Gregor the Overlander is the first book of the Underland Chronicles

The Underland Chronicles

The Underland Chronicles is a five-part series of fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in a land called the "Underland", hidden under New York City...

 by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist.-Early life:Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer. She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and earned her M.F.A. from New York University in Dramatic Writing....

. It was published in 2003, and met with critical acclaim, including Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...

 Editors' Choice and New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

's 100 Books for Reading and Sharing selection. It was featured by National Public Radio in the USA in 2005. It was Nominated for a Nutmeg Children's Book Award in 2006 in the intermediate category and came in third place. As of July 2008, users on Amazon.com had given the book a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.

Plot summary

Eleven year old Gregor is stuck at home with his poor grandmother and baby sister instead of going to summer camp like every normal kid. His mother has to go to work, as his father disappeared just over 2 years ago. He is stuck babysitting his sister and his slightly mental grandmother, when he falls through a grate in the laundry room of his New York City apartment building. With his two-year-old sister, Boots (also known as Margaret), he lands in the Underland. Here giant spiders, rats, and cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. Because a prophecy foretells that an Overlander will play an important role in the uncertain future of Underland (which is on the brink of war), Gregor's arrival is treated as no accident. When he learns his father's disappearance may have something to do with the Underland, Gregor reluctantly embarks on a life-changing adventure.

Setting

New York City. Then later the Underland. The nominal ruler of the human city of Regalia is Luxa, a girl Gregor's age, who will fully assume the throne when she comes of age at sixteen. She is proud and aggressive. At first sight, Gregor believes her to be stuck-up and conceited; this feeling only increases when Boots asks her for a ball she had been playing with and Luxa will not let go of it. A royal cousin named Henry seems more friendly to Gregor, and another named Nerissa is nervous and claims to have visions of the future. Luxa's grandfather is a kindly man named Vikus, who leads a council that rules in place of the under-aged queen. Her grandmother Solovet leads the Regalian military, which includes sword-wielding soldiers mounted on large, intelligent bats. Solovet appears to have a gentle demeanor at first, but when it comes to battle tactics, she has among the finest of minds.

The Quest

Gregor, growing tired of the Underland, attempts to escape and is attacked by rats (the main enemy of the humans). Luckily, the guard Mareth and some others (Including Luxa) save his life. Gregor then learns that, according to the "Prophecy of Gray," a group of Underlanders and Overlanders (including Gregor and his sister Boots) will set out into dangerous rat-controlled territory, in order to rescue an Overland prisoner, whom Gregor believes to be his long-lost father.

The first part of their mission involves recruiting participants from each of the various groups of underland creatures mentioned in the prophecy. First Vikus, Solovet, Mareth and others go to the cockroaches and recruit Tick and Temp (whom Boots somehow recognizes from their first encounter in the underland). They then journey to the bats, many of whom are ceremonially bonded to humans (a relationship that has both social and military benefits). After fending off another rat attack, the group goes to visit the Spinners(spiders), who promptly imprison them in a web. Luxa and her bat Aurora free the party by performing a complex aerial maneuver that shreds the web. Nevertheless, before long, the rat incursions motivate the spiders Treflex and Gox to join the quest.

When fully tallied, the party includes the Overlanders Gregor, Boots and (after his rescue) their father, the Underlander humans Luxa and Henry, the cockroaches Tick and Temp (who believe Boots is a princess); the spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

s Gox and Treflex (who ally themselves with the humans to fight a common enemy), the rat

Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

 Ripred (a fearsome fighter and strategist whose motives are never clear), and the bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s Aurora (Luxa's bond) and Ares (Henry's bond).

Boots considers the quest a play date, and treats all her companions as equal playmates, even though the Underland humans see themselves at the top of a rigid hierarchy. While his main goal is simply to see the quest to its conclusion so that he can rescue his father, Gregor also makes conscious decisions that challenge the dominant opinions of the Underland humans. For instance, he socializes with the cockroaches, and he defends Ripred against Henry's unjust aggression (which includes an attempted assassination).

