had Quint, Twig, Rook and Nate and now Paul Stewart and Chris Ridell return to the Edge Chronicles to introduce us to a new hero, Cade, I was a little skeptical that this was going to be any good as now that there is much less Edge then there used to be the stories are pretty much confined to the Deepwoods and seeing as though the last two books have focuses on the great civilizations there I didn't think we needed another.
Fortunately we are introduced to a new, quieter area, the Farrow Ridges where fugitive Cade seeks to make a new life,
This book has perhaps the best start to any of the Edge Chronicles as Cade leaps from a platform onto a phraxship, It's exciting and means Cade starts off more interesting than the previous heroes did, The Farrow Ridges is a great new setting with some quirky characters involved, The trouble is very little happens here, When you consider that in sitelinkBeyond the Deepwoods Twig traveled across the entire Edge, you realize that comparatively nothing happens here, There's an odd finale to the book which is a little more dramatic but it only ever feels like an excuse to put in a cameo from a Twig trilogy character.
Despite this though, the book does have everything we've come to expect from an Edge Chronicles book, There's the return of many classic creatures, like prowlgrins and lots of new ones too like the titular Nameless One, The phraxship at the start harks back to the Sky Pirates and is full of Edge races like Hammerhead Goblins,
As always, Chris Riddell's illustrations are fantastic, bringing the characters and fantastic creatures to life, If anything, I would say the illustrations are better than ever, which is really saying something,
Whilst this doesn't quite hit the highest heights of the series it is a welcome return and there are hints that the authors have some great plans for Cade and the Edge in the upcoming books.
A new trilogy begins, and this book is basically a western The descriptions of the natural world are, as ever, beautiful and imaginative and evocative all of them given great life by Riddell's illustrations.
Cade is, after his initial adventures on the skyship, a settler on the wild frontier, This middle section is pleasantly lowkey, though once again Stewart indulges in his habit of introducing hypercompetent women more interesting than the male protagonist and then sidelining them,
The last section is where it all falls apart, Once I realised we were in western genre territory, the question then becomes: how racist is this going to be Turns out, yeah, quite a lot, Reminded me of the movie Bone Tomahawk, which I do not mean as a compliment, And then the deus
ex machina of appearing at the end brought a long tired sigh from me.
Still got the next two in this trilogy to go, but this is clearly worst in the series so far, Like coming home, always. I love this series so much,
Incredible worldbuilding, all those tasty foods and diverse wildlife, Also how the society evolves through the ages of flight, how the culture changes,
The story reminded me a bit of the first Twig book but in reverse, Cade is used to urban living and is forced to adapt in the Deepwoods on his own, very cool to discover all the wonders of this forest again trough his eyes.
Also it has a lovely message: in hard times, help each other out, share your skills, everybody deserves a chance, .
And the reference to someone who reckognizes Cade as a descentant to Twig who lived aaages ago, . all the feels. Lovely, as always : I was surprised that it was rather, . . slow moving. Much setup. When you think about it, . . For example: What did Twig in his first book Quint And Rook When you compare them, it seems that they get stuff done while Cade, . . spoilers builds a cabin. But still, I like it and I can't wait for the next one!
BTW: Am I the only one who wishes that Skyfare was real I would totally give it a go.
Cade's story begins at the top of a jutting gantry in Great Glade, He's about to jump aboard the Xanth Filatine as a stowaway and flee the city in the hopes that his uncle's opposers won't pursue him, The fact that he is related to the great descender, Nate Quarter, makes Cade a paramount target for The School of Flight don't you just love being hunted down by important, cryptic organizations.
Cade is eventually discovered as a stowaway and forced to jump ship literally, Sometime after, he finds his way in a desolate but dangerous part of the Deepwoods the Farrow Ridges, Here he makes friends, makes himself a suitable dwelling , and faces the mysterious Nameless One.
Here in the Farrow Ridges, life is tough, but it is thrilling and adventurous, as Cade's adventures prove,
This book was a bit hard to get into at first as all of Stewart's books have proven to be, but I liked it, I didn't think Cade was as intellectually bright as any of the other protagonists that have been displayed throughout the series, but he proved himself to be an affable character and I took a liking to him.
This book was sweet, however I felt as if the epicness that was in the other books was missing here, I'll always be devoted to the series, but this one left much to be desired, In a more positive note, this reminded me of the first installment in the series, Beyond the Deepwoods, and another survival story, Hatchet, both of which I truly enjoyed.
I did enjoyed this, but my expectations shouldn't have been quite so high, Good action, fantastical beasts and a theme of kindness and friendship made this a good read, Myyearold suggested it to me which made it even more fun to read, Not as clever as Harry Potter and heavy on ugly creatures so I wasnt prepared to read any more of the series, . . Until it ended with a damn teaser!!!!!! Alex and I may fight over who gets to read it first and that would make my day! This is not a book review, just a bunch of random comments.
. I found this used book on sale at the library, It cost me a quarter,
. This book was printed in the UK, I live in Canada. This has happened to me before,
. I put my fourth level Magus through this adventure using D amp D third edition combat rules, I freaked out on page, I had to save myself and the other characters, The Luck Goddess helped my character and the others, This dramatically changed the ending of the book, Decided to get back into these weird books from my youth and Im glad I did, though I could tell that the first book was adapted from blog posts that came out before the final saga was released.
Makes me feel like a little freak again The Nameless One The Edge Chronicles, Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell Atof the way through, the The Edge Chronicles 11's first female character shows up.
There is another female character with a brief cameo at, There's a rich background tapestry of men, This is fucking pathetic. I wanted to read this book for so long but always was to afraid to do it, The edge chronicles are my most beloved books Ive ever read, They are a big part of my life like for others Harry Potter or LotR,
When Paul and Chris made the anouncment that they work on a new Edge series I was excited but at the same time afraid because the whole story had an really good end.
I loved the Immortals and thought that this was the end, . I mean it was heart breaking for me that my favourite book series of all time was to end!!! It was extremly difficult to get over that fact, I sufferd a lot. .
I was afraid that the edge wouldnt be the same any more, . maybe because I dont enjoy therd age of flight as much as the others, . But I liked this book, And it was good to wait that long, I wasnt ready. But I like Cade and the book was lovely as always, . there could be some more drawings and I absolutley hate the new cover design, . But it felt good and it is still the edge, The place I love the most lt,
Take The Edge Chronicles 11: The Nameless One: First Book Of Cade Constructed By Paul Stewart Physical Book
Paul Stewart