Outlaws of Time #2: The Song of Glory and Ghost audiobook

One of the marks of a great writer is what Owen Barfield called “presence of mind,” which he used to describe his good friend C.S. Lewis, meaning this: “What he thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.” Wherever Lewis went, there he was. The truths he believed resided so deep in his bones, they flowed inevitably into every story and sermon and poem he wrote. By now, N.D. Wilson has produced enough for the same to be manifestly true of him. His most beloved themes (distilled in his two nonfiction works, Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl and Death by Living) are incarnated in every children’s novel to date: courage, self-sacrifice, thanksgiving, feasting, wonder at the world, laughter in the face of evil, joy in our own finitude, faith in the God of perfect stories. In Book 2 of Outlaws of Time, the prevailing theme is two-pronged: reverence and gratitude for old age, and therefore fearlessness in the face of death. Do not dread or deny the advancing years, but wear them stately and heavy like a crown. We are not meant to be young and wrinkle-free forever; our bodies are meant to change, to be given away, to be "lovely as a ripened field; rich as an ancient tree still bearing fruit in her final season." Wilson develops this theme not primarily in Sam Miracle, the hero of the first book, but—surprise—Glory. And that’s just one of the fun shifts in Book 2. Book 1 was a chase; cat and mouse; hunt while hunted. Book 2 is a race against time, through time, outside of time, in many times, sometimes spinning through various times in a little hamster ball of your own time. If you’re dizzy, you should be. In The Song of Glory and Ghost, we trade the oven-baked desert of Arizona for Wilson’s own stomping grounds in the moody Pacific northwest. The setting—a post-apocalyptic world largely destroyed by the Vulture, lawless bands of survivors claiming territories and camping out in abandoned mansions—employs a popular motif in modern entertainment. (Think The Walking Dead, The Maze Runner, The Last Ship.) It’s a timely switch-up for Wilson. The motif could easily feel cliché, but he wards this off with a characteristically robust and inspiring cast (you’ve never met anyone quite like Ghost, hands-down the best new character) and high-spirited theology. The result feels like listening to your favorite artist cover a familiar song; the pleasure lies in recognizing the old theme and appreciating how this new recording sounds. I hate spoilers, so I’ll keep the plot recap simple. The Vulture is wounded and dangerous. Young Peter is in mortal danger, and because he must grow up to become the old man who saves Sam in Book 1, this puts Sam in mortal danger, and because Sam is the only one who can defeat the Vulture, the life of the entire world is at stake.Enter Wilson’s new superhero: Glory. If you’re a Sam fan, get ready to have the hero take a backseat while the sidekick is promoted. It’s a testament to Sam’s coolness that I missed hanging out with him, but Glory is truly tremendous. Equipped with terrifying new skills she can’t (yet) control, she must journey back in time and rescue Peter from the wrong death, thus preserving his future death as an old man in which he sacrifices himself to save Sam. She is far braver than I ever would be. Every superhero fumbles around with their new powers at first, but forget Ironman accidentally torching his cars or Spiderman missing a skyscraper—this is no fun and games. The scariest scene Wilson has ever penned is when Glory is testing her new gift. (Look for it on pages 204-206.) Throw in revolting new villains, a redheaded fangirl, a bearded pirate with a questionable moral compass, the same entertaining Lost Boys (but with more screen time), hellish sea monsters, and a mysterious white-haired demon, and you’ve got the funnest middle-grade adventure I’ve read since, well, Book 1. Here’s the truth that sank home for me. Glory’s mission (and her gusto for it) reminds me of Gandalf’s oft-quoted words to Frodo: “All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given us.” And Boniface, less well-known but just as good: “I know I shall die, and I shall die on time. Therefore, I must make the most of the moments between here and there.” What does this mean? Our greatest mission is to die the deaths we are meant to die. They are already written—so chase them. How? Every moment you live, you are dying; how you live is, naturally, how you die. So if you’re living for others, you’re dying for them. Peter dies multiple times. So does Sam. So can we. Die in little things, big things, dishes, car rides, diapers, picking up chores for your sister, stopping to talk with the nagging acquaintance who never has anything interesting to say. Spill your years like wine. Spend them like money lavished at Christmas. Give till you're gone. Receive Glory’s charge: "Take up the life that is yours. Walk the lonely winding roads to the deaths that are yours. Live with open hands." Just like old age, the right death, the timely death, the daily death, is a crown. Welcome to its weight. Live well, die well, and you will hear glory, hallelujah.

Fantastic book. Not enough action though.

I was determined to finish this before the release date, and have made it by the skin of my teeth.About three decades ago, I introduced a friend to the novels of Charles Williams. "I'm not entirely sure what he's saying," my friend told me after reading one, "but I agree." That's kind of how I'm feeling about this latest from N. D. Wilson. I know there is so much more here than my feeble mind was able to process on this first trip through, but what I could grasp I gobbled up, and it was feast enough for now. Mostly I got what I always get from Wilson's books, an exhortation summed up by a line of dialogue in chapter 11: "...you need courage beyond measure and a heart always pouring but never emptied." In other words, you need heart and heart -- heart that faces enemies (including the ones inside) without flinching, and heart that fills neighbors (including, at times, enemies) without failing. I know I don't have that kind of heart (I've long found it ironic that I'm named valorous), but Wilson just keeps hammering the message that I need it and what it looks like to have it. And I keep letting him whack me on the head in hopes the message will get through.Anyway...Glory was my favorite character in the first book, and, to my delight, she gets top billing here. She has both hearts in spades (without requiring so many clubs). A heroine as worthy of emulation as any I've met in literature. The action was so wild and crazy that I couldn't always keep up, but I'm sure I'll catch more on subsequent readings.And go read Gwen's review, which is much smarter than mine.

