Ban Rona Book Club

Talons vs. Fangs

This week your librarian read chapters 35-38 of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and once again, my favorite passage featured Peet the Sock Man. If you've not already read this far in the book on your own, I'd encourage you to catch up before reading this excerpt. If you read it here first, it might ruin a surprise!

Running faster than Janner believed possible, Peet the Sock Man bore down on them, mouth open in a vicious cry, wildness in his eyes.The Fangs watched him come, unable to understand what they were seeing, too shocked to react. Peet leapt into the air with an animal-like grace and spread his socked arms wide, his screech still filling their ears, the crows scattering before him.Peet fell on three of the Fangs nearest to him in a fury of talons and shrieks. The talons, Janner saw, were Peet’s— three long talons, in fact, that tore from within the socks on both arms and shredded them to pieces. The remains of the stockings floated to the ground like feathers. The Fang company stood motionless as their fellow soldiers crumpled to the ground, sliced and bleeding from a hundred wounds. Peet wasted no time. Slashing and spinning , his talons now covered in green blood, he felled two more Fangs before any of them had the sense to draw a weapon....Podo’s growl, Peet’s screech, and the snarls of the Fangs mixed with the racket of clashing steel.In a matter of moments, only Peet and Podo were left standing— the pirate and the Sock Man, covered in green blood and gasping for breath, knee deep in a pile of scaly corpses.—From chapter 37, "Talons and a Sling."
If you've got a favorite few lines from this week's reading, I'd love to hear them—just post them in the comments. If you're somewhere else in the series, you may still feel free to post something you read this week. All quotes are welcome here!Before you go, check out our forum. This week, there's been a great conversation about names (Igiby and Wingfeather in particular). You can also find some help with pronunciations! Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas:

A visit to Peet's castle

This excerpt (from chapters 31-34) is a bit long, so let's jump right in. Follow me, Patee-tee-teeee!

Another rope ladder on the other side of the trunk led up to a trap door in the floor of the tree house through which Peet was already helping Leeli. The boys scrambled up and into Peet’s castle in the trees.Peet was humming as he tore the diggle carcass into pieces and dropped them into a pot.Leeli made herself at home and sat cross-legged on the floor against the wall.“Come in, young men, come in. Diggle cooking, rumple eating, diggle diggle rump food,” he said in a singsong voice.Tink and Janner climbed into the tree house and sat next to Leeli, who wore a very satisfied expression on her face. She looked up at Peet and gestured to her brothers. “Mister Peet, these are my broth—”“Janner and Tink, Tanner and Jink, Jinker and Tan, Janker and Teeeeen,” Peet said without looking up from the pot.“But— how did you know our names?” Janner asked.“Small town, boys. Crazy people hear lots of things, Wigiby,” Peet said.“It’s Igiby,” Tink said.Peet shrugged and lit a small bundle of sticks and moss that sat in a crude fireplace beneath the pot. The fireplace was lined with stones, and above it he had fashioned a chimney of sorts from some kind of hide sewn together to make a tube.Janner was impressed by Peet’s ingenuity—that is, until the tree house filled with smoke. Peet didn’t seem to notice.Tink coughed. “Mister, uh, Peet the Sock Man, sir, aren’t you worried that your house will catch fire?”Peet fished a leather pouch from a small box beside him and sprinkled some of its contents into the pot. A delicious smell rose from the pot and mingled with the smoke.“Worried? Not at all, young Wingiby.” He pointed through the nearest window and the children could see three nearby trees whose branches were charred and leafless in places. “I’ve burned down my castle three times before, and I’ve always survived. I’m not borried a wit. Worried a bit.” He went back to stirring the pot. “But this time I think I figured out the problem, see, problem, see, problem, see,” he sang with a wink. “ Rocks. See these rocks? They don’t catch fire. Nope.” He coughed and for the first time noticed the smoke filling the room. “Eeep!” he cried. Peet tugged on a piece of twine that dangled from the chimney tube, and the smoke slowly cleared. “Open the flue, open the flue, open the flue for me and for you.”Janner began to rethink his opinion of Peet. He was as crazy as a moonbird.—From chapter 34, "Peet's Castle."
Are you reading along? I’d love to hear what lines grabbed you (possibly literally!) from your own reading. And if you're at another spot in the books, that's fine, too. :-)There are some great conversations happening in the forum this week! We’ve been talking about our favorite Oskar quotes, Leeli's compassion, and what to do when we can't feel the Maker's presence. There's also a brand-new thread about the feeling of homesickness. Come join us!

