Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Colin Meloy (Author), Carson Ellis (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: August 30, 2011 | Age Range: 8 and up | Series: Wildwood Chronicles (Book 1) | Lexile Measure: 900L (What's this?)

Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. That is, until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one's ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. And then things get really weird.

You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

And this is where the crows take her brother.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.

A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Wildwood is a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger, and magic that juxtaposes the thrill of a secret world and modern city life. Original and fresh yet steeped in classic fantasy, this is a novel that could have only come from the imagination of Colin Meloy, celebrated for his inventive and fantastic storytelling as the lead singer of the Decemberists. With dozens of intricate and beautiful illustrations by award-winning artist Carson Ellis, Wildwood is truly a new classic for the twenty-first century.

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A Wildwood Playlist by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis

"Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin
Colin Meloy: I remember reading an interview with Evan Dando from the Lemonheads right around the time the first Lord of the Rings movie came out, bemoaning the fact that the director hadn’t included a single Zeppelin song in the movie. I tend to agree; I mean, how rad would it’ve been after that dramatic ending in The Return of the King, with all its royal celebrations and slo-mo montages—the screen goes black and those monster riffs of “Immigrant Song” kick in? Mind-blowing. So much incredible music in the 60s and 70s was directly fueled by mid-century fantasy fiction, something that Wildwood owes much to; I feel it would be deeply remiss here not to include a little Zepp.

"Marching Song" by Esben and the Witch
Colin Meloy: That said, when I was deep in my preadolescent reverie of fantasy and sci-fi, my friends and I would meet every weekend at someone’s house to play Dungeons & Dragons. There. Confession made. And as everyone knows, the best Dungeon Masters always partnered up their biggest action scenarios with music. While I think it may have been de rigueur to blast Zeppelin or Hawkwind for some folks, I considered myself to be somewhat of a sophisticate. Joy Division was perfect music for a slow, suspenseful crawl through a gelatinous cube-infested grotto. The Legendary Pink Dots added an extra dimension to a party’s first encounter with some weird, reclusive nemesis in a castle tower. An Enchantress might appear to “Under Ice” by Kate Bush or anything from Siouxsie’s output. When I first heard this song from Brighton, England’s Esben and the Witch (even the name is evocative of those days) I imagined a new generation of over-imaginative ten-year-olds pairing their fantastical ramblings with the drowning rains and empty plains of this song.

"Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis
Colin Meloy: Switching gears, here. Rocksteady, a kind of precursor to the reggae explosion of the 70s, was a beautiful, thoughtful, random amalgam of classic R&B and traditional Jamaican rhythms. It’s clearly the kind of music that is birthed out of necessity; a bunch of poor kids in the slums of Kingston figuring out for themselves how to re-create the sounds that they were hearing over crappy radio speakers: Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, and Sam & Dave. And what came out wasn’t quite the same, but beautiful and weird and extraordinary in its own right. All this to say: I think that rocksteady music is the music of true enjoyment, the aural equivalent of a slice of bacon, and a rocksteady party was the kind of party I imagined Prue’s parents would throw to celebrate Mac and Prue’s joyful return. And I’ll bet that Prue’s dad dug deep for some Lewis sides—maybe he even had them on 45.

"Tam Lin" by Fairport Convention
Colin Meloy: My 60s Brit Folk obsession is fairly well documented, but I thought I’d be remiss if I didn’t include an old folk song in this list. This one, in particular, features a forbidding forest and an evil fairy queen and a pair of star-crossed lovers. Clocking in just north of seven minutes, it’s as immersive and complete a narrative as a song can hope to retell.

"Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri
Carson Ellis: I love Sibylle Baier’s mournful songs and I listened to them a lot when I was working on Wildwood, especially during the rainy months. Portland winters can be dreary and sometimes gloomy music is the best thing for them. This isn’t my very favorite song of hers, but I chose it because, you know, the title.

