#Aerwiar

[mapas-fantasticos]

Map of Aerwiar from The Windfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

[ghostlingpupversailles]

Actually going feral over the North! Or Be Eaten cover (like always).

Let’s refresh ourselves.

Ok top half, left to right is the Florid Sword and the Fork! Factory!

But it’s the very bottom. Yeah there’s the paw and AHHH but like I forget the crown in the bottom left??? It doesn’t even show up in the books, even when Nia tries to put a circlet on him in the beginning of book 4 it’s not the actual crown. So is that? The Annerian crown? Huh? Is this confirmation? Another thing about is it has the same little extra bit on top as the Wingfeather in the title does.

But then the blue thing (ancient stone?) in the middle of the bottom. I think it’s kinda symbolic of how the kids are separated. Janner and Leeli in the Ice Prairies, Kalmar in the Phoob Islands.

[dia-the-fangirl]

friendly reminder that Leeli fainted from absolute pure joy after being told that the can take care of twelve (count em, twelve) puppies for a week

she also met her (probably) future husband that day. Whose job is to take care of dogs. it will be a long and happy marriage.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

The Dragonkeeper movie worked as intended I laughed I cried I bought the first two books in the series it's based off of.

and I am THIS CLOSE 🤏🏻to writing a crossover Wingfeather Saga fanfic with it because are you KIDDING me?!? magic child?! healing water?! dragons?! THE ENDING?!? ak;hlgj;aglskafghsfagshfd

go watch it it's amazing I loved it

[alloutofgoddesses]

Okay so. I love playing D&D and I think that a great setting for a campaign would be Aerwiar from the Wingfeather Saga books. This said - I am the only one in my friend group who has read the books and the only one in my family who has played DND before so I would have to DM. I’ve never done that before, and I know that I would have to stat out several creatures and possibly characters

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

I mean, okay, I’m not sure this is actually a problem in the context of LOTR and the history we know from the Silmarillion and such. Because if the orcs are corrupted elves and their entire race has been enslaved to Morgoth/Sauron since their creation then they’ve never really had much of a chance to develop goodness. In ROTK, if I’m remembering correctly, when Sauron falls the orcs and the rest of his minions just disperse as if a spell on them had broken, so it stands to reason that there was probably some mind control involved here too and certainly manipulation.

My writing professor in college actually posed this question to us once and we discussed if there could be a good orc/goblin if it was raised by another race of Middle Earth and I would argue that yes, that seems possible. We just never see this happen in the books because they’re recounting wars and great events in history. There will always be that ONE human who would adopt a baby goblin/orc if they found one, at the very least.

As for why the other races of Middle Earth are allowed to kill the orcs indiscriminately- it’s a war! They’re enemies! The orcs are killing them indiscriminately too! That’s what happens in a war!

The only argument you can really make here is that there are instances of other humans being spared when the orcs are not and yeah that probably is racist tbh but to be fair it does go back to the fact that the orcs have been servants of the Dark Lord for as long as anyone can remember and they tend to keep to his strongholds when they aren’t out raiding, so how would they ever even have the chance to learn how to treat with orcs and discuss things and come to compromises with them? Are the orcs even able to do these things because of the mind control? Have people tried and died from doing this? We don’t know! Because the text doesn’t cover it! LOTR doesn’t really have room for anything like this, the Silmarillion would be a better place for it, since it takes place over such a long span of time. And the Sil is, technically, unfinished (Christopher Tolkien pieced it together but Tolkien never really finished writing it) so who knows? Maybe with these existential concerns Tolkien was having he would have wrote something of that nature for the Sil if he’d lived longer/thought of it.

If this is really bothering you though and you want an epic fantasy story that deals with whether a race can be totally evil and irredeemable or not, as well as racism from well meaning, heroic people that is called out and addressed in the story, I highly recommend The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson, who is, in fact, a big fan of Tolkien and even owns his fireplace.

Not posting this as a reblog because I don't want to screw with somebody else's notes, but the whole "theological implications of Tolkien's orcs" business has some interesting history behind it.

In brief, a big part of why the Lord of the Rings Extended Universe™ is so cagey about what orcs are and where they come from is that later in his life, Tolkien came to believe that orcs as he'd depicted them were problematic – albeit not because of, you know, all the grotesque racial caricature.

