BRBC week 38: Rain and Fire

I don't know about you, but I love poetry—adventure poems, Lenten poems, cheese poems, sehnsuchty poems, tree poems, heart poems, shark poems. A good friend and I are getting together this weekend to read poetry together, and maybe I will bring this one along.

“Do you write . . . stories?”“No stories. Oood write . . . pretty words. Words about this.” He pointed at his own chest.“Words about your heart?” Janner asked. “Poems?”“Ha! Yes. Oood write poems.”Janner was speechless. Not only did trolls live in castles, they wrote poetry? ...Oood cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Oood say poem called—called—in boys’ words it called ‘Rain and Fire.’ Right?”“Right,” Janner repeated.After a moment of silence, during which the sun broke the horizon and a chorus of birds sang, Oood closed his eyes and spoke in a voice that was at once soft and booming:

Grrk. Glog-glogackwoggy!Grrk. Glog-glogacksnock-jibbit,Ooog, wacklesnodspadgenoggy,Nacketbrigglesweeeeeem! Grrk. Squibbit?

When it was over, the birds had fallen silent. Janner found that, even though the sounds had been strange and, to his ears, unpleasant, Oood’s rich voice and passionate recital had stirred his heart.

Discussion: What's your favorite poem?Have you ever written any poetry? What about troll poetry? (Or ridgerunner poetry, for that matter! Fruit!)Activity: Try your hand at writing some pretty words about your heart—or about tacos or fruit or the sound of the wind or whatever else you can think of. If you feel like sharing, we'd love to hear it. :-)

NAMO!

Good news, NAMO fans (and soon-to-be fans)! Andrew's middle son Asher Peterson is a rising music producer and engineer, and back in April he spawned a collective EP under the name NAMO. On that EP, "Rain," Asher produced some incredible layered synth melodies and then slipped them into the hands and ears of a few well-chosen friends, who contributed their lyrics and voices. Some of you have already discovered this EP. This morning they launched a Kickstarter to fund a full-length album. The EP is available via iTunes, Spotify, and the Rabbit Room, and if you're interested in backing the Kickstarter, here it is. :-)https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/719128080/namo-collaborative-pop-album

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 46-49 (including the preceding interlude) of The Warden and the Wolf King. Come back on Friday for an excerpt and conversation! Meanwhile, we'll see you in the forum. :-)

BRBC week 37 (ish): Postmoot

Greetings from the far side of Hutchmoot! Last Friday i sat on a ten-or-so-foot-long leather couch in the Nameless Triangle of Chinwaggery with sunlight streaming in the tall windows, conversations humming nearby, and Doodlemoot easels before and behind. Dozens of guests had brought jam from their hometowns and kitchens, and the bright-colored jars on long tables glistened in the light of the sun. Andrew and I had bumped into each other that morning, kiffy in hand, and we made grand plans to let him pick the excerpt for the week. Alas, but there is so much going on all the time at Hutchmoot that neither of us managed to pull our brains together enough to post. We missed you, though. If we could have all sat on that long leather couch and chatted with one other about Anniera, that would have been a happy moot.There are Shining Isle updates coming, and we'll get back on track with our reading schedule next week. But for today, here is last week's excerpt. ;-)

Even in its dilapidated state the homestead was a beautiful spot. ...Artham dismounted and walked up to the porch. “This is where they lived.”“It ain’t a bad spot,” Maraly said, spitting and wiping her chin with her forearm. She pointed beyond the house at a trail that led into a little stand of trees. “What’s through there?”“That’s the Glipper Trail,” Artham said. “I’ll show you.”They dismounted and traipsed through spring weeds so green and wild they seemed to have erupted from the ground that morning. They slipped in among the trees and wound down a short slope of rocky switchbacks. All at once, the trees parted and the Dark Sea of Darkness spread out below them like a gray sheet.Maraly clutched the nearest tree, dizzied by the height.“That’s something you don’t see every day,” Gammon said. “Beautiful.”“And scary,” Sara said.“It’s not scary at all,” said Artham with a laugh. He ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped. ...Sara inhaled the salty air, felt the cool wind whispering up over the cliff, and closed her eyes with a sigh. ... The air around her and the ground beneath her feet tingled with a long-withheld joyfulness. Was it possible that the land itself knew that the shadow of Gnag the Nameless had passed from Skree?
Discussion: What's your favorite kind of jam?Have you ever felt homesick for a place you've never been? (forum thread for book one)How can we make welcoming places for each other, even in our homesickness? (forum thread)This week we've finally gotten a peek into Armulyn's backstory. What had you expected? Did the real story line up? (forum thread)What would you most look forward to about visiting Anniera?In our previous book club readalong, we noticed that Gammon makes two different speeches in two chapters. What are your thoughts? (forum thread)What was your favorite passage this week?Bonus: Here's Andrew reading one of this segment's chapters: "Storytime with Artham."https://youtu.be/xplL0pP4lqs

SpecFaith short film review

Speculative Faith has been an Igiby ally for quite awhile, with reviews and even awards for the Wingfeather books. We appreciate their support in this review of the short film, also! They posted it back in December, the same day the film was released, but I'm just getting around to sharing it. Here's a snippet:I think this first in the Wingfeather Saga films is very well done as an animated work. The narrator does a particularly good job of capturing the seriousness and the high tension of the later books while also displaying the humor which made the first books so successful. Thanks, Rebecca! Read the full review here.

