?

As part of my master plan to introduce Bethany to all my "friends," I'd talked her into seeing Andrew Peterson and company live this past Saturday. After the concert, we had a chance to talk with AP about his new book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, which we had the privilege to read last week before its official release. Having finished the book over dinner at the Cork and Fork less than an hour before the concert, I was still processing everything in my head. How would I sum it up? What did I have to say about it? What were the take-home points? Was it good? Was it bad? Does AP retain his rockstar status in my head? I didn't have solid answers, so I let Bethany do the talking ;)

Well, I've had time to think, and here are some conclusions.

Thing 1

Andrew Peterson is a children's book author. The real deal. You will not have to read this book out of loyalty or charity. It's good. It stands on its own two feet. Bethany and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. Buy it; read it for yourself or to your kids; tell your friends and neighbors. They will thank you. The story is engaging; the characters are interesting; the writing is smooth and polished; the footnotes are downright hilarious. (Don't be put off by the slightly hokey tone of the three brief introductions; Chapter 1 settles into a fluid and comfortable storytelling style suitable for a 279-page book.)

Thing 2

Don't expect heavyhanded metaphor, allegory, or even C.S. Lewis' "supposalism." Yes, this is a "Christian" book in that its author is a believer and its setting is a moral universe ruled by a good Maker, but (judging from the first book, anyhow) this is not some giant parable. Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby don't represent anybody but themselves (or possibly Andrew Peterson's three children). There is no Christ figure. This isn't a thinly veiled retelling of the Gospel. It's just a good story. There are good moral themes (responsibility, loyalty, forgiveness, etc.), but they come up in the natural flow of the story, like they do in real life.

Thing 3

This is the first book. It's the first book in the Wingfeather Saga, and it's the first book Andrew Peterson has written. There are some things that don't seem properly resolved at the end of the book--for instance, interesting subplots and characters that have been introduced just long enough to catch your attention but not long enough to explain their inclusion in the story. It could be that Mr. Peterson has larger plans for them in future books, or it could be that he's still learning some of the nuances of novel writing. As the Wingfeather Saga grows, I think we'll both see questions answered and see Mr. Peterson hone his storytelling skills.

AP, if you're reading, here are some questions I want answered: do the sea dragons have special significance? Does Armulyn have some purpose apart from leaking spoilers? Do the children have "super powers," or was Leeli's song just a neat scene? Why do the Fangs decompose how they do? Is it significant or just a cool idea? Does Gnag the Nameless's name have some significance, or was that just for fun? (This is what you get for letting a computer programmer read a children's book.)

Thing 4

To God be the glory. The concert Saturday closed with a hymn of praise. AP and the other musicians led the congregation in the first couple verses and then quietly left the stage as the congregation sang the remainder a capella. There was no encore. If that's Andrew Peterson's heart in his music, I'm sure it's his heart in his writing as well. God has given him tremendous talent in a wide number of areas, and he's using that talent for the Maker. Carry on, Mr. Peterson.

Important Exciting Thing

Each of the registered blog reviewers got two free copies: one for themselves and one to give away through the blog. If you would like to be entered into a drawing for the free copy, sign up in the comments and I'll randomly pick a winner... sometime soon.