- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: David Fickling Books; First Edition edition (7 Aug 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385604742
- ISBN-13: 978-0385604741
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.6 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 596,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Various (Various Trilogy)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The idea of a race of little people (fairies) living secretly among us has had a powerful hold on the imaginations of writers from Shakespeare to Terry Pratchettand Eoin Colfer. In The Various, Steve Augarde has used this fascination brilliantly to craft the first novel of a trilogy full of breathless action and wonder. When 12-year-old Midge is sent by her concert-violinist mother to spend the summer at the farm of her sweet but bungling Uncle Brian, her initial resentment gives way to delight in the freedom of exploring the countryside. When she discovers a tiny winged horse lying wounded in an outbuilding, she is awestruck to find out that he comes from a civilisation of five various tribes of little people living in a nearby wood—-something readers will have already learned from alternate chapters set in the fairy world.
Disaster threatens when Uncle Brian plans to sell the wood to a developer, and Midge and her cousins find (to their peril), that some of the little people are not as helpless as they seem. Steve Augarde draws on his visual and auditory skills as a BBC animator and picture book author/illustrator for vividly realised detail--the dumpy and addled fairy queen, the smells and moods of the English summer, the sharply differentiated accents and personalities of each of the five tribes--in an entrancing debut fantasy. The book is recommended for ages 10-14. --Patty Campbell, Amazon.com
Red House Books (readers reviews)
'The Various is the best book in the entire universe.' (Naomi Vibert)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magical and wonderful book,
This review is from: The Various: The Touchstone Trilogy (Hardcover)
The Various was a most amazing read! I couldn't put it down from the first page -- the story sucked me in from the opening chapter. The heroine of the book, twelve year old Midge, is a bright, sensitive girl who is unknowingly drawn into a magical and dangerous world of a tribe of mystical little people who have lived amongst her family for years and years in the adjacent woods on her uncle’s farm. These are The Various – a group of two foot tall creatures consisting of a class system parallel to real life -- the Ickri – or the hunters and ruling class, the Tinklers – artistic cave dwellers, and the Troggles, who were considered the lower rung of society. But all existed peacefully together in their common struggle to survive in a modern, ever-changing world alongside the humans, or Gorgi giants as they are humorously called by the author, without being detected. Every single character was original and distinct and made an instant impression. The tale begins with Midge’s discovery of an injured tiny winged horse in an old barn on the property and takes the reader on an incredible journey from that point on. Will she discover the secrets of The Various? Will she help them survive? Or will they turn on Midge and her family as the enemy? The author is a master of setting up a scene and then drawing out suspense. There was an element of fear in some sections which had me on the edge of my bed, biting my nails, but nothing that would frighten a child…it was more like ghost story scary. I turned page after page, wondering where it all would lead. and I never had a clue as to where it was headed, which added to the great enjoyment I had as a reader. This book has everything – it’s chock full of beautiful images, unique and startling characters, and dialogue that was offbeat, brilliant, and at times, very funny, making it one of the best I've ever read and I highly recommend that you pick this one up, whether you are an older child or teenager or even an adult.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written and a really refreshing read,
This review is from: The Various: The Touchstone Trilogy (Hardcover)
This book was a beautifully written and really refreshing read, surprisingly. I recommend this book to children, youths and adults alike...In a thick froest, protected by brambles there is a whole different world. Where tribes of 'little people' struggle for existence in a world where human giants have taken over. For so long they have been a secret, until one day a human girl saves the life of one of their kind. She warns them of the danger soon to befall them and is soon caught up in the world of the various tribes. The first book in the series was a really great start to what promises to be an extraordinary tale.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a wonderful read,
By ILONACAT (WIRRAL, ENGLAND) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Various: The Touchstone Trilogy (Paperback)
I was attracted to this book by its cover and by the Somerset setting- I deliberately don't say "background" because the landscape in this book is almost a character in its own right. . Suffice to say that Midge, a contemporary girl, encounters a winged horse in a disused barn. . .and nothing will ever be the same again. There are fairies galore, and none of them is of the glittery Disney variety-they are the genuine article-British fairies,many of whom are squat, grotesque and hairy whilst a few are unnervingly beautiful. Both Midge's world and that of the "Various" are rendered in superb and lively writing.The landscape of field and forest is rendered beautifully, as is the Somerset dialect that the fairies speak.I'm very much looking forward to the remaining books of the trilogy.
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