''Gregor the Overlander'' is a children's
epic fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, ...
novel. The book was written by
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer. She is known as the author of the book series '' The Underland Chronicles'' and ''The Hunger Games''.
Early life
Suzanne Collins was born on August 10, 1962, i ...
and was published in 2003 as the first book of ''
The Underland Chronicles
''The Underland Chronicles'' is a series of five epic fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in the "Underland,” a subterranean world located under ...
''. It was received well by critics, and was listed as one of
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
's 100 Books for Reading and Sharing.
It was featured by
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
in 2005.
Scholastic has rated the book's
grade level equivalent as 4.9 and the book's
lexile
The Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers with books, articles and other leveled reading resources. Readers and books are assigned a score on the Lexile scale, in which lower sco ...
score as 630L, making it reading-level-appropriate for the average
fourth or
fifth grade
Fifth grade (called Grade 5 in some regions) is a year of education in many nations, and some other regions call it Year 5. In the United States, the fifth grade is the fifth and last year of elementary school in most schools. In other schools, it ...
r.
The novel has been published in several languages and is available as both an
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
and
ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
. Its United Kingdom edition was published under the alternate title ''Gregor and the Rats of the Underland''.
Plot summary
Eleven-year-old
Gregor
Gregor is a masculine given name. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People
* Gregor Abel (born 1949), Scottish footballer
* Gregor Adlercreutz (1898–1944), Swedish equestrian
* Gregor Aichinger (c. 1565–1628), G ...
is left home alone in his family's
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
apartment to watch his sister and grandmother. When Gregor's baby sister
Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer St ...
falls through an old air duct grate in the building's basement, he dives in after her. The two fall miles below into
the Underland: a subterranean world home to humans with near-
translucent
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...
skin, violet eyes, and silver hair; giant
sentient
Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
s,
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s, and
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s; and an escalating conflict between the human kingdom of
Regalia
Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...
and the
rats
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
'
King Gorger. They meet several "Underlanders", among them the human Regalians'
crown princess
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...
Luxa, who is Gregor's age, her cousin
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, aged 14, and the bats who are "
bonded" to them as warrior allies. At first, Gregor wants only to return home, but when he is attacked by two
rats during an escape attempt and saved by the Underlanders, he inadvertently brings the conflict between the two groups to a head.
It is then that he learns the real reason for the rats' hatred of Overlanders: a mysterious
prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a '' prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pr ...
written by the human colony's founder
Bartholomew of Sandwich hints that an Overland "warrior" will stop an attempt by the rats to take over the underground realm once and for all. The Regalian council believes Gregor to be this warrior, and tries to convince him to undertake the quest mentioned in the "Prophecy of Gray". Though he sympathizes, Gregor is reluctant to help until he learns a surprising fact:
his father, who disappeared unexpectedly over two years before, had actually fallen down into Regalia just like Gregor and Boots and been taken prisoner by the rats. Gregor, his sister, and a group of Regalians go on a journey to rescue Gregor's father and recruit
allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
for a war against the rats.
The quest group is challenged to successfully recruit allies for the Regalians, along the way facing battles with giant spiders, scorpions, and rats. The group of children are left in the care of the rat Ripred, who is a rebel against King Gorger. The group journeys to find Gregor's dad
emaciated
Emaciation is defined as the state of extreme thinness from absence of body fat and muscle wasting usually resulting from malnutrition.
Characteristics
In humans, the physical appearance of emaciation includes thinned limbs, pronounced and protrud ...
and tortured in the personal prison of King Gorger. When the rat king discovers their rescue attempt, Henry reveals that he has been helping the rats all along, hoping to ally them with the Regalians and genocide the weaker species of the realm. During the questers' attempt to escape, Gregor sacrifices himself to lure the rats' attack force — King Gorger and Henry among them — off the edge of a
cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...