"I Lost Something in the Hills" by Sibylle Baier
Carson Ellis: The intensity and focused passion of this song makes me think of my darling Jack, along with the references to heaven and hell, a favorite theme of his.

"My Lovely Elizabeth" by S.E. Rogie
Carson Ellis: Wildwood has a lot of illustrations—85 in all—and it was hard work getting them done. Man, I love to draw but at times this project was exhausting. At times it was downright grueling. Fortunately, I have some remedies for this: taking a walk always helps, as does yoga, as does S. E. Rogie.

"Katie Cruel" by Karen Dalton
Carson Ellis: This is a spooky traditional song that dates back to the Revolutionary War. Like Wildwood’s villainess, Alexandra, Katie Cruel roams the forest and the “bogs and mire,” jilted and in exile. This is a good song to listen to while walking in Forest Park, the real woods that were the inspiration for Wildwood’s Impassable Wilderness. Or while walking in any misty, quiet forest where beards of moss hang from the gnarled branches of dead trees and there’s little sign of civilization. You can imagine that around any bend you might find the solitary hut of Katie Cruel, a little curl of smoke drifting up from its chimney and the sound of her high lonesome banjo coming from within. I also love this song’s beautiful, totally unhinged chorus:

Oh that I was where I would be,

Then I would be where I am not,

Here I am where I must be

Go where I would, I cannot.

"Over the Hills and Far Away" by Led Zeppelin
Carson Ellis: I’m a longtime Led Zeppelin fan and this song, in addition to having a fitting title, was another one I loved when I was Prue’s age. I first heard it around the time I read The Hobbit, and I thought its medieval vagabond vibe was awesome. I’m also a sucker for a song that starts with a pretty guitar part and then gets crazy. As an adult I tend to like Zeppelin’s earlier, bluesier stuff better but, as a kid, I loved the Middle Earth-ish stuff and “Over the Hills and Far Away” was my jam.

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A Look Inside Wildwood
Click on the images below to open larger versions. (Art copyright © 2011 by Unadoptable Books LLC.)

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Review

Meloy has an immediately recognizable verbal style and creates a fully realized fantasy world…. Ellis’s illustrations perfectly capture the original world and contribute to the feel of an instant timeless classic. Further adventures in Wildwood cannot come quickly enough. (School Library Journal (starred review))

WILDWOOD is an irresistible, atmospheric adventure - richly imagined and richly rewarding. (Trenton Lee Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Benedict Society)

This book is like the wild, strange forest it describes. It is full of suspense and danger and frightening things the world has never seen, and once I stepped inside I never wanted to leave. (Lemony Snicket)

A satisfying blend of fantasy, adventure story, eco-fable and political satire with broad appeal; especially recommended for preteen boys. (Kirkus Reviews)

WILDWOOD is a beautiful object and a beautiful read. One half fairy tale, one half coming of age story, one half unrepentantly gorgeous work of art, this book is overflowing with gifts. (Jonathan Safran Foer)

Dark and whimsical, with a true and uncanny sense of otherworldliness, WILDWOOD is the heir to a great tradition of stories of wild childhood adventure. It snatched me up and carried me off into a world I didn’t want to leave. (Michael Chabon)

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Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray (August 30, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006202468X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062024688
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colin Meloy is the charismatic lead singer and songwriter of The Decemberists, a highly celebrated (and uncommonly literary) band that has sold in excess of 1 million records. Colin has been recognized as much for his musical abilities--his ear for inventive and timeless melodies and his lilting vocals--as he has been for his unmatched lyrical prowess. Crafting each song as a vivid, imaginative story unto itself, he's become one of the most distinctive and appreciated voices of our time. WILDWOOD marks Colin's debut as children's author. Follow Colin on Twitter, @colinmeloy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable tribute to classic fantasy adventure July 10, 2011

By Jennifer Mo VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I had high expectations for Wildwood. I mean, it's Colin Meloy of the Decemberists: he writes erudite, unique songs that stay in your head forever. Wildwood is his first foray into fiction, a children's fantasy that has shades of Philip Pullman and CS Lewis. It's an enjoyable read and a fine adventure, but it's hard not to wish that Meloy had taken more risks with the story, strayed off the path every so often.

