The Divide trilogy
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The Divide trilogy is a fantasy trilogy by Elizabeth Kay. It describes the adventures of Felix Sanders in an alternate universe where myth is reality and reality is myth.
Contents |
[edit] The Books
The three books are The Divide (2003), Back to The Divide (2005), and Jinx on The Divide (2006). These books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Italian.
[edit] The Divide
The first book in the trilogy is about a thirteen year old boy named Felix Sanders who has a heart illness that threatens his life. His family is spending their summer vacation in Costa Rica. At a place called the Divide, where the water that runs to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans split, Felix finds himself in a magical world, where mythical creatures are real and humans are a legend.
There, he meets Betony, a tangle-person with an independent personality, Ironclaw, a brilliant yet absent-minded griffin, and Thornbeak, Ironclaw's former mate and a historian. Together, they set off on a journey to cure Felix's illness and send him home. Along the way, they meet Snakeweed, a cunning japegrin who specializes in selling dangerous potions and remedies without testing them. The first book in the series is sure to attract readers to the second and third novels.
[edit] Back to the Divide
Snakeweed has been trying to sell his dark magic in Felix's world, but he hasn't been successful. He wants to return home, but in order to do so, he needs the spell hidden in Felix's notebook. In order to obtain the spell, Snakeweed freezes Felix's parents with a horrible curse that turns anything living into marble. The curse begins to spread, and Felix must head back across the Divide to find the countercharm. The fate of Earth itself may rest on his shoulders.
[edit] Jinx on the Divide
In the third book, a bully at Felix's school, Rhino, accidentally releases the brandee [[djinn] - get it?] from the magical lamp Felix obtained from across the Divide. The djinn takes Rhino hostage, demanding to be returned home and to be given a solid form.
Felix and Betony, visiting in Felix's world, return to the fantasy world. Inside the magical lamp, Rhino has found an ancient jinx box, granting him any of his desires, in exchange for nothing but hearing Rhino say a few simple, magical words... words that could wreck both Felix and Betony's worlds with a deadly mix of science and magic. The ending of the book wraps up all loose ends and concludes the trilogy.
[edit] Major Characters
[edit] Felix Sanders
Felix is a boy with a heart condition that threatens his life. He is very intelligent in the fields of science, and as he travels to the magical world, his scientific knowledge is beginning to be introduced in the magical world, changing it dramatically. He has brown hair and deep blue eyes. His best friend is Betony, a tangle-person he met in the world across the Divide.
[edit] Betony
Betony is a tangle-person, or an elf. She, like all other tangle-folk, has white-blond hair, emerald green eyes, and pointy ears. Unlike other tangle-folk, Betony keeps her hair neat and tidy. Her parents were turned to stone after a healing spell went wrong, and Betony has gotten used to living independently. She is kind, although very stubborn and unwilling to accept help.
[edit] Ironclaw
This brazzle is one of the smartest creatures Felix meets. Ironclaw is a mathematician and, although very self-confident, he always finds a way out of sticky situations. He is proud of his appearance, and repeatedly forgets rather important things once he finds a new maths problem to solve.
[edit] Thornbeak
A historian by nature, Thornbeak is a brazzle (griffin) with extraordinary talent for historical findings. She and Ironclaw have a son, Stonetalon, and a daughter, Granitefuzz. Thornbeak, is also cousins with Hockey Stars, Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur.
[edit] Snakeweed
Snakeweed is a japegrin (pixie) that is cunning and eager to rule. He uses sinistroms to achieve his own goals, without giving a thought to the well-being of anyone else.
[edit] Grimspite
Grimspite is a sinistrom, a shadow beast, similar to a devil-hyena that is summoned by its master at will. Grimspite is an unusual sinistrom with free will, and he starts to make his own decisions. This turns him into a much nicer being. He often gets things wrong, although he tries hard.
[edit] Architrex
Architrex is Snakeweed's sinistrom. Ruthless and vicious, he is the most powerful of Snakeweed's sinistroms. He is killed by a hunting party at the end of the first book.
[edit] Turpsik
Turpsik is a one-eye (cyclops). She writes horrific poems that frightens babies. She gets paid in eye balls
[edit] Fuzzy
Fuzzy (short for Granitefuzz) is the daughter of Ironclaw and Thornbeak. She first appears in the second book, and is more important in the third. She is a very independent character, into squawk music and dying her feathers, and she's a bit of a rebel.
[edit] Vocabulary
- Brazzle - Griffin.
- Brittlehorn - Unicorn.
- Cuddyak - Yak-buffalo with a rhino horn.
- Diggeluck - Gnome.
- Fire-breather - Dragon.
- Flame-bird - Phoenix.
- Humungally - Elephant.
- Japegrin - Pixie.
- Lickit - Elvish cookery experts.
- No-horn - Horse.
- Ragamucky - Brownie.
- River-fatty - Hippopotamus.
- Shreddermouth - Crocodile with longer legs.
- Sinistrom - Devil-hyena.
- Small-tail - Faun.
- Tangle-person - Elf.
- Triple-head - Roc.
- Vamprey - Vampire.
- Wise-hoof - Centaur.
- Worrit - Dog with comic appearance that makes its victim literally die of laughter.
