Thunder Oak facts for kids
The cover to Thunder Oak, art by John Howe
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| Author | Garry Kilworth |
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| Cover artist | John Howe |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Welkin Weasels |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Random House UK Corgi Children's Imprint |
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Publication date
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1997 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 289 |
| ISBN | 0-552-54546-5 |
| OCLC | 43056930 |
| Followed by | Castle Storm |
Thunder Oak is an exciting fantasy book from 1997. It was written by a British author named Garry Kilworth. This book is the first in a series called Welkin Weasels. It's about a group of weasels who act and talk like humans. They go on a big adventure to make things right in their home. Humans have disappeared, and now strong stoats are taking over. The weasels want to bring peace back.
Contents
Story Summary
The story begins with Sylver and his group of friends. These friends are Icham, Dredless, Mawk, Bryony, Alysoun, Miniver, Wodehed, and Luke. Sylver has heard that the sea walls around their home, Welkin Island, are falling apart. If they collapse, the ocean will flood the island.
To save their home, Sylver decides to find the missing humans. A kind stoat named Lord Haukin helps him. Lord Haukin found a diary from a girl named Alice. It suggests the humans were forced to leave. The first clue to finding them is at a place called Thunder Oak. It's a long journey to get there.
Before they can leave, Sheriff Falshed arrives. He works for Prince Poynt, a powerful stoat. Falshed wants to stop Sylver and make the weasels work as slaves. Sylver's group uses ants to scare away Falshed's stoats. They tie Falshed to a raft and send him down the river. He eventually makes it back to Castle Rayn, the stoats' home.
Lord Haukin tells the weasels they need to find a broken eagle eggshell. Eagles fly high and have a map of the world in their minds. They pass this map to their young. The eggshell will show them the way to Thunder Oak.
The weasels start their journey, but the stoats are chasing them. Prince Poynt has also hired a fox named Magellan. Magellan is a hunter who wants to catch Sylver.
The weasels find shelter at a monastery. It belongs to Karnac, a wild boar monk. Karnac is cruel and sells weasel skins to the stoats for drums. He traps the weasels, planning to skin them. Sylver sends Miniver to get help from a nearby weasel village. The villagers are too scared to help. Then, Miniver meets a messy but clever weasel named Scirf. He agrees to help if he can join Sylver's group.
Miniver returns with Scirf. Scirf scares Karnac away by reminding him that humans loved eating pigs. Karnac runs off, and Scirf joins the group.
As they travel, they enter a forest with fierce pine martens. A mad witch, Maghatch, also lives there. She is a moufflon (a type of wild sheep). Maghatch turns Sylver's friends into rabbits. Sylver escapes and gets help from a wild dog named Gnaish. Maghatch quickly changes the weasels back and lets them go.
The weasels continue their journey. They get caught in the Hunter's Hall, a place for good hunting animals after they die. The dead hunters say the weasels must work as slaves. They ate prey meant for the afterlife. After weeks, Mawk realizes that the magical food is keeping them there. He carries Scirf and escapes. Alysoun follows them. They try to go back for their friends, but Hunter's Hall has disappeared. It can only be reached by Maghatch's magic. They decide to go back to Maghatch's home for help.
Back at Hunter's Hall, Sylver and the others wake up to find Mawk, Scirf, and Alysoun gone. Luckily, the dead hunters decide to free them. They head north to find their friends. Magellan finds them and shoots Wodehead with an arrow. Sylver sends Wodehead, Icham, and Bryony back home. Sylver, Miniver, and Dredless continue towards the Yellow Mountains.
High in the mountains, they meet Magellan again. Dredless is killed. Miniver and Sylver escape. They find Falshed's troops. Falshed has left to tell Prince Poynt about Dredless's death. Sylver and Miniver pretend to be poor merchants. They let the soldiers capture them. This way, Magellan won't look for them there.
Alysoun, Scirf, and Mawk return to Maghatch's chapel. Maghatch sends them on a path she says leads to Hunter's Hall. Instead, it takes them to a steep mountainside. Alysoun realizes they are in the Yellow Mountains. The eagle's nest must be close. They climb the cliffs and find the nest by night. Inside, they find the broken eggshell with the world map.
As they prepare to leave, the mother eagle attacks. Alysoun falls, but her half of the eggshell acts like a parachute. She lands safely. Scirf sees this and uses his half to follow.
Mawk is left behind. He hides in a hare's den until the eagle leaves. Three weasel brothers rob him as he continues alone. He finds a hostel in the mountains. Magellan arrives shortly after. Mawk hides and listens. Falshed's troops arrive with Sylver and Miniver, who are still pretending to be merchants. Sylver recognizes Mawk. To keep his identity secret, Sylver tells the soldiers that Mawk is one of the outlaws. Mawk tells the soldiers he knows where Sylver is sleeping and points to Magellan's room. The stoats storm the room. In the confusion, Mawk, Sylver, and Miniver escape into the mountains. They find Scirf there.
Meanwhile, Alysoun, separated from Scirf, finds a group of hedgehogs. They are performing a ceremony. Their leader wants to sacrifice Alysoun to their god, the Great God Spike. This god is a huge hedgehog made of bones. Alysoun destroys the god and escapes.
