The Descenders
The Descenders was the 13th book in the Edge Chronicles series and the 3rd book in the Cade Saga. It was published on the 7th of March 2019. According to Chris Riddell on Periscope, this is the last book in the Edge Chronicles series.
Synopsis
"Cade Quarter has spent the last few years of his life running from an enemy he’s never even met – the ruthless and power-hungry High Professor of Flight, Quove Lentis. But Quove’s deadly agenda has finally caught up with Cade, and now he must leave his home and flee once more, this time to the legendary floating city of New Sanctaphrax. But even reuniting with his uncle, Nate Quarter, isn’t the end of Cade’s troubles – and now, more than ever, he must find the courage to defy his enemies, unite his friends, and unlock the secrets of descending."[1]
Plot
In the aftermath of the Battle of the Farrow Ridges, Eudoxia Prade appeared at Cade's doorstep. They shared stories about their adventures, and she told him that since his uncle's appearance back in Sanctaphrax, his life was in danger. She convinced him to leave the Farrow Ridges and come to New Sanctaphrax.
The journey to New Sanctaphrax
Nate left his prowlrgrin Rumblix behind with his friend Thorne Lammergyre, but convinced his friends to come with him. In Gart Ironside's skyship, the New Hoverworm, Cade, Celestia, Eudoxia and Tug hurriedly left for the Midwood Decks. There, they shopped for supplies and got their skyship refitted by Zelphyius Dax and his daughter Delfina. Having taken a liken of Gart Ironside, she decided to come with them.
The mast and sails fitted on the New Hoverworm, reminiscent of the skyships of the first and second Age of Flight shortened the trip to Gorgetown to just two days. There, they met Lemulis Lope, who gave them supplies and scuttlebrigs to circumvent Great Glade's air blockade. Riding the scuttlebrigs and hardly noticeable from above, they made their way to the grasslands. In the Grasslands, they only travelled at night, so as not to be noticed and safely made their way to Undergarden.
New Sanctaphrax
In New Sanctaphrax, Eudoxia introduced Cade to his uncle, Nate Quarter and he learned about his family. Cade explored the city and the surroundings and met the skymarshal Brocktinius Rolnix and the librarian Grent One-Tusk. Nate was not interested in his brothers discoveries, but the Chief Armourer Seftis Bule saw potential for a new way of descending and even a new technology that could introduce a Fourth Age of Flight. Cade started working in the armoury with his new friend, the banderbear Theegum.
Tug all the while worked in Undergarden, helping out but also collecting statues he finds in the ruins of Undertown. This drew the attention of the stone scholars Demora Duste and Sentafuce, and they asked him for help harvesting seed stones in Stone Gardens.
Celestia was initially drawn to undergarden, but did not find a place where she could be useful. Eudoxia recommended to remain patient and listen to what the city tells her. Following "the music of New Sanctaphrax", Celestia found the Knights Academy and met Brock, who trained her to become a skymarshal. Choosing the Stormhornet as her phraxcraft, Celestia joined active duty. She was injured in a fight against two phraxfrigates targeting scuttlebrig convoys. Tug cared for her in the sewer chambers of Undertown, which Fenda Fulefane, a scholar from the Academy of Earth Studies, had transformed into a laboratory.
All the while, Quove Lentis was preparing an attack on New Sanctaphrax. His personal bodyguard Felicia Adereth disposed of his phrax commander Lennius Grex, who had been unwilling to attack directly. Quove Lentis finally sent his entire battle fleet to Sanctaphrax, and two hundred and fifty phraxships packed with phraxmarines attacked the flying city, with Quove Lentis himself in command. The skymarschals of New Sanctaphrax fought back, but soon ran out of ammunition. The tide of the battle turned against the skymarshals and parts of Santaphrax prepared to surrender. Just in time, the arrival of the tallow-hats sleek cloudcruisers turned their fate around and Quove Lentis' army retreated. Eudoxia had, with the help of the Friends of New Sanctaphrax in Gorgetown, Hive, Riverrise and Great Glade, hired the tallow-hats to come to their help, and they had arrived just in time. Nate used this moment to announce the departure of his fifth descent on the Blackwood Bridge. Combining the different things all of them were working on and introducing academics from various schools, he had planned to descend with the first nightship. In a naming ceremony, Nate named the curious vessel the Linius Pallitax.
