CSFF Blog Tour – The Bark of the Bog Owl, Day 1

I confess. When I first read an excerpt of The Bark of the Bog Owl,
 Book One of The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers (Broadman & Holman – now B & H), I was captivated. The tone was fun, the character interesting. He was bold but a bit starry-eyed and naive. It made me love him and feel a little sorry, too, because I thought he was in for a bit of a let down.

Here’s a small quote and I think you’ll see what I mean:

His Majesty, King Darrow of Corenwald,
Protector of the People,
Defender of the Faith,
Keeper of the Island
Tambluff Castle
West Bank of the River Tam
Tambluff, Corenwald

My Dearest King—

You will be glad to learn that I am still available for any quest, adventure, or dangerous mission for which you might need a champion or knight-errant. I specialize in dragon-slaying, but would be happy to fight pirates or invading barbarians if circumstances require. I would even be willing to rescue a fair maiden imprisoned by evil relatives. That would not be my first choice, since I am not of marrying age. Still, in peaceful and prosperous times like these, an adventurer takes whatever work he can find. As always, I am at your service and eagerly await your reply.

Yours very sincerely,

Aidan Errolson of Longleaf Manor

P.S. I have not yet received an answer to my last letter—or to my fourteen letters before that. Mail service being what it is on the frontier, I assume your replies were lost. I hope you don’t mind that I have taken the liberty of writing again.

You can see the humor to it as well. And it only gets better. If you’d like to read the rest of the excerpt, you can find it here.

But I was confessing, so I need to continue. After finding this delightful, fun, interesting character, I held off buying and reading The Bark of the Bog Owl for quite some time. Why? Because I thought the story would be predictable. You see, I discovered the book was a retelling of a well-known event in Biblical history.

Why read a fictionalized version, was my question. What I didn’t know was how this was only a retelling of sorts, with lots of interesting variations. Amazingly, when I finally did give in and read the book, I discovered I had a greater understanding of the Biblical event and yet experienced a story that was so unique and fun, it was in no way spoiled because I knew key plot points in advance.

Over all, I found the book to be one of the best pieces of writing you’ll want to read—inside of Christian fiction or out. It’s got all the components, expertly crafted.

Happily, I overcame my hesitation and let better sense win out. My confession is to my foolishness for waiting so long to discover this outstanding writer and his top-notch debut fantasy.

Note, I am not writing a full-blown review. It’s been over a year since I read the book, so I wouldn’t do the story justice. Plus you can read an excellent review by the 2007 ACFW Genesis Winner, Fantasy Category, Sally Apokedak, posted at Spec Faith.

Take some time to learn what other bloggers on the tour have to say about The Bark of the Bog Owl. Note in particular those in bold that were left off the original list.

Published in: on October 22, 2007 at 10:43 am  Comments (5)  

5 Comments

  1. On October 22, 2007 at 12:35 pm Eve said:

    I absolutely loved this book-and so do my kids…and even my hubby is hooked! Awesome book. Come see my review.

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  2. On October 22, 2007 at 4:32 pm Merrie Destefano said:

    This book sounds really good. I loved your review, Becky!

    What age group is this book for? I wasn’t sure if it was YA or adult.

    Thanks for a great first day on the blog tour!
    🙂

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  3. On October 22, 2007 at 11:11 pm Janey said:

    Great post Becky. And your blog is a feast.

    blessings,
    Janey, your sorta neighbor

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  4. On October 23, 2007 at 9:48 am pixy said:

    I’m excited we’re doing the tour on this book. My daughter would really love it I think.

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  5. On October 23, 2007 at 11:37 am Rebecca LuElla Miller said:

    Merrie, The Wilderking Trilogy is for middle grade/YA readers, but at Robert said in his post, there are elements here that make these books like C. S. Lewis’s, bridging age and gender. His writing is so strong and the story a pure delight. They are small books, a la Narnia, so they fly by.

    Janey, your interview with Jonathan was so good. Not too long, like mine tend to get. 🙂 Just right, with great questions.

    Yes, Rachel, I think your kids would LOVE these books. Even your little ones, if you read to them.

    Eve, I’m heading over to read your review right now! (See you at Eve’s place. 😉 )

    Becky

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