On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

This was a fantastic novel. It was full of magic, family, adventure, secrets, horrible villains, war, and escape. We follow three siblings in a war torn world that is oppressed by a lizard like race that is super strong and drips venom from their mouths. The three are led by their mother and grandfather. The kids are in and out of trouble, not always of their own making, and they end up setting off a chain of events that lead to them being on the run. Family secrets are uncovered at the end that reveals many answers to questions that everyone has been asking.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be reading it to my children as I know they’ll enjoy it. There are dragons, angry mutant cows that attack, lizard people etc and the book teaches that sometimes adults have their reasons and that actions speak louder than words. I’m looking forward to what happens next.

This was a fun silly read and very enjoyable after some other more darker sci-fi that I’d read. The writing style reminded me of Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series mostly because of the plethora of footnotes that made some of the parts of this book seem more real as it was obviously intended to be. There was clear creativity in coming up with the creatures which again reminded me of Terry Pratchett. However I wouldn’t say that this is a knock off of Discworld because it is very much it’s own thing. I would say that this is probably a good book for anyone looking for a light read that still has a lot of adventure and humor. I would say that it is appropriate for kids, teens, adults, anyone who wants to read it because it was a really fun thing to read and I’m glad that I did. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

I have seen this book recommended several times as a great read-out-loud for young kids (especially boys). So, I was eager to read it. I must say, the praise was spot on. Although the book started off a bit slow, it got very exciting about halfway through. While I anticipated a few of the plot twists, I was surprised by others, which is nice as a parent reader. The book concluded well--setting up the next book in the series without ending on a cliffhanger. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and purchasing these books when they come out.

Two small critiques:
(1) There are a lot of words that would be hard to read outoud. I suppose that was on purpose, but it does make me sigh.
(2) The e-arc (thanks publishers and Net Galley) did not include the new illustrations. That was one of the features of this new release.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. An excellent, heartwarming read.

Andrew Peterson is an amazing writer. His musical abilities and lyric genius are fantastic.
It is very difficult to place an age on this book. My 10 year read the entire series and loved it. My 12, 15, and 17 year olds all read the series. Then I picked it up. I am a fan of Tolkien (Two of my children are named after characters from LOTR), I read the MacDonalds, Lewis', Lawheads and many more when I was growing up and fell in love with those who create realistic worlds.
I grew up and began to see new talents and stories of space by Asimov, or stories of Gunslingers from King.
Peterson writes a story that is engaging to every age group. He writes with such brilliance that you are captured from the introduction. His created world is amazing, breath taking and also captures you instantly.
This is a work of art on par with Lewis, Tolkien and Asimov. Don't call it only a children's book.
I not only read it, but found the audio book to hear it read!