Wingfeather and Worldbuilding
When you read a story, do you feel like you’re a part of that world? Do you almost feel goosebumps when the author describes an icy gale blowing down our hero’s neck? Or do your eyes dart to shadows in your room when the adventures tread carefully through an eerie forest?
A good story fosters the imagination and makes you feel a part of the world on the page. You can almost smell it in the air, feel it just beyond the edge of your fingertips. This goes beyond good visual descriptions, more than just painting a word picture. True worldbuilding, even if done in just a few short paragraphs, allows the reader to step beyond the words to see and feel what the characters are experiencing.
I was first intrigued about The Wingfeather Saga when I watched a few of the adapted episodes put out by Angel Studios. The visuals were unique and well done, and the story captured my attention. For the most part, I think books are better than movies/TV (with a few exceptions), so I borrowed my youngest sister’s copy of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and dove into Andrew Peterson’s world of Aerwiar.
It didn’t take long for me to be completely swept up in the story, not only by the compelling characters (a discussion for another entry), but by the grand world Peterson brought to life. I felt like I was journeying alongside the Wingfeather’s in their dangerous quest. Each destination along the way felt delightfully foreign, yet comfortingly familiar.
The rugged landscape of Skree is full of exciting locations – or not-so-exciting, according to Janner’s early musings on Glipwood. From dangerous Dugtown to the mysterious under-ice town of Kimera in the Ice Prairies, each stop along the way is a stop on a road trip within your imagination. The inhabitants of each point on the map reflect the cultural regards of their respective towns, adding to the realism of the journey.
Small details demonstrate Peterson’s thought behind the world he constructed. Everything fits well, even if it seems a bit absurd. I laughed at Torrboro’s kitten-inspired architecture, but didn’t question it. It just made sense. Then journeying across the Dark Sea, I found myself longing for the way of life described in the Hollows, even more for the Shining Isle of Anniera. It smelled richly of home.
Aerwiar does indeed mirror Earth and its inhabitants, from the beginning of their history when Gladys and Dwayne (akin to our Adam and Eve) were given life from the Maker and assigned to settle the world. The history that followed (often referenced in delightful footnotes of Aerwiar literature) highlights the successes and follies of mankind which our history also records. The characters live in a world with a richly thought-out history, which adds to the depth of the story.
The Wingfeather Saga chronicles a series of events that play into a larger story, which is what our lives are. My own life is but a thread in the greater tapestry that the Creator has designed. What I see from my own point of view often obscures the larger picture, but sometimes I catch glimpses of it, or see it in other people’s personal stories. And the One in charge of that larger story is the greatest Worldbuilder of all.