Lionboy
Encyclopedia
Lionboy is a children's and young adult's fantasy
trilogy
written by Zizou Corder (the shared pen-name of English novelist Louisa Young and her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young).
The first book is known simply as Lionboy. The sequel, Lionboy: The Chase, continues the story of Charlie and the lions, with most of the story set in Venice. It was published by Puffin in the summer of 2004. The final installment of the trilogy, Lionboy: The Truth, concludes the story and was published in January 2006.
The trilogy is available in 36 languages.
The major world superpower
in the series is known only as the Empire, and the text contains hints that this is actually the United States
. Europe
seems to be under this Empire's control. The world has been changed by global warming and other environmental influences; the most notable example is the ruin of Venice
, which is now half sunken under rising waters, and otherwise decayed from pollution.
The Corporacy, a pharmaceutical megacorporation, is a major economic power that has "Gated Communities" all over the world.
Ygggyfukkk u
Charlie is a young child who is able to speak to cats (and all felines) due to an incident involving a leopard cub's blood when he was a baby.
He lives in London with his parents, Dr. Aneba Ashanti and Professor Magdalen Stark, both of whom are scientists working on a cure for asthma
and other allergies caused by contact with felidae
family.
His parents, as a result of their scientific discoveries, are kidnapped by a pharmaceutical company
known mysteriously as the Corporation. Charlie, closely avoiding being kidnapped himself, sets out to find them and ends up on board Circe, a circus
ship making its way to Paris
. On board he befriends most of the circus performers as well as (using the ability) a pride of beautiful performing lions who seek the boy's help to escape their cruel trainer, Maccomo. Meanwhile, the vicious criminal Rafi Saddler, in which is employed by the Corporation, is hot on his heels, going to any lengths to get his hands on Charlie. The circus ship arrives in Paris and Charlie escapes with the lions. They make their way to Gare d'Austerlitz
where they hide on the Orient Express which is destined for Venice
, the place Charlie's parents are rumored to have been taken.
The book ends with Charlie and the lions being discovered by the train's most regal passenger, the King
of Bulgaria
, who surprisingly offers to help Charlie with his quest.
Bulgaria
, the King himself travelling onwards and leaving the runaways in the trust of his right-hand man Edward. Edward however has other plans for the lions than letting them journey onwards. He keeps them along with Charlie prisoner and plans to present him to the corrupt ruler of Venice, the Doge
. However this plan is foiled with the help of local cats and a conspiracy of gondoliers.
Venice is liberated from the Doge's rule, and so Charlie journeys from Venice by boat, taking the lions back to their home in Essaouira
, Morocco
. Narrowly escaping drowning, they arrive there and are met by a few surprises: Maccomo, the cruel lion trainer, who is looking for revenge on Charlie for stealing his lions; and his parents, who has escaped the clutches of the Corporacy and have come to find him.
After only a few blissful days reunited with his parents, Charlie is captured by the revenge-seeking Maccomo, who puts him on a ship and takes him (along with Rafi) to the Corporacy headquarters on the island of San Antonio near Haiti
. His parents are in hot pursuit, and following them is Claudio, King Boris, the Young Lion and Elsina.
Charlie, due to his cat blood, is immune to the tainted, brainwashing air of the island, and with the help of a multilingual chameleon
named Ninu, and the cat Sergei, he single-handedly puts a stop to the Corporacy's deeds and rescues the brainwashed employees and prisoners of the island.
Louisa Young's other publications are:
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
written by Zizou Corder (the shared pen-name of English novelist Louisa Young and her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young).
The series
The book series is about a young boy named Charlie Ashanti who can talk the language of cats, after accidentally swapping blood with a leopard cub. Charlie is on the run on a floating circus, with six lions in tow, aiming to return them to the wild of Morocco and to rescue his parents who have been kidnapped by a sinister corporation.The first book is known simply as Lionboy. The sequel, Lionboy: The Chase, continues the story of Charlie and the lions, with most of the story set in Venice. It was published by Puffin in the summer of 2004. The final installment of the trilogy, Lionboy: The Truth, concludes the story and was published in January 2006.
The trilogy is available in 36 languages.
Setting
The series is set at an unspecified time in the Earth's future. The world in the books mostly resembles the modern day world, with a few key differences. These differences are hinted at rather than explained outright. Firstly, most of the world's oil has been used up, and petrol cars are now only used by the very rich, elite and powerful. Aeroplanes are not flown at all – sea travel is once again the dominant form of overseas travel. The world (at least, the parts seen in Charlie's journey) now seems to run efficiently on solar and wind power.The major world superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
in the series is known only as the Empire, and the text contains hints that this is actually the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
seems to be under this Empire's control. The world has been changed by global warming and other environmental influences; the most notable example is the ruin of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, which is now half sunken under rising waters, and otherwise decayed from pollution.
The Corporacy, a pharmaceutical megacorporation, is a major economic power that has "Gated Communities" all over the world.
