The Edge Chronicles Twig Saga

Twig Saga books

The first three books of the Edge Chronicles that were published make up the Twig Saga. They are:

There is also one final book in the Twig saga: The Stone Pilot, a special book released in 2006 as an exclusive World Book Day book.

The Twig Saga's main characters

Beyond The Deepwoods

Twig is a young lad, the hero of The Edge Chronicles' Twig Saga. He was raised by woodtrolls, Spelda and Tuntum Snatchwood, who raised him as their own. Cloud Wolf and Maris, his real parents had abandoned him because they were victims of a ship wreck and Twig wouldn't survive the journey.

When Twig was close to his thirteenth birthday, the sky pirates visited his woodtroll village. Spelda, afraid Twig would be forced to join the crew, sent him to live with a cousin until things got better. Twig, however, strayed from the woodtroll path, something that no woodtroll should do, and got lost. He wandered through the Deepwoods finding many characters and creatures such as a halitoad, hoverworms; the Slaughterers in their village where he meets Gristle, Sinew, Mother Tatum and others; the Caterbird, a skullpelt; he was nearly killed by a bloodoak; gyle goblins in their colony, the GrossMother; the termagant trogs and Mag in the trog combs; a rotsucker and other Deepwooders and Deepwoods creatures.

Later, back in the Deepwoods, Twig witnessed a sky ship, the Stormchaser, crash-land in the Deepwoods, and met a band of sky pirates. As they told stories, Twig suddenly realized that the sky pirate captain, Cloud Wolf, was the same captain who tried to recruit him, and that he was also his father. When Cloud Wolf realized this, he was emotionally tortured by the thought, and ran away while Twig was sleeping. Twig had to run from a forest fire, and ended up in the Edgelands.

Twig encountered the Gloamglozer at the side of the Edge cliff. The Gloamglozer revealed that it was watching over Twig through his journeys and guiding him. The Gloamglozer then told Twig that he was special, and that he too could become a gloamglozer if he joined the demon. When Twig took his hand, the Gloamglozer threw him over the Edge.

As Twig fell, he was rescued by the Caterbird, who took him to the Stormchaser. The book ended with Cloud Wolf promising Twig that he would never abandon him again, and the sky pirates setting off for Undertown.

Stormchaser

Twig came back two years later in his father's crew. He accidentally caused severe damage to the sky ship Stormchaser. Cloud Wolf had to return to Undertown and arrange a way to repay his debts with Mother Horsefeather.

Meanwhile, in the city of Sanctaphrax, stormphrax and phraxdust supplies were running low, dangerously increasing the buoyancy of the Sanctaphrax rock and threatening to pollute the Undertown water to undrinkable levels. Against the wishes of the Most High Academe Vilnix Pompolnius, a deal was struck between Cloud Wolf, Mother Horsefeather, and the Professor of Light to erase Cloud Wolf's debts if he could return to Sanctaphrax with a supply of Stormphrax from the approaching Great Storm to save both cities from destruction.

Cloud Wolf forbade Twig from joining them in their stormchasing voyage. The captain never told the crew Twig was his son, afraid Slyvo Spleethe would harm Twig in a mutiny. However, Spleethe finds out that Twig is Cloud Wolf's son and sneaked Twig into the Stormchaser.

Inside the Great Storm, Spleethe and Mugbutt mutinied, threatening to murder Twig if Cloud Wolf refused to comply. Spleethe and Mugbutt were thwarted and killed, but the Stormchaser was being torn to pieces in the storm. The crew abandoned ship in the Twilight Woods, and Cloud Wolf stayed aboard to pursue his quest and is taken by the Great Storm into open sky.

After landing, Twig reunited with the crew and the Professor of Light, who suggested the election of a new captain. He then revealed to the crew that Twig was Cloud Wolf's son, and they named him as their captain. As Twig and the rest of the crew make their way through the Twilight Woods, one by one they are lost to the sinister trickery of the forest. Hubble dies from his injuries in the Mire and later, Spiker is killed by the mysterious Screed Toetaker, formerly Screedius Tollinix, a knight academic (like Cloud Wolf). Screed tried to kill Maugin but Twig was able to kill Screed instead.

The three remaining crew (Twig, the Stone Pilot, and the Professor of Light) reach Screeds old sky ship, and get it working again despite the death of the Professor. Finally, Twig and Maugin return to Sanctaphrax with the required stormphrax, and overthrow the tyrannical Most High Academe, Vilnix Pompolnius. The Professor of Darkness is the Most High Academe again and he proclaims Twig Honorary Academic Knight.