Rather, he'd come to the conclusion that the idea of an inherently evil sapient species – a species that's incapable of seeking salvation – was incompatible with Christian ethics. (Basically, it's one of those "used the wrong formula and got the right answer" situations.)

In his notes and letters, Tolkien played around with several potential solutions to this problem. (Though contrary to the assertions of certain self-proclaimed Tolkien scholars, there's no evidence that he ever seriously planned to re-write his previous works to incorporate these ideas.) In one proposal, orcs are incarnated demons, and "killing" them simply returns them to their naturally immaterial state; in another, orcs are a sort of fleshy automaton remotely operated by the will of Sauron, essentially anticipating the idea of drone warfare.

Of course, this is all just historical trivia; any criticism of The Lord of the Rings must be directed at the books that were actually published, not the books we imagine might have been published if Tolkien had spent a few more years thinking through the implications of what he was writing. However, the direction his thoughts on the matter are striking for two reasons:

Tolkien's orc conundrum is very nearly word for the word the problem that many contemporary fantasy authors are grappling with fifty years later. They want epic battles with morally clean heroes, and they're running up against exactly the same difficulty that Tolkien himself did – i.e., that describing a human-like species who are ontologically okay to kill is an impossible task.

After all the work he put into solving this impossible problem, one of Tolkien's proposals was literally just "what if they're not really killing the orcs, they're just sending them to the Shadow Realm?"

[mayzi33]

Hey Wingfeather Saga gang so I just remembered that there IS one last TWS book aka Wingfeather Tales

So I just wanted to ask to anyone who has red it-- is it worth it? Should I get it?

I know it resolves around the Aerwiar world, but honestly I kinda just want anything with Janner, Kalmar and Leeli in it, and i'm not sure if they're even gonna be mentioned 😔 (I especially want a hint if whetever they managed to save Janner or not AAAA)

But still, even if the kids aren't the main focus, is it worth it for the lore or the spotlight of other characters? I want everyone's honest opinion

[cyclonestudios-alt]

Hey so I saw your post requesting asks about Wingfeather headcanons, and I just finished reading the Warden and the Wolf King for the first time last night (😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️) so I gotta know- what are your headcanons about the epilogue- ie. if they did bring Janner back, and what would happen after?

Also, do you have any headcanons about young Artham and Esben, before Anniera fell?

Thank you! 😊

Hello!

Alright first of all, the ending of TWatWK was... a lot emotions. I definitely understand how you're feeling about it lol.

Now, on to the headcannons, personally, I think they did manage to revive Janner. Or, maybe a more accurate description would be the Maker allowed Janner to come back and the family just like poured the First Well water on him and stuff. To me, Janner's revival seems like it would be a very Maker-involved thing, considering he (The Maker) created the First Well and is the reason it has healing powers and is basically part of what keeps Aerwiar alive (or maybe that's the Holoré and Holóel, not sure). Basically yes, I do believe Janner was revived, although I do have an au where he was not.

On to your second question, I'm pretty sure that after the Wingfeathers get back to Anneira, they almost immediately started rebuilding the castle and towns and stuff. I also think they would spend a lot of time together, going on picnics and exploring ( Aurundelle, Sara, and Leeli's dogs in tow).

They would also spend time together just to talk and mend relationships, because let's face it, the Wingfeathers need a lot of that family therapy. I'm also thinking about Artham and Nia forgiving each other, because their relationship has a few... issues (referring to Nia's treatment of Artham in Glipwood, by not standing up for him against Podo more often, when she clearly can and has)

I truly think those two could've done so much better (and still can) if Nia had just taken Artham in and they actually talked and helped each other with their grief about Esben's death (both when he was thought to be dead and when he actually did), because, while the kids certainly have a lot sadness about Esben's death, I have a feeling Artham and Nia had it much worse, Artham with his nearly decade-long guilt about leaving Esben and knowing exactly where he was yet never telling anyone, while dealing with a ton of mental issues and literally wanting to die, and Nia with loosing Esben twice and having basically no one who could understand to talk to about it. Not to mention Nia's kids were literally being hunted and the Hollows were under attack 24/7, I can't imagine how much it must've been for her with all of that going on at the same time. Writing this paragraph makes me realize just how much those two went through, and I honestly get sadder about it all the time.

