Cliff Country Chronicles

The Cliff Country Chronicles ( English original title: The Edge Chronicles ) is a fantasy youth novel series by the British author Paul Stewart and the illustrator Chris Riddell . The first volume of the Chronicle was published in the UK in 1998 by Doubleday . The German first edition was published in 2001 by Verlag Sauerländer . The order of publication of the volumes differs from the chronological order of action. The German translations are by Wolfram Ströle .

Outline of the book series

The series consists of eleven books, which can be divided into three trilogies , which are named after the respective main characters, and two additional volumes. The plot begins with a narrative in volume 9½ of the series ( The Disappeared Scrolls ), which plays immediately before the first volume of the Quint trilogy and supplements it, and ends with volume 10 ( The Book of Immortal Heroes ).

The Quint trilogy consists of the volumes Twig - Fluch über Sanktaphrax , Quint and the Ice Knights and Quint and the Battle of the Sky Galleons , these were published as the 4th, 8th and 9th volume of the Cliff Country Chronicles. The trilogy is supplemented by the story Wolkenwolf , which is contained in Volume 9½ The Disappeared Scrolls . This is to be arranged chronologically before the first volume of the trilogy. The story, Die Steinpilotin , also contained in Volume 9½, takes place between Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the Quint trilogy.

The series is continued by the Twig trilogy. This consists of the volumes Twig im Dunkelwald , Twig bei den Himmelspiraten and Twig im Augen des Sturms , which were published as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd volumes of the Klippenland Chronicles.

The story The Search of the Butcher Girl , which is contained in Volume 9½ The Disappeared Scrolls , acts as a loose link between this and the following trilogy .

The Rook trilogy continues the chronicles. It consists of the volumes Rook and Twig, the Last Sky Pirate , Rook and the Black Maelstrom and Rook in the Free Valleys .

Volume 9½ The Disappeared Scrolls contains, in addition to the 3 stories mentioned above, which close the plot gaps in the trilogies and at the same time connect the trilogies with one another, a fourth story that takes place after the events of the three trilogies: The baptism of blood of Rufus Zirbelstock . This narrative marks the transition to a new age, which is the temporal backdrop for the last volume in the series The Book of Immortal Heroes .

Other volumes have so far only been published in English. Chronologically, after the volume The Book of Immortal Heroes by the band The Nameless One was published in February 2014 in the United Kingdom. This is the first book of the future Cade trilogy. The Nameless One was continued in 2015 with the band Doombringer . The third part, The Descenders , was published in 2019.

Quint is placed by his father in the care of his confidante, the Most High Academic, Linius Pallitax, because the Highest Academic needs a journeyman to help him. Quint, who is a stranger to academics in the flying city, first has to familiarize himself with the peculiarities of the city and its residents. Maris, the daughter of the Most High Academic, is of no help to him because she makes no secret of her dislike for Quint. At the latest when Linius Pallitax asks Quint to take him inside the Flying Rock of Sanktaphrax in the so-called low -level flight cage, Quint suspects that the academic is up to something and is hiding it from everyone. The fact that the academic only leaves the interior of the rock after several hours and then also covered in blood reinforces Quint's hunch. When he brings Linius inside for the second time, Quint follows him, but gets lost in the labyrinth of tunnels and shafts and finds it difficult to get out again.