Lionboy
Charlie is a young child who is able to speak to cats (and all felines) due to an incident involving a leopard cub's blood when he was a baby.
He lives in London with his parents, Dr. Aneba Ashanti and Professor Magdalen Stark, both of whom are scientists working on a cure for asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
and other allergies caused by contact with felidae
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
family.
His parents, as a result of their scientific discoveries, are kidnapped by a pharmaceutical company
Pharmaceutical company
The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices...
known mysteriously as the Corporation. Charlie, closely avoiding being kidnapped himself, sets out to find them and ends up on board Circe, a circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
ship making its way to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. On board he befriends most of the circus performers as well as (using the ability) a pride of beautiful performing lions who seek the boy's help to escape their cruel trainer, Maccomo. Meanwhile, the vicious criminal Rafi Saddler, in which is employed by the Corporation, is hot on his heels, going to any lengths to get his hands on Charlie. The circus ship arrives in Paris and Charlie escapes with the lions. They make their way to Gare d'Austerlitz
Gare d'Austerlitz
Paris Austerlitz is one of the six large terminus railway stations in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement...
where they hide on the Orient Express which is destined for Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, the place Charlie's parents are rumored to have been taken.
The book ends with Charlie and the lions being discovered by the train's most regal passenger, the King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, who surprisingly offers to help Charlie with his quest.
Lionboy: The Chase
Charlie and the lions reach Venice and seek refuge at the PalazzoPalazzo
Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...
Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, the King himself travelling onwards and leaving the runaways in the trust of his right-hand man Edward. Edward however has other plans for the lions than letting them journey onwards. He keeps them along with Charlie prisoner and plans to present him to the corrupt ruler of Venice, the Doge
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
. However this plan is foiled with the help of local cats and a conspiracy of gondoliers.
Venice is liberated from the Doge's rule, and so Charlie journeys from Venice by boat, taking the lions back to their home in Essaouira
Essaouira
Mogador redirects here, for the hamlet in Surrey see Mogador, Surrey.Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Narrowly escaping drowning, they arrive there and are met by a few surprises: Maccomo, the cruel lion trainer, who is looking for revenge on Charlie for stealing his lions; and his parents, who has escaped the clutches of the Corporacy and have come to find him.
Lionboy: The Truth
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. His parents are in hot pursuit, and following them is Claudio, King Boris, the Young Lion and Elsina.
Charlie, due to his cat blood, is immune to the tainted, brainwashing air of the island, and with the help of a multilingual chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
named Ninu, and the cat Sergei, he single-handedly puts a stop to the Corporacy's deeds and rescues the brainwashed employees and prisoners of the island.
Charlie and his family
- Charlie Ashanti, a little brown boy named charlie.
- Aneba Ashanti, Charlie's father, an African scientist.
- Magdalen Stark, Charlie's mother, a British scientist.
- Mabel Stark, Charlie's aunt and Magdalens sister. She ran away from home and is Rafi's mother. She is a tiger trainer and somewhat envies Charlie's cat speaking ability
The lions
- The Young Lion, the most adventurous of the lions and the closest friend to Charlie.
- The Oldest Lion, the old, proud leader of the band of circus lions, father of Elsina and the Young Lion.
- The Lionesses, who rarely speak, and are the most mysterious and deadly of the band of circus lions. One is yellowish, one is silvery and one bronze in color.
- Elsina, the young female cub, just as adventurous as her brother the Young Lion. She stows away when the Young Lion accompanies Claudio and King Boris over the Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. - Primo, not actually a lion but a Smilodon fatalis, created in a lab from ancient DNA and rescued by the lions. Primo is adopted by the Venetians as the reincarnationReincarnationReincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
of the Leone di San MarcoMark the EvangelistMark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
(Lion of St Mark), and remains in Venice as a beloved protector when Charlie and the six lions leave. He is later returned by King Boris and Claudio to the forests near Essaouira to be with the wild lions.
Other animals
- Sergei, a bold, tough North England Allergeny cat who becomes one of Charlie's closest allies.
- Ninu, a smart chameleonChameleonChameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
who can talk not only English and Cat, but the languages of most humans and animals, even that of computers. - Troy, the much-abused, yet still loyal, dog of Rafi Saddler who later finds a new owner in Spain.
- Petra a cat who wander near Charlie's house in England.
- The Leopard When he was a cub he was bitten by a snake and saved by Aneba. But when Charlie laughs at him when he was a baby he cuts him and their blood switches allowing the cub to speak English and Charlie to speak cat. He is captured by the Head Chief Executive (HCE) of the Corporation and imprisoned in San Antonio. When the other animals has escaped, he helps Elsina and Charlie to remove a communication chip planted by the Corporation to monitor their activities.
