Stormchaser (book)
Encyclopedia
Stormchaser is a children's
fantasy
novel
by Paul Stewart
and Chris Riddell
, first published in 1999. It is the second volume of The Edge Chronicles
and of the Twig Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the fifth novel, following the Quint Saga trilogy that was published later.
Set two years after Beyond the Deepwoods
, the protagonist, Twig
, is a full member of his father, Cloud Wolf
's, sky ship the Stormchaser. When a disastrous encounter with a league ship forces the crew to dispose of their precious cargo of logs, Cloud Wolf has no option but to return to Undertown
and arrange a way to repay his debts to mother horsefeather, a greedy selfish shryke who pad for the repairing of the storm chaser after it became infested with woodbugs. Meanwhile, in the floating city of Sanctaphrax, stormphrax and phraxdust supplies are running low, threatening to leave the floating city able to break free of its chains and fly into open sky. also if phraxdust supplies run out, the already dirty water in undertown would become polluted and undrinkable. Against the wishes of the Most High Academe Vilnix Pompolnius, a deal is struck between Cloud Wolf, Mother Horsefeather and the Professor of Light (cloud wolf's former mentor in the prestigious knights academy) to erase Cloud Wolf's debts if he successfully chases the great storm predicted and retrieves some of the sacred substance stormphrax. without this stormphrax, both sanctaphrax and undertown would not survive.
Though Cloud Wolf forbids Twig to set sail with the rest of the crew on this dangerous voyage, he is willingly smuggled onboard the Stormchaser by the mutinous quartermaster Slyvo Spleethe and his accomplice Mugbutt. On approaching the Great Storm, Spleethe and Mugbutt are killed by the result of a failed mutiny
and the Stormchaser becomes badly damaged. cloud wolf is injured while fighting sylo spleethe. The crew abandon ship into the Twilight Woods below, except for the captain Cloud Wolf. On landing Twig reunites the crew and prepares to take over his father's mission.
Although Twig tries to maintain his crew's sanity in the mystical twilight woods, Tem Barkwater
and Stope Boltjaw are overcome by the disorientating golden mists of the twilight woods and are lost to its madness. other members of the crew are also badly injured but the extent of their injuries are not to be revealed until they enter the mire, and the immortal effects of the twilight woods wear off. Twig and the remaining crew make it to the Mire, where they are lured in by the treacherous guide Screed Toe-taker, an ancient Knight Academic driven mad by the Twilight Woods himself in his quest to retrieve atormphrax. Hubble's injuries were internal and proved to be fatal as he collapsed during the long journey across he mire. Spiker is killed by screed toe-taker. As screed attacks the stone pilot, he is confronted and killed by Twig. on returning to the ship a chest of sacred stormphrax is discovered. Each small speck of stormphrax had been filed from the toenails of screeds unfortunate victims. The Professor of light's injuries from landing in the twilight woods also proved to be fatal as he died moments after, but not before revealing the secret of safe production of phraxdust. Twig discovers that the Stone Pilot is an unturned Termagent Trog named Maugin (he has a special affection for unturned trogs, due to his experiences in the previous book), who helps Twig to rebuild Screed's old ship, the "windcutter." During this time, the two form a bond, which is revealed in a later book to be a romantic interest.
With a plentiful supply of stormphrax they rebuild the ship and its flight rock with plans to return to Sanctaphrax and overthrow Vilnix Pompolnius. with the help of the professor of darkness they deposit the stormphrax in the treasury, saving the city from breaking its moorings and flying into open sky. The secret of safe phraxdust production is revealed to undertowners one and all and the rivalry over phraxdust ends. The story concludes with Twig getting a ship of his own, the "edgedancer" and also a new crew of his own. Led by the caterbird (introduced in book one), they travel over the edge into open sky, farther than any sky ship has ever ventured before to save his father captain Cloud Wolf.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
fantasy
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Paul Stewart
Paul Stewart (writer)
Paul Stewart is a writer of children's books, best known for the bestselling The Edge Chronicles, the Free Lance novels and the Far Flung Adventures series which are written in collaboration with the illustrator Chris Riddell...
and Chris Riddell
Chris Riddell
Chris Riddell is a British illustrator and occasional writer of children's literature, and a political cartoonist for The Observer. He has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice and the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize seven times....
, first published in 1999. It is the second volume of The Edge Chronicles
The Edge Chronicles
The Edge Chronicles is a young-adult fantasy novel series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. It consists of three trilogies, plus three additional books, and others . Originally published in the United Kingdom, this series has since been published in the United States, Canada and Australia. To...
and of the Twig Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the fifth novel, following the Quint Saga trilogy that was published later.
Plot summary
Stormchaser is the second installment to the twig trilogy. Written by poular author paul stewart and illustrated by none other than chris riddell, it is an exciting, fast paced adventure, as are all books in the edge chronicles.Set two years after Beyond the Deepwoods
Beyond the Deepwoods
Beyond the Deepwoods is a children's fantasy novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, first published in 1998. It is the first volume of The Edge Chronicles and of the Twig Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the fourth novel, following the Quint Saga trilogy that was published...
, the protagonist, Twig
Twig
A twig is a small thin terminal branch of a woody plant. Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away...
