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Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space

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Pendragon is the name of a series of fantasy novels by D.J. MacHale. They mainly follow the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, but also a continuing sub-plot of Bobby's friends Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde. The first book, The Merchant of Death, was originally published in 2002 by Aladdin Paperbacks. The series currently has seven books out including The Merchant of Death, The Lost City of Faar, The Never War, The Reality Bug, Black Water, The Rivers of Zadaa, and The Quillan Games. The title for the eighth book is unknown, after D.J. McHale said the title printed in The Quillan Games (Pendragon The Great) no longer fit. The author said the eighth book may be released early in the American summer of 2007, though he wasn't making any promises. The series is planned to last 10 books, each of which switch from a first-person perspective of Bobby's journals to a narrative of Mark and Courtney's lives.

File:Merchant-of-Death.jpg
The Merchant of Death, the first book in the series.

Series plot

Template:Spoilers The story begins in the first book in the series, The Merchant of Death. Bobby Pendragon is living a normal life in Stony Brook, Connecticut, where he is the star of Stony Brook Middle School's basketball team. But when he turns fourteen, his uncle, Press Tilton, takes him to an abandoned subway station where he and Bobby travel through a portal through space and time called a flume. Bobby soon finds himself in a different territory, Denduron, which is on the brink of a civil war. There Bobby discovers he was chosen to be a Traveler, a defender of the universe from Saint Dane, an evil villain who wishes to rule the universe. To save it, Bobby must rescue all ten territories from destruction. So far, Bobby has travelled to Denduron, Cloral, First Earth (Earth in the year 1937), Third Earth (Earth in the year 5010), Veelox, Eelong, Zadaa, and Quillan, each time trying to keep Saint Dane from destroying the territory.

Travelers

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The Travelers are a group of people with incredible wit and talent and are usually very unique to their own territory. This group believes in a natural fate-like theory that gives them the motto; This is the way it was meant to be. It is unknown who chooses whom to become a traveler, and so far it has only been determined that they are born and raised for the purpose of being a Traveler. For example, when Bobby was younger his "uncle" took him on expeditions and otherwise to prepare him for some of the things he would have to do as a Traveler. When a Traveler finds out his destiny, all traces of that person's existence disappears, including their families, except in the memories of those who knew that person. It is unknown as of yet where the families of travelers go, but they are reassured that they will see them again. This is coupled with the fact that none of the travelers are raised by their biological parents, adding to the illusion of nonexistance. There should be only one Traveler from each territory, and at the time when there are two Travelers, the elder of the two will soon die. The previous Traveler, however, is allowed a certain amount of time to train the new Traveler in ways of judgment and responsibility. The purpose of the Travelers is to save Halla from Saint Dane, who is also a Traveler. The Travelers have apparently been around for a very long time, but if this were always the case it would make Saint Dane ancient. All the travelers have special abilities. They can influence people's thinking, can recover from injuries that would kill any normal person, and in The Rivers of Zadaa, Bobby uncovers the Travelers' ability to bring people back to life, just by willing them to come back.

In The Quillan Games, Saint Dane claims that the travelers are not physical, corporeal beings, but illusions, and that is how they are able to use their "powers", how Saint Dane and Nevva are able to change form, and how the travelers are able to use the flumes. While Bobby does not fully accept this, it does answer many questions raised by fans of the series.

See more information on the Travelers in the list of characters

The Acolytes

Template:Spoilers Men and women who help the travelers. The Acolytes use their knowledge of Halla to help the travelers defeat Saint Dane. They supply the Travelers with information and supplies, such as transportation and clothing. They, however, cannot travel between territories as far the original rules state. However, they each receive a ring (pictured here [1]) through which they can receive things from the travelers, and send things to other acolytes. There is one acolyte per territory, but Second Earth, Bobby's territory, has two: Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde, Bobby's best friends (It is assumed Courtney is the only acolyte after Mark left second earth, because he leaves Courtney the ring). When there is a new Acolyte, the old Acolyte does not die; for instance, Tom Dorney, the previous acolyte from Second Earth, remained alive when Mark and Courtney became the acolytes. On Cloral, Vo Spader's acolyte is Wu Yenza, his boss. On Veelox, Aja's acolyte is Evangeline. On Eelong, Kasha's acolyte was her friend Boon. On Zadaa, Loor's acolyte is Saangi, her little sister. On Denduron, Alder's acolyte is the Milago woman whose husband died in a Transfer ceremony.

It is unknown whether Gunny, Patrick, and Remudi have acolytes, or even know what acolytes are, as the series has never mentioned them.

Nevva does not have an acolyte because she has not had enough time to find one and believes she works better alone.