Maris, who learns of Quint's observation, quickly changes her attitude towards Quint, because she has already noticed the changes in her father. Together they want to discover his secret and go inside Sanktaphrax, in the so-called honeycomb stone. But they cannot find their way around the tangle of honeycombs and can only free themselves from it and escape the dangerous robbery with the help of the earth scientist and friend Linius 'Bungus Septrill, of whose scientific field the arrogant sky scientists Sanktaphrax' do not want to know anything. Maris and Bungus are separated from Quint and finally leave the honeycomb stone. Quint, on the other hand, discovers the secret of the Most High Academic inside the rock: a secret laboratory. And in this laboratory he's holding a poor, small, weak being imprisoned. Meanwhile, Linius confesses to Maris and Bungus that he created a terrible creature in the old laboratory , as the secret laboratory is called - the demon Schleimschmeichler , and the two go into the honeycomb stone to prevent Quint from releasing the supposedly harmless creature, for Quint has the official seal of the highest academic with him, with which he can enter the old laboratory. In the Wabenstein, Maris is attacked by the robbery crowd and Bungus saves her with devotion to his life. Meanwhile, Quint releases the being he has compassion on. But too late he realizes his mistake and that he has released the slime flatterer , the most terrible creature that the inhabitants of the cliff country can imagine: It only spreads lies and only brings him satisfaction the suffering and pain of others. Linius had brought it to life in the old laboratory with the help of a powerful lightning bolt and one of the small harmless glitters and made the same mistake as one of the old scientists who woke the robbery gliver and then left the laboratory and it because of the constant shifting of the tunnels hidden in the rock behind rocks in vain. But Quint succeeds in driving the slime flatterer out of Sanktaphrax and driving him to the edge of the fog - not without him setting the shadow palace on fire, which the highest academic survives only thanks to his loyal servant, the spindle beetle Zwiesel. When Quint drives away the slime flatterer, he swears revenge on him and his family.

Quint and the Ice Knights

When Quint is accepted into the knight's academy, events roll over. A long and unusually cold winter sets in, so that Sanktaphrax gets too much buoyancy and threatens to break the anchor chain. Hax Vostillix, the rector of the Institute for Cloud Science, therefore sends an unusually large number of knights on a storm hunt in order to find Sturmphrax and weigh down the rock with it. However, none of the knights sent out manages to capture Sturmphrax - most even die in the attempt. In addition, the "gatekeepers" try to take control of Sanktaphrax by force. Finally, the Ice Knights (Quint and his friends) find a way to end the eternal winter and save Sanktaphrax. To do this, however, they have to sail over the edge of the cliff in a sky ship - as far as almost no one before them.

The stone pilot

The young cave fury Maugin misses her blood baptism by being kidnapped by slave traders and thus never becomes an adult fury. At the slave market she is freed by young Quint and discovers her destiny as a stone pilot on the sky ship of Quint's father Wind Jackal.

Quint and the Battle of the Sky Galleons

Windschakal brings his son Quint from Sanktaphrax because, according to rumors, Turbot Schmezz, the former quartermaster of Windschakal, is still alive. As he is responsible for the death of the Wind Jackal and Quint's family, Wind Jackal seeks revenge and goes in search of his enemy, for which he needs Quint's help. In their search for lubricant, Quint and his father expose themselves to many dangers and comb through almost the entire cliff land, including the edge of the cliff at the edge of the fog. In the end it turns out that a new member of the team has laid the wrong track and has occasionally slipped into the role of the actually dead lubricant with a disguise, a mask. However, wind jackal no longer experiences this, as he is killed by that very team member. This masquerade only served the pathological ambition of the sky pirate, who mimed Schmimz, who wanted to take over the sky rider from the wind jackal's sky ship . At the end of the story, before the real identity of Schmelezz is revealed, a massive air battle breaks out between League Brothers and Sky Pirates after the Leagues of Lower City decide to destroy the Sky Pirates forever.

Twig

Twig in the dark forest

The foundling Twig, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, grew up as a human being among the forest trolls. When the Sky Pirates show interest in him, his adoptive mother Spelda sends him to cousin Schnatterbark, who is supposed to take care of him until the danger is over, because rough customs prevail on Sky Pirate ships. Shortly after he set out, Twig leaves the fascinating hustle and bustle of the forest's animals and plants, as in the game, and does not find his way back, but gets lost more and more in the dark forest. After life and death duels with terrible animals, Twig finally reaches the tribe of butchers. The butchers are strange creatures with red skin and hair. They take Twig in and treat him like a guest of honor : He receives gifts, is allowed to participate in the rituals of the butchers and is allowed to have “midnight dinner” with them. The next morning, however, he is unkindly sent away by the slimy flatterer who has turned into a butcher. In the village of the butchers he also finds his future wife Vene Tatum. On his further journey Twig made the acquaintance of a caterpillar bird. Caterpillars are huge birds that hatch from a cocoon in which they often grow for up to 100 years. Twig watches the caterpillar hatch and so the two are bound to each other and friends with each other as long as they live. This friendship is extremely useful to Twig, because caterpillars know everything. The caterpillar Twig can help out of many unpleasant situations.