, is a full member of his father, Cloud Wolf
Quintinius Verginix
Quintinius Verginix is a fictional character from Paul Stewart's The Edge Chronicles.Usually referred to as Quint or, later, Cloud Wolf, Quint was a Knight Academic and a Sky Pirate Captain...
's, sky ship the Stormchaser. When a disastrous encounter with a league ship forces the crew to dispose of their precious cargo of logs, Cloud Wolf has no option but to return to Undertown
Undertown
Undertown is a fictional city-state in Paul Stewart's series of books, The Edge Chronicles. It was founded when the many different species throughout the Edge migrated to form a town underneath the great floating city of Sanctaphrax. The central ethos of the city was that every undertowner was...
and arrange a way to repay his debts to mother horsefeather, a greedy selfish shryke who pad for the repairing of the storm chaser after it became infested with woodbugs. Meanwhile, in the floating city of Sanctaphrax, stormphrax and phraxdust supplies are running low, threatening to leave the floating city able to break free of its chains and fly into open sky. also if phraxdust supplies run out, the already dirty water in undertown would become polluted and undrinkable. Against the wishes of the Most High Academe Vilnix Pompolnius, a deal is struck between Cloud Wolf, Mother Horsefeather and the Professor of Light (cloud wolf's former mentor in the prestigious knights academy) to erase Cloud Wolf's debts if he successfully chases the great storm predicted and retrieves some of the sacred substance stormphrax. without this stormphrax, both sanctaphrax and undertown would not survive.
Though Cloud Wolf forbids Twig to set sail with the rest of the crew on this dangerous voyage, he is willingly smuggled onboard the Stormchaser by the mutinous quartermaster Slyvo Spleethe and his accomplice Mugbutt. On approaching the Great Storm, Spleethe and Mugbutt are killed by the result of a failed mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
and the Stormchaser becomes badly damaged. cloud wolf is injured while fighting sylo spleethe. The crew abandon ship into the Twilight Woods below, except for the captain Cloud Wolf. On landing Twig reunites the crew and prepares to take over his father's mission.
Although Twig tries to maintain his crew's sanity in the mystical twilight woods, Tem Barkwater
Tem Barkwater
Tem Barkwater is a fictional character in the children's book series The Edge Chronicles. He appears in Clash of the Sky Galleons, Beyond the Deepwoods, Stormchaser, and Freeglader. He first appears serving under Wind Jackal on the Galerider and follows Quint after Wind Jackal's death...
and Stope Boltjaw are overcome by the disorientating golden mists of the twilight woods and are lost to its madness. other members of the crew are also badly injured but the extent of their injuries are not to be revealed until they enter the mire, and the immortal effects of the twilight woods wear off. Twig and the remaining crew make it to the Mire, where they are lured in by the treacherous guide Screed Toe-taker, an ancient Knight Academic driven mad by the Twilight Woods himself in his quest to retrieve atormphrax. Hubble's injuries were internal and proved to be fatal as he collapsed during the long journey across he mire. Spiker is killed by screed toe-taker. As screed attacks the stone pilot, he is confronted and killed by Twig. on returning to the ship a chest of sacred stormphrax is discovered. Each small speck of stormphrax had been filed from the toenails of screeds unfortunate victims. The Professor of light's injuries from landing in the twilight woods also proved to be fatal as he died moments after, but not before revealing the secret of safe production of phraxdust. Twig discovers that the Stone Pilot is an unturned Termagent Trog named Maugin (he has a special affection for unturned trogs, due to his experiences in the previous book), who helps Twig to rebuild Screed's old ship, the "windcutter." During this time, the two form a bond, which is revealed in a later book to be a romantic interest.
With a plentiful supply of stormphrax they rebuild the ship and its flight rock with plans to return to Sanctaphrax and overthrow Vilnix Pompolnius. with the help of the professor of darkness they deposit the stormphrax in the treasury, saving the city from breaking its moorings and flying into open sky. The secret of safe phraxdust production is revealed to undertowners one and all and the rivalry over phraxdust ends. The story concludes with Twig getting a ship of his own, the "edgedancer" and also a new crew of his own. Led by the caterbird (introduced in book one), they travel over the edge into open sky, farther than any sky ship has ever ventured before to save his father captain Cloud Wolf.
- Twig Verginix
- Quintinius VerginixQuintinius VerginixQuintinius Verginix is a fictional character from Paul Stewart's The Edge Chronicles.Usually referred to as Quint or, later, Cloud Wolf, Quint was a Knight Academic and a Sky Pirate Captain...
- Vilnix Pompolnius
- MauginThe Stone Pilot (character)The Stone Pilot, Maugin, is a fictional termagant trog from The Edge Chronicles books by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.- Character :Maugin is a reserved character; throughout the books she speaks very little, and has a shy personality. She is fiercely loyal to her captains and her crew...
- Slyvo Spleethe
- Screed Toe-taker (Screedius Tollinix)
- Mother Horsefeather
- Tem BarkwaterTem BarkwaterTem Barkwater is a fictional character in the children's book series The Edge Chronicles. He appears in Clash of the Sky Galleons, Beyond the Deepwoods, Stormchaser, and Freeglader. He first appears serving under Wind Jackal on the Galerider and follows Quint after Wind Jackal's death...
- Hubble the Banderbear
- Stope Boltjaw
- Mugbutt
- Spiker
- Goom
See also
- Animals of the Edge Chronicles