Chris Riddell's dramatic line drawings are the perfect complement to Paul Stewart's striking words in Beyond the Deepwoods, the first book of The Edge Chronicles. Twig, on the verge of manhood at the age of 13, is told that the Woodtrolls who brought him up are not his real parents and that he must venture forth into the Deepwoods, keeping only to the path, to discover the truth about himself. Armed with just a few magical gifts from his adopted mother, Spelda, Twig steps off the path and tumbles into a terrifying other world where nothing and no-one can be trusted. From the mountainous Banderbear who becomes Twig's best friend, to the murderous Wig-wigs and the hideous all-female tribe of the Termagant Frogs, Beyond the Deepwoods sows the seeds of magic and adventure in the imagination, and lets them grow in the most exotic corners of the reader's mind. --Susan Harrison