Twig also encounters a band bear, a huge, shaggy bear. The bear writhes in pain: its tooth is rotten. Twig takes the test of courage to put the giant animal in the mouth and pull out its tooth. The band bear becomes Twig's friend and the two spend a lot of time together in the dark forest. But the gang bear is attacked and eaten up by the carnivorous wig-wigs : a tragic end of friendship. A little later, the wandering Twig becomes the pet of a young cave fury. She leads him on a leash through the caves of her tribe, braids his hair in pigtails and treats him through and through like a pet. Twig puts up with all of this because he is waiting for an opportune moment to escape. After the cave fury has grown up and become bloodthirsty at a ceremony, Twig has to put everything on one card and can escape it with the help of the slimy flatterer, who has taken on a new shape.

Then Twig meets a gang of sky pirates who have crashed their ship. Twig can help you to get it afloat again, because he saw where the flying stone, which gives the ship the necessary buoyancy, fell. The captain tells the story of his child, who he had to abandon, by the campfire. Twig finds out he's the kid from the story, but the Sky Pirates move on before he can clear things up. Confused and powerless, Twig comes to the edge of the fog. There the slimy flatterer appears before him, a hideous demon, to be equated with our idea of Satan . The slimy flatterer makes Twig jump over the edge of the fog. But lo and behold, by whom will he be saved? The omniscient caterpillar rushes to his aid! He sets Twig down on the Sky Pirates' ship that Twig met in the Dark Forest. Here the true relationship between the captain and Twig is finally clarified - they are father and son.

Twig with the Sky Pirates

Despite the many chains, to which new ones are constantly being added, the flying rock is getting more and more buoyant, as the deceitful Highest Academic Vilnix Pompolnius (abbreviation: ViP as an allusion to VIP (Very Important Person)) steals the stormy phrase that weighs down the city. From this he produces the valuable phrax dust, of which only he knows how to make it and which even turns mud into clear, pure water and which he trades with the league brothers. At the request of the Professor of Light and the prospect of debt repayment from the greedy mother Horse Feather, Twig's father's team casts off to go on a storm hunt and to get storm thrills. Captain Wolkenwolf, who owes it to Vilnix that he could not set off to hunt storms as an academy knight, orders Twig to stay with Mother Horse Spring in the lower town. On the other hand, the Professor of Light accompanies them to advise Wolkenwolf on the storm chase. Slyvo, the mate, lies to Twig, he worries about his well-being, and smuggles him on board. However, he only wants to blackmail Wolkenwolf with the fact that he has his son in his power. When the ship sailed in the middle of a big storm, the lightning of which generated the storm thrill, Slyvo mutinied with the support of the flat-headed goblin. With the help of the band bear Hubble, Wolkenwolf succeeds in killing the mutineers, but since Hubble should have held the course, the steering wheel becomes independent and Wolkenwolf realizes that nothing more can be done. He remains alone on the ship, he orders the others to jump off. After a brief dispute, Twig obeys him and lands reasonably safe in the twilight forest, where he has to watch helplessly as the valuable Sturmphrax, for the sake of which they set out, sinks into the ground.

