The Monster in the Hollows

The Wingfeather Saga - Book Three by Andrew Peterson

Blog Tour - Day 3
(The Final day)

Sometime Life Throws a Curve, Just When You think You Have Things Figured Out.

(click image for Amazon link or click link below) The Monster in the Hollows - available from:

Book link - https://store.rabbitroom.com/books/the-monster-in-the-hollows
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hollows-Wingfeather-Saga/dp/0982621434/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316311564&sr=1-1
Series Web site - http://www.WingfeatherSaga.com/
Author’s Web site - http://www.andrew-peterson.com/


I received a review copy from Rabbit Room Store of The Monster in the Hollows
in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour

The Monster in the Hollows opens in a ship's hold with Janner recovering from Kalmar's attack.

I remember thinking that the book had barely started and here Janner was withe aches and pains. The Wingfeather family just has one thing after another thrown at them. The family's tragic journey keeps going from bad to worse. It makes for good story, and suspense, but how much should a person have to take? Then I remembered the story of Job. The Wingfeather crew shares some similarities with the Old testament man of God. Job never wavered in his faith even when life went from bad to worse. The Wingfeather family lost their house overlooking the ocean after a Fang attack. Terrible foes attack and mistreat them. Yet, through it all the Wingfeathers hold on to their faith in The Maker and see him as their ultimate deliverer from harm.

Plans seem confounded at every turn, and expectations disappointed. But, it's not The Maker who brings the trouble but others acting on personal grudges or for personal gain. After winning their way across The Dark Sea of Darkness , I still like that title, Janner and his family are attacked by those they expected aid from. People change and people who survived hardship change even more. The Green Hollows were still green, but the Holish people had withdrawn from outsiders more than before in order to survive. Then, the unexpected treatment of Kalmar and by extension his mother, made me wonder why the Wingfeathers even bothered going to the Hollows.

After reading about their arrival is when I wondered if a part of the story is things happen to us or because of us for a reason. Did Leeli need to learn Hound speak? Did janner and Kalmar need to learn how to spy and protect each other? And did the people of the Green hollows need to learn that their choice to cut themselves off might eventually cause them more harm than good? A bad choice by Kalmar could still bring something good out of it later because The Maker sees what is to come, and not only what has already passed. AS i mentioned in an earlier post this week, I thought book three in the series was a little darker than the previous books. But sometimes we need to go through the valley before we strengthen enough to move up the mountain side and into the sunlight.

Once again Andrew Peterson wove a great tale. This book developed the characters and their story, and treated readers to the background story of how Podo Helmer, the children's grandfather, literally fought for his wife. It was a fun read. Hats off to Mr. Peterson's engaging tale. Sadly only one book remains in the Wingfeather Saga.

*Participants’ links:
Gillian Adams
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart
Thomas Clayton Booher
Beckie Burnham
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Cynthia Dyer
Amber French
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
* Eve Nielsen
Joan Nienhuis
Donita K. Paul
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant

The Monster in the Hollows

The Wingfeather Saga - Book Three by Andrew Peterson

Blog Tour - Day 2

Guilding, What's Your Gift?

(click image for Amazon link or click link below) The Monster in the Hollows - available from:

Book link - https://store.rabbitroom.com/books/the-monster-in-the-hollows
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hollows-Wingfeather-Saga/dp/0982621434/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316311564&sr=1-1
Series Web site - http://www.WingfeatherSaga.com/
Author’s Web site - http://www.andrew-peterson.com/

I received a review copy from Rabbit Room Store of The Monster in the Hollows
in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour

What's Guilding? It's the Holish equivalent of specialized training. Peterson's regular education followed by your speciality makes sense. Students are allowed to study their area of interest. The three Wingfeather children meet an interesting character named Head Guildmadam Groundwich. Tall and powerful, the Head Guildmadam is described as a "ten-whiskered woman." When I read her description, the image that came to mind was someone like a female Hagrid from the Harry potter series. I wasn't sure if this was a possible antagonist, or a potential ally. It turned out Olumphia Groundwich hadn't fit in when she first attended the guild hall. The other students had picked on her and Nia had been her only friend. The idea of sticking by your friends and being considerate of other's feelings seems a reoccurring theme. The Wingfeather family are frequently saved by the kindness of friends.


Olumphia - her name reminded me of Mount Olympus - tours the children to the various guilds. Leeli has a way with animals and is assigned to the Houndry; a place for ... hounds. Janner and Kalmar are taken to classes with interesting names like the juicery, the needlery, the bookbindery - which Janner especially liked, and the boatery. There were other guilds of course, but these all came with active sounding names that described what they did. One of the things I enjoy about Peterson's stories are his creative names for people, places, and things.

I wondered if the guilds were in the book to represent our God-given gifts or life skills. Janner wanted to take the bookbindery classes, and the houndry was a perfect fit for Leeli. Kalmar was another matter. Like I mentioned in yesterday's blog, he still felt buyer's remorse over his choices and wasn't sure he would fit in with any guild. As the family find out, The Maker always has a handle on what is happening, and things happen for a reason. Leeli's training comes in handy during a confrontation. Later, Kalmar and his Throne Warden find their guild training was needed too.

Tomorrow I'll talk about the need to keep changing your plans. Life happens.


Tomorrow: Sometime Life Throws a Curve, Just When You think You Have Things Figured Out.

*Participants’ links:
Gillian Adams
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart
Thomas Clayton Booher
Beckie Burnham
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Cynthia Dyer
Amber French
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
* Eve Nielsen
Joan Nienhuis
Donita K. Paul
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant

North or Be Eaten
Beware of Toothy Cows, Terrible Trolls, and Evil Fangs!

Book - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400073871
Series site - http://wingfeathersaga.com/?p=464
Author site - http://www.andrew-peterson.com/

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book
from the publisher, the nice people at Waterbrook Press.

The Igiby family is back, and bigger, bolder, and braver than before. The story picks up after the harrowing escape of the family from the terrible Fangs in the previous book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

For those who missed the opportunity to hear the first book, Mr. Peterson is offering the unabridged version on iTunes for $3.95. It's eight-hours of fun, adventure, and narrow escapes for the Igiby family.
A great price for a fun read. Click here if you have iTunes.

You may want to order the first book too, as North or Be Eaten references back to pages in the previous volume, and contains some great sketches of the scenes and characters. North or Be Eaten (NoBE), includes some nice sketches of creatures, places, and things Janner, Tink, Leeli, Nia, Podo, and Peet encounter along the way.

Once again, Mr. Peterson has written a book that's not only a good story, but a fun read. The Toothy Cows of Skee are a good example. "The toothy cow defies description. It oozes fear as it oozes slobber from its oozy teeth." The story is sprinkled with side notes like you would find in a traveler's journal, that provide a deeper, fuller understanding of whatever the family has recently confronted. Rather than the dry details of some boring encyclopedia, the side notes let the reader feel as if they are being let in on extra journey details.

Okay, this book is a bit less light-hearted than the first book. But life isn't always goodness and light, sometimes we go through the tough times in the middle. NoBE keeps the tension turned up. Each time you think a problem is solved, a newer, larger problem presents itself. These are darker days for the Igibys, but through it all they depend on The Maker, and never lose sight of the importance of family and friends.

This brings up the them for tomorrow's blog. Everyone has a job that is important, be it a King, a Throne Warden, or a singer to sea dragons.

*Participants’ Links:

Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Amy Browning
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Todd Michael Greene
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
New Authors Fellowship
Nissa
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
Andrea Schultz
James Somers
Steve and Andrew
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Elizabeth Williams
KM Wilsher