Midnight Over Sanctaphrax
Midnight Over Sanctaphrax was the third book in The Edge Chronicles, the sixth book chronologically, and the third book in the Twig trilogy.
Plot
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 discovered him inside a weather vortex, becalmed in a mysterious hollow in the clouds. Cloud Wolf warned Twig of the imminent return of the Mother Storm to the Edge. He told Twig 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. After unsuccessful visits in The Hook and Eye, The Running Tilder, the The Redoak and The Rusty Anchor, they finally found Tarp Hammelherd after a fight with several hammmerhead goblins in the Lullabee Inn. With the help of the cloddertrogs Grom and Tugger, they found Wingnut Sleet and Bogwitt in the sewers of Undertown. Later, they found 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 passed away. 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 book ended with Twig setting off for Riverrise to reunite with the crew members he left there.
Editions
| Books in the Edge Chronicles series, by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell |
|
Quint Trilogy: The Curse of the Gloamglozer •The Winter Knights • Clash of the Sky Galleons Twig Trilogy: Beyond the Deepwoods • Stormchaser • Midnight Over Sanctaphrax Rook Trilogy: The Last of the Sky Pirates • Vox • Freeglader The Lost Barkscrolls: Cloud Wolf • The Stone Pilot • The Slaughterer's Quest • The Blooding of Rufus Filatine Nate Book: The Immortals Cade Trilogy: The Nameless One • Doombringer • The Descenders Other Books: The Edge Chronicles Maps • The Sky Chart Blogs: Weird New Worlds |