The Stone Pilot

The Edge Chronicles (chronological) #6.5

by Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell

High above the Edgeworld, their woodspider-silk sails billowing, great sky ships speed through the air, each with a skilled stone pilot to control the flight-rock that gives the ship its buoyancy. None of these pilots is as skillful as the legendary stone pilot of the sky ship Galerider - but where did this mysterious figure come from and what lies beneath the heavy hood?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, High Fantasy, Short Stories, Young Adult

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Paul Stewart is a highly regarded author of books for young readers – from picture books to football stories, fantasy and horror. Together with Chris Riddell he is co-creator of the bestselling Edge Chronicles, which has sold more than three million copies and is available in over twenty languages. They have also collaborated together on lots of other exciting books for children of all ages. The Far-Flung Adventure series includes the Gold Smarties Prize Winner Fergus Crane, and Corby Flood and Hugo Pepper, both Silver Nestle Prize Winners. Then there are the Barnaby Grimes books, two Muddle Earth adventures, and the sci-fi Scavenger and fantasy Wyrmeweald trilogies. For younger readers there is the Blobheads series, while for the very young, Paul has written several picture books, including the Rabbit and Hedgehog series, In the Dark of the Night and, his latest, Wings.

Other authors by this name disambiguation Note:
Paul Stewart - business and management books

Reviews

[Michael F Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first book in 'The Edge Chronicles,' and while I find this book itself to be only okay, it has made me very interested to look into the rest of the series.

What impressed me was finding out Paul Stewart's writing often takes the form of excellent descriptive prose and creative, distinctive fantasy worldbuilding, which is paired with the iconic Chris Riddell illustrations that fill the book's pages. These moments, where the author and illustrator combine their work to create the setting, and the many inventive creatures who dwell within that setting, were easily the strongest part of the story.

Unfortunately, the extremely short length of this book (80 pages - including the illustrations) is a pretty significant flaw. The plot seems very rushed in order to fit this restrictive length, and sometimes the book even feels devoid of context. Reaching the end of the book, I found myself thinking, "Oh, this is a prequel." Maybe with greater context it would have been a more enjoyable story. But I think I would have rather seen this book stand on its own - as a roughly 300 page story - instead of being essentially a stand alone prologue.

Regardless, I recommend this book for its wonderful descriptive prose and worldbuilding. But I'll probably end up finding the other books in the series more compelling examples in this area.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this was only a quick read but when you have a few minutes to spare and the book you are reading is in another room what are you to do? In my case randomly grab another book and read that instead and low this is the result.

Its part of the Edge Chronicles and as such really acts as a side story to the main events in the chronicles - dont get me wrong the characters are just as important and the events all fit together - but for an 80 page book to act as an introduction for the World Book Day it has its limits - that said it worked very well and I was certainly motivated to finish it.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having not read any of The Edge Chronicles, I found this story’s lack of context and explanation rather disconcerting. The story itself didn’t seem to match the book’s description until the very last chapter. Towards the very end it seemed extremely rushed and would have benefited from more detail. I did enjoy the beautiful descriptive prose and illustrations, though, so if this is just a sample of the main series I would be interested to read more. Perhaps if I was more familiar with this world and its characters, this very short sample story would make more sense and be more impactful.

[Sanja_Sanjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

In line with the best Edge Chronicles books, only, too short, but this couldn't be helped. Love the series, even these short snippets.

[Stephen Higham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deep cut for Edge kids.

[Zac Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the content and imagery, I think the Edge Chronicle series are a marmite type of book. The female protagonist experiences vast amounts of emotional change in a short book. Designed for UKS2. Would be a good book to introduce children to the edge chronicles and the fantasy genre.

[Paperback Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart-wrenching

[Callumhopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and fantastic introduction to the the edge chronicles definitely a good read that I would recommend!

[Elizabeth Rigby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is very short it is one of the best books The Edge Chronicles.

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent little excerpt from a children's fantasy novel. A young girl fails to complete a ceremony seeing her into the fantasy version of adulthood, gets sold into slavery and rescued from it again all in a matter of moments, going on to become a stone pilot.

Thus was a £1 giveaway book sold for Book Week one year a while back. It's not the sort of thing if usually pick up but I would definitely read the big book it came from if I came across a copy.

[Lili H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this again has triggered so much nostalgia from when I was younger... The story of Maugin is what I consider the strongest and most poignant out of all the Edge Chronicles. This is especially impressive considering the length of the book, but managing to pack an incredibly emotive and believable character ark within its pages. Termagent trogs, next to Banderbears, are definitely my favourite creatures from the Edge.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe that I discovered this little jewel of a book in my cereal box.I love it cause it introduced me to the Edge Chronicles and one of my favourite characters in the series, Maugin. And if you've already read all the books, I definitely recommend this if you want to learn more about the Stone Pilot.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but intriguing introduction to the Edge world and one of the (presumably) minor characters. Full of invention and excitement, although Stewart sometimes stuffs the descriptions with a few too many made up names for my liking. Makes me want to read the rest of the series, and I'm sure my kids will love them.

[SallyandBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot belive I found this in a little charity shop (one of the best Charity shops to find an amazing but odd book for 30p/50p)I can not wait to read it it looks soo cute.

A cute quick read I loved finding out abot the stone pilot.

[razzmataz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and really enjoyed it.
I was doubtful when ten pages before the end Maugin JUST got on the ship and I was interested in how they were going to wrap it up in ten pages!!!!
My favourite character was Maugin a Termagant Trog how never turned termagant.