A F STEADMAN’s book Skandar and the Chaos Trials is the third instalment in her fantasy adventure series.
Good Reading for Kids asked Steadman about Skandar and his training! Plus we have an extract from the book below, so read on for a sneak peek.
This is the third book in your series – what will Skandar get up to in this latest novel?
In Skandar and the Chaos Trials, Skandar will face explosive elemental trials, the biggest heist in Island history, wild magic mutations, and Den Dances that cause plenty of drama. He must solve fiendish riddles and outsmart murderous mountains and he’ll also learn the perils of stepping on a salamander or disturbing a stalignome. And of course, Skandar will be reunited with Bobby, Flo and Mitchell who – despite facing the toughest challenge of their lives – face everything together.
What can you tell us about the training Skandar will undergo in this book?
The Chaos Trials are challenges set for riders during their third year at the Eyrie. Unlike during their first and second years, the Chaos Trials test riders during all four of the Island’s seasons and require them to complete a trial in all four elemental zones. The trials force riders to draw on the elemental magic they have learned so far, quickly adapt to new environments and rely on instinct, courage and their ability to choose allies from their peers. Most importantly of all, the trials require a rider to build on their rider-unicorn bond – which is particularly important during the unicorn’s rebellious third year of development.
But how do the Fledglings advance from third year to fourth-year Rookies? They must collect four solstice stones – one from each of the trials. They look a little like sharp gemstones and are sacred to the Island. But it’s never as simple as a treasure hunt – solstice stones can be stolen from another rider at any time.
What kind of challenges will Kenna face in this book?
In Skandar and the Chaos Trials, readers will find out more about Kenna and her wild unicorn – its name for a start – and about the effects of the forged bond. Kenna will have to learn what having a wild unicorn means for the elemental magic she wields, for her mutation, and her chances of becoming an official unicorn rider like Skandar. And she will also have to work out how all this impacts her relationship with her brother. Will the Island accept Kenna or will they hunt her down like the Weaver? You’ll have to read Book 3 to find out. . .
Who are some of the new characters introduced in this book?
You’ll meet plenty of new characters in Skandar and the Chaos Trials – in particular a group called the Wanderers who reject the traditional ways of the Island and live out in the elemental zones. The head of the Wanderers, Elora Scott is an earth-allied silver like Flo Shekoni, and she will introduce readers to a different way riders can wield their elemental magic.
What was your favourite part of writing this story?
Trying to make Skandar and the Chaos Trials the most action-packed, dramatic and unputdownable book yet! It was so important to me that I poured in all the enthusiasm I have been greeted with when meeting readers across the world this past year – I wanted to write a third book in the series that would make them even prouder to be Skandar fans.
What’s next for Skandar?
There will be five books in the ‘Skandar’ series, and so I’ve been hard at work on Skandar’s fourth adventure! I don’t want to give too much away, but I have been waiting a long time to write some of the moments in this book and it has been so much fun!
EXTRACT
The quartet waited to meet Kenna Smith at the end of a silver birch avenue. They’d only been there a few minutes when Scoundrel and Red teamed up to incinerate a branch above Falcon, making her screech with indignation. Then, as she shook ash out of her perfectly combed mane, the entry shield in the Silver Stronghold’s wall lifted.
A lone rider appeared, leading a wild unicorn foal.
Skandar locked eyes with Goshawk’s Fury. The staring contest only lasted a few moments before Skandar blinked, shivering despite the warm September afternoon. The wild unicorn’s eyes were filled with endless shadows and immortal suffering. Goshawk’s Fury was condemned to a life lived in death. And Skandar’s big-hearted, very much alive sister was bonded to her.
Just like Scoundrel as a Hatchling, the wild foal had grown to the size of a horse in the last couple of months. But that was where the similarities ended. Scoundrel’s horn was black like his shining coat; Goshawk’s was transparent and ghostly, her honey-coloured coat already balding and dull. After two years of Eyrie training, Scoundrel’s muscles rippled, his wings full feathered and powerful. But Goshawk’s bones were visible in places – a couple of knobbly vertebrae along her back, five thin ribs rising and falling as she walked, a hint of a femur as she lifted her front leg. Some of her wing feathers had already fallen out, creating leathery patches, as though they belonged to an oversized bat rather than a great bird of prey. For Goshawk’s Fury would always be wild. Her bond was forged, not destined. Goshawk had been meant for another rider who’d never made it to the Hatchery on the summer solstice of their thirteenth year. And Kenna had been destined for a different unicorn – the dapple-grey – still out in the Wilderness alone.
As Kenna smiled at Skandar, Agatha Everhart’s warning about Kenna’s wild unicorn bond came floating back to him: Look at what the forged bond did to Erika . . . Five allegiances pulling you different ways . . . Five ways for the unicorn’s power to take over.
Skandar had always dreamed that Kenna would come to the Island, that they would become Chaos riders together. But what if the Island believed she was too dangerous to be one of them?
What if the Eyrie excluded her? What would Skandar do then? The thought scared him, and his mind turned again to his half-formed plans, the possibility of a different future for his sister. He resolved to sleep in Scoundrel’s stable tonight and find his sister’s dapple-grey through a Mender dream. To make sure Kenna’s destined unicorn was safe. Just in case.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A F Steadman grew up in the Kent countryside, getting lost in fantasy worlds and scribbling stories in notebooks. Before focusing on writing, she worked in law, until she realized that there wasn’t nearly enough magic involved. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling ‘Skandar’ series.
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