Territories

Template:Spoilers A realm of space-time. The territory that Bobby Pendragon comes from is called Second Earth. Most of the territories are similar to Second Earth. For example, most have the same kinds of plants, animals, and people in them. Most territories have a normal sun in the sky, with the exceptions of Denduron and Eelong, and the possible exceptions of Quillan and Ibara. Territories are interconnected by flumes, tunnels through space-time.

Territories have no official order; however they are usually listed in the order of the book they appear in: Denduron, Cloral, First Earth, Veelox, Eelong, Zadaa, Quillan...

Traditionally, only Travelers are allowed to use the flumes; however it is revealed in the fifth book that acolytes can use the flumes, but damage them in doing so, and that anyone can use the flume if they go at the same time as a traveler.

The ten different territories are:

  • Second Earth - The territory where Bobby comes from. Earth in modern times. Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde are Bobby's friends and become his acolytes in the fourth book, The Reality Bug. This territory undergoes a chaotic change in its technology and history at the end of the Quillan Games, presumably due to Mark's assumed intervention in the past. The quigs of this territory are large dogs.
  • Zadaa - Loor's home territory. Mostly desert, with two civilized tribes: The Rokador and the Batu. All the other tribes in Zadaa are uncivilized cannibals. Loor comes from the Batu tribe. Loor's acolyte is a girl named Saangi, also from the Batu tribe. Bobby visits Zadaa in the sixth book, The Rivers of Zadaa. The quigs of this territory are large snakes.
  • First Earth - Earth in the year 1937. A man named Vincent "Gunny" Van Dyke is the Traveler from First Earth. (See the list of Characters for more detail). Bobby comes to First Earth in the third book, The Never War.
  • Third Earth - Earth in the year 5010. Now the Earth is in peace, pollution has been taken care of, and people are colonizing other planets and moons in our solar system. The Traveler from Third Earth is called Patrick.
  • Denduron - A territory mostly covered with frozen undiscovered continents, but near the equator are three inhabited continents. One of these continents are where two battling tribes live: The Milago and the Bedoowan. The Milago are forced to hunt for glaze, a kind of valuable mineral, and give it to the Bedoowan. The Traveler from Denduron is a Bedoowan knight called Alder. His acolyte is a Milago woman who lost her husband to the Bedoowan in the first book. Bobby and his Uncle Press visit Denduron in the first book, The Merchant of Death. The quigs of this territory are described by Bobby as being reminiscent of prehistoric bears, with a single yellow spike on their heads.
  • Cloral - A territory completely covered by water. The inhabitants of Cloral live on huge floating cities called habitats, with the exception of the recently re-discovered Faar. Each city has a job to do. Some cities make all the machinery for Cloral, and some grow all of the food. An energetic man named Vo Spader is the Traveler from Cloral. Spader's acolyte is his boss, Wu Yenza. Bobby and his Uncle Press come to Cloral in the second book, The Lost City of Faar. The quigs of this territory are sharks.
  • Veelox - A territory with cities similar to those on Earth, except for Lifelight, a computer program that can plug your body into a computer and make you feel like you are in a fantasy world. Most of the people in Veelox have abandoned their homes and live in their own fantasies. The Traveler from Veelox is a girl named Aja Killian. Her acolyte is her aunt, Evangeline. (See the list of characters for more detail on Aja and Evangeline.) Bobby visits Veelox in the fourth book, The Reality Bug. The quigs are unknown for this territory. It was the first territory lost to Saint Dane.
  • Eelong - Probably the territory most unlike Earth. Eelong is covered in tropical jungle. The most intelligent creatures there are not human. They are beings called klees. They look like cats, but stand on two legs and have no tail. Humans there are called gars and are kept as pets, slaves, or used for entertainment purposes by the Klees. The traveler from Eelong was Kasha. Bobby visited Eelong in the fifth book, Black Water. The quigs from Eelong are savage gars.
  • Quillan - Quillan is a territory on the verge of destruction. The people have lost control of their own future. The only chance they have of finding a better life is by playing the Quillan Games -- games in which game masters Veego and LaBerge use the people of Quillan as pawns in competitions that range from physical battles to impossible obstacle courses to computer-driven tests of agility. To triumph in the games is to live the life of a king. To lose is to die. It was the second territory lost to Saint Dane. The quigs from Quillan are robots that look like spiders.
  • Ibara - Ibara was introduced in The Guide to the Territories of Halla by name only. In The Quillan Games, the Traveler from Ibara, Remudi, makes a brief appearance. He also dies shortly into The Quillan Games. Bobby has not visisted Ibara yet.

The order of the territories for the final 3 books is under much speculation, but as The Quillian Games tells at the end, Bobby and Courtney are going to Third Earth while Saint Dane is going to Ibara. For this reason, many believe Second Earth will be the final battlefield.

