Edge Chronicles 1: Beyond the Deepwoods

Mom says she wants me writing book reviews, so here goes.

She got this book out from the library some time ago, and told me that it was a writing style that would be good for me to learn from, so I read it.

I got hooked on the series.

The first book is about a boy named Twig who thinks he's a wood troll (after all, he's been raised as one) but knows that he has never fit in. When a sky pirate captain asks Twig's "Father" if Twig can join his crew after taking a liking to the boy, his "Mother-mine" admits to have found him as a baby. They send him to an uncle's house to keep him safe from the sky pirates.

On the way however, he does something considered unthinkable by the wood trolls. He strays from the path, thus beginning an adventure of self-discovery.

I really liked this book's large variety of creatures and characters. I didn't see any fairies or unicorns, but it has pretty much a version of any other mythological creature you can think of, and many you wouldn't until after you read the book. Most of the creatures don't exactly mesh with the popular image, like the oak elves don't exactly look like what you usually think of when you say elf and the wood troll can spend all day in the sun and not worry a bit, and don't live under bridges, but this makes it creative and unique. Now that I think of it, I didn't see any dwarfs either.

I also liked the pictures, they are plentiful and detailed, giving the readers an exact image of what everything looks like.

The world itself is pretty interesting. It's a flat world, with a very definite edge (hence the name the Edge). It's basically divided into five parts: the Deepwoods, the Mire, Undertown, Sanctifax, and the Stone Gardens.

By the way, cold rocks float in this world, as do some woods when you burn them.

The plot was quick moving, something new was always happening, a new creature was always showing up. The beginning was attention grabbing. The ending was well done. I can't wait to finish the series.