. Henry's bat
Ares, who had no knowledge of his bond's treachery, chooses to save Gregor rather than Henry as they fall. King Gorger, Henry, and hundreds of rats perish in the fall. When the few remaining quest members make it back to Regalia, Luxa and her family are devastated, both because of Henry's treason and death, and because Ares has been sentenced to
banishment
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
for allowing his bond to die. Gregor saves his life by using his status as the "warrior" to form a new bond with him. When things have settled down somewhat and the
Regalian doctors have done all they can for his father, Gregor and his family return to the surface and reunite with his family.
The Prophecy of Gray
''Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread''
''The hunters are hunted, white water runs red.''
''The gnawers will strike to extinguish the rest.''
''The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest.''
Meaning: The usually uneasy balance of power in the Underland is in flux, with the rats' king planning to launch an attack against the other species in the Underland. The phrase "
white water
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and w ...
runs red" refers specifically to how the humans deposit the bodies of two rats who try to kill Gregor into a fast-flowing
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
beneath the
Regalian palace. "Hope of the hopeless" may be interpreted as a reference to Gregor, who refuses to "allow himself to think about the future at all", because it makes him sad as he has made rule, thinking if he thinks good thoughts they are never to happen. He made this rule after he lost his father.
''An Overlander warrior, a son of the sun,''
''May bring us back light, he may bring us back none.''
''But gather your neighbors and follow his call''
''Or rats will most surely devour us all.''
Meaning: Gregor is an Overlander and the son of another fallen Overlander (thus a "
son
A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative.
Social issues
In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
" of the "
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
", in multiple ways). He brings the Regalians "light" (an Underland
idiom
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...
for "life") by killing King Gorger and the traitor Henry. The humans ally themselves with the other species of their world, warding off an attack by the rats, who are
carnivores
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...
and occasionally
cannibalistic
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
.
''Two over, two under, of royal descent,''
''Two fliers, two crawlers, two spinners assent.''
''One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead.''
''And eight will be left when we count up the dead.''
Meaning: Gregor and Boots; Luxa and Henry; the
bats
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...
Ares and
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
; two giant
cockroaches
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known a ...
named
Temp and
Tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
; the
spiders
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...
Gox and
Treflex; and the rat
Ripred all journey on a quest to find the "one lost up ahead": Gregor's dad. Out of the original twelve, Tick, Treflex, Gox, and Henry all die during the quest.
''The last who will die must decide where he stands.''
''The fate of the eight is contained in his hands.''
''So bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps,''
''As life may be death, and death life again reaps.''
Meaning: Henry, the last "quester" to die, decides that he is a
traitor
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
to the humans, and seals his fate by failing to notice as Gregor leads him off a cliff. He may be interpreted as controlling the "fate of the eight" because of his powerful connection with the rats, whom he could have manipulated had he lived. The final line may have many different meanings; among them may be a hint about how miserable Luxa is even though she lives, as Henry was her best friend until he had his life "
reaped".
Characters
Quest Members
* Gregor: An ordinary eleven-year-old boy from New York City, is meant to be the warrior mentioned in "The Prophecy of Gray". He is later bonded to Ares the flier who was betrayed by Henry.
* Boots (Margaret): Boots is Gregor's two-year-old sister. She accidentally discovers the entrance to the Underland. She is the only reason they decide to come on the quest.
* Luxa: The future
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
of the Underland, about the same age as Gregor. Her parents were killed by
rats shortly after Henry's. She is bonded to Aurora the
flier.
* Vikus: The leader of the quest and Luxa's Grandfather. During the quest, he leaves them, and they have to continue the quest without Vikus' advice.
* Henry: Luxa's cousin, next in line to the throne after her. He wants to ally with the rats to conquer the "weak" species of the Underland. He dies chasing Gregor off the edge of a cliff, believing his bond Ares would always come catch him.
* Ripred: A
gnawer (
rat) with deadly fighting skills and intelligence;
Vikus asks him to help the quest group into the rats' domain.
Ripred in the later books teaches Gregor to learn how to use echolocation.
* Temp: One of two crawlers (
cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...
es) to join the quest. He is one of the first crawlers who encounters Boots and her brother and befriends the two.