The rest of the team quickly find their way back to Twig and appoint him captain. There are also the band bear Hubble, the professor of light, Rook's great-uncle Tem Waterbork, the oak elf Zacke, Klotzkinn and the mysterious stone pilot. Tem and Klotzkinn succumb to the temptation of Gloamwood and separate from the rest of the group. When she arrives in the Moder swamps, the next danger awaits her: Ratz Zehenschneider (actually: Rattius Zellinix), a former academy knight who, like Wolkenwolf, had chased a storm, leads people through the swamp, whom he is still trying to fulfill his mission , cuts off her toes, scratches out the Sturmphrax from under her nails and hoards it in a chest. Hubble succumbs to his injuries in the swamp, which he sustained on impact in Gloamwood, and Zacke is chased away by Ratz. However, Twig can save the Steinpilot from Ratz. Shortly afterwards, the Professor of Light dies of the broken neck he suffered when hitting the Twilight Forest, but not without first telling Twig the secret of Phrax dust production: the Sturmphrax crystal has to be pulverized at the exact point of twilight. Twig buries him by letting him sink into the swamp. The stone pilot reveals himself to be a cave fury named Maugin who missed the ritual that would have turned her into a bloodthirsty monster. With their help, Twig makes the shipwreck in which Ratz lived heavenly and they fly back to the lower town. The Sturmphrax crystals collected by Ratz are sent to their destination, Sanktaphrax is saved and Vilnix Pompolnius is cruelly murdered by a goblin hired by the league brothers. Twig, who was made knight Arborinus Verginix, has Mother Horse Spring build a sky ship called Cliff Dancer and give her money to hire a crew - in return he tells her the secret of Phrax dust production. After he has got his crew together, he flies over the Lower City and hands out envelopes that contain Sturmphrax and instructions on how to make phrax dust. Thanks to the professors of light, who discovered the secret, and the darkness, who rings a bell every evening at the exact time of dusk - officially it is said to be rung in honor of Twig - everyone in Lower Town now has access to drinking water. After this good deed, the cliff dancer is visited by the caterpillar bird who wants to lead Twig and his team over the cliff to Wolkenwolf and his ship. Twig responds and a journey into the unknown begins.

Twig in the eye of the storm

Twig and his crew, led by the caterpillar bird, sail into unknown areas beyond the cliff and drive straight into the great storm that swallowed Wolkenwolf and his ship. The storm almost robs them of their minds and only Twig and Maugin remain in their senses. Twig goes insane because of the storm and wants to cut the line that connects the caterpillar to the ship. Maugin brings him back to his senses. Twig changes ship and talks to Wolkenwolf, who tells him something very important about the return of the mother storm, but shortly afterwards disappears with his ship. Twig's ship is torn to pieces and its crew crashes. Twig, who is rescued from the Stone Gardens by the Professor of Darkness and who is also appointed Assistant Professor of Light by him, meets Tadpole Phentephraxis in Sanktaphrax, who prevents the sky pirate from throwing himself from a balcony. Twig protects Tadpole from his archenemy Vox Verlix and makes him his assistant. Tadpole tells him that eight shooting stars have been seen falling, and Twig immediately deduces that it could only be about him and his crew. The professor of darkness shows him roughly where the falling stars have landed, and Twig sets out to look, accompanied by tadpoles. In Lower Town you can actually find the butcher Trapp Muttonhirt, Maat Schliet and the flat-headed goblin Grogg. Twig sends the three of them to Sanktaphrax in the care of the Professor of Darkness and only continues his journey with Kaulquapp.

Twig and Kaulquapp decide to board the skyscraper, who is leaving for the harpies' slave market. They reach the ship at the last second. But the captain Hagestolz Klauengreif is a crook and slave trader who wants to sell them together with other slaves he has caught. Twig and Kaulquapp can thwart his plans and instead of them Hagestolz is handed over to the harpies. Among the slaves they even find Spooler, the oak elf, who was also part of Twig's team. While Spooler accompanies them, the remaining slaves fly to the lower town together with the crew of the skyscraper . Twig, Kaulquapp and Spooler visit the slave market and learn that Hubble, the gang bear, is supposed to fight in the wig-wig arena (comparable to an arena in ancient Rome where gladiator fights took place). After claw griffin is exposed to the voracious wig-wigs and dies a terrible death, it is Hubble's turn. Twig daringly saves him from the harpies and they flee.

In the village of the forest trolls, Twig finds another comrade from his former team, the swarming forest fish. The joy, however, is also associated with grief, because Twig's adoptive father Tuntum has died and Twig is to bury him. In addition, Spooler was killed on the way to the village. The troop moves on together with forest fish. Further in the dark forest, the troops find the last part of their former crew - the cave fury Maugin. The team is completely reunited. At the Quellgrund, a mystical place in the dark forest and the source of the great cliff river, where Maugin has been waiting for her, she also reveals to Twig what Wolkenwolf said to him: The fabulous mother storm will return and clean the cliff river and fill it with new water. However, Sanktaphrax blocks his way. The only option that remains to prevent the Great Mother Storm from colliding with the Sanktaphrax Rock is to detach the Sanktaphrax Rock from the anchor chain that connects it to the Lower City. However, this means that the Flying Rock is flying away. Twig and Tadpole let themselves be shot into the sky , which means they let themselves be tied to an airwood tree that is set on fire and flies away. They reach their destination and release Sanktaphrax, which the professor of darkness has evacuated from twigs and tadpoles because of a message brought by a white raven. The attempt by the professor of darkness Kaulquapp to dissuade Sanktaphrax from detaching Sanktaphrax by handing over the official seal of the highest academic also fails. Unable to let his homeland float away, the professor clings to the anchor chain and flies away with the flying rock.