The first sign of glory

This week, I (Madame Sidler) read chapters 23-30 of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Quite a lot happened in Glipwood this week—a treasure-hunt, a ghostly encounter, a portent, a kidnapping, a murder. This is also where we see the first hint of the glorious glory of my own favorite person in this story. I'm sure I shouldn't have favorites, but I'm a librarian, not an historian. Historians are welcome to be objective if they like.Do you know what else is glorious in this chapter (28)? Leeli's sweet heart. Come over to the forum if you'd like to talk about that; I've started up a new discussion thread about her.

Slarb flew through the air toward Leeli, fangs bared in a vicious snarl. Too frightened to move, Leeli forced away the thoughts of the Fang’s long teeth sinking into her, the poison coursing through her veins; in that heartbeat she thought of the warm cottage, the only home she’d ever known. She was sad that she’d never get to see it again.Leeli imagined Janner, Tink, Podo, and Nia standing on the front lawn waving to her. And she thought of Nugget. She hoped that Janner and Tink would remember to feed him, and scratch his belly once in a while.Suddenly, Slarb’s growl was cut short. Trembling, Leeli opened her eyes and saw the Fang’s claws clutching desperately at an arm locked tight around his throat.She couldn’t see the person’s face, only a tuft of white hair sticking up from behind Slarb’s shoulder— but the arm around Slarb’s throat had a dirty knitted sock pulled up to the elbow.—From chapter 28, "Into the Forest."
If you’ve been reading along with us, which parts did you love best? Feel free to post a quote from elsewhere in the series, too. We'd love to hear it!Come on over to the forum! This week, we've been talking about your librarian's existential state (dead or not?) and the feeling of being abandoned by the Maker. Join in on one of these or several other topics (such as blindplopping and Oskar's quotes), or come start your own discussion! We are eager to hear your voice. :-)

Into the Manor

Happy Friday, readers! It is I, your librarian, with another excerpt for you. This passage includes lyrical creepiness, a haunting description of a haunted house, and one breathtakingly beautiful line, right at the end.I loved the part, too, where Janner and Tink struck out running through the high weeds. As I read I could feel the sun on my back and the weeds on my legs. I left that part out, just to keep the excerpt short, but please do go back and read it. Don't you love it when a book makes you feel like you're right there in the story?

Be you friend or be you foeBeware to all who followFor in the catacombs belowIs hidden in the hollowA way that leads to pain and woeSadness, grief, and sorrowThe hungry ghost of Brimney StupeAwaits your bones to swallowSo think you long before you goExploring here tomorrow...For an hour Janner and Tink followed the ancient lane as best they could. Each time the road began to blend into tall stretches of heather and disappear, they would search anew for the faint depression of the path in the swaying grass. The line of the forest loomed ever closer, and soon Janner was pointing to the shape of what must be the ruined structure of Anklejelly Manor.Tink picked up his pace and soon they stood before the manor, its craggy back to the forest. The two gaping second-floor windows made Janner think of the eye sockets of a skull watching their approach. He stopped in front of a rusty iron gate that hung sad and crooked on ancient hinges. Neither brother spoke, unwilling to admit they were afraid and wondering what foolishness had made coming here seem sensible.It was clear that the manor had once been a beautiful place. Several tall and mildewed statues of people in various poses dotted the courtyard. One was of a fat man eating a lamb chop (the sight of which caused Tink’s stomach to growl loudly, the sound of which made Janner jump an inch off the ground). Another statue nearer the house depicted a laughing woman swinging a terrified cat by its hind leg. Another statue, covered in vines, was of a weeping man scratching his large belly with a rake. Dangling from the rake handle was a cluster of stone grapes.The roof of the mansion had long ago collapsed, and everywhere weeds and vines had begun the slow work of pulling the stones and aged timbers back to the earth.—From chapters 18 and 20, "Stumbling onto a Secret" and "Into the Manor."
If you’ve been reading along with us, which parts did you love best? And if you’re somewhere else in the books, that’s fine—I’d love to read your favorite lines, too!In the forum this week, we’ve been talking about the themes we've found in the series, what we treasure, the meaning in names and naming, and the sneaky references Andrew's slipped in when he thought we weren't looking. Come join us!

