The Secrets of the Wild Wood

{second of 3 in Unauwen series; adventure, battles, children's, young adult, fiction, knights, fantasy}(1965)
(translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson)(2015)

I read this for the August TIOLI/ The Grand European Tour memorial reads for @FAMeulstee; it also works for Women in Translation month.

Tonke Dragt (according to Wikipedia) was born in Indonesia in 1930 (she died only last year, in 2024) and was interned in a Japanese camp during WWII, along with her family, which was where her writing career began at the age of thirteen; maybe a little of her overseas experiences have made their way into her works in her illustrations and the landscapes she describes.

Less than a year after his adventures in The Letter for the King (which I enjoyed show more reading a few years ago) Tiuri, now 17 years old and a knight of the kingdom of Dagonaut, is on his way along with Piak, his squire, and Ardanwen, his black horse, to meet some of the friends he made on his adventures. He meets them, as agreed, at Castle Ristridin and later a party from the kingdom of Unauwen, travelling to the capital of Dagonaut on a secret mission, arrive as well. Tiuri plays chess with one of them to pass the time since they are still waiting for Sir Ristridin - sent on a mission to the Wild Wood by king Dagonaut - who continues to be missing. Worried about him, the friends set off in different directions to search for him which results in further adventures for Tiuri, Piak and their friends. Tiuri and his squire head for the mysterious and forbidding Wild Wood and end up experiencing many trials including being captured and held prisoner, fighting battles and encountering the black knight with the red shield again (an enemy from the first book) as well as meeting more friends, both old and new.

The book is divided into eight parts, some of which are told from other characters' points of view (not just Tiuri's). There is also a bit of comic relief from a character called Red Quibo, who is usually to be found in pubs.

“At my age it is too late to begin another life,” said Red Quibo. “I‘ll never get used to drinking water"

I do like the illustrations at the beginning of each section, which are by Dragt. I’ve just discovered - after finishing the story - that there are two maps (at the beginning) which are useful although they’re a bit difficult to read in the e-book. Some of the names can be a bit puzzling until you get used to them; for instance, Tiuri's father is also called Tiuri and in this series the kingdoms seem to be named after their kings - or maybe it's the other way around. I do wonder if Robert Jordan had read this before he wrote the 'Wheel of Time' books;

“But history becomes legend, and legends are forgotten.”

is a similar sentiment to the quotes he put at the beginning of each book in his series.

Initially I found this book nice but not engaging and the writing a bit rough, which snagged me and slowed me down. Whether that was due to the translation or the original writing I don't know; I think you'd have to ask someone who has read the book in the original Dutch. Though, to be honest, I'm a little vague on how the black knight got so many men to follow him and I've forgotten the details from The Letter for the King about the kingdom of Eviellan - minor quibbles - I thought the plotting was good especially of the over-arching story. There are occasional rich details and subtleties to the story, such as the second chess match, but I felt that the vocabulary and maybe the pacing were off. It's not all happily ever after; Tiuri and his friends face real danger and there is some loss of life, both friends and foes.

I thought this story improved somewhat as it went on. By part 3, with its maybe-fey woods and cryptic remarks by several characters, I started to feel we were on the cusp of something. In part 8 (of the 8) the tension was really mounting, which pushed up my rating by half a star - I even had to put it down at the penultimate chapter to regroup!

The ending is slightly open-ended but there are only two novels in this series - though there are some short stories set in the same universe so maybe there are some conclusions in those. I'll have to see if any have been translated into English.

(August 2025)
3.5-4 stars show less

I utterly adore this book.

It had been some years since I’d read it initially, and I’d basically forgotten everything—which I honestly kind of love! Lol!

“Secrets of the Wild Wood” sees a lot more action than “The Letter for the King” did. Like, a ton. I was astounded (again, goes back to all the forgetting I apparently did between reads). I even had to set the book aside a few times (reading before bed) as it was just so intense at the time,no I was going crazy wanting to find out what happened and also…sleep, haha! (And frankly, my imagination got a bit too vivid in the Wild Wood.)

