Winter Wood: Book 3 in the Touchstone Trilogy

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Winter Wood: Book 3 in the Touchstone Trilogy (Touchstone Trilogy #3)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 179 ratings · 24 reviews

The third and final book in the enthralling Touchstone trilogy about the Various.

In the final book of Steve Augarde’s captivating trilogy, past and present are connected and the interwoven threads lead to an astonishing series of revelations.

Midge’s discovery of the hidden tribe is like a dream to her now, their existence all but forgotten—but then a voice calls out to he...more

ebook, 512 pages

Published May 12th 2009 by David Fickling Books (first published January 1st 2008)

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Jan 23, 2011 NebraskaIcebergs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So far so good! The first two books in the Touchstone trilogy were fun and memorable to read. What about the third? Will it measure up to its forerunners or will it disappoint? So many trilogies these days seem to have one flop. To my relief and pleasure, Winter Wood also kept me reading far into the night. Moreover, it nicely answered questions raised in earlier books. Steve Augarde has written a satisfying end to an enthralling set.

For those unfamilar with the trilogy, in The Various, we met t...more So far so good! The first two books in the Touchstone trilogy were fun and memorable to read. What about the third? Will it measure up to its forerunners or will it disappoint? So many trilogies these days seem to have one flop. To my relief and pleasure, Winter Wood also kept me reading far into the night. Moreover, it nicely answered questions raised in earlier books. Steve Augarde has written a satisfying end to an enthralling set.

For those unfamilar with the trilogy, in The Various, we met twelve-year-old Midge whose mom foisted her on relatives so she could perform around the world. On her uncle’s farm, Midge encounters the little people or the Various. Together with her cousins George and Kate, she helps some of the more likeable Various and battles some of the more despicable Various. Winter Wood picks up where the first book left off. The nicer Various need Midge’s help in finding the Orbis. When united with the Touchstone, the Orbis will allow the Various to leave the dangers of the human world and head homeward. The meaner Various only wish to exact revenge upon Midge for harm she brought to them, including their expulsion from their kind.

To find the Orbis, Midge must first find Celandine. Augarde introduced her in the second book. Celadine is Midge’s great aunt and in her time she also met the Various. She actually lived with them, influencing the culture of their cave-dwellers by teaching them how to read, write, and sing. The leader of the cave-dwellers entrusted Celadine with the Orbis, when invaded by another Various tribe. Problem is, no one in Midge’s family knows if Celadine is even alive. If she is, they have no idea where she is. And what if Midge does find Celandine? Her great aunt is probably in her nineties. Would she remember the Various?

In reviews of earlier Touchstone books, I alluded only briefly to Augarde’s ability to create a whole new society. The Various are travellers. During Celandine’s time, these little people migrated to Howard’s Hill (on her family’s property) and secluded themselves within a jumbled barrier of trees and briars. There are four tribes: the Ickri hunters, Naiad farmers, Wisp fisherfolk, and Tinkler and Troggle cave-dwellers. Each lives a tenuous existence with each other, bound only by the Touchstone. They live in relative safety, because few humans dare to venture into the thick and thorny brambles. And those who will are turned back by arrows of the Ickri long before discovering the tunnels that lead to trees, caves, and an entirely separate world.

In earlier reviews, I also alluded only briefly to Augarde’s references to the supernatural. Midge catches glimpses of Celandine; who in turn catches glimpses of Midge. Celandine possesses special gifts such as healing and premonition. Midge apparently also has unique gifts. In her time, Celandine is even accused of being a witch; Midge just wonders if she is losing her mind. I didn’t actually care for all the mystical connections between the two girls, nor the connections referred to in Winter Wood regards the Various and the girls. The book would have been less confusing without all these references.

Yet for all the trilogy’s uneven qualities, the set is an impressive feat. I could claim that this is because its fifteen hundred pages made me laugh and cry and kept me up past my bedtime for a week, but really lots of books do that for me. This set is special for another reason. Whenever I put the book down, my normal life felt unreal. I kept expecting to see the little people and their human friends. Augarde immersed me that well into the world within his books. Which is something I can’t say about many books. For that reason, the set is a must read.

