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jenniferntremblay's review against another edition
5.0
I won a free copy of Flight of the Griffons by Kate Inglis and Illustrated by Sydney Smith in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. Thank you!
If I could have, I would have finished this novel in one sitting. Unfortunately life doesn't always allow for those kinds of things. So I had to put up with only having time to read this in the morning before tearing myself away to get ready for work.
Now that I've read Flight of the Griffons, I’m going to go down to our locally owned book shop and ask them to order in book one of this series, The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods. I know, I know. I read the second book in the series first, not really something you are supposed to do. But you know what? Flight of the Griffons was well really written. I jumped into a series halfway through, and I wasn't lost by all of the characters and past events. Kate Inglis does a wonderful job giving us little hints of the first book without it being blatantly obvious that she’s doing a recap. Brilliant!
So I know I've already said it, but I truly enjoyed this book. So much so that Flight of the Griffons has earned a place on my shelf next to the Harry Potter series. Which reminds me, when I go downtown to order The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods, I’m going to recommend this series to the manager. I think she’d like them.
I was tickled to read about these wonderful pirates creating delightful havoc in familiar places and doing things that I would love to be doing myself. Especially the Griffons, if I had the chance, I would want to be a part of their crew.
I haven’t said much about the storyline because I don’t want to give away anything. This review is spoiler free!
I am definitely going to recommending Flight of the Griffons to friends and family.
(This has nothing to do with the story itself, but I was very excited to find out that the illustrator graduated from NSCAD University, Halifax which is exactly where I went to post-secondary!)
Last note I promise – I love the illustrations! Especially The Griffons Roster in the front.
If I could have, I would have finished this novel in one sitting. Unfortunately life doesn't always allow for those kinds of things. So I had to put up with only having time to read this in the morning before tearing myself away to get ready for work.
Now that I've read Flight of the Griffons, I’m going to go down to our locally owned book shop and ask them to order in book one of this series, The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods. I know, I know. I read the second book in the series first, not really something you are supposed to do. But you know what? Flight of the Griffons was well really written. I jumped into a series halfway through, and I wasn't lost by all of the characters and past events. Kate Inglis does a wonderful job giving us little hints of the first book without it being blatantly obvious that she’s doing a recap. Brilliant!
So I know I've already said it, but I truly enjoyed this book. So much so that Flight of the Griffons has earned a place on my shelf next to the Harry Potter series. Which reminds me, when I go downtown to order The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods, I’m going to recommend this series to the manager. I think she’d like them.
I was tickled to read about these wonderful pirates creating delightful havoc in familiar places and doing things that I would love to be doing myself. Especially the Griffons, if I had the chance, I would want to be a part of their crew.
I haven’t said much about the storyline because I don’t want to give away anything. This review is spoiler free!
I am definitely going to recommending Flight of the Griffons to friends and family.
(This has nothing to do with the story itself, but I was very excited to find out that the illustrator graduated from NSCAD University, Halifax which is exactly where I went to post-secondary!)
Last note I promise – I love the illustrations! Especially The Griffons Roster in the front.
richardlevangie's review
5.0
Kate Inglis has destroyed my street credibility in the rough and tumble Dartmouth neighborhood where I live. Three times in the last fortnight, while waiting for the bus to whisk me away to my writing residency at the University of King’s College’s MFA in creative nonfiction program, Flight of the Griffons made me cry.
That’s not just the sign of a very good book. It’s the sign of blessedness.
Flight of the Griffons is, by every measure, a rip-roaring and rowdy juvenile adventure and a very tall tale that will delight readers of every age even as it tackles the most serious issue of our day: the destruction of Planet Earth by capitalism gone awry. At the same time, Griffons portrays the unconscionable plight of Canada’s First Nations with both grace and delicacy, and I will be eternally grateful for the author’s decision to write this modern parable.