Tadpole, as he bears the official seal, is chosen by the academics as the new Supreme Academician and immediately takes up his position with the foundation of Neu-Sanktaphrax, which is to be built on a large rock growing in the Stone Gardens. Twig, on the other hand, leaves Kaulquapp in order to fetch his friends, whom he had to leave behind at the source of the spring, with the help of most of the sky- stormers' crew , Trapp Hammelhirt, Schliet and Grogg.

The search of the butcher girl

After the death of her mother and the departure of her father, Twig's daughter Keris lived with her uncle in a butcher's village for years. Then she goes in search of her father and experiences a dangerous journey through the cliff country to the free valleys, where she actually finds a family member.

Rook

Rook and Twig, the last sky pirate

The assistant librarian Rook Waterbork, who later turns out to be the grandson of Twig, is chosen by the community of librarians from Lower City to travel to the Dark Forest and there, at the Lake Academy, to begin training as a library knight. At the same time, Xanth Zirbelstock, a journeyman of the Guardians of the Night, is chosen at his own request to spy on the young librarians who are making their way into the dark forest. However, Xanth is not thoroughly evil. The conversations with the captured tadpole made him curious about the wonders of the dark forest and, as already mentioned, he was able to obtain permission from Orbix Xaxis to go on a spy trip into the dark forest. All start their journey through the cliff land as planned. When he arrives at the See-Akademie, Xanth tells the director there that he has been selected afterwards by the community of librarians. He believes him and enables him to be as close as possible to the real chosen ones. He takes part in the courses and, like the others, makes a sky-ship.

Xanth, who has since made friends with the other students of the See Academy, especially Rook, is plagued by remorse because on the one hand he does not want to betray his new friend, but on the other hand he does not want to and cannot disappoint his master, the Supreme Guardian of the Night. Ultimately, however, he decides to remain loyal to his client. He betrays the librarians to the master of the valley of the blast furnaces who traps Rook, the famous library knight Varis Lodd and the butcher Knuckle. The three of them set out with their sky swifts to free the enslaved band bears that Xanth deliberately told them about. Because of the trap, Rook is bedridden with a fever for a long time. However, Xanth says goodbye before leaving, saying he would not have set the trap if he had known Rook was there. He confesses his mission to him, which shows his good core. Rook then leaves the Lake Academy after he has cured his fever to embark on his research trip on the subject of an eyewitness account of the great gathering of gang bears . In the dark forest he meets not only the band bear Wumeru, whom he follows to the gathering of the band bears, but also Twig, the last true sky pirate . He lives peacefully in the seclusion of the dark forest together with the band bears after he has failed to reach the bottom of the source where his companions were waiting for him. Unaware that Twig is his own grandfather, Rook joins him.

With the last functional pirate ship that Twig has moored at the edge of the fog, the two fly, supported by a gang bears crew, to the Tower of the Night and free the captured Highest Academician Tadpole. Xanth cannot confess to Rook and go with him, but his friendship extends so far that he helps him and Tadpole significantly in their escape. Tadpole and Rook survive, but Twig is fatally wounded during the dangerous endeavor. The book ends with the appearance of the caterpillar bird that Twig observed while hatching and that brings the captain to his companions at the source so that he finally reaches his destination.

Rook and the Black Maelstrom

Rook is shot down over Rubble City. There he meets his old friend Felix again, who helps him to escape from Rubble City. Nevertheless, Rook is captured by slave traders and ends up in the “Palace of Statues” which is inhabited by the former academic Vox Verlix. There he is supposed to feed the "baby", a huge device that is supposed to trigger the black maelstrom, a storm that would destroy the librarians and the large library. Tadpole finally frees Rook and leaves with him to warn the librarians. They lure the harpies and goblins to the great library at the time the storm is about to break out according to Vox's simulated calculations.

