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On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: A Book Review and a Memory

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When I first read Andrew Peterson’s title, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, I remembered being there myself.

My father was a fisherman, and it was nighttime on the Atlantic in January. The slap of gentle waves against the ship made me sleepy as we sat silently side by side, staring out into the blackness, unable to see where the water met the sky.

It made me think of those ancient words, “And the earth was without form and void, and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep.”

Night deepened as the sea deepened, but suddenly, my attention was arrested by a faint red glow coming up from under the water. At first, red and black mingled so that I wasn’t sure it was light at all. Then, I was frightened.

I asked my father, “Do you see that glowing? Is there another ship? Is it on fire?” 

In Peterson’s adventure tale, the first book of The Wingfeather Saga, young Janner Igiby chafes in the routine humdrum of life with his family in their cottage beside the Dark Sea of Darkness. He resents having to take care of his younger brother, Tink, and sister, Leeli, as he wrestles with the coming-of-age questions that define adolescence. Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?

Janner’s most pressing question is, Who was his father? Why hasn’t his mother or grandfather told him anything about his father? All he has is a sketch of his father as a boy, standing proudly in a sailboat on the sea.

As Janner and his siblings encounter conflict with the Fangs of Dang, reptilian monsters who rule their town and country, light begins to glow at the edges of the darkness, and Janner begins to discover that he is more than just a boy living on the edge of the sea.

On my own dark sea of darkness, my father said in a low voice, “It is not a ship on fire. Just keep watching.”

My fear quieted some at the calm assurance that my father could see what I saw and knew what it was. Perhaps he had seen it many times before. But I kept my eyes glued to the red glow as it spread in the horizon, dividing water from sky for the first time since nightfall. 

Peterson’s book also presents danger and fear, but in a way that helps young readers begin to see the difference between light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong. As Janner, Tink, and Leeli investigate their strange connection to the dragons that appear on Dragon Day, the bard that plays mournful tunes of a forgotten land, and a map that leads to a secret cache in a haunted manor, they also have to learn to work together to avoid the Fangs, protect each other, and obey their mother and grandfather. 

Eventually, to escape the Fangs, Janner and his family are forced into Glipwood Forest, a treacherous jungle inhabited by flabbits, fazzledoves, and the dreaded toothy cows. Townsfolk prove their friendship as they help the Igibys in their escape. Peterson’s characters shine as Pete the Sockman, Oscar N. Reteep, Zouzab the Ridgerunner, and Armulyn the Bard take their places in the Igiby’s story. Even villains Slarb the Fang and Commander Gnorm rise memorably to life from the pages and make it a story that is hard to put down as my children beg for one more chapter.

I looked at my father nervously as the red glow spread, and each time, he would tell me, “Just keep watching.” It was bright enough now that I could see my father’s face, his chin resting on his worn hands, the glint of hopeful watchfulness in his eyes.

It seemed that the dark sea would burst asunder when finally a point of golden light appeared in the center of the red glow. I gasped as the point rose above the sea, golden light showering down on either side of it.

Peterson’s book carries surprises of its own. I was not a fan of the snarky humor at the beginning, but then, I don’t really care for dad jokes, and my kids loved it. It is a coming-of-age adventure story that left my family asking for the sequel, North, or be Eaten, and laughing as they attempted to play the fantastical game of zibzy and slurping as they polished off their first bowls of cheesy chowder. In On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Peterson has created a fantasy world that we can identify with, a set of characters that we love, and a cause worth fighting for. 

The golden light grew, and I couldn’t look away. Only when half a sphere was above the edge of the sea did I recognize it.

“The moon!” I whispered.

My father chuckled. “I was wondering when you would know.”

It was on the edge of the dark sea of darkness that I first understood the wonder of light. Peterson’s book lived up to its title and my own memory of having been there. New cover editions are available now wherever books are sold, and The Wingfeather Saga has been made into an animated series by Angel Studios. 

Sarah Dixon Young
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