Alright, on to your third question, Artham and Esben pre-war were definitely absolute little gremlins. It's basically canon. I mean, those two pulled pranks, were completely unreasonable in fights about food and boats (they literally raced across an entire island just to get a chance with the boat that Esben really liked, all because they couldn't agree who should have the last bowl of soup. Seriously, what the heck was that supposed to be lol). While they would totally be the Kings of Pranks (pardon me, the King and Throne Warden of Pranks) I think they were also besties and you could talk to them about anything, and they would just sit and listen while offering a few words of advice and stuff. I'm gonna cry thinking about it.

Also, I'm pretty sure in one of the books it said that while they were ruling (technically the rulers would be Esben and Nia, but I'm pretty sure the previous High King/Queen's other children would have a higher level of power than in just any other kingdom ((especially the Throne Warden))) it was like, one of Anneira's golden ages or something, so they also had to have been extremely kind and empathetic, while also clear about what rules where in place and should stay in place, and also strategic and stuff like that.

Ok, this is probably the longest post I've ever written, I sort of just read your ask and ran with it lol. Thank you so much for the ask! I loved reading it and thinking about how to answer. :)

[syn4k]

go

thank you whoever you are for enabling me on this btw you have saved my life

(if you read through this review and decide that you wanna check this series out or buy it, the link to the official website is here!)

OKAY

SO

The Wingfeather Saga is a four-book fantasy series by Andrew Peterson. Despite being a series written and aimed towards children, it also deals with serious themes in a way that doesn't trivialize them or shove them to the side.

Do you like dragons? This series has dragons. Do you like themes of healing and dealing with some pretty heavy shit but healing nonetheless? This series has that too. Do you like hella good worldbuilding and a solid plot that is richly detailed and makes sense, but isn't muddled or confused? Like hell you do! Do you like actually decent representation in your works? You're never gonna guess what this has! That's right! It's got it all, baby.

This book has next to no romance in it, and all of the major relationships that it focuses on are platonic. But what even is in it in the first place?

The story is centered around a small family living in a small town. Their surname is Igiby, and they lead as quiet a life as one can whilst being occupied entirely by what's essentially a fully armed army. More on that later.

The members of this family are:

Nia, mother

Podo, grandfather

Janner, eldest sibling (12 when the series starts, 15 when it ends)

Tink (Kalmar) (11 when the series starts, ~14 when it ends)

Leeli (8 when the series starts, ~11 when it ends)

Now, the world these people inhabit is called Aerwiar. In it reside half-lizard creatures called Fangs, which have been making the lives of the people living on the content Skree horrible for years. The Fangs are under the command of Gnag the Nameless, the whole villain behind the whole thing, although we don't really figure out why he is like he is until the fourth book.

Through a series of events, things happen and this family alongside a few other characters go places and eventually have to run from their home.

What other characters? I'm glad you asked!

Peet the Sock Man (that's not his real name, it's later revealed to be Artham- again. lore. i'll explain later), the local village "crazy man" who lives in a huge treehouse in the woods and is actually related to the Igibys.

Oskar Reteep, the local librarian who runs a small bookstore called Books and Crannies. It's an odd place, but as a family friend of Nia and Podo's, he ends up going with them when they have to flee to their home.

Now, here's the thing. I mentioned representation earlier, right? Here's the cool thing. I wasn't kidding. This shit's fuckin' awesome. Let me explain.

Leeli, the aforementioned youngest sibling, has had a lame leg for as long as she can remember. She walks with crutches, and it's just regarded as a casually natural thing. She can keep up with her brothers just fine, but they also know that if she needs help, she'll ask for it. (This is literally said in plain text like, 6 pages in.) Even though she needs additional help from her family sometimes, they're also very respectful about it and stand up for her where they can!

Podo, the grandfather, was a sailor once and has a wooden leg. His original one was eaten by a dragon. He gets around just fine with this, and makes a lot of casual jokes about it as well.

"But Amys!" you say. "Why's it called the wingfeather saga if there's no mentions of wingfeathers in it at all??"

Allow me to elaborate.

The Shining Isle of Anneira was a kingdom that got totally and utterly destroyed about ten years ago by Gnag the Nameless for reasons that are elaborated on later about halfway through book four. It's revealed at the end of Book One that Nia used her maiden name of Igiby when she and her family fled to keep them all safe, but her husband's name was Wingfeather, so basically everyone's last name is Wingfeather. Yeah.