The Descent
The crew of the Linius Pallitax consisted of Nate, Cade, Celestia, Tug, the banderbear Theegum and the armourer Seftis Bule as well as the academics Sentafuce, Grent One-Tusk, Demora Duste and Fenda Fulefane. Using their skyship, they could descend faster than ever before and soon arrived at Denizens Keep, the very furthest point of the Descenders' range. Demora and Sentafuce had however been affected by their descent and both were trapped in memories that fused together. As they all made their way to the hut, a ravine demon struck and was only killed by Denizen Ulnix Tollinix. He took Demora and Sentafuce into his care and warned Nate and the other descenders not to continue their descent because of an imminent glister storm. Ignoring his advice, the rest of the descent party continued their freefall. Amid the glister storm, Fenda and Grent were seduced by dreams of their past to take off their protective helmets. The rest of the crew later found their dead bodies on the scree fields. Exploring the scree fields, Cade discovered marks left behind by the Professor, giving away the route of his intended further descent. When the Linius Pallitax descended further, they discovered Groundrise and the Professor mysteriously appeared in their ship, explaining the workings of the Edge to them and then fading into a strange being. Tug was transformed, his wild features disappearing and his mind gaining full control of language. Collecting the rest of their crew at Denizens' Keep, they made their way up the cliffs.
The Tallow-hats
When they arrived on the central square below the Great Viaduct, they were greeted only by Danton Clore and his tallow-hats. He had taken over control of the city after the battle and imprisoned Eudoxia in the old Hall of High Cloud. Nate was taken hostage and held captive in the Loftus Observatory, the other descenders were imprisoned in a wrecked phraxship. Brock had taken a direct hit in the battle against Quove Lentis' phaxfleet and landed near the School of Squalls. For teen weeks after the battle he had been scouting the region near the Edgewater Falls and preparing to attack. His undercover skymarshals had gained intel that Nate refused to offer anything, and intercepted a ratbird message that Nate and Cade would be sold out to Quove Lentis. Brock freed Cade, Celestia and Tug from their prison. As Danton Clore was announcing Nate Quarter's 'departure', Brock interrupted. Hundreds of academics tore off their black robes to reveal the Sanctaphrax blue still worn beneath, and Clore fled on the Herald of the Fourth Age. He attacked several buildings and threatened to shoot Eudoxia, but Brock threw himself in front of her. The skymarshal died in Celestia's arms. A boulder soared up from beneath the Edge, hit Clore's ship and as as the boulder fell, vapour streams revealed the silhouette of the sky creature the Professor had turned into.
Aftermath
Nate and Cade, disguised as a New Sanctaphrax Companion, made their way to Great Glade in the Beacon of Hope. Felicia Adereth scolded Quove Lentis for his lack of vision and wanted to shoot him to install herself as the new leader. He however threw a dagger at her. Just as Cade revealed himself and threatened Lentis, the high professor succumbed to the poison in his wine.
Celestia, Eudoxia and Tug flew to Riverrise in The Spirit of Light. Tug freed the nameless ones from their dwarf slavers at the Thorn Gate. Together, the three met the waif elders in the Gardens of Life. The Waif Council of Riverrrise struck a deal with New Sanctaphrax to protect Groundrise, which they believe must remain undisturbed as not interrupt the cycle of Earth and Sky.
Drax Adereth made his way from Ambristown to the Farrow Ridges in a skycarrier, intending to take revenge on Cade before starting a new life as a sky pirate. Cade and Celestia decided to leave New Sanctaphrax and return to the Farrow Ridges. On their way there, they stopped in Hive to meet Tillman Spoke and Whisp, who gave Cade a present. Gart, Delfina and Thorne Lammergyre had prepared a welcome party for their descenders, however, as Cade and Tug made their way to their cabin, they were surprised by Drax Adereth, who killed Rumblix and injured Tug.
A year or so later, Cade had become Councillor-Elect of Farrow Lake and raised a new prowlgrin, Ruffix. Tug named Celestia and Cade's child Twig.
Editions
Two editions of The Descenders were published: A hardback cover features illustrations by Chris Riddell on the cover and an exclusive gallery of Edge Chronicles artwork in the back. [2] A limited time offer to support independent bookstores included an original sketch by Chris Riddell.
The paperback copy has a cover illustration by Jeff Nentrup.
References
- ↑ Source
- ↑ Paul Stewart in an Email in December 2017: "You will have noticed that Doombringer only came out in paperback. We were not happy with that and suggested that, as well as the pb edition, The Descenders be published in hardback, like the rest of the series. We will, when The Descenders is out, also see whether there might be the possibility of producing a limited edition of Doombringer - for completists. The hardback envisaged by Penguin Random House will definitely only be a limited edition. I'm afraid I do not know what their planned print-run will be at this stage. It will have a 'Riddell' cover, rather than a Jeff Nentrup one. The decision to recover the entire series was beyond our control. While we like the fact that the whole series now has a unity to it with design, I personally prefer Chris's covers, which is why we insisted the limited hardback have a different cover. There will be no other hardback issued."
| Books in the Edge Chronicles series, by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell |
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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 |