* Tick: A friend of Temp who sacrifices herself to save Boots from a group of rats.
* Ares: A large black flier (
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
) bonded to Henry who chooses to save Gregor rather than his bond when the two fall off a cliff. He does not know of Henry's treachery until after the fact, and so Gregor decides to bond with him to save him from banishment.
* Aurora: A flier who is bonded to Luxa. She has a golden coat.
* Gox and Treflex: Two
spinners (
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s) who help the quest group.
* Gregor's dad: Though never named, Gregor's father is an important member of the quest because it is he the group goes to find and rescue.
Publication
Several editions of the novel have been published since the first in 2003, each with new or adapted cover art.
To date, editions have appeared in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
French,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
,
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
.
Scholastic has also licensed the novel's rights to publishers in several other languages.
In 2006
The Chicken House
The Chicken House is a publishing company owned by Scholastic Corporation, specialising in children's fiction.
Founded in 2000 by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman as Chicken House Publishing, it was bought by Scholastic in 2005. It has intro ...
produced yet another edition, distributed in the
UK by
Gardners Books
Gardners’ is an international wholesalers of books, eBooks, music and film. They work with multi-channel retailers worldwide, both online and on the high street, to supply physical and digital products. They offer back to store or direct to co ...
.
This edition was published under the alternate title ''Gregor and the Rats of the Underland''.
The novel was available as an
ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
as early as 2010, and as part of a boxed set.
An
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
edition was published December 13, 2005, read by actor and narrator Paul Boehmer.
''School Library Journal'' called it "an engrossing adventure for fantasy fans and for those new to the genre." Common Sense Media gave it a 5/5 and credited the book's "strong characters, vivid descriptions, flawless pacing, breathless excitement, laughs and scares, and a vision that makes this fantasy very different."
The book has also been praised for covering political themes, such as war and genocide, while still maintaining an adventurous feeling.
Collins herself has stated that "she spent hours ... plotting strategic alliances that would make military sense" in a way that kept such themes accessible for younger audiences.
''
Publishers Weekly's'' review of the novel was "starred", an honor reserved for books of "exceptional merit".
The reviewer stated, "Collins does a grand job of world-building, with a fine economy of words-no unnecessary details bog down either the setting or the invigorating story. In her world, a child singing "Patty-Cake" can change the course of history and a stoic rat can mourn the fact that although he is able to read, he cannot write because he has no thumb. Unlike Gregor who cannot wait to leave, readers will likely find it to be a fantastically engaging place."
Despite the mainly positive reviews, the novel has received some negative criticism. One critical review by Children's Literature writer Tina Gregory points out that "the novel lacks at certain points necessary descriptive details of the characters and settings. For instance, the descriptions of Regalia, the Underland city, and many of the book's characters should be so distinct that we visualize them."
The same ''School Library Journal'' review which praised the novel's "exciting scenes and cliff-hanger chapters" also had this to say: "Gregor is not the most compelling figure at first, but as the story progresses he becomes more interesting, maturing through the challenges he faces."
''Gregor the Overlander'' was named a
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
Editors' Choice and placed third for the Nutmeg Children's Book Award in 2006 in the intermediate category.
It was also nominated for the
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
William Allen White Children's Book Award
The William Allen White Children's Book Award is a set of two annual awards for books selected by vote of Kansas schoolchildren from lists prepared by committee. As a single award it was established in 1952 by Ruth Garver Gagliardo, a children's l ...
, the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
Young Reader's Choice Award
The Young Reader's Choice Award is an award program of the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) which was inaugurated in 1940 by Harry Hartman, a well-known Seattle based bookseller. It is the oldest "children's choice" award in the U.S. a ...
, and several other awards. It won the Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for 2005–2006
and was the first runner-up for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.
References
External links
ISFDB
{{The Underland Chronicles
2003 American novels
American fantasy novels
American children's novels
Children's fantasy novels
Novels set in New York (state)
The Underland Chronicles
2003 children's books
Scholastic Corporation books