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May 17, 2009 Eva Mitnick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, children

After The Various and Celandine comes the final book in the Touchstone Trilogy. This installment focuses again on Midge, the young girl who in the first book became involved in a dangerous attempt to save the Various – a loosely united group of several tribes of very small human-like creatures living in the local woods – from destruction. Another returning character is Celandine, who had her own amazing experiences with The Various back in 1915 in Celandine; in Winter Wood, she is now extremely...more After The Various and Celandine comes the final book in the Touchstone Trilogy. This installment focuses again on Midge, the young girl who in the first book became involved in a dangerous attempt to save the Various – a loosely united group of several tribes of very small human-like creatures living in the local woods – from destruction. Another returning character is Celandine, who had her own amazing experiences with The Various back in 1915 in Celandine; in Winter Wood, she is now extremely old, but she holds the secret to the whereabouts of the Orbis, which the Various need to get back to their own land again.

Most important characters from The Various re-appear, including Henty, Pegs, and Maven-the-Green, and scenes in which the different tribes wrangle about their future are interspersed with Midge’s discovery of the long-lost Celandine (Midge’s greatgreat-aunt) in a nursing home nearby and her attempts to locate the Orbis and get it back to the Various.

Like the first two books, this one takes its sweet time exploring the issues and setting the stage for the eventual bursts of tense action. I for one don’t begrudge the time spent listening in on Midge’s conversations with the ancient, forgetful, but fascinating Celandine, watching Maglin (leader of the Ickris) become convinced of the existence of a mystical homeland, or experiencing the warm wonders of a human sleeping bag with Romeo-and-Juliet runaways Henty and Little-Marten. Augarde’s use of language – matter-of-fact Briticisms for the humans and a rugged, rustic, old-fashioned dialect for the various – aptly highlights the differences between humans and Various, and also sets the mood for both mundane events and moments of high tension.

Not every question is answered, and the climactic last scene seems a bit hurried and pat (although I did love how Celandine’s story wraps up). It wasn’t until the end that I realized that the ethereal white-blond beauty pictured on the cover of my ARC wasn’t in fact supposed to be Midge (which would have been odd, as one pictures Midge to be more a normal-looking, sturdy sort of girl), but rather a character from Celandine who makes herself known at the last moment and whisks everyone off to the homeland. Not the most convincing of storylines, unfortunately, and also one that leaves the emotions rather unmoved.

Nevertheless, fans of the first two books will love this book despite those quibbles. Winter Wood doesn’t stand alone - readers will have to have read The Various to understand all the allusions to previous doings, although perhaps a previous knowledge of Celandine isn’t a prerequisite – but if you own the first two books, this last in the trilogy is a necessity.

Grades 5 - 8
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Jun 13, 2010 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I still haven't read the first one. I didn't want to wait, and the second was perfectly comprehensible without having read the first, so I took my chances. It was a great story. I really like his world that he's created, and the drama and suspense that go along with it. I wish we knew a little bit more about where they were go, how they got there, etc., and especially what's going to happen to Henty and Little Marten. I'm so worried about those two... and I'd love to know if they do end up havin...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Rosie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to say that when I first picked up 'The Various' around age ten, I found the book rather tedious despite my love of the subject matter - fairies, or 'the little people'. I, however, persisted, and made my way through 'Celandine', the prequel to 'The Various' and 'Winetr Wood'. I enjoyed 'Celandine' much more than 'The Various' yet failed to pick up a copy of 'Winter Wood' until sometime earlier this year. Having reread the first two books in the trilogy, I can now appreciate the near-flaw...more

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May 05, 2011 jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-adventure, ya-faery, ya-series, ya-fantasy

Well, I finally finished this series. Book 3 was much like Book 1, which was not a good thing. If I could pick one word to describe it, besides disappointing, it would be tedious. It really could have been such a good series. It had such an interesting storyline, but it got lost in overly emphasizing it's descriptions of landscape, backdrop, and irrelevant detail, leaving the reading of it to feel tedious and bogged down. I longed to get to the real story, but it never took me back there. Just p...more

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Dec 28, 2009 A. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es ist nun bereits einige Zeit her, dass Midge in dem verwilderten Wald auf dem Hügel das kleine Volk getroffen hat. Manchmal hat sie das Gefühl, die Erinnerung daran, wie real alles war, zu verlieren, doch das soll sich legen, als es eines Abends an ihr Fenster klopft. Pegs, das kleine, geflügelte Pferd, ist wieder da und will mit ihr reden. Deswegen trifft sie sich mit ihm in der Scheune, in der sie ihn das erste Mal gesehen hat.

