Sunday 25 February 2007

2: Into the Hidden World...


'There's a dwarf in the hall,' said Thomas Trew to his father, one grey London afternoon.

That's how the first Thomas Trew book begins...and that's Thomas' introduction to the magical Hidden World.
The dwarf's name is Adverse Camber, and he's with a funny little lady dressed all in rainbow colours, who's called Angelica Eyebright. There they both are, in the picture to the left--the first of the wonderful artist Ted Dewan's illustrations for the Thomas Trew series.

Angelica is the Mayor of the Hidden World village of Owlchurch, where Thomas and his father Gareth are going to live. Adverse, meanwhile, is her assistant and the proud owner of the grumpy talking car, Metallicus. It's in Metallicus that Thomas and Gareth will get to Owlchurch..

Where is the Hidden World? It's not far away, but lies just within our own world--which Hidden Worlders call 'the Obvious World.' You can reach it in all sorts of ways--on a little slip road off the motorway, as Thomas and his father do; by ship; across several border posts... The only thing is, you must be invited there in order to be welcome. People who try to force their way into the Hidden World, without an invitation, are in all kinds of trouble!

The Hidden World is the source of dreams, imagination and magic. It's divided up into several regions, where different sorts of people live. There are the Middler regions, where Owlchurch and its rival across the River Riddle, Aspire, lie. There are the rocky, mountainous Montaynard regions; the Seafolk's realms, under the ocean; the Ariel regions, in the sky. And then there's Uncouther country, in the darkness of the underground...

In the six books in the series, he visits each region of the Hidden World, learns a good deal about them, has wonderful adventures--and falls into great danger!

The six books are, in order:

Thomas Trew and the Hidden People
Thomas Trew and the Horns of Pan
Thomas Trew and the Klint-King's Gold
Thomas Trew and the Selkie's Curse
Thomas Trew and the Flying Huntsman
Thomas Trew and the Island of Ghosts.

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