Meanwhile, Magda Burlix was captured while looking for Rook. Xanth Zirbelstock brutally interrogates her at first and thus wins the trust of the night guards more and more. When Magda tries to lure a horde of cliff devils into the Great Library, he tries to escape with her. When they are caught doing this and are now about to be sacrificed together, they manage to escape and meet the librarians who are preparing their escape into the Free Valleys across the cliff river. Rook now learns of Vox's plan to trigger the black maelstrom himself and rushes to the Palace of Statues. There he unintentionally triggers the black maelstrom himself. With Felix's help, he makes it to the librarians' ships in time and escapes with them. Meanwhile, Vox is killed by his fond housekeeper, who wants him all to herself.

Rook in the Free Valleys

With the help of the talented librarian Rook Waterbork, the ghosts of Rubble City and the support of the Armada of the Dead , a group of sky pirates, the Lower Towns embark on a dangerous journey. On the run from the great maelstrom, the inhabitants of the cliff country are now seeking refuge in the Free Valleys. On this journey they have to endure a lot of dangers, starting with the fearsome harpies up to the unscrupulous furnace master Hemuel Schrott, who expects a rich supply of slaves from the lower towners.

Having finally arrived in the Free Valleys, it is decided to rebuild the Great Library. But not everything is going well: In the valley of the blast furnaces Schrott is forging a plan to let all the people from the lower town work as slaves in his furnaces until they drop dead, because the wear and tear of the workers is enormous. A huge battle breaks out in the Free Valleys, on three fronts: At the large library, which is currently being rebuilt, in Neu-Unterstadt and on the green barley fields. The blast furnace master's valley eaters hit the lower towners hard, but the ghosts of Rubble City , the Armada of the Dead and the academy knights hit them hard until the valley eaters finally have to leave.

The third age of flight

With the story Die Bluttaufe des Rufus Zirbelstock, which is contained in the supplementary volume (9½) The Disappeared Scrolls , the story arc of the Klippenland Chronicles is expanded beyond the three trilogies.

The young lancer cadet Rufus Zirbelstock, son of Xanth Zirbelstock, discovered a new blast furnace valley in the dark forest with his lancer department. There new types of weapons are produced by means of apparent deaths and a new war ensues for the survival of the Free Valleys. - With the discovery of the secret of the new weapons, a new chapter in the history of the cliff land begins: The Third Age of Flight.

The Book of Immortal Heroes is the last book in the Cliff Country Chronicles and forms a comprehensive conclusion in which Paul Stewart once again reviews all the special heroes, beings and landscapes, as well as solving the riddles about the whereabouts of Quint, Twig and Rook.

Phrax miner Nate Quarter exposes a mine supervisor scam. That's why he is supposed to be killed, but the bullet from a hammer head hits his best friend. Nate then flees to Großtal with the sweeper Schlupf. There he reported to the secretary of the mine owner Galban Prade, Felftis Brack, about the catastrophic conditions in the Phrax mine and met Prade's daughter Eudoxia. Eventually he got a job at the phrase chamber factory Glemlock & Harms . The factory owner's son kills his father by blowing up the building and blames Nate. So he has to flee with Eudoxia, the band bear Weelum, the professor (a player), and the Phrax ship pilot Boreas Sabertooth. They decide to look for Eudoxia's father, who has been missing in Swarm City for some time. After a long journey they arrive in Schwarmstadt and can also free Galban Prade, but Nate and Eudoxia are mistakenly mistaken for soldiers and have to go to war against the Großtaler militia. They succumb and Eudoxia is badly injured. With the help of a librarian they get to the source in the city of night. There Nate kills the tyrant Golderite One-Eye and makes the healing water accessible to all. In the garden of life he meets his ancestors Twig and Rook, who were trapped there. They unite with the mother storm, as did Quint.

