Product Description

High in the crumbling Palace of Statues, oily Vox Verlix - nominally the Most High Academe but no more than a prisoner in reality - is brewing a terrible plot to destroy the goblins and the shrykes at a stroke, leaving him free to take over once again. Rook Barkwater, a young librarian knight, stumbles upon the truth when he is taken captive and forced to work for Rook. But can Rook foil Vox's plan and save the lives of his librarian colleagues? This is a dramatic and menacing new adventure, illustrated throughout with marvellously imaginative black and white illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74891 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Synopsis
High in the crumbling Palace of Statues, oily Vox Verlix - nominally the Most High Academe but no more than a prisoner in reality - is brewing a terrible plot to destroy the goblins and the shrykes at a stroke, leaving him free to take over once again. Rook Barkwater, a young librarian knight, stumbles upon the truth when he is taken captive and forced to work for Rook. But can Rook foil Vox's plan and save the lives of his librarian colleagues? This is a dramatic and menacing new adventure, illustrated throughout with marvellously imaginative black and white illustrations.

From the Back Cover
Take your imagination to THE EDGE!

Dark, swirling clouds loom over the Edge. High in the crumbling Palace of the Statues, little more than a prisoner of the all-powerful Guardians of the Night, Vox Verlix watches them. And plots.

Rook Barkwater - a young librarian knight - finds himself embroiled in Vox's evil scheming. He must stop him. If he should fail, the Edgeworld could fall into total chaos . . .

Over 1 MILLION COPIES sold!

'The most amazing books ever' Ellen, 10

'So interesting and captivating' Calum, 11

About the Author
Paul Stewart is the author of a number of previous titles for children including THE MIDNIGHT HAND and THE WAKENING (a Federation of Children's Book Groups Pick of the Year) for the Yearling list Chris Riddell is an accomplished graphic artist who has illustrated many acclaimed books for children and has won the Unesco Award for Something Else, as well as being shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Kurt Maschler Award. He is also the acclaimed political cartoonist for the Guardian and the Observer.

Customer Reviews

vox a historical addition
You may the title distressing when you see the word historical, but when i say that it means a timeline of events.
Rook is about a young wannabe Librarian knight he works hard and lives in the sewers of New Undertown as the old Undertown you have previously known about has been crushed with debris and scree from the New Sanctaphrax. This is because it is struck with stone sicknes with also ended the first age of flight. When Rooks sky craft crashes in Scree town he is desperate and seek sthe help of an old friend who is a ghost of Scree town who takes him below to an opulent palace in old western quays. This palace is the burned down one of the great sky pirate captain Wind Jackal as Rook finds out. When he finds the sooted mural commisoned by Wind Jackal on the wall. Rook is then accidentally caught by slavers and sold to Vox the ex most high academe. Rook discovers that there is more to this man than fancy thick robes. Thrust into a world of danger it's up to rook to foil the guardians of the night and save everyone. But theres one problem one of the guardians is his friend all of the plan could depend on him.
This book was very interesting and has many different aspects theres hurt and betrayal involved but there is a surprise ending as well.

Interesting
One of the harder books for younger ages, Vox has a slightly complex story but is still good. I did however get a little bored while reading it, even though I also thought it was good. Not bad!

Should've been named "Rook",
In the darkest and most complex Edge Chronicle ever, Vox Verlix plots away in his crumbling tower, seeing all, watching all, and waiting for his chance for revenge against those that betrayed him. Possessor of the title of Most High Academe by methods not quite orthodox, Vox is now a prisoner of his own machinations, his greatest triumphs usurped by those he once trusted.

The hero of this book is again young Rook, the librarian-knight from book five. Captured after losing his precious Stormhornet sky-craft while on patrol, he is sold into slavery and ends up in Vox's palace, as an assistant to Hestera Spikesap, an exciting new character with a lot going on in her kitchen and heart. He meets the other minions of Vox - Speegspeel the goblin servant, Amberfuce the ghost-waif, and Flambusia, Amberfuce's nurse, and manages to get himself in the middle of most of the action which springs up in every chapter.

Judging from the signs in the sky, a huge storm is brewing, which the Guardians of the Night believe will cure the stone sickness which has devastated New Sanctaphrax. The natives are restless also, and it doesn't take much prompting to set Shrikes and Goblins against each other in a huge battle in the sewers beneath Undertown.

There's more violence than usual in this one, and several mentions of the smell of unwashed bodies of various species. It's also not as well thought out as the others, as major plot points happen too often by either chance or carelessness. There are stories running concurrently that are sometimes hard to tie together, and lots of loose ends. There's even romance in the air along with the usual imaginative cast of creatures, but as usual, the illustrations truly bring the book to life.

Not the best in the series, but packed with action and well worth reading.

Amanda Richards