Our young heroine is Prue McKeel, a precocious preteen with an interest in botanical illustration and a baby brother who has been abducted by a murder of crows. And not just abducted, but taken into the Impassable Wilderness, a wooded area in Portland that no one goes into -- and no one has ever returned from. Of course that's not stopping Prue. Accompanied by her nerdy schoolmate Curtis, she plunges into a fantastic world where coyotes, birds, and dogs talk, postmen are armed with double-barreled rifles, and a terrible power struggle is taking place. The stakes: Prue's brother and the fate of all Wildwood.

The plot is pretty basic for a 500+ page book, but there are plenty of interesting characters (plus a memorable villain) and events to keep readers flipping the pages. Colin Meloy's writing is confident, intelligent, and accessible both to his middle reader audience as well as adult readers who know him from The Decemberists. So why not 5 stars? I was frustrated that the true extent of Meloy's imagination seemed confined to brief flashes -- the fate of the Governess's son, a handful of short but quirky character descriptions. And even in a genre known for its pathetic adults, Prue's parents take the cake for being whiny, ineffectual, and dense. Their bad choices are necessary to the plot, but seriously strain credulity.

In plot and tone, Wildwood feels a bit like a loving tribute to classic fantasy adventures by CS Lewis, Lewis Carroll and Lloyd Alexander. Although it contains a few references to Prue's modern day life (yoga, rice milk, computers), it has a distinctively vintage feel. Carson Ellis's many charming illustrations and silhouettes add to the effect.

I don't really think Wildwood is an instant classic, but it's a fast-paced and enjoyable fantasy adventure with a resourceful heroine. I'd come back for seconds.

53 of 58 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Long, arduous, empty and disappointing October 24, 2011

By someone else

Format:Hardcover

Like many others, I was excited by the possibilities of this book. It has an interesting world--a forest on the outskirts of a major city, a forest that people simply do not go into and is a world unto itself. It has a mixture of animal and human characters, much like other well-known, classic children's literature, which provides opportunities for such fantastic wonders. It has more than enough pages to develop and flesh out the world and its characters to make us feel as we ourselves are a part of it. And, unfortunately, like many others, I was sorely disappointed.

As others have stated, despite its massive 540 page length, the reader never really feels connected to any one character. The protagonist, Prue, was a shell of a character, which makes it difficult to rally behind her for the duration. The second central character, Curtis, had promise but the storyline for him was tiresome. At first, it was very much like the Edmund subplot in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." However, as others have also pointed out, the comparisons between those two books stop there. "Wildwood" separates into two main story lines, both of which became dull and left me hoping maybe the other would get better when it came around again. Other characters introduced through the novel are equally dull and empty. There really wasn't a single character I found myself cheering for or even looking forward to hearing about again. This inability to get behind a character is easily the book's largest flaw, and perhaps the book could have outlived the flaw if it were only 150 pages or so, but certainly not for 500+. Perhaps because the characters themselves really had no emotions toward one another, the reader follows suit.

The second flaw was its storyline. Again, there really doesn't seem to be enough here to justify the length. During several parts, it seemed as if things would never move forward. Worse, once the mystique of the book is uncovered--why Prue and Curtis can enter the forest at all, and why Prue's brother was taken, the book falters even more. The book does nothing with the reasoning that the characters can enter the forest. It merely explains why they--and actually, really only why Prue--could. Once readers learn why baby Mac was taken, it seems to nullify the entire need for the last part of the novel. Prue's quest becomes one of selfishness than of moral necessity. All that's left to cheer for is that the grand evil plot is foiled before it's too late for the forest--but that part of the story is truly of very little concern of Prue's. Her brother is all that really matters. Her parents become absurd characters if they didn't already seem such, and not even in the likeable Roald Dahl way. Nothing really works well here.