Perils and Treachery

Of the twelve members of the party, the prophecy states that only eight will return alive. Early casualties include one of the spiders (Treflex, who dies almost immediately after joining the quest) and one of the cockroaches (Tick, who sacrifices herself in order to save Boots), Gox, (the other spider) who gets sliced in half by King Gorger's tail, and Henry, who turns out to betray the questers and jumps into the pit after Gregor. Henry is confident that his bat will save him, but Ares had no clue of Henry's motives. Ares lets Henry fall to his death and saves Gregor instead. Ares is let off the hook for breaking his bond for life, by letting Henry die, because he had no clue Henry was conspiring against the others, but only after Gregor bonds with Ares.

Resolution

Gregor's father is ill but safe. With the rat King Gorger dead, the quest is a success. Luxa is shaken by Henry's betrayal, as are the other Regalians. Nevertheless, Ares is put on trial for one of two charges: Treason (Along with Henry) or abandoning his bond. Before the Regalian authorities can pronounce Ares guilty, the quick-thinking Gregor begins to recite the ceremonial words that will create a bond between Ares and himself. Ares finishes the ceremony, and the Regalians cease to prosecute Ares.

Gregor, Boots, and their father return to New York City, but not before Vikus hints that the warrior has not seen the last of the Underland.

Main characters

• Gregor: A boy who doesn't like the Underland at first but in the end, grows fond of it, makes many friends and is loyal to most creatures
• Ripred: A trustworthy gnawer with deadly fighting skills and sharp intelligence. He fights alongside the humans and is a rager, as is Gregor. He helps the humans and fights the Banes' and King Gorgers' power
• Luxa: almost the Queen of Regalia, but still a little girl, does not always listen to the council
• Henry: An Underlander, and Luxa's cousin, deceased
• Ares: A flier, who is bonded to Henry for most of the first book. After Henry's death, Gregor becomes Ares' bond and they grow closer and have a better relationship then Ares and Henry's
• Vikus: Luxa's grandfather, and Solovet's Husband
• Aurora: A flier, Luxa's bond
• Boots (aka Margret): Gregor's cheerful, 2 year old sister, who is not afraid of anything

Minor characters

• Nerissa: Henry's sister who forsees what either is going to happen or what already did. Ripred describes her flip flopping through time like a fish in the shallows.
• Solovet: Luxa's grandmother and Vikus's wife; head of the Regalian army.
• Dulcet: a servant in Regalia, who tends to Boots and other pups (kids).
• Perdita: an Underland soldier.
• Gregor, Boots and Lizzie's father: Held captive by rats for more than two and a half years, is rescued and gets better with medicine and time.
• Grace: Gregor, Lizzie and Boots' mother
• Grandma: Gregor, Lizzie and Boots' grandmother.
• Mrs. Cormaci: Gregor's neighbor and confident
• King Gorger: An evil king rat who tries to make everyone (and succeeds with some) follow him but ends up dying by falling off a cliff
• Queen Wevox: a giant spider who tries to kill Luxa but is stopped by Gregor.
• Gox and Treflex: deceased; the two spiders who die on the first quest
• Lizzie: Gregor's 7-year-old sister
• Mareth: A strong soldier who has been there for Gregor

Mentioned characters

• Bartholomew of Sandwich, who led a group of humans down from the Overland into the Underland and saw into the future and carved prophecies – which called Gregor the "warrior" – into stone walls in a special room. Later Ripred mentions that he doesn't believe in the prophecies written by Sandwich.
• Luxa's parents, killed by the rats before the time of this novel.
• Ripred's mate and pups
• Henry and Nerissa's parents, killed by rats

Groups

The creatures mentioned are similar to those of the "Overland", with the exception of all being larger than is normal.

• Crawlers: Cockroaches that can talk. They call Boots the "Princess" and she is the only one who can tell them apart
• Spinners: Spiders. They provide several types of silk, used for many purposes. Some of its uses are: "Catch Cloths" (diapers), clothing, bandages, thread, linen, and devices used to restrain enemies.
• Fliers: Bats. These creatures "bond" with their human counterparts in a ceremony, thus agreeing to fight for each others life, to the death, and are killed if one dies while the other can save them.
• Gnawers: Rats. The are the antagonists of the story. Often regarded as being agressive.
• Shiners: Fireflies. Eat too much, are lazy, and unreliable.
• Nibblers: Mice. Are allied to the Humans.
• Killers: Humans. Is a term not used by humans and is considered rude to do so.
• Stingers: Scorpions. Are allied by the humans by book 4.