School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-The first volume introduces Twig, a human boy being raised by woodtrolls in the Deepwoods. After he leaves his adoptive parents and "strays off the paths," he embarks on a series of encounters with strange creatures ranging from a "termagant trog" who keeps him as a pet to the "caterbird," whose hatching he witnesses. Twig survives a range of dangers and joins the sky pirate ship of Captain Cloud Wolf, learning secrets about his own past. In Stormchaser, Twig, now 16, finds himself involved in the politics of Sanctaphrax and in the conflict over "stormphrax," a magical substance that maintains the balance for the floating city and can be transformed into "phraxdust," which purifies water. As Cloud Wolf, Twig, and the crew travel in search of the Great Storm that creates stormphrax, they crash and travel through the surreal Twilight Woods. While Deepwoods seems more focused on introducing its setting and range of creatures than developing its characters, Twig grows and matures during his adventures in Stormchaser, and other characters gain depth as his adventures continue. Stewart has created a detailed, gritty fantasy world, bringing realism to even his most outlandish characters. Riddell's sketches bring detail, verve, and humor to the stark text. The rapid pace of events will draw in readers. Already popular in its England, this series will appeal to fans of J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books (Scholastic).-Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This charming British series, the Edge Chronicles, makes a transatlantic crossing with its launch title, a handsomely designed paper-over-board volume with pen-and-inks by the authors. In poetic prose, Stewart and Riddell invent the magical realm that culminates at the Edge (a precipice that resembles "the figurehead of a mighty stone ship"). The flow of water that ceaselessly falls off the Edge originates in the Deepwoods, where "countless tribes and strange groupings scratch a living in the dappled sunlight and moonglow beneath its lofty canopy." Twig, who is nearly 13, lives with a family of woodtrolls, but his non-troll appearance (except for the pointy ears) marks him as an outcast; it is not a total surprise when his "Mother-Mine" reveals that he was dropped "at the foot of our tree" as an infant. And so begins a journey that leads Twig to his destiny, as the ominous caterbird tells him, which lies "beyond the Deepwoods." The narrative will cast a spell over readers from the beginning with its utterly odd, off-kilter sense of logic and a vocabulary that is equal parts Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carroll ("Fromps coughed and spat, quarms squealed, while the great banderbear beat its monstrous hairy chest and yodelled to its mate"). The detailed artwork with numerous comic touches also offer clues to Twig's parentage (he bears a certain resemblance to a dreaded sky pirate who makes an early appearance). Twig winds up at the Edge, and his decision at the chasm leads him to self- discovery-and nicely sets up the next adventure, Stormchaser (-75070-6; also releasing this month), which sees Twig beginning his life as a sky pirate. Ages 10-12. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Young Twig leaves his forest home after discovering he was adopted. In the ""dark and deeply mysterious"" Deep Woods, he encounters many mystical creatures before meeting his natural father+a sky pirate. Stormchaser describes Twig's own adventures aboard a sky ship. The episodic narratives are overlong, but the writing is strong and the detailed, often grotesque illustrations perfectly suit the text. [Review covers these Edge Chronicles titles: Beyond the Deepwoods and Stormchaser.] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Readers fond of nonstop adventures thickly stocked with variously clawed, tentacled, tusked, venomous, tattooed, insidious, blood-drinking, slime-vomiting plug-uglies will be in hog heaven over this imported series opener, trendily bound in a jacketless pictorial cover. Young Twig has grown up as the foundling child of a peaceable, none-too-bright pair of wood trolls. But he enters a different destiny when he strays off a marked path into the trackless Deepwoods, where challenges as diverse as the aptly named Halitoad, tribble/piranha hybrids dubbed Wigwigs, toothy Bloodoaks, and, most horrible of all, a cooing, preteen, makeover-happy Termagant Trog await. All will be escaped by the skin of his teeth and, as he's not particularly strong, brave, or clever, with the help of mysterious strangers. Rendered in realistic, gloriously obsessive detail in dozens of drawings, the monsters seem to leap (or ooze) to life-sometimes so vividly that Twig seems to fade into the background. By the end, though, he's eluded them all, reunited with his real father aboard a flying pirate ship, and is sailing off into the simultaneously published sequel, Stormchaser (ISBN: 0-385-75070-6), with more sequels to come. Good fun, though the supporting cast tends to overshadow the plot. (Fiction. 10-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6. The first volume in the Edge Chronicles series, which is set in a well-articulated world called the Edge, tells the story of a boy named Twig, from his childhood through his first adventures as a sky pirate. Twig, who learns that the woodtrolls who raised him are his foster parents and that he was abandoned as an infant, leaves the only home he knows and sets off through the Deepwoods to find his destiny. Along the way he makes a few friends, encounters many strange and dangerous creatures, and endures a long series of trials, triumphs, and misfortunes before locating his birth father, the captain of a sky pirate ship. Some children may eventually tire of Twig's ongoing encounters with strange creatures, such as the spindlebugs and the terrible gloamglozen, but those with hearty appetites for adventure (and strong stomachs) will find this a tremendously exciting fantasy. Riddell's wonderfully detailed ink drawings, on nearly every page, create a strong sense of the believable, well-imagined otherworld and bring its strange creatures to life. An inventive, promising start to a series originally published in Britain. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist