Vox (The Edge Chronicles)

Vox

Author	Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell
Illustrator	Chris Riddell
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	The Edge Chronicles
Genre	Children's, Fantasy
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	September 4, 2003
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	404 pp
ISBN	978-0-385-60461-1
OCLC	52457621
Preceded by	The Last of the Sky Pirates
Followed by	Freeglader

Vox is a children's fantasy novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, first published in 2003. It is the sixth volume of The Edge Chronicles and the second of the Rook Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the eighth novel, following the Quint Saga and Twig Saga trilogies.

Plot summary

The novel begins by showing the state of play in Undertown. The usurper Vox Verlix is now trapped in the Palace of Statues having lost control over all his grand projects. The Guardians of Night took over the Tower of Night when they drove him out, the Shrykes seized the Great Mire Road, and the goblins Vox hired to enslave Undertowners and build the Sanctaphrax Forest cut the Most High Academe out of the loop. Vox was left as nothing more than a puppet used by General Tytugg of Undertown to keep the Shrykes at bay, and Tytugg now plots to kill his former employer. The situation also appears to be coming to a head. The Shrykes are amassing for war. The goblins in Undertown seem much more aggressive than usual, with numerous assassins sent to kill Vox, who is now too obese to leave his Palace of Statues. To cap all this, strange sightings of demonic creatures are being reported by Librarian Knights on patrol duty; these creatures are seen emerging from a former Undertown district named Screetown, now a rubble wasteland. This is revealed to be down to the work of the Most High Guardian of Night, Orbix Xaxis, who is now having his executioner Mollus Leddix feed librarian knights to rock demons.

Rook Barkwater, is on patrol duty, noting the sweltering weather, when he is struck by a fireball and sent hurtling to earth. He awakens, battered and bruised, to find his skycraft, the Stormhornet is broken beyond repair. Rook hopelessly traversess Screetown, pursued by the aforementioned evil predators, one of which, a Rubble-ghoul, almost kills him, until he is rescued by his old friend Felix Lodd, Varis' brother, whom Rook and all the other librarians believed to be dead in Screetown, as rumour had it nobody could survive in such a place. Felix takes Rook back to his hideout for the night, having formed a gang of rebels called "the Ghosts of Screetown", who trap and hunt whilst attempting to free as many as Sanctaphrax Forest slaves as they can.

Rook journeys through Undertown the next morning after bidding farewell to Felix, seeking a way back to the sewers, only to be caught by goblin guards. Rook is put up for auction in the slavesale, but fortunately escapes tbeing sold into the Sanctaphrax Forest and is taken to the Palace of Statues instead. There, he meets Hesteria Spikesap, an old potioneer, along with Speegspeel, an ancient goblin butler,paranoid that the statues in the palace are possessed and trying to kill him. Rook is almost brainwashed by Vox's advisor, an amoral ghost-waif named Amberfuce, but he resists the waif and keeps his identity. Rook is given bizarre tasks by Speegspeel and Hesteria, such as "feeding the baby," in actuality a gigantic cog-wheel system filled with phraxdust; an extremely volatile substance capable of generating massive electrical energy.

Most High Academe of New Sanctaphrax, deposed by Vox, and now acting as envoy for the Librarians. After trading blows over how Cowlquape's vision for unity amongst all never came to pass, Vox explains his reason for summoning the librarians: a dark maelstrom is mere days away, and its strike will wipe out Undertown and any who remain. Vox warns Cowlquapethat the sewers will flood, advising him to evacuate the sewers and flee down the Great Mire Road. Vox intends to use the storm to his advantage by taking revenge on his enemies - the Guardians of Night, the Shrykes and the Goblins - in one swoop. He also intends to strengthen the trap by luring the shyrkes and goblins into the sewers to their deaths with the promise of helpless librarians, leaving the Great Mire Road unguarded. He tells Rook to go to the Shryke nesting grounds and pretend that he will betray the Librarians, giving the Shrykes the knowledge of how to infiltrate the sewers. Then Vox gets his waif Amberfuce to brainwash one of the goblin assassins, to give goblin leader General Tytugg the means to attack the Librarians as well. In this way, both armies are set to meet in the sewers in two days' time at the eleventh hour.

The Librarians work fervently to build ships and rafts to evacuate and leave just in time. Alquix Venvax, an ancient professor, unwilling to leave the library that has been his home for most of his life, remains behind. The librarians also send Rook's four banderbear friends to the Palace of Statues, to fulfill their by taking Vox with them on the journey to the Free Glades.

Meanwhile, Magda Burlix, looking for Rook in Screetown ever since he crashed, is captured by Guardians of Night and taken tfor torture and interrogation. Xanth Filatine, who acted as a spy in the Free Glades at the time Magda was learning her craft, finds himself as her interrogator. He soon repents of all his evil ways and saves her from his masters - an electrical conductor atop the Tower of Night - thus preventing the Spike from being held aloft. Their first escape ends with their capture. As they are lowered to their supposed execution, Xaxis reveals his plan: he has had a tunnel dug to allow Xanth and Magda to escape into the sewers, where they will be pursued by the Rock Demons, who will devour the Librarians. Xanth and Magda manage to stay ahead of the beasts and meet Venvax in the library, bidding him farewell when they realize he will not leave. As the goblin and shryke armies enter the sewers to kill the librarians, Venvax sacrifices his life to buy Xanth and Magda to escape the clutches of the goblins. The shyrkes soon engage Tytugg's forces in battle, causing huge carnage. However, the climax of the fight sees the Rock Demons arrive and proceed to slaughter both sides - any who survive are wiped out in the flood.

On board the barges, Rook and Cowlquape realize the purpose of Vox's baby; Vox did not predict the maelstrom, for the sphere of phraxdust will be volatile enough to trigger such a storm if it is fired into the sky (a previous attempt caused Rook to crash the Stormhornet). They also realize that, with his escape now assured, there is nothing to stop Vox triggering the storm at any hour he pleases. Rook desperately swims back to shore and climbs up the Palace of Statues to stop the maelstrom. He arrives in time to see the butler Speegspeel move to set off the storm an hour before Vox's 'prediction'. Rook fights and kills Speegspeel, but then releases the storm himself by unintentionally mixing his sweat with the phraxdust. The storm destroys Undertown and the Ghosts of Screetown evacuate all the inhabitants. As the storm reaches its peak, the Guardians of Night attempt to harness the lightning to cure the Sanctaphrax rock of Stone Sickness. However, Mollus Leddix discovers Xanth's theft of the deadbolt too late, and is unable to keep Midnight's Spike aloft. Orbix Xaxis throws Leddix to his death, and insanely attempts to act as a human conductor in the place of the spike. The lightning does indeed strike, but only obliterates the Tower of Night. Rook rejoins with the Librarians, and admits he set off the Storm, which could have been prevented. However, the Librarians forgive him, eager as they are to leave the sewers, and knowing that if Rook had not intervened, the storm would certainly have been triggered anyway.

Finally Vox's bower appears. Sensing his thoughts being probed, Rook attacks it to find that the waif Amberfuce has betrayed Vox as well, leaving him to die in the Palace of Statues. The book ends with Vox trapped in the Palace of Statues with Hesteria Spikesap, realizing the extent of Amberfuce's betrayal just as Spikesap kills him by force-feeding him Oblivion. Hesteria reveals she has an unhealthy love for her master, and cradles his dead body as the Palace begins to collapse.

Sources

• Stewart, Paul (2003) Vox