“It was midday and Undertown was bustling.”

From Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell’s The Edge Chronicles: Stormchaser.

Now part of the sky pirate crew aboard the sky ship Stormchaser, Twig is glad to finally be able to live out the dream he held for so many years. Being able to work on the ship that his long lost father, Quintinius “Cloud Wolf” Verginix, captains is also the only chance at home available to Twig. When Twig makes a mistake that expensively damages the ship, Cloud Wolf directs his ship to Undertown for debt forgiveness. Floating above Undertown, anchored to the ground by giants chains, is the floating academic city of Sanctaphrax is running dangerously low on stormphrax and phraxdust, which keep the city from floating away and polluting Undertown. Cloud Wolf makes a deal with the Roost-Mother of Undertown, and Sanctaphrax’s Professor of Light that his debts will be cleared if he can return with Stormphrax from the approaching Great Storm. Because the journey into the Great Storm is so dangerous, Cloud Wolf refuses to let Twig come, but the quartermaster Slyvo smuggles Twig onboard to use as part of the mutiny he has planned. Wolf Cloud is able to stop the mutiny and save Twig, but the storm causes Twig and the rest of the crew to abandon ship in the Twilight Woods while Cloud Wolf continues with the mission. While Twig tries to guide the injured crew through the dangers of the Woods and the Mire, he discovers a secret that will change Undertown and Sanctaphrax forever.

This fantastical adventure series is built of several character-following trilogies put together to create a complete world. The illustrations scattered throughout the book highlight characters and places that are definitely odd, but it also seamlessly creates the foundation for the highly imaginative world. As the second book in the Twig Trilogy, Stormchaser creates a captivating story that will instantly pull readers into the action-packed fantasy world of The Edge Chronicles.