Where's the husband? Oh, he's dead. (Or is he?)

See, during the attack on the castle way back then, he just straight up dissapeared amongst the fire and the ashes. Everyone has long since made their peace with his death, or something close to death. Except for Artham, a.k.a Peet the Sock Man.

Artham, as it turns out, is heavily implied to have some heavy trauma/PTSD for [waves hand vaguely] lore reasons. I can't explain this perfectly, I'm trying so hard to not spoil anything because the best thing to do would just be to read it. Anyways, here's the incredible thing- at one point, he DOES face his fears and get through a large part of his trauma. Even then, though, he has recessions sometimes due to triggers! Healing isn't linear, and in fact he still struggles with his past throughout the entire series!! How fucking amazing is that! god i love artham he's one of my favorite characters in this entire goddamn series

Uhhhh let's see here *flips through notes* what else is there this is my second time writing this goddamn post (thanks Tumblr) oh yeah! There's uhhhh nonhuman transformations there's seriously good worldbuilding and lore and explanations for things there's some serious advice on how to persevere through difficult things there's a focus on the good in the world despite the evil within, there's really silly but still genuinely touching poems, there's a bittersweet ending that's still incredibly satisfying and zero plot holes that I have found, and best of all the art in jt SLAPS.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. There is some SICK ASS ART in this series, both on the covers and in the pages of the books themselves. I can't find a good source for any of that so you'll just have to take my word for it but trust me it fucking SLAPS.

anyways i'm trying to not spoil anything so that you can go into this yourself because this series is chock full of detail and completely rewired some core bits of our brain. i promise uou will not regtet it i habe been going insane over this for years OLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO GET THENFIRST BOOK IF YOU CAN

thank you for coming to my ted talk, fuck you tumblr for deleting my first draft, and please for the love of god just give it a try

[cupcakegalaxia]

Reepicheep dropped into Aerwiar would be funny. He's too small to be a assumed as a Fang and immediately helps the Wingfeather kids because they remind him of the Pevensies -- out maneuvering Fangs and Ridgerunners. He would be definitely tell the boys about him helping Caspian and the Old Kings and Queen of Narnia.

The "deathmatch between your current and childhood favorite characters" post has got me thinking about the inherent comedy that you could wring out of dropping Reepicheep into. basically any other fantasy setting as a detour on his way to Aslan's country. Here's what I've got so far for dropping him into Middle-earth:

Ideally he gets dropped somewhere random, wanders around for a while, and then winds up at Rivendell at the same time at the rest of the Fellowship

Reep might be vulnerable to the One Ring a la Boromir, but there's a chance his faith in Aslan would have some sort of mitigating effect on that

He would absolutely try to fight the Balrog though

Gandalf, trying to hold back a helldemon: "Fly, you fools!" / Reepicheep: Seen 2:41 pm ✔️

He would also try to fight Saruman, or at the bare minimum call him a coward from the foot of Orthanc

And possibly would challenge the Ents before realizing they were friendly

Wormtongue is definitely going to lose a foot or something

“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!" "It is, then, my good fortune not to be a man!"

[fabulous-fan-fables]

Chapter 2 of Birds of a Feather!

This one was difficult for me since my procrastination and motivation refused to cooperate. Also, the summary below is of chapter 1 as a brief recap! Also I’m unable to put in a read more so :(

Word count: 2.8k

Recap of chapter 1: Bronte has a brief fight with Emery then leaves Terik’s home. He talks to Dex, and spirals a bit before focusing on the portal Dex made. Dex activates it, and Bronte is entranced by the portal, which seems to promise him an escape from himself. He gets sucked into the portal, and the chapter ends.

I’ll reblog with the fic, as always!

[theworldiswhispering]

Tagged by: @mariposasmonarch thank you!!

Name/nickname: Whisper

Gender: female

Star sign: Fish

Height: 5'5" (and a half) (Mari I will never forgive your for being an inch taller than me im sorry thats just factsTM)

Time: 6:26 pm

Fav band: The Oh Hellos 

Fav solo artist(s): Andrew Peterson, Ella Mine, Hozier, Owl City, etc. etc.

