The Edge Chronicles
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The Edge Chronicles is a children's book series written by Paul Stewart and illustrated by Chris Riddell. Originally published in the United Kingdom, the series has since been published in the United States as well.
Contents |
[edit] Setting
The Edge Chronicles is set on the Edge, which appears to be either a huge cliff jutting out of the clouds, or an island floating in the sky.
The Edge is made up of many different environments, the first of which is the Edgelands, the very northern and southern edges of the cliff. It is a barren rocky place forever clouded in mist. There, people may stumble into the Twilight Woods, fall over the edge of the Edge itself, or find the gloamglozer, the most feared of the demons in the Edge.
The second is the Deepwoods, the forest to which many woodlands creatures, both peaceful and deadly, call home - including the hero of the first three books of the Chronicles. It is the largest area of the Edge, a seemingly endless panorama of teeming life in so many diverse forms. In the Deepwoods there are a few settlements apart from the normal villages and tribes. There is the Foundry Glade, the Eastern Roost, the Goblin Nations and the Free Glades. The Free Glades consist of The Ironwood Glade, which is next to the South Lake and the Great Lake. Near the edge of the Great Lake there is the Lake Landing, which is near the Waif Glen where the reckoning takes place and where only the invited can get in. Next to the great lake there is the Woodtroll timberyards, and in the North Lake there is Lullaby island. At the very edge of the free glades, there is a cliff, which is full of caves where Clottertrogs reside. And most important of all, there is New Undertown. At the end of the Deepwoods, after Waif Country, is a giant cliff which leads to the bottom Riverrise. Behind the waterfall that is there, there is a staircase, which leads above the clouds, to the top of Riverrise. In the middle there is a pool, which the waterfall at the bottom flows from. Around it, there are hundreds of trees and flowers, making it all seem like a huge garden. (Take note that the villages, settlements and New Undertown only feature in the last three books)
Third comes the Twilight Woods, a place of decay and immortality which gives off a strange force that makes anyone who enters forget themselves and be lost forever in daydreams and nightmares. It is a place that robs you of your senses and all your faculties, but never grants you the peace of death. Great storms are attracted to the place to release great bolts of lightning that hit the earth in solid form, as the revered substance "Stormphrax", and despite the risks many venture there in search of the powerful crystals.
Next is the Mire, a bubbling brownish-white land of endless ooze that resulted from the dumping of waste and sludge by nearby Undertown. It is a place of hidden blow holes and sinking quick-mud, and seems perfectly uninhabitable - except for the creeping monsters that hide in the waste. (In the last three books, there exists a great road over the Mire, run by Shrykes, fearsome bird-creatures)
Old Undertown is next door to the Mire, the capital of the Edge. Holding a diverse population, the city is still less than prosperous in many areas, and shanties are pressed tight to its outskirts. Undertown is also built on the banks of the large Edgewater River which splits the city in two. This is the centre of commerce on the Edge, a place of merchants and pirates - each trying to undercut the other. It was destroyed afterwards by a dark Maelstorm created by Vox Verlix.
When pieces of New Sanctaphrax fell off, it destroyed part of Old Undertown, creating Screetown. It is as uninhabitalble as the Mire; only rubble ghouls, which suck the moisture out of everything they encounter, leaving it completely dry.
An enormous buoyant rock that floats in the air is the site of the scholarly city of Sanctaphrax, which teaches students a variety of subjects - mainly concerning the weather and how to predict it. There are Colleges of Raintasters, Cloudwatchers, Mistsifters, and so on. Other scholars also come here to pore over the many texts here for study. Sanctaphrax is attached to Undertown by a huge metal chain to prevent its floating away. In Midnight Over Sanctaphrax, the chain holding down Sanctaphrax is cut, and the city floats away. It is replaced by New Sanctaphrax, a second giant rock which has given in to stone sickness, causing it to sink and almost rot away. It is now supported by a forest of support beams, maintained by thousands of slaves.
The final part of the Edge is the Stone Gardens, at the very western area of the Edge. The Gardens are where buoyant rocks slowly "grow" from the surface, and eventually float away into the sky. The Garden is guarded by the White Ravens, which keep an eye on the cultivation of the strange stones. These stones are used to build great flying boats known as Sky-ships, and without the stones transport on the Edge would be a very limited affair. Later in the series, the Stone Gardens are infected with "Stone Sickness" - a degenerative disease that brought to an end the "First Age of Flight", which in turn brought about many other changes to the Edge.
The Edge finally ends here, and the Edgewater River slips into the void past the eastern edge, at the very tip of the cliff, to endlessly tumble into the void below.
[edit] Animals and plants of the Edge
One of the elements the series is known for is its interesting array of plant and animal life, described in such detail (and accompanied by beautiful line drawings) that it feels like the story is taking place in an actual living, breathing fantasy world.
- See also: Animals of the Edge Chronicles and Plants of the Edge Chronicles
[edit] Works in the series
Here is a list of all of The Edge Chronicles so far in the chronological storyline order, with original date of publication. There will be ten books in all.
[edit] The Quint Saga
- Cloud Wolf (January, 2001). ISBN 0-552-54749-2
- The Curse of the Gloamglozer (September, 2002). ISBN 0-552-54733-6
- Winter Knights (September, 2005). ISBN 0-385-60720-2
- Clash of the Sky Galleons (October, 2006). ISBN 0-385-60721-0
[edit] The Twig Saga
- Beyond the Deepwoods (October 1, 1998). ISBN 0-385-40967-2
- Stormchaser (November, 1999). ISBN 0-385-60004-6
- Midnight Over Sanctaphrax (September 3, 2001). ISBN 0-552-54675-5
- The Stone Pilot (March 2, 2006). ISBN 0-552-55439-1
[edit] The Rook Barkwater Saga
- The Last of the Sky Pirates (September 1, 2002). ISBN 0-385-60200-6
- Vox (September, 2003). ISBN 0-385-60461-0
- Freeglader (September 2, 2004). ISBN 0-385-60462-9
[edit] Reference
- Edge Map (September 2, 2004). ISBN 0-552-55125-2
(There is some debate over where The Stone Pilot is placed in the chronology, as although the story is set in a certain time period, the narration of the story is told from the persective of a later time period in the canon.)
[edit] Cover gallery
 Cloud Wolf |
 Curse of the Gloamglozer |
 Winter Knights |
 Clash of the Sky Galleons |
 Beyond the Deepwoods |
 Stormchaser |
 Midnight Over Sanctaphrax |
 The Stone Pilot |
 The Last of the Sky Pirates |
 Vox |
 Freeglader |
 The Edge Maps |