Characters

Main characters

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  • Robert "Bobby" Pendragon - At the start of the series, Bobby is a normal fourteen-year-old boy. He was the best basketball player in his school, but right before the state semi-finals, while he was kissing Courtney Chetwynde, Uncle Press took him to Denduron. He has had a crush on Courtney since the elementary school and she on him. His best friend is Mark Dimond. His journey led him through many dangerous missions. In the fourth book, he found out that he was known as the 'lead Traveler' to the other Travelers. Bobby's acolytes are Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde.
  • Saint Dane - Saint Dane is an evil Traveler that wants to destroy Halla, so he can remake it how he wants it. He first met Bobby in the subway station in the Bronx. Saint Dane is an evil demon who can shape shift and is trying to take over Halla and the ten territories. All he needs is one, he says, and the other Territories will be like dominoes, falling after the first. He usually changes his name and appearance in order to pass unnoticed by the Travelers. His origins are unknown.
  • Press Tilton - Press Tilton, or "Uncle Press," (pictured here [2], taken from DJ MacHale's "The Guide to the Territories of Halla") is Robert "Bobby" Pendragon's uncle, his mother's brother. In "The Merchant of Death", he told Bobby he was a Traveler and took him on an adventure. Tilton was a very respected Traveler. On Denduron, the Bedoowan imprisoned him. Tilton died on Cloral (his favorite territory) of a gunshot sent through the flume from First Earth. He is buried in Cloral.
  • Mark Dimond - Mark is Bobby’s closest friend since kindergarten. He is not very popular and used to get bullied by a kid named Andy Mitchell until the sixth book. His room is very messy, and he likes to read books. He once read that eating carrots makes your eyesight better, so he ate them for four months, but all they did was turn his teeth yellow. When he needs privacy, he goes to the boys’ washroom on the third floor, because no one ever goes there. Osa gave him a ring, so he’ll be able to receive Bobby’s journals. He asked Courtney to read it with him, because he knew that she liked Bobby too. Mark is one of Bobby's acolytes. Mark's parents both died, and it is suspected that, in his depression, he joined Saint Dane.
  • Courtney Chetwynde - Courtney is the strongest girl in her school, and she plays for the boys’ volleyball team, because she always beats the girls easily. She is described as very attractive and has had a crush on Bobby since 4th grade. She told him about that night before Uncle Press took him to Denduron. She tells Mark what to do, because he’s really scared. Like Mark, she is Bobby's acolyte.
  • Andy Mitchell - Andy is a bully from the start of the books and an all around jerk. He is (for quite some time) Mark's bully until he gets into reading Bobby's journals. Andy forces Mark to let him read the rest of Bobby's journals after he one day comes across a page of Bobby's journal that Mark had misplaced. Things start to get weirder when Andy joins Sci-Clops (the science club which Mark is in) and makes tremendous improvement. This event leads us to think that Andy is not who he really is. Towards the end of The Rivers of Zadaa, Andy takes an odd turn and ends up helping Mark in order to rescue Courtney. In the very end of the book it ends with a cliffhanger in which Andy is revealed to supposedly be Saint Dane. It was confirmed that Andy is Saint Dane in The Quillan Games.

Travelers

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Since the publication of the seventh Pendragon book, we now know the names of at least one Traveler from all ten territories. This is a list of them (including Bobby Pendragon):

