Into the light

Only one more week of The Monster in the Hollows! The last line of this excerpt is one of my favorites.

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Sara led the children down the long hallway and paused at the double doors that led to the main room where the Overseer’s carriage had unloaded each of them over the years. She hadn’t seen the room since the night she’d helped Janner escape. She motioned for the throng of children clogging the hall behind her to keep quiet so she could listen. When she was sure it was safe, she pushed through the doors and led the children out of the darkness and into the light.Thick beams of sunlight angled through high windows and lit the floor. The children held their hands up to the light as if it were the first time they’d ever seen it. The moment of awe was quickly broken, however, by squeals of delight and celebration. The children of the Fork Factory danced and ran and tumbled across the floor. They found water in a trough against the wall and splashed it on their faces, rubbing the soot away and meeting each other, in a way, for the very first time.—From chapter 47, "The Fingerless Glove."

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Were there lines that you loved this week, from chapters 47-53 or from anywhere else in the books? Post them in the comments, please! We'd love to read along with you.The forum has been busy this week! Come on over and join the fun.On Monday, we'll have a post from Andrew. :-) 

"These books are amazing!"

In a post full of gorgeous photos of (dare I say) gorgeous books, Théa Rosenburg shares her enthusiasm for The Wingfeather Saga. Thanks so much for the kind review, Théa! Readers, you might enjoy browsing the rest of her site as well. I'm looking forward to discovering some news books over there myself.Here's a snippet of the review:

Peterson’s sense of timing is just right, his use of language is a beautiful thing to behold, and his jokes are spot on. I liked Andrew Peterson immediately for having the sense to throw in that extra “dark” in the title of the first book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

To read the whole review, click here.

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This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 47-53 of The Monster in the Hollows. Check back on Friday for her favorite excerpt, and to share one of your own!If you, like Théa, would love to discuss these books with someone, may I invite you to our forum? We'd love to hear what's on your mind! (p.s. I hear Andrew's been over there... see if you can spot him!)

Under the tree

This week's book club reading—chapters 40-46 of The Monster in the Hollows—was hard. If you struggled through the Phoobs chapters from North! Or Be Eaten, you probably felt your heart twisting as you read this section, too. But as Artham said in the Phoobs, "This story will end well. I don’t know how, but things will be made right." And as always, if you need to process this week's reading, come over to the forum, and we'll process together.This excerpt is a short one, but it captures well the great sorrow and trepidation in these chapters.

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The branches of the great tree no longer brightened the room with leaves and dangling fruit—the limbs were bare, and the room was cold and gray. Even with the great hall crammed full of people and fires lit in the four hearths, a chill haunted the chamber. The only color seemed to be the dry, rusty smudge of Nia’s handprint on the tree.—From chapter 44, "The Case Against Kalmar."

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What passage stood out to you this week? Whether you're reading along with us or from another section of the series, post your excerpt in the comments! And then come on over to the forum for some bibes and conversation.

Clive Staples Award winner!

Announcement!

Thank you, dear readers, for nominating and voting for The Warden and the Wolf King. Thanks also to the CSA judges who carefully read the finalists and selected Warden as the winner. The Clive Staples Award is an honor because winners are selected by readers and judges together. This year, the CSA partnered with the good folks over at Realm Makers, and the winner was announced at their annual conference, which you can read about here.The other two CSA finalists were written by Bryan Davis, who won the award in 2010. Check out his books!Another item of note: Hannah at Just Bee is giving away a copy of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, along with a cool mug. Click to read her review and enter to win!

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This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 40-46 in The Monster in the Hollows. Check back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! Meanwhile: To the forums! To Bryan Davis books! To a giveaway! So much excitement this week! :-)

Snowball fight

I, like Janner, love this rare moment of playfulness.

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“What’s this?” Nia asked.“My houndrick.” Leeli clicked her tongue, and the six dogs sat.“Your houndrick?” Nia climbed down from the carriage to inspect it.“Thorn and Biggin O’Sally commissioned it from the woodwrightery last month, just for me. It was finished today." ...Nia mounted the carriage. “It looks solid. Well made. The woodwrightery guildlings did areally good job of it. Now,” she said, making sure the boys were seated, “let’s see how fast it is. Hya!”Janner and Kalmar nearly tumbled off their seats when the horses lunged forward. Janner looked over his shoulder at Leeli and waved as they sped away. She looked shocked for a moment, and then Janner saw her mouth move and heard the dogs bay. The snowfall was so thick that Leeli disappeared in swirling curls of white as they passed through the gate, but he could hear the dogs and knew Leeli was close behind.Nia laughed as the carriage careened through the streets. Kalmar whooped and crouched on his seat, nose into the wind, howling at the snow. He looked more like a wolf in that moment than Janner had ever seen him, and Janner loved him for it, because in that moment Kalmar didn’t care a hoot what the Hollowsfolk thought.The horses were winded by the time they crossed the bridge at the foot of Chimney Hill. Nia reined them in and turned in her seat. “Do you hear her?” she asked, and they all listened. Janner heard nothing but the wind and the trickle of water in the creekbed. Nia’s face fell. “I should go back for her.”“Look, Mama.” Kal pointed at two parallel lines in the snow that ran over the bridge and up the hill. “She beat us.”When they rounded the bend and climbed up to the front lawn, they found Leeli loosening the straps of the last dog and scratching it behind the ears. Freva greeted Nia and the boys, then led the carriage to the barn, muttering about how much she disliked snow.Nia calmly stooped and gathered a pile of snow into a ball. She aimed it at Leeli and let it fly. It hit Leeli in the back and exploded, and she spun around with her mouth hanging open.“That’s your prize for winning,” Nia said. She threw another snowball. “And that’s for no reason at all.”—From chapter 26, "Snaphounds and Snowfall."

