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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a story!, May 25, 2011
This review is from: The Monster in the Hollows (Wingfeather Saga) (Paperback)
It was a lovely May morning under the arbor on our bricked back porch. We love family time. We love being out in the morning before the sun has climbed high and grown hot. And we love a good story. We had been waiting for this story for months. To our great delight it finally arrived, and there in the early cool of the day we read its final pages. Our hearts were thrilled with the song of the stones, the terrors of the deeps of throg, a family fighting through affliction, heroes and villains, friends and foes, laughter and tears. There's much to ponder in The Wingfeather Saga, much about the way the Maker moves, about the way it's always too early to quit, about the way the Maker takes a failure and makes a flourish, about how singing for love rather than power will make a bent song beautiful, and on and on . . . And this isn't just a book for the kids to think about, though think on it they should and will. The Monster in the Hollows isn't what you think, but it is Book Three in the Wingfeather Saga. Reading these stories as a family has been made more fun as we follow Andrew Peterson's progress on his blog and twitter updates, as we see the way other readers react in song and form to the tales he tells, and as we pray that the Lord will continue to cause his gaze to pierce into the way things really are. Andrew Peterson is a lover of language, a poet with a heart full of melody. And hope. And joy. And faith. And love. More than once as I read this book aloud to my boys my voice choked with emotion. More than once I paused to read and re-read lines for their loveliness. And as we slowly savored the sorrow and joy, the triumph and tragedy in those final pages of the book, I found it more beautiful than I had hoped it could be. In the night, hope lives on. We read those final pages slowly, then read them again, and again. What would it have been like to have read The Chronicles of Narnia as old Clive Staples finished them? What would it have been like to read along with Tolkien as he produced The War of the Ring? We won't know, but if you jump in right now, you can read along with Andrew Peterson as he moves toward the completion of The Wingfeather Saga, and you can join us in asking the Maker to bless Andrew as he seeks to be used to seal the song in the soul, to write the word on the heart, and to fill the sight with the form of the beauty of a better world.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can He Get A Shoe Deal?, June 1, 2011
This review is from: The Monster in the Hollows (Wingfeather Saga) (Paperback)
It's a shame wordsmiths can't get shoe deals like athletes. Peterson would be pulling down seven figures for his new Readbook or Fila Fiction Cross Trainers. We could see ads like the famous Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson "Can you top this?" commercials. Peterson vs. Stephen King in a literary game of H-O-R-S-E. Peterson and JK Rowling endorsing new footwear (or word processors). I wish AP and others like him could pull down some of the same deals the NBA and NFL thugs get. Pro athletes merely entertain. Craftsmen and bards on the level of Peterson, Stephen Lawhead and Tosca Lee entertain AND make us better people. While reading Master Works such as the Wingfeather Saga our spirits soar. Our souls are fed. We become better people. We grow. Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga is (to keep the sports metaphor going) akin to Braves rookie left fielder Jason Heyward hitting a dramatic home run in his first major league at bat. It's like Jars of Clay's debut album. A monumental work right out of the gate. It's a little bit scary. If he grows as a writer we will have to invent new superlatives to review his future books. Lawhead is my favorite writer, but his early works like Dream Thief were not polished. Wingfeather, on the other hand, is polished, shiny, and brilliant. No learning curve here. One thing that separates this Nashville Bard - Singer/Songwriter - Creator of Modern Allegory from the original Inklings (Tolkien, Lewis) is his relatability. (Is that a word?) The British professors were staid, stodgy, academics. Stinkin' brilliant academics and storytellers, but academics nonetheless. AP didn't grow up in a boarding school. He grew up in an American public school, just like most of us and Ralphie from "A Christmas Story". His sensibilities are All American. I do believe he has taken the baton from C. S. Lewis, but he is running this race in a way that post-moderns can easily relate to. His easy humor, comfort level while incorporating monsters and fantasy elements, and fearlessness in writing frightening passages could only have been written by a member of the Boomer generation or later. We could only hope that the man who opened a Christmas song with the lines "It was not a silent night/There was blood on the ground" would not disappoint when writing a novel. He did not. As God is my witness, he did not disappoint. Except for the scores of passages that are laugh-out-loud funny; the many sections that will have you rethinking and readjusting your life philosophy; the entire chapters that are achingly beautiful; the wee hours in the morning when you will say, "I've got to put this up and go to bed" but won't be able to; the number of times you're not reading the book but will find yourself reliving scenes from it in your daydreams; the frequent times you will find yourself moved to tears; the many times you will find yourself telling friends and family about certain scenes or reading passages to them; the times you thank God for sending Andrew Peterson to us: except for those times and passages, this is an average book by an average author.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful, gripping adventure story!, May 25, 2011
This review is from: The Monster in the Hollows (Wingfeather Saga) (Paperback)
Andrew Peterson's third book in the Wingfeather Saga easily matches and in many ways surpasses his first two entries in the series, ON THE EDGE OF THE DARK SEA OF DARKNESS and NORTH! OR BE EATEN! The Wingfeather children, heirs to the throne of the fallen kingdom of Anniera, have safely arrived at the Green Hollows, the peaceful former home of their mother and grandmother. However, even their entrance into the kingdom is tenuous because of the transformation of young Kalmar Wingfeather into the likeness of a Grey Fang, a vicious enemy of the Hollows. The Wingfeathers have triumphed over many deadly foes-- Fangs, Bomnubbles, Gargan Rockroaches, and Stranders-- but now they must face what is perhaps deadlier: the fear & suspicion of their friends. There is a monster in the Hollows, for sure. But you'll surprised when you find just who it is. While previous books explored themes like courage, perseverance, and hope in the midst of assault from "the bad guys" (and there are still plenty of villains to fight this time around!), this one takes a penetrating look at the struggles that "the good guys" face when they are trying to protect themselves. As the love & patience of our heroes are tested & tried, we learn with them about forgiveness, hospitality, and most of all sacrificial love. I can think of no other children's book as nuanced or thoughtful as this one in dealing with the darkness in the hearts of others and our own hearts. The characters are all well-written & engaging, the story is quite gripping, and the themes gently woven throughout are a rich ocean to explore. I had to read the last half in one sitting because I couldn't just stop and go to bed! I highly recommend the Wingfeather Saga, and especially this book, to all mature young readers!
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