Was Pegs zu erzählen hat, klingt bedrohlich. Das kleine Volk ist...more Es ist nun bereits einige Zeit her, dass Midge in dem verwilderten Wald auf dem Hügel das kleine Volk getroffen hat. Manchmal hat sie das Gefühl, die Erinnerung daran, wie real alles war, zu verlieren, doch das soll sich legen, als es eines Abends an ihr Fenster klopft. Pegs, das kleine, geflügelte Pferd, ist wieder da und will mit ihr reden. Deswegen trifft sie sich mit ihm in der Scheune, in der sie ihn das erste Mal gesehen hat.

Was Pegs zu erzählen hat, klingt bedrohlich. Das kleine Volk ist in Not, da es auf dem Hügel nicht mehr lange in Sicherheit sein kann. Außerdem sind die Stämme untereinander verfeindet und machen sich gegenseitig das Leben schwer. Rettung kann der Orbis bringen, ein geheimnisvolles Ding, das das Volk vor vielen Jahren in Celandines Obhut gegeben hat. Celandine ist Midges Urgroßtante. Sie hatte mit der geheimen Welt auf dem Hügel Kontakt, als sie selbst noch ein Kind war. Midge muss also herausfinden, was aus ihr geworden ist und wo der Orbis nun sein könnte. Denn auch wenn das Mädchen nicht weiß, was es mit dem Orbis genau auf sich hat, so ist doch klar, dass sich das kleine Volk ohne seine Hilfe nicht in Sicherheit bringen kann. Also macht sie sich auf die Suche nach der Vergangenheit ihrer Familie und stößt dabei auf eine wirklich Erstaunliches.

Während Midge in ihrer Welt versucht, dem Volk zu helfen, entbrennen im Wald Machtkämpfe von ganz anderer Art. Die einen Stämme wollen unbedingt den Wald verlassen, die anderen sehen in ihm den einzigen Schutzraum, der ihnen noch bleibt. Wie kann der Streit geschlichtet werden? Und kann Midge das Rätsel um den Orbis lösen und das kleine Volk zu seiner Rettung führen?

"Heimkehr ins Elfenreich" ist der dritte und abschließende Band aus der Reihe um das kleine Volk von Steve Augarde. Im ersten spielte, genau wie in diesem, Midge die Hauptrolle. Diese beiden Folgen sind in der Gegenwart angesiedelt. Der zweite hatte Celandine als Protagonistin und seine Handlung liegt deutlich weiter in der Vergangenheit. Beide Bücher waren miteinander verknüpft, da Midge und Celandine eine einzigartige Verbindung zueinander haben. In diesem Band werden beide Erzählstränge zueinander geführt und das auf äußerst unerwartete Weise. Zu viel soll hier nicht verraten werden, um dem Leser die Überraschung nicht zu verderben.

Der Autor Steve Augarde erzählt vom kleinen Volk, das wir uns sofort als zauberhafte Feen und Elfen vorstellen. Das trifft auf seine Figuren aber ganz und gar nicht zu. Sie sind eine völlig eigenständige Kultur und eher wie Menschen zu sehen. Zwar tragen einige von ihnen Flügel, allerdings geht es bei ihnen eher rustikal als magisch zu. Sie versuchen lediglich zu überleben. Was genau sie sind, bleibt im Verborgenen.

Das Ende der Reihe ist ungewöhnlich, kommt jedoch nicht ganz unerwartet. Die eigentliche Entwicklung des kleinen Volkes ist abzusehen. Interessant sind die Berichte der einzelnen Schicksale. So gibt es zum Beispiel zwei Ausreißer, die den Wald verlassen haben, um beieinander sein zu können. Sie müssen in der Welt der Menschen ständig auf der Hut sein und erleben ihre ganz eigene Geschichte. Auch Midges Geschichte berührt den Leser. Gerade am Ende geht der Roman doch sehr zu Herzen. Besonders familiäre Band und der freundschaftliche Halt untereinander spielen eine große Rolle.

