Synopsis: Twig is not like the other woodtrolls; he is too tall, too skinny, he doesn't have hair all over his body and, unlike any other woodtroll, he strays from the path. When he learns that he is a foundling, he wanders further than ever before, and stumbles into a world of weird creatures and deadly danger. In all his travels, he finds himself always driven onwards, searching for his place, his people, and his destiny. And always, in the shadows, there lurks the threat of the one thing that everything in the Deepwoods fears: The gloamglozer.

Review: The first book in Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's Edge Chronicles is almost a natural history of the Deepwoods, with Twig stumbling between encounters with slaughterers, goblins, banderbears, spindlebugs, trogs and all the other denizens of the Deepwoods. The plot is slight, but the plot is not entirely the point; Beyond the Deepwoods is more concerned with painting the background, and with Twig's personal journey. Having read this book after The Curse of the Gloamglozer - which was written afterwards, but sits before it chronologically - it is interesting, nay impressive, that Beyond the Deepwoods fits so well as a sequel. In so many cases, prequels fail to stand as the first book of a series, but it is only obvious that Gloamglozer was written later because Stewart and Riddell have refined their art in the years between the two books. This being said, it must be noted that Beyond the Deepwoods is not as good a book as Gloamglozer, but it is still a damn fine adventure yarn, couched in Stewart and Riddell's inimitable and highly visual style. Beyond the Deepwoods is perhaps best read as the first of the Edge Chronicles, regardless of its place in the absolute chronology of the Edge. In just about any order, however, it is recommended for any lovers of adventure.