The Hidden Sea

Wildsmith #3

by Liz Flanagan, Joe Todd-Stanton (Illustrator)

Rowan has been working as a wildsmith. But when she finds herself alone and far from home, this time Rowan is the one who needs to be rescued! She travels deep into enemy territory and makes some surprising discoveries, coming face to face with great danger.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2024

About the author

Liz writes for children and young adults. She teaches creative writing, and lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, with her husband and two daughters. She used to be Centre Director at the Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, and previously worked in children's book publishing.

Reviews

[Tonja Drecker]

Adventure, suspense, and tons of fantasy mix into an exciting tale, which is very suited for the younger end of the middle grade audience.

Rowan is hiding with her father and Mouse, a Pegasus, far from home. As a wordsmith who can communicate with animals, she's being hunted to join the enemy forces. Mouse is also being hunted due to his magical abilities, so both need to hide. When witch friends arrive with the news that they've found Mouse's family, Rowan convinces her father to let her fly with him back to his herd to make sure he safely arrives. All goes well until her ship home is intercepted by an enemy vessel. Now, she needs to escape and help some new friends along the way.

This is the third in a series, and while it would be beneficial to read these in order, it's not overly difficult to sink right in, either. But the novels do build on each other. Rowan wins over right away with her kind heart and desire to do whatever she can to help. Yet, she doesn't take unnecessary risks, either. There's a few emotional moments thanks to reunions in the beginning and at the end, which add a nice touch of warmth. The rest is adventure and tension pure as she finds herself in one sticky situation after the next. She doesn't solve these alone but works together with others to make it through. It creates characters to cheer for and moments to fever right along with the characters. Plus, there's a nice dose of friendship goodness as well. It was also enjoyable to see selkies and other mystical figures woven in.

There are illustrations sprinkled in every few pages, which help to visualize certain moments and characters. The author doesn't slide into too much depth but keeps this tale mostly action driven. This works very well for the intended reading level. It snuggles up right at the lower end of the middle grade group, a little longer than most chapter books but still not overly heavy like many middle grade reads. The chapters are kept short at 5-6 or so pages, and the font and spacing are on the larger side for reading ease. The adventure moves along quickly and with quite a bit of tension to make it a grabbing read even for slightly older readers, who just enjoy 'easier' books.

This one wraps up with just enough opening to lead into another adventure, so I'm looking forward to see what Rowan will face next.

[Vonprice]

Third book in an excellent illustrated fantasy quest series for readers of 7+
My full review is here: http://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home....

[Maria Carmo]

Another exhilarating adventure with lot's of magical characters, a just cause and tones of courage and hope! Loved this third book and I am already immagining the next big adventure with Rowan!

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon 11 April 2025

[Ember Moto]

not as good as the others in the series, there was less focus on the magical creatures.

[Mila Parizot]

I really like this book because ther was a lot of suspense at the end of the chapters ,the story was very interesting I loved it

[R2 Ireland]

This was my favorite in the series so far.
I really liked Isla, though Rowan's promise to see her again is about as likely as Ash pokemon battling all those people he promised to rematch again.

[Amy Kirkby]

Amazing

[Jonathan Houldsworth]

another great read!

My daughter and I really enjoyed the story and we can’t wait to see where Rowan’s adventures take her next.

[Rebekah]

A great continuation of the story with brilliant new characters. Still with some heavy themes of war and persecution, but very sensitively done. And the illustrations are so nice!
Rowan continues to be a really likeable and admirable character.
I particularly loved how the kids helped save the crew from drowning even though they'd been taken prisoner by them and threatened. So great to see children acting with compassion and mercy!

If you liked the first two, you'll like this one.

CW:
- animals being hunted
- witches appearing in a burst of flames
- witches perform magic spell with circle and incantation
- healing magic, drawing energy from the earth

[EnJay Mc]

Wildsmith: The Hidden Sea by Liz Flanagan

Another great story about Rowan the wildsmith. My son stayed awake, every night that I read this to him, begging for "one more chapter".
A great story, great characters and great mythical creatures explored once more in the third installment of this series. We are honestly, counting down the months until the next book is out (October) but we can not wait!
This is one of my sons favourite authors (and he told her as much when we bought this book) I think she is the first children's author that I wouldn't hesitate to buy, if I saw her books 'out in the wild'