Song stuck in my head: Magic Mountain by Firekid

Last movie: Anastasia

Last show: The Walking Dead

When did I create this blog: 2017 or 2018

Last thing I Googled: Olive Garden takeout menu

Other blog: @whispersart

Do I get asks: Occasionally when I don’t accidentally turn off asks :’)

Why I chose my url: based on the poem “The World is Whispering” from The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson, which is a part of the Wingfeather Saga which is an amazing series go read it

Average hours of sleep: 10 during breaks 6-7 during school

Instrument: nope

What am I wearing: old sweaters and jeans because I’m repainting my room heh

Dream job: Writer/Illustrator

Dream trip: Anywhere with cool nature

Favourite food: p much anything with cheese (but not Panera broccoli cheddar soup. not that because they put Chicken Broth in it which was fine when I was not a vegetarian but now I am betrayed forever and must make the Soup for myself if I want to have it) 

Favourite song: too many

Last book I read: The Queen of Attolia

Top three universes I’d like to live in: Lord of the Rings, Aerwiar, anywhere where I do not have to fill out a lot of forms and can go adventuring and my friends and family are there 

tagging @memerataphor, @hergnomieness, and @smolsparrow 

[the-oddest-inkling]

Official Artwork of the Map of Aerwiar 

[chrisdillustration]

Congratulations #wingfeathersaga for an absolutely amazing season 1 premiere at beautiful Belmont University! I was privileged to meet Andrew Peterson, author of the books and creator of all things Aerwiar. I was also both humbled and thrilled to see the poster and its reformatted version projected on stage, and in various other places. But perhaps the greatest part of the whole night was to finally meet my fellow crew members in person, and to sit with my wonderful wife and view the results of our labor on screen in front of a live audience of awesome fans! (at Nashville, Tennessee) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClE584QOG2R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Okay everything about a Wingfeather Saga/Phineas and Ferb crossover would be hilarious. And by Wingfeather Saga I mean Wingfeather Falls because it’s even funnier.

Idk even where to start. The Wingfeather kiddos walk through a portal into Phineas and Ferb’s backyard and end up helping with whatever they’re building. Kalmar is in his element with the chaos. Janner is trying desperately to keep track of Perry so he can sketch whatever this new creature is. Leeli’s just chilling, probably hanging out with the Fireside girls and staring at Candace in concern.

Across town Artham and Fiddleford end up at Doofenshmirtz’s evil inc. where Artham discovers that Fidds and Doof know each other because Fiddleford accidentally hacked into an evil villain meeting skype call once and they just... let him keep doing it because I mean he does build giant robots that terrorize a town, has a tragic backstory and an evil laugh so I mean he’s basically one of them, he’s causing chaos it counts. Artham’s just pleased to know that Fiddleford talked to people back in the day.

Perry shows up and Artham and Fidds just fly up into the rafters to watch whatever’s going on. Artham mentions that Janner would love to see a platypus and then when the fight starts he’s like “ah. so this is how Ollister Pembrick did it”

99.9% sure Kalmar has convinced Phineas and Ferb to help him build Shacktron 2.0 which he has always wanted to do ever since Dipper showed him the picture but he never had a house he could do it with. Phineas and Ferb are more than happy to turn their house into a giant robot to help this kid fulfill his dreams. Janner’s questioning Candace over why she keeps trying to bust her brothers and when it basically just comes down to it being a compulsion for her he’s like “wow okay I mean if it was safety I’d get it but, jeeze, Kalmar thinks I’m against fun but you my friend are on another level.” Leeli is composing the episode’s musical number and then promptly directing/performing in it.

Artham flies down in the middle of Perry and Doof’s daily smackdown to give hand-to-hand combat tips. They stop and listen to him and Perry starts taking notes. Artham tells Perry to attack him to demonstrate something and Perry doesn’t land a hit once. No one’s sure why Artham’s good at defending himself from animals except Fiddleford who’s cackling up in the rafters with the knowledge that Artham lived in his world’s most deadly forests for 7ish years.