Wilson has done it again - a whirling racing tale of good vs. evil. It's imaginative to the extreme, a rare imagination. The characters are ones you can love or hate as needed. A tremendous feat but also one I've come to expect from one of my favorite story tellers.

"The Song of Glory and Ghost" (somehow) superseded my love for "The Legend of Sam Miracle." My favorite aspect of this book was the glorious and powerful pictures of femininity portrayed in both Glory and Millie. There's bearded villains, Leviathans, crossbows, Neverland, and even a new Sam. Like the rest of NDW's novels, I highly recommend getting alone and reading the last 120 pages all at once.

I absolutely love this book. The story is excellent. The values are wonderful. It's a book I'm glad to have on my bookshelf.I really enjoyed this one as a re-read. I got a lot more out of it and caught more literary references which I appreciated.

I love Glory.

The. best. Me and my boys (6,5,& 3) LOVED this second installment of the series. We cannot wait for the next one!

I loved Book 1 so much perhaps I shouldn't have dared to read the sequel (as perhaps sequels must always disappoint, if only by nature of being different). Fun fantasy / time travel stuff again, but I was most impressed by the way the ending tied everything together oh so perfectly.

Raced through this sequel, and enjoyed it even more than the first (rare!). I liked the closure of each answered question, and that the plot wasn't riddled with "easy-outs", the usual plague of time-travel books. The end was woven together beautifully, and now I'm just waiting for the next N.D. Wilson book to come out!

There was so much to love in this book. Probably the thing I enjoyed most is that Glory, our spunky girl sidekick from Book #1, is the heroine in this book, with Sam Miracle playing sidekick in his own story. And the truly refreshing thing? Both of them are operating at full 300% awesome levels, because for them, it's not a competition. They're there to help each other, not put each other down. It's a dynamic I wish I saw more of in fiction.There was plenty of other good stuff too. This book is a little more overtly theological than probably most of his books, but Wilson does it in a way that's beautiful, not preachy. The showdown at the end is deeply satisfying (and resolves stuff so well that now I'm not sure if there's even going to be another book?). The fantastic elements, as always in a ND Wilson book, are outrageously out-there; there's one scene where Glory is losing control of her newfound powers, which is pretty incredible on a pure speculative-fiction level. And there are Peter Pan references and Millicent Miracle being terrific (after not really being there at all in Book 1) and Aztec demonesses and a not-remotely-cliched postapocalyptic setting.However...*sigh*...I'm still waiting for Wilson to write a 5-star read. The Song of Glory and Ghost has bits in it that I think I like better than anything else Wilson has ever written, but once again, I feel the book is just too packed with noise - chaotic, fast-paced action. The speculative-fiction stuff got so weird on a number of occasions that I simply couldn't visualise any of the logistics of what was going on, and just read on in muddled confusion. Some supporting characters were mildly annoying and other were awesome (ahem, GHOST!) but I would have liked to see them better used in the story. And finally (maybe a super analytical niggly thing) I would have liked to see Glory earn her power level-ups, instead of being granted them for no apparent reason in the middle of the action. I don't know. Maybe that's a bit too picky.In conclusion, Wilson hits highs and middles in this book. If you already love Wilson, you'll find everything you wanted here. If you don't, maybe start with what's still my favourite, Boys of Blur.

Loved it. Had to deliberately slow myself down so I didn't whiz through it too fast. Loved the setting and how it ended.

dec 2022: here's another Wilson-ism I picked up today. Reading books on the plane is very interesting."Glory Hallelujah," Ghost said. "Dance with darkness, because you are the dawn. May every tongue of your fire burn white-hot against the chains imprisoning others. When your time is done and your life is spent, this will be the song Ghost sings of Glory when he gathers you in.""Amen," Glory said. The word rose out of her and it felt right."This is the purpose for which you were made," Ghost said. "You will soar in this song of ours where only a few can hear, but those few are everything, and when you soar, you will make the rest more beautiful. To many, you will be a wind unseen, You will be the aroma of hope. To others, you must be fierce protection. And you cannot be that without also being destruction and fearless fire . . . There will be much pain. And in that pain, you will find your deepest joys, like the grapes find their wine."(small wonder Mordecai from 100C is grapes, huh)anyway this book is quite literally just a fever dream. I will NEVER begin to be able to understand it, and that's ok I think question mark---all i've got to say is go Glory Hallelujah!2019: GLORY I LOVE YOU2021: HOLY HECK GHOST AND GLORY xNJAIFJEOIALKJSF iM

I'm eleven years old and this book is even better than the first one, and I'm probably going to read it again!!!:)