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 38-45 of The Warden and the Wolf King. Come back on Friday for an excerpt! Meanwhile, I hear there's a new writing challenge in the forum, and all manner of interesting conversations to be had.Also this week: HUTCHMOOT! There are still a couple of tickets left to Andrew's Resurrection Letters concert on Thursday. If you're near enough to make it, snap up a ticket here. After that, he'll hit the road again with the Bible Tour. You can find dates for those shows at his music site.

BRBC week 36: For Queen Sara

Every queen needs a general, and every bard needs one, too. I have so much respect for young Borley.

Armulyn stepped between the children and the Fang and strummed his whistleharp. He blew on the whistle and played a fast jig, tapping his feet on the floor and working his elbows like a duck. But the melody was shaky and out of tune; there were so many wrong notes that Sara cringed.The Fang’s howl was cut short and it cocked its head at Armulyn, wondering what in the world the strange man was doing. Then it began to laugh. Two more Fangs appeared in the doorway in answer to the first one’s call, and the three of them pointed and laughed at the bard, mocking his dance and howling all the louder. A bead of sweat trickled down Armulyn’s cheek.He finished his shaky song and struck a pose with one hand out, as if he were waiting for applause. The Fangs doubled over with laughter. “Do it again!” the first one barked between breaths.Armulyn raised his whistleharp once more, and Sara saw that his hands were trembling. This time, however, the notes were clear and beautiful, and the Fangs covered their ears, doubled over, and whined.Suddenly Borley leapt from the table. “For Queen Sara!” he screamed, and the orphans surged forward. Sara stood on the table in shock as her army streamed past her, past Armulyn, and overcame the three Grey Fangs before they knew what was happening.The children filed out by company, trampling Fang dust and armor underfoot. Sara hopped down, took Armulyn’s hand, and joined their mad rush to Riverside Road.
Discussion: Who do you most identify with in these chapters (32-37)? Sara? Maraly? Artham? Someone else?What did you think of Armulyn, now that we've met him? (Discuss here or in the forum)How can we make welcoming places for each other? (Discuss in the forum)What was your favorite passage this week?Andrew on tour: Andrew has a few shows in the next couple of days—and next week is Resurrection Letters at Hutchmoot! To see if he'll be near you, or to find tickets for any of these events, visit his music site.

Thinking Pastorally review

Andrew Roycroft at Thinking Pastorally wrote a glowing review of the Wingfeather Saga. Here's an excerpt:

Thematically, the novels manage to carry a strong and insistent message of hope in hopeless times, of the value of selfless sacrifice, of the need for atonement, and of the worth of healthy family relations, without ever feeling laboured or moralistic. The story, in other words, is not merely a vehicle for bigger themes, but is part and parcel of how the message is told. When redemption is on the horizon, even the smallest details of the story are seen to carry weight and truly matter.

Read the rest of the review here. Thanks, Pastor Roycroft!

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 32-37 of The Warden and the Wolf King. Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own!Andrew on tour: Is Andrew coming near you on his fall tour? Find dates and ticket info at his music site.

BRBC week 35: The rooftops of Dugtown

This passage woke up my yearning to see Dugtown from above. I've never seen it from below, either—I think I might like that less, in fact—but the idea of the city spread out below me, sunset glinting off the river, spires and roofs radiating outward from the crossway below my feet—well. I need a cape. I can't wait for the comic that's coming.

He tried to ignore the Fangs clambering through the window and into the little back garden as he scanned the rooftops to get his bearings. He knew Dugtown well, and thanks to his night prowling as the Florid Sword, he knew the rooftops of Dugtown better than anyone.He saw the spires of Castle Torr in the distance, the kitten’s tail and ears lifting over the misty river in the south. He spotted several torch towers, the hulk of the Fork Factory to the west, and knew that they had emerged on the eastern end of the city.
Discussion: Would you rather explore Dugtown from above—via roofs—or from below—exploring the Strander tunnels?Are you more like Maraly or Sara?What was your favorite passage this week?Activity: What do you think eggypigheamers and stog is like—or hogpig steamers, for that matter? Try your hand at recreating breakfast at The Flabbit's Paw. Let us know how your experiment worked!

Resurrection Letters live at Hutchmoot

The Rabbit Room's four day feast, Hutchmoot, is coming up in a couple of weeks, and something awesome is happening on the first night—Andrew's Resurrection Letters will be performed live in its entirety with a full band! While the moot itself is sold out, the concert isn't. Click here for tickets, which include special guests The Gray Havens.Ticket - Andrew Peterson's Resurrection Letters

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 25-31 (including the preceding interlude) of The Warden and the Wolf King. Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! Meanwhile, you can find us all lurking in the forum, flinging quotes at each other, staging showdowns, writing songs, and in general enjoying one another's friendship. :-)Andrew on tour: The Bible Tour hits the road on Wednesday! To see if they're coming near you, visit BibleTour2018.com.

The stories are true.