The Edge Chronicles

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The Edge Chronicles
Author Paul Stewart
Illustrator Chris Riddell
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Publisher Doubleday
Published1998 – present
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)

The Edge Chronicles is a children's fantasy novel series [1] written by Paul Stewart and illustrated by Chris Riddell. [2] It consists of four trilogies, plus four additional books, and other books related to the universe (The Edge). [3] The series was originally published by Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, [4] and has sold more than three million copies, according to its publisher. [5]

Contents

The stories of The Edge Chronicles take place in the fictional world of The Edge, a vast cliff with no apparent bottom. [6] The majority of books are grouped into sagas, with each saga focusing on one character. [3] The power of flight is a major theme of the books, with each age defined by the current technology used for air travel. In the first age, floating rocks were used to stay airborne, then floating wood was used, and finally phrax-power. [7] The series is notable for its flora and fauna, along with the maps of various locations in The Edge. [6]

The first three trilogies were released over the course of 1998 to 2006, with a standalone saga serving as a conclusion to the first two ages of flight and a beginning to the third released in 2009. [3] The series was planned to end after the tenth book, [8] with the author's blog, Weird New Worlds serving as the continuous adventures with weekly 'chapter' installments. [9] After the completion of the 66 chapters of the blog, the authors decided to revisit the series with the fourth trilogy which would adapt the characters and stories from the blog, with the first and second books released in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The series also includes a number of short stories, along with a companion book.[ citation needed ]

Books

The Quint Trilogy

The Twig Trilogy

The Rook Trilogy

The Immortals

The Immortals is the 10th book of The Edge Chronicles and was released on 5 February 2009 in the United Kingdom and 14 September 2010 in the United States and Canada. The book introduces the Third Age of Flight and the character Nate Quarter, and serves as a conclusion to the Quint, Twig and Rook sagas.

The Cade Trilogy

Standalone books

Other

The following titles are not available in book form.

Chronology

The Edge Chronicles books are not always released in chronological order. The following table summarizes the stories to date:

Order ChronologicallyStory TitleMain ProtagonistOrder ReleasedYear ReleasedBook Number
1Cloud Wolf*Quintinius Verginix42001Side Story
2Curse of the GloamglozerQuintinius Verginix5200104
3The Winter KnightsQuintinius Verginix9200508
4The Stone Pilot*Maugin102006Side Story
5Clash of the Sky GalleonsQuintinius Verginix11200609
6The Sky Chart: A Book of QuintQuintinius Verginix152014Maps
7Beyond the DeepwoodsArborinus Verginix (Twig)1199801
8StormchaserArborinus Verginix (Twig)2199902
9Midnight Over SanctaphraxArborinus Verginix (Twig)3200003
10The Slaughterer's Quest*Keris Barkwater122006Side Story
11The Last of the Sky PiratesRook Barkwater6200205
12VoxRook Barkwater7200306
13FreegladerRook Barkwater8200407
14The Blooding of Rufus Filatine*Rufus Filatine132006Side Story
15The ImmortalsNate Quarter14200910
16The Nameless OneCade Quarter16201411
17DoombringerCade Quarter17201512
18The DescendersCade Quarter18201913

* Part of The Lost Barkscrolls (Also marked by "Side Story" in book number column). Cloud Wolf and The Stone Pilot were also released separately as individual novellas previously.

The Stone Pilot is told from the narrative of Maugin reminiscing on her past. Content of this story falls chronologically fourth while the story is told by Maugin at a later point in time, likely around the end of The Last of the Sky Pirates.

The Edge Chronicles Maps Detail 'The Edge' during the first and second age of flight covering a time period from before Cloud Wolf until some point in time between The Blooding of Rufus Filatine and The Immortals.

Family tree

The Edge Chronicles family tree
Orlis
“Wind Jackal”
Hirmina Verginix
(née Lintrax)
Yena Pallitax
(née Vespius)
Linius Pallitax
(Most High Academe of Sanctaphrax)
Lucius VerginixCentix VerginixMurix VerginixPellius VerginixMartilius VerginixQuint
“Cloud Wolf”
(Quintinius Verginix)
Maris Verginix
(née Pallitax)
Tem BarkwaterCal BarkwaterNoll Barkwater
(née Hammelherd)
Loess
Sinew Verginix
(née Tatum)
Twig
(Arborinus Verginix)
Maugin
“The Stone Pilot”
Shem BarkwaterKeris Barkwater (née Verginix)
Magda BurlixRook Barkwater
Multiple Generations
Hermia LentisAbe QuarterPhasia Hexatine
Eudoxia PradeNate QuarterThadeus QuarterSensa Huth
Cade Quarter

Origins

The origins of the series came in 1994, when Riddell drew a map of a fantasy world and challenged Stewart to write a story about it. [12] The series was produced with Riddell and Stewart working in collaboration, sometimes with the illustrations influencing the text and vice versa. In terms of influence, they claimed the tales of the Brothers Grimm and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast as creative influences on their work. They deliberately designed the Edge to be a world that would be markedly very different from traditional high fantasy, and one of the ways they designed it was to avoid the depiction of magic or any other supernatural forces, since they felt it would be far too convenient if magic was used. [13]

Critical reception

The novels have been well-regarded among the fanbase, with an article from The Guardian praising the imaginative world-building and well-paced action. [14] The series ranked on number 15 of the best fantasy books of all time, according to The Mirror. [15] The novels have also won praise for their unique fantasy world from several resources, with the critics acknowledging that the illustrations complement the narratives of the novels. [16] [17] To date, more than three million copies of the novels have been sold worldwide. [18]

See also

References

  1. "The Ten Best: Books for ages 8-12" . The Independent. 26 July 2006. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. Riddell, Chris; Drabble, Emily (9 June 2015). "The best work of Chris Riddell, new children's laureate – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Riddell, Paul Stewart and Chris. "The Edge Chronicles - Edge Chronicles book order". The Edge Chronicles. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  4. "Children's Book Review: BEYOND THE DEEPWOODS: The Edge Chronicles, #1 by Paul Stewart, Author, Chris Riddell, Illustrator . Random/Fickling $12.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-385-75068-4". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  5. Riddell, Paul Stewart, Chris. "The Edge Chronicles 13: The Descenders". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 Middleton, Christopher (4 July 2008). "Family bookclub: The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deepwoods". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. Riddell, Chris; Stewart, Paul. "The Edge Chronicles - The Three Ages Of Flight". The Edge Chronicles. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  8. "Edge Chronicles: The Immortals by Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  9. "Over the Edge". Varsity Online. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  10. "The Curse of the Gloamglozer (Edge Chronicles, book 4) by Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  11. Riddell, Paul Stewart and Chris. "The Edge Chronicles - Edge Chronicles book order". the. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  12. ""About the creators" at the Edge Chronicles website".
  13. ""Q&A", stewartandriddell.co.uk, archived via the Wayback Machine".
  14. ""My favourite book as a kid: The Edge Chronicles" (2020) Kalia, Ammar".
  15. ""The ten best fantasy book series", The Mirror US".
  16. ""Video games that should be adapted from books", CBR".
  17. ""10 Fantasy Book Series That Are Perfect from Start to Finish", Collider".
  18. ""An emotional farewell to The Edge Chronicles", Eastern Daily Press".