  • Denduron: Alder - A Bedoowan knight. He is very tall and a trained knight. He is quite clumsy but has large, caring eyes that remind Bobby of a puppy's.
  • Cloral: Vo Spader - Lives on the habitat of Grallion and works as an Aquaneer. He accompanies Bobby on the mission to First Earth and almost ruins the mission because he was blinded by the hate he has for Saint Dane. Saint Dane had killed his father. He also was the cause, by accident, of Bobby's Uncle Press's death. Spader is temporarily trapped in the territory of Eelong because the flume there collapsed.His acolyte is Wu Yenza, his boss and chief Aquaneer.
  • First Earth: Vincent "Gunny" Van Dyke- An old African American man. Bobby first meets Gunny when he first visited First Earth in The Never War. Gunny has also helped Bobby on Eelong and is currently stranded there with Spader since the flume collapsed in the fifth book.
  • Veelox: Aja Killian - (Pictured here [3], taken from DJ MacHale's "The Guide to the Territories of Halla") The lead phader of Lifelight. She lives in a gigantic mansion outside of Lifelight which is owned by Dr. Zetlin. Aja helps Bobby to take on Saint Dane. It is mainly her fault that Veelox was Saint Dane's win because of her invention of the "Reality Bug." Nothing is known from her at the time other than that she stayed on Veelox to fix what had been wronged.
  • Eelong: Kasha - Kasha is a klee (a jungle cat who lives and acts like a human), the Traveler of Eelong. Her and her acolyte, Boon, find and save Black Water, a civilization that klees usually dismiss as a gar (human) myth. At the end of Black Water, she was killed by falling rocks as a result of the flume on Eelong crumbling, because Mark and Courtney used the flume. Boon is the acolyte of Eelong after Bobby finds out that Yorn, the original acolyte of Eelong, was Saint Dane posing as Yorn. Seegen is Kasha's father, another klee from Eelong. He was the traveler from Eelong before he passed it down to Kasha.
  • Zadaa: Loor - Loor is Bobby’s partner in their adventures in Denduron. She’s a very strong warrior, and doesn’t like people that correct her. Osa is her mother. She always saves Bobby’s life because her mother told her to because he is the lead Traveler. She likes Bobby, and is "there when a warrior is needed." In the middle of the sixth book, Bobby tells Mark Dimond that he has feelings for Loor, but shows that they cannot be together because they are Travelers and it would obstruct their mission. In a desert camp in book six, Alder, Saangi, and Loor help train Bobby to fight so he can better defend himself against Saint Dane after almost being killed by him earlier in the same book. Loor was killed briefly by Saint Dane, but was brought back to life, either by Bobby or because their powers mixed. Another theory is that it wasn't supposed to be Loor's time to die.
  • Quillan: Nevva Winter - She is the Traveler from Quillan. She seemed to be helping Bobby save Quillan, but she was really helping Saint Dane. She is convinced that Saint Dane will save existence. At the end of the book she jumps out of a window and is unharmed, which suggests that she has learned how to use Saint Dane's powers. She has decided to become the Ibara traveler and is headed there since it no longer has a Traveler, and it is no longer safe for her to stay in Quillan. Elli Winter is her mother and is the new traveller from Quillan since Nevva left with Saint Dane. She was supposed to be the first traveler on Quillan but she could not handle it so Nevva took over.
  • Ibara: Remudi - Not much is known about Remudi besides his name, appearance (described in the seventh book), and that he is the Traveler from Ibara. He was killed in a game on Quillan called "Tato," by Saint Dane disguised as "Challenger Green." In reality, Bobby was meant to have watched him die to lead him to compete; it was a plot by Saint Dane and his accomplice Nevva Winter.
  • Third Earth: Patrick - Appeared in the 3rd Pendragon Adventure. Traveler from Third Earth. Helped "Gunny" and Bobby Pendragon see what would happen to the Earth Territories.
  • Second Earth: Robert "Bobby" Pendragon - In all books. Lead Traveler from Second Earth.
  • Saint Dane is considered a traveler, although it is unknown which territory he is from.

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Books in the series

  1. The Merchant of Death
  2. The Lost City of Faar
  3. The Never War
  4. The Reality Bug
  5. Black Water
  6. The Rivers of Zadaa
  7. The Quillan Games

On the official Pendragon website, D.J.McHale announced the eighth book would not be called Pendragon The Great, saying this title no longer fits anymore. He said the real title will be announced on the Pendragon website forum in early October.

There is also The Guide to the Territories of Halla (2005) by Victor Lee, D.J. MacHale, and Peter Ferguson.

Trivia

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  • The The Merchant of Death, Black Water, and The Rivers of Zadaa books have class/racial issues as a major theme
  • Many readers have drawn strong links drawn between the villain of the seventh book, the company called Blok, and Wal-Mart.
  • All of the territories' turning points have something to do with a lot of people dying or a lot of destruction.
    • The first book had an impending use of Tak to destroy all the other tribes on Denduron
    • The second book had an impending plague and following war that will wipe out Cloral
    • The third book had the impending doom of Nazi Germany using the Atomic Bomb first in 1944
    • The fourth book had the impending threat of the Reality Bug killing everyone in Lifelight.
    • The fifth book had the impending genocide of all the Gars, and the slaughter of all the Klees by the Tangs
    • The sixth book had the impending genocide of the Batu, and the consequential follow-up destruction of the Rokador by the Cannibal tribes of Zadaa
    • The seventh book had the impending destruction of Mr. Pop and the history of Quillan; therefore destroying the hope of the Revival and allowing Blok to continue to control the people of Quillan.
  • Gunny is the only ORIGINAL Traveler of the current generation older than 30 (Patrick is in his 20's)
  • Saint Dane always has at least two disguises per book, with the possible exception of the fourth. One of his guises is always immediately known (either by being told by him, being told by another character), while the second or third guise is a hidden guise, and the reader only finds out it is Saint Dane a while later.
  • Saint Dane did not permanently transform after winning Quillan like he did with Veelox, though some assume he will transform to be more demon-like in Book 8.
  • Nevva is the first traveler to turn evil.
  • There are several mistakes in Black Water where Yorn is referred to as Boon.
  • Books one through five are planned to be reprinted in hardback form, as confirmed by MacHale on his official website. The reprints are scheduled to hit shelves before Christmas.

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