Groups Of Creatures Mentioned

The creatures in the series resemble their real-life counterparts in almost every way, aside from being very large (most of them being bigger than the humans) and able to speak in English.

• Crawlers (Cockroaches): They are said to be cowardly and are not treated well by the other species. They call Boots "Princess".
• Spinners (Spiders): They provide several types of silk.
• Fliers (Bats): Fliers are on very good terms with humans. They go on quests together, protect each other, and sleep in the same rooms. These creatures "bond" with their human counterparts in a very special ceremony.
• Gnawers (Rats): They are the penurious of the story. Most of the Gnawers are rude and unmannerly.
• Shiners (Fireflies): All Shiners eat too much, are lazy and unreliable. A Shiner who has left more than enough food for others is unheard of. Most Shiners are competitive with one another. Introduced in book 2.
• Nibblers (Mice): Are allied to the humans. Introduced in book 3.
• Stingers (Scorpions): Are allied by the humans by book 4.
• Diggers (Moles): Introduced in book 5. They are the true founders of the Underland. Gregor discovers that when Bartholomew of Sandwich decided to settle, he tried to kill all the Diggers in order to have the land he wanted. This is the biggest reason humans are called "Killers", as this was the Underland's first impression of them.
• Twisters (Snakes): Introduced in book 4.
• Hissers (Lizards): Introduced in book 3.
• Cutters (Ants): Enemies of all warmbloods (as opposed to coldbloods). Introduced in book 3.
• Slimers: (Snails): Are mentioned by Howard in book 4.

Minor Characters .

• Nerissa: Luxa's cousin who foresees 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. She watches the young in the palace.
• Perdita: an Underland soldier
• Grace: Gregor, Lizzie and Boots' mother
• Grandma: Gregor, Lizzie and Boots' grandmother after whom Boots (Margaret) was named.
• Mrs. Cormaci: A family friend to Gregor's family
• King Gorger: The king of the gnawers
• Queen Wevox: a giant spinner.
• Gox and Treflex: two spinners
• Lizzie: Gregor and Boots' sister, mentioned more than once.
• Mareth: One of Regalia's soldiers

Main Chararcters .

• Gregor: The protagonist of the story. He falls into the Underland with his sister, Boots.
• Luxa: An Underlander, and the soon-to-be queen of Regalia.
• Ripred: A trustworthy gnawer with deadly fighting skills and sharp intelligence, he fights alongside the humans.
• Ares: A flier, first Henry's bond, then Gregor's. He is described as jet black, and strong.
• Henry: An Underlander, and Luxa's cousin on the Royal side.
• Vikus: Luxa's grandfather and Solovet's husband. Helps Gregor understand the history of the Underland.
• Aurora: A flier, Luxa's bond. A golden color.
• Boots (Margaret): Named after her grandma, Boots is Gregor's cheerful, two-year-old sister who is afraid of very little. Never met her father.
• Temp and Tick:The crawlers that call Boots "princess"
• Dad: Gregor is trying to save him from the Underland.

Timeline

All About The Author ( SUZANNE COLLINS )

     Suzanne Collins' career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows. She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, and Oswald. She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days.[8] She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby!

After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the Kids' WB show Generation O!, Collins was inspired to write children's books herself. Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times best selling series The Underland Chronicles, came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.

In September 2008, Scholastic Press released The Hunger Games, the first book of a trilogy by Collins

      The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which allowed her to have better understanding of poverty, starvation, and the effects of war. The trilogy's second book, Catching Fire, was released in September 2009, and its third book, Mockingjay, was released on August 24, 2010. Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books were printed in North America alone. The Hunger Games has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Collins adapted the novel for film herself. Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen. Josh Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne.

     As a result of the significant popularity of The Hunger Games books, Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010. In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time. Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most highlighted passages in Kindle ebooks—and on a separate Amazon list of recently highlighted passages, Collins had written 17 of the top 20.

Gregor The Overlander Review

YOU HAVE TO READ THE UNDERLAND CHRONICLES!!!! They are just amazing. They have adventure, great characters, great plot, and that tiny bit of romance that makes it great. From the word 'Gregor' in the first book to the word 'name' in the last, you will be absolutely hooked. BEWARE The books say 'hell' and 'hellish' a couple times, there is bad attitudes, and at least one or more gory death in each book, but it is just the best fantasy series ever!

Main Summary

Gregor The Overlander is a story about A young boy and his baby sister, who are residents of New York City, find that in their apartment complex's laundry is an entrance to the Underland; a world containing no natural light, filled with humans with translucent skin, giant bats, snails, moles, scorpions, cockroaches, rats, lizards, mice, ants, snakes, fireflies, and spiders which they call fliers, slimers, diggers, stingers, crawlers, gnawers, hissers, nibblers, cutters, twisters, shiners, and spinners, respectively, and more unusual things you would not normally come in contact with in the Overland. Gregor does everything he can to get himself and his sister home... but when the humans of the Underland reveal that Gregor is the "Warrior" foretold in prophecy, Gregor goes on an epic journey to get hold the Underland's human inhabitants and their world as they know it.