The Various

The Various is a children's fantasy novel written and illustrated by Steve Augarde, published in 2003. It is the first book of the Touchstone Trilogy which continues with Celandine and Winter Wood. The trilogy tells the story of the hidden tribes of little people who live in a tangled forest on a hill in Somerset, and their interactions with the children at the farm on whose land the hill stands. The tribes, who call themselves the 'Various', live difficult, self-sufficient lives, always in fear of discovery by the 'Gorji', or giants, as they call the humans who now dominate the countryside.

The Various won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.^[1][2]

Plot summary

Midge is sent to stay with her Uncle Brian at Mill Farm in Somerset while her mother is on tour with the orchestra. She comes across a small winged horse which is trapped and injured: her first introduction to the hidden world of the "Royal Forest", an impenetrable thicket on a hill within the farm boundaries. Meanwhile, all the tribes who live in the forest, the Ickri, Naiad, Wisp, Troggles and Tinklers, unite to send a group to search for the missing horse, Pegs. The adventures of the group demonstrate the dangers posed to the Various by the Gorgi world, as Lumst is killed by the ferocious tomcat Tojo.

While Midge is accepted by the queen and her advisers as the savior of Pegs, despite the news she brings of her uncle's plan to sell the forest land, Scurl and his archers believe that she is herself a danger to the tribes and intend to kill her. At the climax of the novel the archers attack the farm when Midge and her cousins are there alone.

Throughout the novel Midge senses another presence, the girl in the photograph on the kitchen wall: it is Celandine, who once lived at the farm and was thought mad for believing she had seen fairies. The story of Celandine is told in the second book of the trilogy, and the bond between her and Midge is explored in Winter Wood.

Characters

The humans, or Gorji

• Margaret Walters, known as Midge, a 11-year-old London girl
• Christine, her mother, a professional musician, second violin in an orchestra
• Brian, Christine's brother, Midge's uncle, an unsuccessful farmer
• Katie, Brian's daughter, Midge's cousin
• George, Brian's son, Midge's cousin

The Various

• Pegs, a Naiad winged horse
• Glim the archer, of the Ickri
• Ba-betts, Ickri Queen of the Various
• Maglin, Ickri General
• Scurl, captain of the South and West Wood archers
• Little-Marten, young Ickri drummer ('Woodpecker')
• Tadgemole, leader of the underground tribes, the Troggles and Tinklers
• Henty, Tadgemole's beautiful daughter
• Maven-the-Green, an ancient hag
• Grissel, Ickri hunter, one of the group sent to look for Pegs
• Spindra, Naiad horse-breeder, one of the group sent to look for Pegs
• Tod, Wisp fisher, one of the group sent to look for Pegs
• Lumst, Troggle miner, one of the group sent to look for Pegs
• Pank, Tinkler smith, one of the group sent to look for Pegs

References