Secrets Of The Wild Wood
Secrets Of The Wild Wood book cover

Secrets Of The Wild Wood

Paperback

Price
$12.14
ISBN-13
978-1782690634
Dimensions
7.83 x 1.3 x 5.2 inches
Weight
14.7 ounces

Description

The Netherlands' most popular novel, The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt, a high fantasy for nine-year-olds to teens, was first published in 1962. Fans will be delighted with its sequel, The Secrets of the Wild Wood (Pushkin), which takes Tiuri back into the perilous wood, forefronts some of the female characters and offers intrigue, action and escapism -- Nicolette Jones Sunday Times, Children's Books of the Year Adventures of the classic kind await in The Secrets of the Wild Wood, the sequel to The Letter for the King, Tonke Dragt's unmissable Arthurian-inflected tale written in Dutch in 1962 and recently translated into English by Laura Watkinson. In this one, Tiuri must venture into the Wild Wood in search of a brother knight, and encounter all kinds of dangers Telegraph, Books of the Year A spellbinding tale that will appeal to the young and old Lady This remarkable fantasy series, rich in colour, action and verbal virtuosity, was first published in 1963 and has been translated seamlessly from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson. Between the pages are all the essential and traditional ingredients of a timeless and heroic tale with its motifs of friendship, love, courage, loyalty, chivalry... and vile villainy. Lancashire Evening Post Not many books are genuinely spellbinding, this one is Lovereading4Kids Tiuri's adventures take a supernatural turn as he travels through the wild wood on the trail of a missing knight. It is a place of lost cities, robbers, unreliable princesses and mysterious men in green, all posing challenges to the intrepid hero. [This book] deserves readers of all ages Sunday Express Action-packed drama Daily Mail Gripping, spell-binding sequel Gransnet Thrilling Metro For those stay-in and curl-up days Jewish Chronicle A truly unique fantasy classic that I am thrilled will now reach a whole new audience with its excellent English translation Page to Stage A fascinating and absorbing read that opens up a window into another world... A terrific story of love and courage in the face of change and adversity as well as a gripping fantasy read South China Morning Post The Letter for the King received international recognition with over a million copies sold worldwide. Readers are sure to find this sequel, expertly translated by Laura Watkinson, equally as gripping and enthralling Outside in World Tonke Dragt was born in 1930 in Indonesia. When she was twelve, she was imprisoned in a Japanese camp during the war, where she wrote her very first book using begged and borrowed paper. After the war, she and her family moved to the Netherlands, where she became an art teacher. In 1962 she published her most famous story, The Letter for the King, which won the Children's Book of the Year Award and has been translated into sixteen languages. Its sequel, The Secrets of the Wild Wood, followed in 1965. Dragt was awarded the State Prize for Youth Literature in 1976 and was knighted in 2001.

Features & Highlights

  • A Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 'Fans of The Letter for the King will be delighted with its sequel' Sunday Times 'Action-packed drama' Daily Mail One of the King's most trusted knights has vanished in the snow, so young Sir Tiuri and his best friend Piak must journey into the shadowy heart of the forest to find him. The Wild Wood is a place of mysteries, rumours and whispered tales. A place of lost cities, ancient curses, robbers, princesses and Men in Green. As the darkness surrounds him and reports grow of secret plots and ruthless enemies, Tiuri finds himself alone and fighting for survival - caught in a world where good and evil wear the same face, and the wrong move could cost him his life... 'Thrilling' Metro 'Deserves readers of all ages' Sunday Express

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(243)
★★★★
25%
(101)
★★★
15%
(61)
★★
7%
(28)
-7%
(-28)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

An epic tale for all ages

Three years ago now, I picked up a copy of this book’s sequel The Letter for the King, which had only just recently been translated into English. I loved it and shortly after bought its sequel, only to have had it sit on my bookshelf all this time with my excuse being that I wanted to re-read the first before starting this one. Well, that never happened, and finally the other day I picked it and plunged myself again into the kingdoms of Unauwen and Dagonaut, craftfully created through the pen of Tonke Dragt.

I was delightfully reminded of the reason I had enjoyed the first so much. The beautiful world building and medieval-like setting, young Tiuri and his faithful guide and friend Paik, the highly amusing comments from the knights, Tirillo (I squealed when he showed up again in book two)—and just the epic journeys and high stakes that have made up this series. Add to that in this second installment: romance, a highly mysterious Master of the Wild Woods, missing knights, secrets and betrayals, and Forgotten Cities, and, yes, wow! It certainly has a King Arthurian-feel.

The writing itself is unique, probably due to some to the fact that it was written in another language where the sentence structure is much different than English’s, but it only adds to the tale. I’m not one to write or underline things in my books, but I was so tempted in parts when I’d suddenly burst out laughing at a dry or humorous remark or read a scene that had me holding my breath.

Tiuri, the young hero from book one, is now a knight and finding it not be as thrilling as he once thought especially as he compares his now-peaceful life with the adventure he had the year before. Travelling to meet as pre-arranged with other knights at a friend’s castle, they become concerned when the friend in question never shows up and the last heard of him was that he was in the Wild Woods, an overgrown and abandoned place, supposedly haunted by Men in Green. Finding him is not as straightforward as it seems, and to quote the back cover:

“As the darkness surrounds him and reports grow of plots and ruthless enemies, Tiuri finds himself alone and fighting for survival—caught in a world where good and evil wear the same face, and the wrong move could cost him everything…”
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great Quality

The book looked like new, and I was excited to read it!
✓ Verified Purchase

Love the author

Great sequel to the Letter for the King.