North! Or Be Eaten takes place several weeks after the Igiby’s, or rather the Wingfeathers' first adventure. It begins with Janner's disillusionment with his new life as the Throne Warden, but his boredom doesn’t last long.
Zouzab immediately creates new and thickening problems for the family as they try to flee to the Ice Prairies. As with any book about getting to a destination, the family suffers many frustrations, setbacks, and separations along the way.
Whereas the first book was calm with a focus on the light, North! Or Be Eaten leans heavily into the darker themes. The light shines brightest in the darkness, but the darkness is tangible in this book.
Nothing goes right for the family. They world is against them. Their feelings of responsibility and resentment create barriers that seem impossible to overcome. Characters experience frightening, even horrifying, trials and find hope and perseverance amidst them.
This book shifts perspectives more than the previous book. Changes in perspective irritate me because I only care about one character, but Peterson does it well. The third person narrative sets the stage for other perspectives and, I was as excited to wade through Janner's thoughts as the others' (no spoilers).
Having set the stage with book one, Peterson rips away the safety rails and throws them into The Dark Sea of Darkness. Although no question is left unanswered, you will be on the edge of your seat until the novel's final page.
As Oober Snatch the Slowpoke once said, “Godspeed!”
I am once again asking, does the dog die? Unfortunately, Nugget does die, this time for good. His loss hits hard and the family grieves him. The sea dragons give Nugget a proper send-off and take him to be buried among heroes.
With that bombshell out of the way, let’s talk about the plot. The first book feels like a stroll through fields of flowers compared to North! Or Be Eaten. When I said Janner’s boredom doesn’t last long, that is the understatement of the century.
Oskar, alive and… less than well, witnesses the couple who saved him be carted away by the black carriage. Lacking any empathy, the Fangs start discussing the Igiby family Zouzab found in the woods. Immediately, Oskar flees to warn the family, except he's spotted and brings the assault hot on his heels.
The family flees from the Fangs, Stranders, and more Fangs as they seek any way to the ice prairies, where Fangs are supposed to be slow and miserable. Even more eerie, the dragons warn Janner that a dreadful man is near them.
With their home in shambles, their lives at stake, and an ever-growing mountain of opposition, an uglier side of the characters surfaces.
Their decisions made so much sense and yet raked my heart all the same. Janner’s resentment toward his brother hurt most of all as it slowly tore them apart, the bond of brothers broken and marred.
As the page number grew and the amount left shrunk, I found myself fearing the worst— a cliffhanger. Fear not, Peterson resolves all the book-specific worries, although he waits until the very last moment!
Speaking of cliff—