Thibaudet's Royal Floating Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy
- Major Thibaudet, the owner and Master of CeremoniesMaster of CeremoniesA Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
of the floating circus. A fairly honourable man, unaware of the cruel treatment of the lions in his ownership. - Maccomo, the cruel trainer of the lions, who is jealous of Charlie's ability to talk to felines. Maccomo had been drugging the lions for years, forcing them to do his bidding. In love with a tiger-trainer called Mabel Stark, he wanted to marry her but was unable to as he was black and she was white. Charlie, in saving the lions from the circus, begins using Maccomo's drug against him, and Maccomo soon becomes addicted to its effects, continuing to take it of his own will after Charlie and the lions have escaped. Bent on revenge, he travels to Morocco and awaits their arrival. The lions overpower him and take him prisoner, but he outwits them and escapes, kidnapping Charlie and taking him to the Corporacy's island. There, he is not rewarded for his efforts, but rather brainwashed along with the other inhabitants of the island. He escapes, with the other inhabitants, and goes back with the lion rather than face the law
- Pirouette, the circus's star acrobat and trapeze artist. Kind to Charlie.
- Madame Barbue, the bearded lady. Kind to Charlie.
- Mabel Stark, former fiancé of Maccomo, and a tiger-trainer (whose tigers love their keeper, unlike Maccomo's lions). Through an unexpected connection to Charlie, she becomes sympathetic to his cause. Though envies Charlie's cat speaking.
- Hans, a young boy who tends to the "Learned pigLearned pigThe learned pig was a pig taught to respond to commands in such a way that it appeared to be able to answer questions by picking up cards in its mouth. By choosing cards it answered arithmetical problems and spelled out words. The "learned pig" caused a sensation in London during the 1780s...
". - Julius, a young boy who assists his clown father. Friend to Charlie.
- The Lucidis, an Italian acrobat family.
The Corporation and its employees
- Rafi Saddler, an overly nasty and ambitious teenage boy, who does the Corporation's bidding for his own financial gain, but later becomes victim of the Corporation as well. He is revealed later in the series to be Charlie's cousin.
- Winner and Sid, a pair of thugs in charge for Aneba and Magdelen's transport to France.
- Sally Ann, one of the Corporation employee responsible for Charlie and several others kids who has been kidnapped in Africa. She has been brainwashed by the Corporation.
- Auntie Auntie, the right hand of the HCE. She also brainwashed.
- The Head Chief Executive, founder and leader of the Corporation.
- Alex, a friend of Sally Ann who also in the same duty as her. He also brainwashed.
Venice
- The King of Bulgaria (first name Boris), a childish and jolly man, who is delighted to know his train bears stowaways, and offers all the help he can to Charlie and the lions.
- Edward, the security advisor and right-hand man to the King. He turns out not to be entirely trustworthy, much to the King's anger. However the King forgives Edward after he learns of Edward's slight betrayal and lets Edward stay as his guard.
- Claudio, a gondolier on the canals of Venice, who is closely trusted by Charlie and the lions, and helps to overthrow the Doge. He later becomes friends with the king of Bulgaria. He becomes a close servant of the king and chases Charlie across the Atlantic
- The DogeDoge of VeniceThe Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
, the corrupt and selfish leader of Venice, who is overthrown by the Venetians with the aid of Primo, Claudio, and the others.
Ships
- The Circe, a beautiful pink circus ship. The ship appears to run on a mixture of wind and steam power, and the ships steam engine, the Calliope, can make beautiful music to tell people who hear it that the circus is coming. The ship has an on board big top.
- The Sharkhawk, not an actual ship but a submarine, it carries the kidnapped Magdalen and Aneba from London to France.
- The Bucintoro, the Doge of Venice's personal gondolier, it is bigger and prettier than the other gondoliers and is only used on special occasions.
- The Solor Boat, Charlie and the Lions drive this boat from Venice to Africa. It has an onboard computer that drives the boat automatically. The Boat was shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Old Yeller, Maccomo hires this boat to carry the kidnapped Charlie, Rafi,eighteen Seventeen, Twenty-One and the Scarlets from Essaouira to San Antonio.
- Suleiman's Joy, Magdalen and Aneba follow Old Yeller in this, owned by Suleiman.
- El Baraka, King Boris, Claudio, The Young Lion and Elsina follow Suleiman's Joy in this, owned by Younus.
- El Teflon, a experimental ship owned by King Boris's friend Fidel. It can not be tracked by any radar system and is completely invisible and soundless. Magdalen, Anaba, King Boris, Claudio, The Young Lion and Elsina travel on this from Cuba to San Antonio.
Other works by the same author
Zizou Corder's other publications are:- Lee Raven, Boy Thief (Puffin)
- Halo (Puffin)
Louisa Young's other publications are:
- A Great task of Happiness (Macmillan); a biography of Kathleen Scott, sculptor and widow of Captain RF Scott of the Antarctic.
- Babylove, Desiring Cairo and Tree of Pearls (Flamingo); a trilogy of novels set in London and Egypt.
- The Book of the Heart (Flamingo) a cultural history of the human heart; its anatomy and symbolism.