Cue giant robot walking through town with a gang of kids in it including one overexcited young king. Artham and Fiddleford get to see it right before Doof’s invention inevitably destroys/cancels it out somehow. Kal is very disappointed that he didn’t get to show his uncles this wacky invention but is thrilled when they find out they saw it anyway.

rest is under the cut because this got long

PART TWO is somehow so much more unhinged. It’s literally just Artham deciding to bring his niece and nephews along with him and Fiddleford to visit Doofenshmirtz and absolute chaos descending. Kalmar won’t stop running around pushing buttons and inadvertently setting off lasers and traps which never hit him or any of the kids. Janner is wondering how concerned he should be about safety. Doof is running around trying to stop Kalmar and probably the only one getting hit by lasers and traps. Vanessa is there and so Leeli goes over to chat with her and sees her listening to music and explains her whistleharp, “I once held back an army with this!” “an army?” “yeah! during the siege of Ban Rona. also I can summon dogs with it.” “.... what.” “I can summon dogs!” “what kind of dogs?” “all dogs! do you wanna see?” “...yes”

Leeli and Vanessa go out on the balcony and Leeli starts alternating between playing her whistleharp and dogspeak and soon every dog in the tri-state area is there. This sets off Phineas and Ferb’s adventure of the day when Isabella comes and tells them her dog is missing. At first they try and build a dog summoning device but Leeli keeps also summoning the dogs so I’m just imagining a Bohemian Rhapsody song sequence going “galileo GALILEO galileo GALILEO FIGARO MAGNIFICOOOOOOOOOO” “oh let me gooooooo NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!” that part where the dogs are turning back and forth in a street obviously torn between directions. Phineas and Ferb give up because it’s obviously not working and go to plan B which is follow the sounds the dogs are hearing and see where it leads.

Meanwhile Perry has shown up because there are lasers going off everywhere and all the dogs have been pied-pipered there. He just lands on the balcony next to the girls and stares wide eyed at the chaos. Leeli looks at him like, “ooooh look, I summoned a platypus too!” “oh that’s just Perry, he’s my dad’s nemesis.” “hi Perry! you should go find my brother Janner he’ll love that.”

I think Artham and Fiddleford are just sitting off to the side observing the chaos. Artham is cheerfully petting dogs. Fiddleford is fixing all the inators as they break just for funsies. At least sixteen things are on fire. Janner has discovered Perry’s here and is happily sketching him again, with a hat this time and the clarification “platypus (secret agent)”. Doofenshmirtz is still in the background trying and failing to catch Kalmar who is having the time of his life.

There is a knock on the door and it is the boys and Isabella. Leeli answered and when they ask about Isabella’s dog she happily summons it with dogspeak. This is also when they go “oh there you are Perry” and he’s just chilling in a sea of dogs for no reason.

PART THREE is just Perry’s secret agency freaking out about how Leeli can straight up summon dogs and talking about how great that would be for them if they could get her to work for them so Perry has to find her. Luckily Leeli and her brothers are visiting again so he gets her and brings her down to his secret hideout. What follows is Major Monogram trying to convince this 10-11 year old to join a secret agency to train dogs and Leeli just like “you had me at ‘train dogs’” but then being the granddaughter of a pirate kicks in and she’s like “what’s in it for me?” and while Monogram and Carl try (and fail) to figure out what preteen girls like, Leeli mentally puts together a list of demands.

“Okay, first, I want a hat like Perry’s.” “Done.” “Second I want to go with Perry on one of his missions so I can ask Dr. Doofenshmirtz for one of his inventions and take it home for Kalmar.” “... W H Y.” “because he didn’t get to ask last time! he was too excited and hyped up on sugar!” “.... alright, fine.” *Leeli squees*

What follows is just a montage of Leeli training dogs while wearing a little secret agent hat. Then Perry has to chaperone her on one of his missions (he tries to open the door for her but Leeli’s like “I got it” and bangs it down with her crutch “they don’t call me lizardkicker and batwhacker for nothing!” Perry has no idea what that means but he’s a little afraid of her now).

Leeli walks in somehow avoiding any traps but Perry doesn’t even though he directly follows her, and she just trots up to Doof like, “Hi Dr. Doofenshmirtz Perry brought me here so I could ask if I could get one of your inventions for Kalmar.” and Doof’s just staring at her like “why are you using a little girl to confuse me Perry the platypus” Leeli looks back and forth between them a couple times and then is like, “oh right you have to do your fighting thing, okay, go ahead I’ll wait.” and sits politely off to the side waiting for them to have their daily confrontation. And they’re both just like “.....”

