The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell is a series of stories that take place in the fictional world of The Edge, a cliff with no apparent bottom. The books are grouped into sagas, each focusing on one character.

Why I picked this book up

There are usually three things that I look for in a book and these are:

The book cover art initially caught my eye and pulled my attention towards it. Each book of every saga features a certain character or element from the story in its cover, and this for me is captivating or luring, in a way. Chris Riddell certainly has a unique style to his drawings that I absolutely love.

The title—if the cover looks good, the title must be pretty catchy too. “The Edge Chronicles,” made me wonder what exactly is The Edge? Even though the word “chronicles” have been used up in different stories, the word “edge” in the title, metaphorically and literally gives it an edge. If it’s called The Cliff Chronicles, I would probably think twice about taking a look at it. But then again, if Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell wrote and illustrated “The Cliff Chronicles”, I would probably still have read it anyway.

And last but not the least, the book blurb. The blurb of The Edge Chronicles was definitely catchy and interesting. I wanted to know more.

Why I kept reading this book

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell are a great combination. Chris Riddell’s illustrations contribute a lot to the story itself. And that’s good for me because I usually get bored reading books. I think fantasy set in an urbanized world is a great idea. I like how both of them thought of the names of the races and the creatures and the places. It makes you feel like you’re in a different world. And it makes you feel that you want to see that world.

My verdict

This series, as I understand, is written especially for kids. But even I have been deeply and passionately fascinated with the story that Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell have created for us.