Ships and Sharks and other footnotes

Greetings once again from Madame Sidler! This week I read chapters 12-17 of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and while there were a great many scenes of action, suspense, humor, and love, I enjoyed the footnotes most of all. (Best of all? Festival? Now I'm getting ahead of myself; that's from chapter 31.)Here are my favorite footnotes from these six chapters.

  1. Ships and Sharks is a yard game introduced to Skreeans by merchants from the Green Hollows. Typically, the children play the role of Ships, and the adults are the Sharks. The game begins when the Shark says to the Ships, “Gwaaaaah!” which is generally agreed to be the sound a shark would make if it weren’t a Sea Creature. The Ships then run like mad to escape the Shark. If a Ship is overcome by a Shark, the Ship is rolled in the dirt and tickled severely. This brutal simplicity is typical of games invented by the Hollowsfolk. Another popular game from the Green Hollows is called simply Trounce.
  2. Of the Torrboro Baimingtons, who prided themselves on having an ancestor who coined the phrase “Jouncey as a two-ton bog pie.” The Baimingtons were careful to insert the phrase into every conversation of which they were a part.
  3. Three Honored and Great Subjects: Word, Form, and Song. Some silly people believe that there’s a fourth Honored and Great Subject, but those mathematicians are woefully mistaken.
  4. Snot wax is too repulsive a thing about which to write a proper footnote.
  5. According to Padovan A’Mally’s The Scourge of the Hollows (Ban Rona, Green Hollows: The Iphreny Group, 3/111), “Ridgerunners are particularly fond of artful verse, though their subject matter is almost exclusively fruit. A free-thinking ridgerunner named Tizrak Rzt scandalized the ridgerunner culture when he composed a poem entitled ‘Love, Love, Love Hath No Endingness’ and famously made no mention of fruit.”
If you’ve been reading along with us, which parts did you love best? And if you’re somewhere else in the books, that’s fine! I’d love to read your favorite lines—footnotes or otherwise!Come on over to the forum! This week, we’ve been talking about our favorite books, the hope we find at the end of the Saga, the meaning of names—and Andrew's many sly sneakeries, which we shall gleefully discover together.

Leeli and the Dragon Song

This week I (Madame Sidler) read chapters six through eleven of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and I present to you now the following excerpt. It's another one I love reading aloud. I love the whole chapter, in fact, but that would be a bit long for an excerpt, so you'll have to let this snippet draw you back to the book so you can read it yourself. And when you get to the song, sing. :-)