Fazit: "Heimkehr ins Elfenreich" ist ein schöner Abschluss der Trilogie. Die Geschichten um Midge und Celandine werden miteinander verwoben und erleben ein gemeinsames Ende. Einige Fragen werden leider immer noch nicht aufgelöst, dafür ist die Familiengeschichte um Midge und Celandine um so rührender.
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Nov 04, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

In book three of THE TOUCHSTONE TRILOGY, hard times have come upon the Various. Their lives hang in the balance as they try to find a way to survive in the human world. They decide their time here is through and they must return to Elysse.

The only way to go home is to unite the Touchstone and the Orbis. But the Orbis isn't among the Various. Years ago, it was given to Celandine for safe keeping.

Now Midge and Celandine's stories come together as Midg...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Hilary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, juvenile, the, various

The final part of the trilogy that began with 'The Various', this weaves together Midge and Celandine's worlds, brings the Various, now suffering through a bitter winter that strains their limited resources to the breaking point, back into both their lives, and gives resolution to the Various's time in our world. A refreshingly different fantasy, brought to a satisfactory, though poignant, conclusion.

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May 13, 2012 Carly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Absolutely loved this series and am so sad to see it over. The epilogue was particularly intriguing and I feel lends itself to a possible sequel, but I don't dare to get my hopes up for that.

I highly recommend this series for anyone who still entertains the idea that there are creatures out there we have yet to discover and they just may be smaller versions of ourselves.

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Apr 25, 2009 Brucie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In its own way this series is as good as the Ring trilogy. I plan to read it over and over. One thing I love about it is that I still have questions that I can think about and try to answer, even though I've finished the series and know that no more answers are going to be given. One of the best fantasies I've ever read.

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Aug 09, 2011 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A VERY satisfying conclusion to a well-written trilogy!

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Aug 04, 2011 Belinda added it · review of another edition

Could not put it down and read in one go.

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Jan 17, 2012 Cora Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great story, loved the imagination put into it :)

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Mar 18, 2009 Geena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

eh they went down hill

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Nov 25, 2011 Lesley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderful books

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Nov 25, 2012 Cece rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Naaaa

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Sep 28, 2009 Lindi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: preteen-girls, young-adult

What's with the creepy cover? What was wrong with Steve Augarde's lovely silhouettes?

I am enjoying the book, but I'm embarrassed to been seen in public with it. May have to make a jacket!

Later -- a very satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy about little people, something I'm a total sucker for, ever since The Borrowers. I still hate the new covers.

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Sep 01, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Took me a few pages to get into, as it has been so long since I read the first two (The Various and Celandine), but it was wonderful - sustains the same magic as the previous books, and brings it all to a satisfying conclusion.

"I was upon this earth before, though never in this place." (p. 53)

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Jul 31, 2011 Flower rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-read

Great trilogy. Kind ending. Resolution. Good story. Enjoyable reading. Not disappointed buy the conclusion of this series. However I found a few that didn't match up from book to book. A few surprises and that was nice. Good story, easy and safe.

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Oct 30, 2011 Grace rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all tweens who like fantasy

This book is one of my favorites! I think all tweens should read this book! I could not put it down!

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Nov 13, 2008 Jade rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This serious is really lovely. Although written for children it has a darker side which grown ups(!) would enjoy.

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Nov 18, 2008 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

Nicely written, though I found that this sort of petered out toward the end. Had to complete though!

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Nov 01, 2012 Joseph Levesque rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-lit, fantasy

Wonderfully crafted conclusion to a beautiful and memorable trilogy!

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Jun 04, 2012 Purlewe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anglophile, fantasy, fiction, ya

a fine ending to a YA trilogy.

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May 17, 2013 Matthew marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 15, 2013 Lia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 10, 2013 Shauna Klassen marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 08, 2013 Dana marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 07, 2013 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apr 30, 2013 Jennifer Gilbert marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About Steve Augarde

I began writing children's books when I was at art college, which means that I’ve spent over thirty years as a children's author. Must be nearly time to grow up. About eighty titles published to date, I think. These include story books and pop-ups for younger readers, as well as my more recent novels for older children. I'm also an illustrator and paper-engineer, and you can see examples of this t...more

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title link	preview: Winter Wood: Book 3 in the Touchstone Trilogy
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Winter Wood: Book 3 in the Touchstone Trilogy (Touchstone Trilogy #3)

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