Twig gets back to Undertown and gives Mother Horsefeather the secret of phraxdust safe production in trade of his first sky ship, the Edgedancer. He gathers a crew and, after spreading the secret of phraxdust production, he sets off to find his father in Open Sky, led by the Caterbird.

Midnight Over Sanctaphrax

At the beginning of this book, Twig sailed out into Open Sky with his new crew in the Edgedancer to find his missing father, Cloud Wolf, guided by the Caterbird. He entered a weather vortex and found Cloud Wolf still alive. His father warned Twig of the imminent return of the Mother Storm to the Edge. and that Sanctaphrax had to be unchained, or the Mother Storm would be blocked from reaching Riverrise and the Edge's ability to support life would fade. Cloud Wolf and the Stormchaser then faded away into the Mother Storm. However, an atmospheric explosion produced by a White Storm scattered pieces of Twig's sky ship and crew all over the Edge.

Twig landed in the Stone Gardens, now glowing with a mysterious inner light. The Professor of Darkness thought he was a shooting star and went for him, but recognized the young sky pirate at once. Twig woke up and called for his father, but didn't say anything else, because his mind was quite troubled. The Professor of Darkness took him to Sanctaphrax.

In Sanctaphrax, Cowlquape Pentephraxis saved Twig from jumping into certain death. Twig suddenly regained and recovered part of his memory, but he still couldn't remember what happened after flying into open sky, so he knew nothing about his father or the Mother Storm. He then appointed Cowlquape his apprentice to protect him from being cast out of Sanctaphrax.

Twig initially assumed that all of his crew members were killed, but he later discovered that they were blown back to the Edge, just as he was. He immediately set off on a quest with Cowlquape to locate his missing crew members. He discovered Tarp Hammelherd in the Lullabee Inn, Wingnut Sleet and Bogwitt in the sewers of Undertown, Spooler in the hold of the slave ship Skyraider, who died later on, Goom in the Wig-Wig Arena of the Great Shryke Slave Market, and Woodfish in the Woodtroll village where Twig himself grew up, and learned that his adoptive father, Tuntum Snatchwood had just died. Twig found Spelda, and also discovered that Woodfish had landed in the village and was staying with Taghair.

Woodfish told Twig that he had been directing and guiding him throughout their whole voyage. Taghair had taught Woodfish to dream about the location of the other crew members, and he had seen everyone. He told Twig that the last crew member, Maugin, was waiting for them at Riverrise. Twig, Cowlquape, Goom, and Woodfish cross the Thorn Forests and the Nightwoods, and arrive at discover Riverrise at the dark heart of the Deepwoods. Maugin remembered everything that happened in the weather vortex because she was wearing the protective gear of a Stone Pilot. When she reminded him that Sanctaphrax had to be unchained, he and Cowlquape sky-fired themselves back to Undertown and released Sanctaphrax just in time to allow the Mother Storm to pass on safely to Riverrise. A lightning bolt from the Mother Storm struck the Stone Gardens, creating New Sanctaphrax, and Cowlquape became Most High Academe, a title conferred upon him by the Professor of Darkness moments before Sanctaphrax was unchained. The Professor of Darkness went into Open Sky with Old Sanctaphrax along with other professors.

The book ended with Twig setting off for Riverrise to reunite with the crew members he left there, in the Skyraider his new sky ship.

The Stone Pilot

This is an exclusive story, tracing the history of Maugin, the Stone Pilot, who Twig meets in Stormchaser. Maugin is a termagant trog, destined to change from a beautiful delicate creature into the fearsomely impressive adult termagant at her first blooding, due very soon. But an ill-fated trip above ground to release her prowlgrin pet into the wild ends with her capture by mercenary Deepwoods slavers. Maugin's subsequent sale to a terrifying scientist - for use in some kind of macabre experiment - could be the end of her, but for the actions of a young sky pirate, Quint Verginix. When Quint takes her on board his father Wind Jackal's skyship, Maugin experiences a world a million miles away from her underground home and begins a new future as a Stone Pilot. Maugin reveals in this book that she and Twig were in love. Twig's caterbird can be seen at the end with the old Twig (continuing from Last of the Sky Pirates) which may indicate that they are about to reunite.