In the churning white waters at the base of Fingap Falls, a long, graceful shape burst from the surface. Its skin caught and magnified the light of the moon. The sea dragon was easily twice the height of the tallest tree in Glipwood Forest. Its reddish body glimmered like a living fire. The head was crowned with two curved horns and its fins spread out behind it like wings. Indeed, it looked as if it might actually fly, but the dragon wheeled in the air and crashed into the sea with what must have been a sound like thunder but was inaudible over the constant roar of the waterfall.At that moment, the dragon song rose into the air on a bright wind and filled the people gathered on the cliffs with a thousand feelings— some peaceful, some exhilarating, all more alive than usual. ... All of the passion and sadness and joy of those who listened wound into one common strand of feeling that was to Janner like homesickness, though he couldn’t think why; he was just a short walk from the only home he’d ever known....The song continued, and more dragons exploded out of the water . They spun in the air and hung there for a moment before slamming back into the sea. Scores of horned bull dragons, amber and shimmering gold, swam circles around the thinner and more sleek mares that burst out of the water and over them in an intricate pattern. Now even the roar of Fingap Falls was not as loud as the crash of the many dragons into the Dark Sea. The strains of the song entwined and followed one another until a haunting melody emerged. Janner thought, as he thought every summer the dragons came, that there could be nothing more beautiful in all the world.Leeli was still as a statue, her hands clasped at her chest. Janner heard a whisper of sound mingling with the dragon song as her lips moved like she was trying to remember the words to a song, or like she was praying. Her gaze was far away, resting somewhere beyond the dragons. A slight, sweet melody, the beauty of which Janner had never heard before, drifted from Leeli’s mouth. Janner looked at her with wonder. He was so enthralled with her song he scarcely noticed that after a moment it was all he heard.The dragons had fallen silent.They had halted their dance and were gazing up at the cliffs. Though they were leagues away and the dusk made it difficult to see, Janner knew with a shudder that the sea dragons were watching them.They were listening.—From chapter 10, "Leeli and the Dragon Song"
If you've been reading along with us, which parts did you love best? And if you're somewhere else in the books, that's fine—I'd love to read your favorite lines, too!In the forum this week, we've been talking about the Green Hollows, healing, trust and betrayal, how to pronounce names like Gnag and Armulyn, and the way the series ended. Come join us!

The Carriage comes, the Carriage Black

Hello from Madame Sidler! This week I read the introductions and first five chapters of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. As I promised, here is an excerpt from my reading: the part that made me shiver. Something I love about these books is the way they can be spooky and funny all at once. This one is mostly spooky, though! Read it out loud—it's so deliciously creepy.

Janner Igiby lay trembling in his bed with his eyes shut tight, listening to the dreadful sound of the Black Carriage rattling along in the moonlight. His younger brother Tink was snoring in the bunk above him, and he could tell from his little sister Leeli’s breathing that she was asleep too. Janner dared to open his eyes and saw the moon, as white as a skull, grinning down on him through the window. As hard as he tried not to think about it, the nursery rhyme that had terrified children in the land of Skree for years sang in his head, and he lay there in the pale moonlight, his lips barely moving.Lo, beyond the River BlappThe Carriage comes, the Carriage BlackBy shadowed steed with shadowed tackAnd shadowed driver drivingChild, pray the Maker let you sleepWhen comes the Carriage down your streetLest all your dreams be dreams of teethAnd Carriages arrivingTo wrest you from your berth and bowerIn deepest night and darkest hourAcross the sea to frozen towerWhere Gnag the Nameless pounds youAt Castle Throg across the span,A world away from kith and clanYou’ll weep at how your woes beganThe night the shadows bound youAway, beyond the River Blapp,The Carriage came, the Carriage BlackBy shadowed steed with shadowed tackThe night the Carriage found you—From chapter 1, "The Carriage Comes, the Carriage Black"
Are you reading along? I'd love to hear what lines jumped out at you (possibly literally!) from your own reading. Just post them in the comments! And if you're at another spot in the books, that's fine, too. Post away!There are some great discussions happening in the forum this week. We're talking about our favorite characters, the song of the ancient stones, secret maps, dealing with bullies, and more. Come hang out with us!

Ban Rona Book Club: The Unveiling

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Can I help you?I'm Madame Sidler, the librarian. Are you here to join our brand-new book club? Wonderful! Let me show you how to find the discussion forum. See that signpost, right over there? The one that says Stories with Bittersweet Endings and True Stories (If You Dare)? Head that direction, and you'll see a Book Club sign, and under it, a cozy little meeting room. Just go right on in. I'll be there in a minute; I think I see someone who needs some help.::disappears::Desktop menu screenshotMobile menu both screenshots

This week: Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 1-5 (plus introductions) of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Check back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share what you've been reading!

The stories are true.