The Immortals

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Doubleday

Otago Daily Times, May 2nd 2009

The Immortals is pure whimsy, and although one of a series, it is easy to read as a stand-alone work. The world in which it is set is peopled by a diverse variety of sentient peoples, ranging from the almost human to the fantastic: fourthlings, cloddertrogs, goblins, waifs, gobtrolls and more.  In place of oil, everything from skyships to firearms is powered by stormphrax, crystallised lightening with a weight that depends on light levels, and spontaneously combusts in bright conditions.

Young Nate Quarter works in a phrax mine, where he is in charge of tending the lamps that keep light levels high enough that the crystals can be lifted but dim enough to prevent explosions.  His father used to be the mine sergeant but died in suspicious circumstances, and Nate is soon forced to flee for his own life, winding up in the city of Great Glade. 

This is only the start of a series of adventures that take him from one side of the land to the other, accompanied by an increasing band of companions whose storylines converge with his: My main criticism, apart from the fact that nobody needs to wash or use the bathroom, is that it there are too many plots.  Pratchettesquely fun and frothy (although lacking the dry wit of the Discworld series), the text is enhanced by the wonderful drawings that appear every few pages.  The Immortals provides a great diversion from a financially and environmentally challenged reality.