Tiuri and Piak grow so much over the course of the book; I truly loved watching them mature, grow, and deal with challenging events. show more Absolutely a favorite read. show less

Surprisingly much better than the first in the series. The action is more focused and characters more nuanced and less one dimensional.

Thiuri and Piark don't have an official Quest as such yet, but they decide to meet up with their previous travelling companions just outside the Wild Wood. Here they learn that another Knight of renown as gone missing, and I was very concerned that this would be a repeat of the first book, but fortunately events take a different turn. The Wild Wood is different place to anywhere we've met previously, there's a chance of genuine harm occurring to at least some of the characters, and Thiuri get's his first look at romance, although poor Piark is left yearning. A complex situation develops with knights from show more the three kingdoms all in the same place, and mostly at the whim of the renegade Wild Wood inhabitants. It's never quite clear if there's actual magic involved or just subtle trickery and skill - a distinction which makes the reading more interesting.

The pacing was better, the story more complex and just generally a better book all around. It still has a lot of the first books' naive charm, but it's more tempered with reality now which appeals to older readers. I can see the love for the series based on this book, but probably not enough to explore any of the author's other works. show less

Spannend! Ook voor de tweede keer, ook als je het als volwassene leest. Ik ervaar het taalgebruik nu als iets meer archaïsch dan ik me herinnerde. Ook verwijzingen naar God kwamen vaker voor. Daar wist ik niks meer van. Aangezien ook niet vaak tegenkom in boeken van Tonke Dragt, neem ik aan dat het met de sfeer te maken heeft: een ridderverhaal. Een met ridders zoals ze zouden moeten zijn.. volgens de Arthurlegenden!

3.5

Review will follow

"Der Wilde Wald" setzt die Geschichte von Ritter Tiuri aus "Der Brief für den König" fort.

Nach einer Winterpause auf der elterlichen Burg ist Ritter Tiuri wieder unterwegs, um sich, wie im ersten Band verabredet, mit befreundeten Rittern zu treffen. Doch einer taucht auch nach dem verabredeten Zeitpunkt nicht auf. Und so machen sich Tiuri und die anderen auf die Suche. Die erste Station ist die Burg Islan, doch da ist nicht alles so, wie es zunächst scheint. Und vom Vorhaben, den nahen Wilden Wald zu erkunden, rät der Burgherr ab (was die Ritter natürlich nicht abhält).

In diesem Band trifft Tiuri auf alte Freunde und alte Feinde, lernt aber auch neue Freunde kennen. Es wird gekämpft und Tiuri muss beweisen, dass ein echter Ritter show more in ihm steckt. Aber auch Piak, sein Schildknappe, muss sich bewähren. Aus meiner Sicht kann das Buch aber auch gut unabhängig vom ersten Band gelesen werden, auch wenn einem dann das Treffen alter Bekannter fehlt.

Wie schon im ersten Band eine ruhig und detailverliebt erzählte Geschichte, deren Erzählstil gut zur Geschichte passt. Mir gefällt auch, dass Tiuri kein "Supermensch" ist und sich aus bedrohlichen Situationen nicht mit Super-Fähigkeiten rettet, sondern durchaus auch gefangen genommen wird. Und auch wenn es die drei Reiche Evillan, Unauwen und Dagonaut so nie gegeben hat liegt der Fokus doch deutlich auf Ritter-Abenteuerroman. show less

Vervolg op de Brief aan de koning en net zo spannend, misschien zelfs wat verrassender en dubbelzinniger. Tiuri en Piak gaan op zoek naar ridder Ristridin in het Wilde Woud, dat veel gevaren bevat, geheimzinnige figuren en dreiging. De slechte vorst van Eviellan bereidt een verraderlijke aanval voor op zijn vader en tweelingbroer. Tiuri wordt gevangengenomen, zonder Piak die eigen avonturen beleeft. Er zijn uitstekende bij-figuren, zoals de ongrijpbare jonkvrouwe Isadoro, de vreemde, allitererende ‘rode Quibo’ en Dragts eigen favoriet (zoals zij in het nawoord bekent) ‘de dwaas van de Boshut’ Marius.’ De jongens worden volwassen: verliefdheid en verwarring, Tiuri doodt voor het eerst een mens.