Flight of the Griffons is Inglis’s sequel to the bestselling The Dread Crew, and it exceeds the original in every way. That’s no small thing. While we enjoy spending some time with the old Dreads, a motley crew of land pirates who know how to have a good time, we’re quickly immersed in the latest adventures of Missy Bullseye who was, for me anyway, the most intriguing character in the first book.
What can I say? I love Missy. I mean, I really love her. She has the heart of a swashbuckler and the soul of a poet. She’s profoundly deaf, but skilled at reading lips — and emotions. In the best traditions of juvenile fiction, she is afraid of nothing, repeatedly proving that she is resourceful, quick, and inventive. I was beguiled. Girls, and more than a few boys, will want to be just like her.
Missy’s adventure with the Griffons begins when the head of the pirate union co-opts her into spying on a blacklisted crew that has fallen off the radar. Nobody is sure what the Griffons are doing, though rumours abound. With pluck and ingenuity, Missy finds her way aboard, and starts spying for the Chief.
But the Griffons are not anything like she expects, and Missy quickly learns that these renegade pirates, under Captain Rasmus Krook now serve Mother Earth. Travelling around Western Canada in a jury-rigged Hercules transport plane, they wreak havoc on the suits who wish to crisscross Canada’s pristine hinterlands with oil and gas pipelines.
I won’t give more away. But I will say that, in the tradition of authors like Roald Dahl, Flight of the Griffons is a wonderfully seditious read. Kids will love it.
Better still, Inglis writes beautifully, and her second offering is both lovely and lyrical. I love Inglis's sense of humor. Throw in a handful of whimsical, old-school illustrations by NSCAD-trained Sydney Smith, and you have the makings of a fabulous book.
I just hope this isn’t the last time we see Missy Bullseye. She does terrific work with the Griffons, but she needs a ship to call her own.
That’s not just the sign of a very good book. It’s the sign of blessedness.
Flight of the Griffons is, by every measure, a rip-roaring and rowdy juvenile adventure and a very tall tale that will delight readers of every age even as it tackles the most serious issue of our day: the destruction of Planet Earth by capitalism gone awry. At the same time, Griffons portrays the unconscionable plight of Canada’s First Nations with both grace and delicacy, and I will be eternally grateful for the author’s decision to write this modern parable.
Flight of the Griffons is Inglis’s sequel to the bestselling The Dread Crew, and it exceeds the original in every way. That’s no small thing. While we enjoy spending some time with the old Dreads, a motley crew of land pirates who know how to have a good time, we’re quickly immersed in the latest adventures of Missy Bullseye who was, for me anyway, the most intriguing character in the first book.
What can I say? I love Missy. I mean, I really love her. She has the heart of a swashbuckler and the soul of a poet. She’s profoundly deaf, but skilled at reading lips — and emotions. In the best traditions of juvenile fiction, she is afraid of nothing, repeatedly proving that she is resourceful, quick, and inventive. I was beguiled. Girls, and more than a few boys, will want to be just like her.
Missy’s adventure with the Griffons begins when the head of the pirate union co-opts her into spying on a blacklisted crew that has fallen off the radar. Nobody is sure what the Griffons are doing, though rumours abound. With pluck and ingenuity, Missy finds her way aboard, and starts spying for the Chief.
But the Griffons are not anything like she expects, and Missy quickly learns that these renegade pirates, under Captain Rasmus Krook now serve Mother Earth. Travelling around Western Canada in a jury-rigged Hercules transport plane, they wreak havoc on the suits who wish to crisscross Canada’s pristine hinterlands with oil and gas pipelines.
I won’t give more away. But I will say that, in the tradition of authors like Roald Dahl, Flight of the Griffons is a wonderfully seditious read. Kids will love it.
Better still, Inglis writes beautifully, and her second offering is both lovely and lyrical. I love Inglis's sense of humor. Throw in a handful of whimsical, old-school illustrations by NSCAD-trained Sydney Smith, and you have the makings of a fabulous book.
I just hope this isn’t the last time we see Missy Bullseye. She does terrific work with the Griffons, but she needs a ship to call her own.
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