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Whether you're following along with us, or are somewhere else in the books, share your favorite passage in the comments! I had multiple favorites this week. If you'd like to read the others, visit the B-sides thread in the forum. 

Good news for adventurers!

If you live overseas, need an adjustable font, or require more books than you can feasibly carry (I understand!), chances are that you want an eBook. And if you're an adventurer, hacking your way through the Jungles of Plonst or sneaking up behind a bomnubble in the Stony Mountains (with the wind whistling through your furs as the snow swirls around you!), you definitely don't want a ton of hand-bound hardbacks weighing you down. Up until now, though, adventurers had no choice but to carry a hardcover Creaturepedia. I am glad to announce that all that has changed.The Skreean edition of Ollister B. Pembrick's Inexhaustive Creaturepedia is now available on Kindle or Nook. May it serve you well, and may you never be gobbled.Explorers of Plonst: Our prayers are with you.

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This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 35-39 of The Monster in the Hollows. Check back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own!This week in the forum we've been movie casting the Wingfeather characters, talking about bullying, and more. Come join us!

Snickbuzzards? Woe!

Of all the creatures in Aerwiar, the snickbuzzard is perhaps the most lobidious. Why? Read on to find out, although I warn you—I haven't slept since seeing the picture at the bottom of this post.

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Podo was sipping thick black bean brew and half-listening to his new friend Lennry Gardensmith blab about the superior quality of his wife’s apple crunch recipe when he saw Paddy Durbin Thistlefoot emerge from the patrol office. Thistlefoot marched across the street, fists pumping, and burst into Gully’s Saloon, demanding bean brew.“Strongest you got,” he said, kicking his muddy boots off at the door.“What’s got you all sizzled?” asked Lennry.“They don’t believe me, that’s what.” Paddy pulled up a stool at the table where Podo and Lennry sat. “They said my math was bad. I said that may be true, but I didn’t think it could be bad four mornings in a row. They thought that was pretty funny.” He took a long, noisy sip of his bean brew and shook his head. “But the more I think about it, the more certain I am that I had eight hogpiglets yesterday. And the day before I had one more than that. Ten!”“That’s not right,” Lennry said.“Eh?” Paddy counted on his fingers and moved his lips.“You said you had eight yesterday, and the day before you had one more than that. That makes nine, not ten." ...Paddy furrowed his brow and nodded slowly. “Nine. You’re right. Plumb forgot about that one.” He and Lennry raised their mugs to math and sipped. ...“If you’re so smart, what’s taking my hogpiglets?”Lennry shrugged. “Could be wolves.” ...“Pah,” Podo said. “Wolves run in packs. They don’t slip into pens and swaller a hogpiglet whole. Was there any sign of struggle?”“None,” said Paddy.“Footprints?” Podo asked.“Hard to tell in the slop.”“Well, then, I’d say you’ve got snickbuzzards.”Lennry gasped. “Snickbuzzards?”“What’s a snickbuzzard?” Paddy asked.“I don’t know,” Lennry said, “but they sound mean.”“Aye,” Podo said. “They are. Terrible mean. Razor sharp beaks. Talons like daggers. And the worst part?”“Yes, yes?” Lennry and Paddy said.Podo sipped his bean brew and raised a bushy eyebrow. “Bellybutton.”“No,” said Paddy with a shiver. “Not on a bird.”

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Sorry about that, everyone.Thankfully, there are no snickbuzzards here in the Hollows, so it's perfectly safe to head over to the forum for some bibes and conversation. A few topics to get you started: Movie casting, visiting the library, Janner and Grigory, and books that tell us who we are. See you there!

Theology Mix interview

Awhile back Andrew did an interview with Scott McCausey over at Theology Mix. They talked about a ton of things, including marriage and parenting and music and faith, and in the process talked a lot about The Wingfeather Saga."Is there a heart beating inside these characters? Are they people that you care about? ... I've got these wooden puppets, sort of, and I really, deeply wanted to breathe life into them and give them hearts of flesh. And so what that means is that I had to look at Janner Igiby and... put some of my own pain into his heart, put some of my own story into this kid. ... When we bring our pain to our story, or whatever wounding we have—sometimes we're ashamed of those things, but those end up being the very things that our community needs from us."For the full interview, visit the ThM site.

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This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 30-34 of The Monster in the Hollows. Check back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share what you've been reading!In the meanwhile, see you in the forum!