The Way of the Wilderking

When fear of God has left the land, To be replaced by fear of man; When Corenwalders free and true Enslave themselves and others too, When mercy and justice disappear, When life is cheap and gold is dear, When freedom's flame has burned to ember And Corenwalders can't remember What are truths and what are lies, Then will the Wilderking arise. ~from The Wilderking Chant Corenwald is in trouble. Six years have passed since Aidan first went to Tambluff in service of King Darrow. Those six years have not been kind to the king. He's grown increasingly paranoid and he's made bad moves. Prince Steren has served his father well, soothing and advising him, but now even he is losing influence and the country appears to be in real danger because of the king's foolish behavior. And yet, The Way of the Wilderking, the final book in the Wilderking Trilogy, is not a dark and depressing book. In fact, it opens with a hilarious scene and the comedy, much like the Energizer Bunny, keeps going and going and going. I thought these books couldn't get any funnier. After all, how many funny feechie feasts, feechie sings, and feechie contests can one swamp produce? Ha! I forgot the old saying, "You can take the feechie out of the swamp but you can't take the swamp out of the feechie." Fortunately for feechie fans everywhere, Dr. Rogers thought to take the feechie out of the swamp. What do you get when mix Dobro Turtlebane with a civilizer city? One disaster following another, in finest feechie fashion. Rogers, as anyone would expect, does a fine job with the writing in this book. The prose is great, the scenes are well painted, and the descriptions are clear. As he did with The Secret of the Swamp King, the author once again weaves in a bit of a mystery for his readers. The difference is that in The Secret of the Swamp King, the mystery, when solved, brought some heartache, while in this final book the solving of the mystery brings Rogers' account of Corenwalder history to a satisfying and happy conclusion. There are some hard things on the way to that happy conclusion, though. There is war, for one thing, and with war comes death. The role thrust upon Aidan is also a hard thing--a heavy burden. There are some deep lessons in this book, too--forgiveness, sacrificial love, reconciliation, humility, obedience, fighting against a false humility--all of these things were touched upon. They weren't dwelt upon, I think they could have been brought a little more to the fore even, but they were there in the lives of the characters as they went about the business of the story. Altogether a great read. I have to give it five stars. I can't imagine giving that gallant and goofy Dobro anything less than five stars for his wonderful performance in this book. I would love to quote several of his lines for you--there are so many to choose from. He is not only funny, he is sweet and chivalrous and adorable in so many ways. (Stinky, too, of course, but that goes

Jonathan Rogers has capped off his Wilderking Series in style with this last edition to the trilogy! I rushed out to get this book after reading The Secret of the Swamp King and I wasn't disappointed! Mr. Rogers continues to ramp up the action and it seems the only one who doesn't realize Aidan is the legendary Wilderking of prophecy is Aidan himself. But that will all change in this exciting conclusion to the series. There are exciting moments and sad ones as well. But it all comes together wonderfully and never disappoints. Dobro Turtlebane is in rare form as he leaves the swamps with Aidan and tries to mingle with civilizers for the first time...not to be missed!--James Somers, author: The Chronicles of Soone.

These three books were exciting and heart-warming. The characters are fun and likeable (except for the bad guys, of course). I couldn't put them down; just kept reading until I was done with all three. Then I started looking around for numbers 4, 5 and 6. I would recommend them to everyone.

The Way of the Wilderking begins when a reluctant 18-year-old Aidan is called to be the legendary Wilderking. Fearing for his father, brothers, and all innocent people under the rule of the jealous king Darrow, Aidan is forced to fight and lead an army of miscreants and Feechiefolk. To everyone's astonishment, Aidan, who has not denied loyalty to King Darrow and Prince Keren, instead leads his army against the threat of Pyrthens. By Jonathan Rogers, The Way of the Wilderking is the third book in the Wilderking Trilogy. To fully understand the many aspects of this story, read the first book, The Bark of the Bog Owl, and the second, The Secret of the Swamp King. This hardbound book has 25 chapters and 225 pages. The story is fun and humorous, but also quite adventurous. The Way of the Wilderking is great for 10- to 14-year-olds who don't mind convenient plot twists. Reading this book will inspire you to become the person God created you to be--even if you feel unqualified. - Estee Wells, Christian Book [..]

I'd give six stars for this book if it were possible. We couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. Indeed, The Way of the Wilderking, may, perhaps, be Jonathon Rogers' best yet. Our family has loved all three of the books -- "The Bark of the Bog Owl," "Secret of the Swamp King," and now "The Way of the Wilderking." The creativity within the storytelling, the ongoing antics and sayings of Dobro, the poignant scene of redemption, the element of revealed mystery/history, the battle scenes, and the hysterically funny chapter of when Dobro goes to his first theater kept a constant call for "Read more!" We can't recommend this trilogy highly enough. For the past couple of years, "The Bark of the Bog Owl" has been the birthday gift we've given to our kids' friends, and now we're continuing each subsequent year by adding the sequels. We just wish there would be a fourth so we can see how Aidan does as king. But if you're contemplating buying "The Way of the Wilderking"...buy it!