The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers - CSFF Tour

Courage and a heart for adventure drive twelve-year-old Aidan Errolson, shepherd boy from Longleaf Manor. When the bark of the bog owl echoes from the forest and across his father’s well-tended pastures, Aidan dreams of wild places still untamed and quests not yet pursued. So begins the adventure that is The Bark of the Bog Owl, Book One in The Wilderking Trilogy. Written by Jonathan Rogers and releasing in September, The Bark of the Bog Owl follows Aidan’s progress from shepherd boy to national hero.

Aidan is the youngest son of Errol, a great warrior and landholder, descended from the first settlers of the land of Corenwald. The Corenwalders have always been a nation of pioneers and adventurers, carving a civilization out of the swamp and tanglewood of their island realm. But their success in taming the wilderness may prove the greatest threat to Corenwald's survival. In their new-found comfort and prosperity, King Darrow and his noblemen have begun to lose sight of the principles of freedom and justice on which their kingdom was founded.

Corenwald's deliverer, according to the old prophecies, will be not just a new king, but a Wilderking, who will ascend to the throne from Corenwald's wildest places. Only the Wilderking can balance his people’s civilizing impulses with the wildness that gives Corenwald its vitality. Aidan’s life changes forever on the day Bayard the Truthspeaker arrives at Longleaf with an astonishing pronouncement: it is Aidan’s destiny to be the Wilderking.

But not just yet. Many trials and adventures will mold the shaggy-headed shepherd boy into the man who can bring Corenwald back to its former glory. Aidan’s passion for adventure and heroism blossoms with his friendship with Dobro Turtlebane. Dobro is one of the feechiefolk—a tribe of half-civilized swamp dwellers who fight too much, laugh too loud, cry too easily, and smell awful. Aidan’s courage—not to mention his surprising talent for catfish grabbling and alligator wrestling—wins the feechiefolk over, despite their deep mistrust of “civilizers.” And when the warships of the mighty Pyrthen Empire land on Corenwald’s shores, it is Aidan who reminds his countrymen of a courage they had forgotten they possessed.

This initial installment in The Wilderking Trilogy is sure to capture the hearts of young and old, boys and girls alike. Written in the same fashion as The Lord of the Rings or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Bark of the Bog Owl, as the author says, will help “direct a God-fearing boy’s sense of adventure and warrior spirit – his God-given wildness.”

Check out these other participants on this tour:
Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Janey DeMeo Merrie Destefano or Alien Dream Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Karen Dawn King Mike Lynch Rachel Marks Karen McSpadden Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen John W. Otte Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Donna Swanson Daniel I. Weaver Laura Williams Timothy Wise