The third flaw is its style. The first couple chapters work very hard to give a hip edge to Prue. I'm assuming this comes from Meloy's role in being the frontman of the critically acclaimed band The Decemberists. Maybe he felt that the main character had to be cool in an unconventional, northwestern sense. I found it to be a tremendous distraction. Luckily, all hipsterness eventually fades away, but the more problematic issue remains throughout the entire text. It's diction is far too sophisticated for its supposed target audience. It seemed self-congratulatory in its vocabulary-for-vocabulary's-sake style. There wasn't need for the sophistication. This would be extremely difficult for younger readers to stay engaged, as the diction would prove far too difficult a hurdle, or at least too big a distraction. Maybe, if like Poe's works, the storylines are intriguing enough to pull readers through difficult vocabulary, this wouldn't be an issue, but the storyline doesn't pull the reader through at all.

Others have complained of the story's graphic nature. I would disagree with this. I found no such instances of graphic depictions of violence. Violence certainly happens, as it does in all of our most beloved stories, especially children's stories. I think that we just often forget how violent most children stories really always have been. This is no worse. I also read complaints about strong anti-religious messages. If they exist in here, I never found them. I'll admit that Meloy doesn't appear to embrace a life of faith based on his characters and the events, but I would have a really difficult time trying to argue that he attacks religion. Pullman's novel "The Golden Compass" makes clear attacks, but Meloy's doesn't. It's benign, both in its religious and in its political themes. Those who argue with these points are likely walking the far extremes of the religous and political continuums. The vast majority of readers should find no reason to fear the book's messages.

In all, the book falls markedly short of its goals, whether those goals be the author's, the P.R. team's, or the reader's. I wanted so much to like this book, but I found so much of it so hard to like. It's not a terrible book; it just isn't a good one in almost any sense. As for the modern classic some are heralding this to be...not even close. This one will be forgotten quickly and fall into relative obscurity. That's not a wish on my part, just a prediction.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Classic Fantasy Adventure August 6, 2011

By Kara Lynn Russell VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Wildwood definitely reads in the classic fantasy adventure style. While I enjoyed the book, I felt that a book of over 500 pages could have had a little more depth. I find the hype surrounding the book to be a bit more interesting than the book itself.

Wildwood's author is also a songwriter for a folk group called the Decemberists. Decemberists fans seem to be in raptures over this book. I'm not familiar with the group, so I have no prior bias.

There are a lot of reviews that compare Wildwood to the Chronicles of Narnia. I can definitely see that in the woodsy setting with talking animals and the outdated technology of the Wildwood. I liked these elements. They gave the book a sort of "timeless" feel. The Governess, the book's villain, is reminiscent of the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The problem is, she doesn't seem as strong a character, in spite of having a very intriguing backstory. Perhaps that's because she doesn't have as formidable an adversary as the White Witch had in Aslan.

There are a number of different factions in the Wildwood, and although they eventually unite against the Governess, there doesn't seem to be a real force for good among them. I understand that The Chronicles of Narnia had a strong Christian message and that's not something every author will agree with or want to tackle even if they do. But I got the feeling that this book was missing something that would pull everything together the way the message did for the Narnia books.

As other reviewers have noted, there is a lot of violence in this book. Fortunately, the description of violent acts is very matter-of-fact, without details of the gore. There is also a potentially offensive scene in which the Governess purposely serves a quantity of wine to one of the children in hopes that he will tell his secrets while under the influence. Parents may want to read the book or at least skim through the battle scenes towards the end before deciding whether it is suitable for their child.

To sum up, I found Wildwood a pleasant read but I wouldn't declare it a classic just yet. If a sequel were to be published (and that's definitely a possibility as there were a few questions left unanswered) I would probably give it a try. There was a lot of promise in this book, but I feel like I'm still waiting for the payoff.