They stare at her for long enough that she’s just like, “well okay Perry if you won’t stop him I guess I will” and just. whacks Doofenshmirtz with her crutch. he starts yelling at her like “oh that’s no fair, what am I supposed to do, beat up a little girl?!”

And Leeli, who has recently read The Hobbit, continues whacking him while yelling, “I’m not a little girl! I am the lizardkicker of Glipwood, batwhacker of Ban Rona! I am the Song Maiden of the Shining Isle of Anniera and granddaughter of Podo Helmer! And now I’m a secret agent!”

She then manages to whack his inator in just the right spot so that it collapses into a pile of rubble and then looks up at him all wide-eyed innocence like, “okay can I have something for Kalmar now? :)” and he’s like “.... okay sure, why not.”

Perry’s just projecting this back to HQ with his watch and they’re like “:O”

It ends with Leeli loading up whatever contraption she’s acquired for her brother onto a wagon pulled by dogs while she declines the agency’s offer of a full time job with a winning smile “sorry, I’m already the Song Maiden, defender of the Shining Isle, and a little kid. My schedule’s full.” and she heads cheerfully through a portal with her brothers, dogs and wagon in tow.

[lowercasepastor]

The Monster in the Hollows - BOOK REVIEW

Oh Andrew Peterson, you wily fox.  You brilliant, wily, sneaky little man.  You have written such a magnificent series of books in this Wingfeather Saga that just keeps getting better in the third book of this series, The Monster in the Hollows.  This third book picks up where North! Or Be Eaten left off, with Nia, Podo, Oskar Reteep, Artham Wingfeather, and the Jewels of Anniera finding refuge in the Green Hollows, just shy of the Shining Isle.  This book expands the map of this universe out a little farther across the Dark Sea of Darkness in Aerwiar to the one place in the whole world that seems to be untouched by the reach of Gnag the Nameless.  But as we delve into the story, we soon learn that is hardly the case.  With the smoke of Anniera still looming in the air some 9 years after being overthrown by Gnag and his Fangs, the people of the Green Hollows carry on with their lives with cautious optimism.  They remind me of the people of the Rohan in Tokien’s Lord of the Rings series; people who are quite aware of the war raging around them, but who are content to stand aside and protect their own.  That being said, the arrival of the Wingfeather clan is met with a great joy, but with an overwhelming caution, especially because one of the Wingfeathers now greatly resembles a Grey Fang of Dang (If you’ve read the previous books, you know who I’m talking about.  If not, I won’t spoil it for you, though that little tidbit is quite a large spoiler on its own).  Nevertheless, the group fleeing from Skree finds refuge in the Green Hollows in a place called Chimney Hill...Nia Wingfeather’s one time home.  

Here’s where the book can get a little tricky and somewhat deceptive though.  The bulk of narrative at this point kind of lulls you into a sense of security.  Sure, there is a constant struggle for the Wingfeather children to fit in amongst the curious and stand-offish Hollowsfolk.  Every day that they are in Ban Rona seems to present a new challenge that the Wingfeather’s have to overcome, and through that you get to see each child begin to come into their own a little bit.  But for the first time since Glipwood these kids aren’t constantly on the run, and while seeing these three children “grow up” is interesting, it began to get a little mundane.  Of the three books I’ve read in this series thus far, this one most definitely took me the longest to read because I would read a few chapters, and put it down for several days before I would come back to it, and mostly because I wasn’t really engaged in that daily struggle of life Peterson was painting.

However, what seemed mundane, quietly and sneakily (and yes, I use that word very much on purpose) takes a turn and twist that I absolutely never saw coming.  The last 100-120 pages of this book are so full of twists and turns and surprises, that I could hardly put the book down.  Now, having read the book and seeing how it ends, leading into the final book of the series, I suddenly found myself appreciating what I initially thought was mundane.  If I was much of a crier, I would have been sobbing in those last pages.  It is an emotional and even a very spiritual experience as book comes to its climax, leaving you hanging for what’s to come. The payoff was so satisfying and great that I cannot wait to begin the final book, The Warden and the Wolf King.

I’ve said it of each of these books so far, but Peterson has created such an amazing story and universe, and these characters just keep getting better and better.  I cannot stress enough how much I recommend these books, and I’m looking forward to reading the final chapter to this saga.  I can’t wait to see how this story ends, and I hope you’ll get the books to find out as well.