What do You think about Beyond The Deepwoods (2006)?
Twig doesn't fit in with his woodtroll family. He is very different from everyone else in the village and has a hard life because of that. One day his family decides that he must leave the village and venture out into the Deepwoods. The Deepwoods are filled with all kinds of creatures and dangers but if you stay on the path you should be fine. Of course Twig strays from the path and has one adventure after another. It seems like he gets out of one situation and instantly falls into another. He has no clear idea of where he is going and just continues to travel through the Deepwoods looking for a path out. There is a lot going on in this book. I enjoyed Twig and his adventures but I wish there was more to the story than Twig going from one dangerous situation to another. It makes the book seem like a bunch of short stories tied into one. The adventures are all fun and interesting; I especially enjoyed his travels with the banderbear and his time with the Mag and the termagents. I think the ending was a satisfying one and answers questions about Twig's identity. It is also a nice way to set up the next book. This is an entertaining fantasy adventure book.
—Angie
Beyond the Deepwoods (Edge Chronicles, Book 1)After beginning this book, I figured out that it is actually written for children. At the time, I had no book to read. This book has been on my shelf for a few years. It was given to my partner as a gift and he was never interested in it. So, out of necessity to have something to read, I grabbed it.I was shocked at how much I liked it. I wasn't incredible, but it was very well written and the story was well thought out. It had a few twists and turns that I did not expect...actually, the entire book was a twist and a turn. There is constant action and the lead character goes from one problem to the next. A few of the main points of the story did surprise me and a few shocked me deeply.Even though this is written for children, it is a bit dark and some overbearing parents might not like their kids being exposed to situations like death even if they are artfully presented. I don't see the point in pretending children aren't humans like the rest of us, but I digress. There are many scenes that remind me of some of the movies from the 1980s with dark, odd puppetry characters. The book even has a few illustrations that put you in that frame of mind. However, I wouldn't call anything in this book scary. However, anticipation is constant.The main character is the usual weak male that finds his strength along the way, but the story is generally unique and pleasing. He always manages to find a way out of his situation. The main moral that this story centers around is the acceptance and promotion of individuality. The main character strays from the path and chooses adventure over assimilation. I can respect that.
—Daley
Alright I admit it, the art was what really caught my attention when I first saw the whole series lined up at the library. My excitement only grew when I read the blurb for a few. Sky pirates, strange creatures, and a new original fantasy world, what's not to like? Unfortunately quite a lot as no matter how much I wanted to love Beyond the Deepwoods and the rest of the Edge Chronicles I ended up barely able to force myself to finish first book.The main character, Twig, couldn't get much more cliche with the whole origin of 'being abandoned at birth only to be bullied as he grew up causing him to strike out on his own to discover who he truly is'. I wouldn't mind so much if he himself was still interesting or appealing personality-wise but he wasn't. In fact he spends pretty much the whole book blundering from one disaster to the next without ever really evolving as a character.The world, which sounded so promising at first, often felt like it was teetering on the edge (no pun intended) between believable and over the top whimsical making for strange unrealistic encounters which would have been fine had the tone been constantly set to the same degree but instead it felt more like as hard as it tried to be that it couldn't fully make up its mind.Overall I was highly disappointed and, try as I might, could not bring myself to continue with the series in vain hope that it would redeem itself.God bless,Kezle
—Kezle