She returns to Halfmoon Wood with her half of the eggshell. Sylver and the others are already there. She learns about Dredless's death. After a ceremony for Dredless, the weasels and Lord Haukin figure out the eggshell map. The first clue is in Thunder Oak, far from Halfmoon Wood.
Sylver, Mawk, and Scirf are chosen to go to Thunder Oak. Before they leave, wild wolves attack the village. A living statue chases the wolves away. The statue is looking for the quarry it came from. It travels with the three weasels. They reach an old church. The stone gargoyles tell the statue where to find the quarry.
Sylver and his friends rest in the church. After some noisy angel statues, Sylver and Scirf decide to sleep in the crypts below. Mawk stays above. The next morning, Mawk finds Sylver and Scirf missing. Mole bandits have kidnapped them. The mole leader realizes Sylver is wanted by Prince Poynt. He sets the weasels free.
As they continue, they sneak through marshes filled with rats. Thousands of living scarecrows block their way. The scarecrows want smoking pipes to look more human. Mawk suggests they go to a nearby abbey for help. The head monk tells them scarecrows are afraid of mirrors. They return with mirrors. The scarecrows are so scared by their reflections that they fall down screaming. The weasels pass safely.
At Thunder Oak, a stone gryphon guards the tree. It won't let them pass. It doesn't want humans to return. Scirf surprises his friends by hypnotizing the gryphon. The weasels enter Thunder Oak. Inside, they find a small carving of a dormouse in a pool of water. They give the carving to Mawk to guard. They then start their journey back to Halfmoon Wood.
On the way home, a polecat warns Sylver that Magellan is waiting in the forest. Sylver tells Mawk and Scirf to wait. He goes to face the fox alone. Sylver tries to ambush Magellan but gets caught in a snare. Magellan prepares to kill Sylver. With a final burst of strength, Sylver pulls the snare's stake from the ground. He uses it to kill Magellan. Mawk and Scirf find Sylver badly hurt but alive. They finish the journey home. After showing the carving to Lord Haukin, the Welkin Weasels celebrate. They then get ready to find the next clue.
The book ends with a short talk between Falshed and Prince Poynt about Magellan's death.
Main Characters
Weasels
- Sylver – The brave and caring young leader of the group. He has a white lightning bolt mark on his face.
- Icham – Sylver's best friend and a fellow outlaw.
- Dredless – A fearless male weasel. He is very good at shooting darts. Magellan kills him in the mountains.
- Mawk – A male weasel who sometimes doubts things but is very creative.
- Bryony – A female weasel who speaks her mind but is also sensitive. She becomes a vegetarian after being turned into a rabbit. She feels for other animals now.
- Miniver – A very small female weasel. She is good at squeezing through tight spaces.
- Alysoun – A kind-hearted female weasel who can run very fast.
- Wodehed – The magician of the group. His spells never quite work out.
- Luke – The holy weasel.
- Scirf – A messy and unusual male weasel. He helps the group and joins them.
Stoats
- Lord Haukin – A kind but forgetful old stoat. His home is full of human books. He finds a diary that gives the first clue to finding humans. He loves glass objects.
- Prince Poynt – The spoiled Prince of Welkin. He doesn't believe Sylver's warning about the sea walls. He sees the weasels as a danger to his rule. His fur is always white because he thinks it's royal. He often complains about being cold.
- Sheriff Falshed – The Prince's loyal sheriff. He is always trying to catch Sylver's group. The Prince often punishes him for failing. He has a large burn mark on his chest from a past fight with Sylver.
Other Animals
- Karnac – A proud, large male wild boar. He traps the weasels. He plans to skin them to make drums.
- Magellan – A mean male fox. Prince Poynt hires him to hunt Sylver and his friends. He is known for being cruel and very accurate with a bow and arrow. He has killed many, including Dredless. Sylver eventually kills him.
- Maghatch – A female mouflon who lives alone in the forest. She is a witch. She turns Sylver's friends into rabbits to make Sylver her servant.
Other Characters
Weasels
- Culver – A servant to Lord Haukin. He helps Haukin remember things.
- Pompom – Prince Poynt's court jester.
- Watchful, Awake, and Alert – Three brothers who rob Mawk in the mountains.
Stoats
- Lord Flaggatis – A male sorcerer who was sent away to the land of the rats. He took power there.
- Jessex – A nobleman in Prince Poynt's kingdom.
- Redfur – Prince Poynt's older brother. Magellan killed him so Poynt could become Prince.
- Spinfer – Falshed's servant and trusted friend.
- Takely – An Earl of Welkin.
- Wilisen and Elphet – Two noblemen of Welkin.
Other Animals
- Gnaish – A huge male wild dog. He helps the Welkin Weasels escape Maghatch.
- The Great God Spike – A giant hedgehog god. It is made from the bones of other animals. The mountain hedgehogs worship it.
- Jaspin and Slaker – Male mole bandits who live under an old church.
- Kalthas – A male badger. He was friends with Sylver's father. He tells Sylver to seek help from the dog Gnaish.
- Kinger – The leader of the mole bandits.
- Malach, Riach, and Silach – Three of a large group of ferrets who work for Prince Poynt.