Meanwhile, the professor is equipping an expedition in the now free swarm city to search for his brother, who disappeared while investigating the cliff. In Dornhafen, Nate and the now healed Eudoxia meet with the expedition. In the old lower town they make an amazing discovery: The flying rock of Sanktaphrax is back! But what at first seems flawless and good becomes a deadly trap: The slimy flatterer has created more of his kind in the secret laboratory and is now luring entire villages to their death. But then the mother storm appears and with it Quint, Twig and Rook. They kill the slime flatterers and the mother storm frees the flying rocks from the stone disease. Now the professor and Nate descend the cliff ...

History of origin

In interviews, Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart have said that the idea for the book series goes back to an illustration by Chris Riddell that "shows the end of a map". For this world, which is literally lying on a cliff, Paul Stewart then came up with the stories and was inspired by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm .

Books

The German first editions were published by Verlag Sauerländer. Further editions were published by Piper Verlag and Carlsen Verlag .

Volume 1: Twig im Dunkelwald (2001), ( Beyond the Deepwoods , 1998), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-4744-8
Volume 2: Twig bei den Himmelspiraten (2001), ( Stormchaser , 1999), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-4745-6
Volume 3: Twig in the eye of the storm (2002), ( Midnight Over Sanctaphrax , 2000), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-4746-4
Volume 4: Twig - Fluch über Sanktaphrax (2003), ( The Curse Of The Gloamglozer , 2001), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6003-7
Volume 5: Rook and Twig, the last sky pirate (2004), ( The Last Of The Sky Pirates , 2002), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6022-3
Volume 6: Rook and the black maelstrom (2005), ( Vox , 2003), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6039-8
Volume 7: Rook in the free valleys (2006), ( Freeglader , 2004), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6064-9
Volume 8: Quint and the Ice Knights (2006), ( Winter Knights , 2005), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6079-7
Volume 9: Quint and the battle of the sky galleons (2007), ( Clash of the Sky Galleons , 2006), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 3-7941-6092-4
Volume 9½: The Lost Scrolls (2008), ( The Lost Barkscrolls , 2006), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 978-3-7941-8080-6
Volume 10: The Book of Immortal Heroes (2010), ( The Immortals , 2009), Verlag Sauerländer - ISBN 978-3-7941-8098-1

Cade trilogy, not yet published in German:

Volume 11: The Nameless One (2014)
Volume 12: Doombringer (2015)
Volume 13: The Descenders (2019)

Awards

Bookseller's Best (06/2006)

Audio books

Volker Niederfahrenhorst read the Klippenland chronicles as audio books and received several awards for them, e. B. HR2 audio book best list (10/2002) and Prize of the German Record Critics, best list (11/2002).

review

The FAZ reviewer Christoph Schmitz wrote in 2003, among other things, that he “liked to look around ... in the fantastic cliff land” and that “the remarkable thing about cliff land .... the crazy beings, strange living conditions and especially the geography of an invented one World region " are. In his opinion, the “diversity of creatures” corresponds to the “diversity of literary models” of the chronicles, of which he names, among other things, Nordic myths, city and campus novels and fantasy literature. He finds the scenes “somewhat mechanical ... lined up” and the “lack of narrative care” also transferred to the translation.

Notes and individual references

↑ see: Information in the catalog of the German National Library
↑ see: Information on the official website (accessed December 25, 2010)
^ Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell: The Edge Chronicles - The Descenders. Retrieved July 30, 2017 .
↑ cf. Timeline in Volume 9½ (Sauerländer 2008)
↑ ^a ^b see: Advertising Leporello from Verlag Sauerländer from 2010
↑ http://www.buecher.de/shop/buecher/twig-fluch-ueber-sanktaphrax/stewart-paul/products_products/detail/prod_id/13340517/

Web links

The Edge Chronicles - official website in English
Cliff Country Chronicles Wiki
Article by Jan van Nahl at alliteratus.com ( PDF file; 143 kB)

[1] see: Information in the catalog of the German National Library

[2] see: Information on the official website (accessed December 25, 2010)

[3] Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell: The Edge Chronicles - The Descenders. Retrieved July 30, 2017 .

[4] . Timeline in Volume 9½ (Sauerländer 2008)

[Leporello-5] see: Advertising Leporello from Verlag Sauerländer from 2010

[6] ttp://www.buecher.de/shop/buecher/twig-fluch-ueber-sanktaphrax/stewart-paul/products_products/detail/prod_id/13340517/