The sequel to Beyond the Deepwoods and the second published book in the Edge Chronicles series, Stormchaser is very exciting and I always enjoy re-reading it.
Our teenage protagonist Twig is now a sky pirate, a crew member of the sky ship he joined at the end of the previous story. I love the concept of sky ships – they carry a buoyant flight-rock to keep them in the air and in this particular tale, the quest is to chase the Great Storm in pursuit of an extremely valuable substance, stormphrax. Rival academics and merchant guilds, mutineers and spies are added to the mix. There are a wonderful variety of peoples and creatures populating the Edge, too.
As always, Chris Riddell’s detailed illustrations are a vital element in the book. They allow Paul Stewart to use action-packed narrative without the need for a lot of description. It’s a fantastic adventure and possibly my favourite in the series, but I’ll need to re-read them all to decide.
This book is the 2nd in the ‘Twig saga’ and is followed by Midnight Over Sanctaphrax.
First published in 1999.
I love Riddell’s illustrations and find myself drawn to his style and v those of Quentin Blake’s too. I haven’t read this series but it sounds like fun!!
Oh yes I love Blake too! So many talented illustrators.