Everworld is a fantasy novel series co-authored by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic between 1999 and 2001. It consists of twelve books and a companion music CD titled The Everworld Experience.
The Plot The series features five protagonists: David, April, Christopher, Senna and Jalil. When Senna is kidnapped by the wolf Fenrir, the remaining protagonists in an attempt to save her are catapulted into an alternative fantasy world, called Everworld. The protagonists live in both worlds, Everworld and the normal world. Every time they fall asleep, they can see what they are doing in the normal world; where they continue to lead their lives as usual. In Everworld, however; often accompanied by the god Loki, they will have to face powerful enemies and visit places that they thought existed only in fairy tales and myths, trying to survive, to prevent evil creatures from opening a passage to the normal world and to understand the why and how of their comings and goings.
Main characters David Levin: The self-appointed leader of the protagonists. David takes on all the burdens of the group, and has been troubled by his past in which he was cowardly; he must prove himself to be a man. Before being sucked into Everworld, he was involved in a romantic relationship with Senna Wales. As such, he is most susceptible to the influence of Senna's powers. He shows his courage and bravery before Zeus, other gods, and Vikings. David fights with the Sword of Galahad, after witnessing Sir Galahad's death. At the end of the series, he opts to stay in Everworld to help protect it, as well as to escape his mother's smoking and depression problems. David narrates #1: Search for Senna, #5: Discover the Destroyer, and #10: Understand the Unknown. Christopher Hitchcock: The reluctant clown of the group, Christopher often makes jokes specifically targeted towards the other members of the group (April (sexism), Jalil (racism), and David (antisemitism)). He does this to keep the others at a distance, so they won't get to know him. Christopher is, in his own words, on the road to becoming an alcoholic like his parents. However, he can be a jerk one minute, and a kind, caring person the next. Christopher gave up the offer to become an immortal because he failed to save the life of Ganymede, Zeus' male lover; blaming his failure on latent homophobia causes Christopher to fall into an alcoholic depression and is the turning point for his character. Christopher also decreases in his prejudice jokes when Keith, who is part of a group of racists and anti-Semitics that plan to overthrow the government, tries to recruit him. At the end of the series, he opts to stay in Everworld to avoid his parents' alcoholic nature, escape his younger brother's ridicule and abuse, and stay off the road to a possible alcoholic future. Christopher narrates #2: Land of Loss, #6: Fear the Fantastic, and #11: Mystify the Magician. April O'Brien: The heroine of the group, April is Senna's half-sister; their personalities, however, are directly opposite, and the two hate each other with a passion. April is a devout Catholic, somewhat feminist, and very beautiful with red hair and green eyes. She is in the drama club at her real world school, and she is often singing songs from Rent. She is also said to be very popular at the main characters' high school. April carries her own burdens in the group, and is often the voice of reason next to Jalil. She is a vegetarian. She has the most reason to want to return to the Old World at the end of the series, due to how much she could possibly leave behind. Ultimately, however, she opts to remain in Everworld due to her unbearable guilt and inability to face her father over her murder of Senna, knowing that it would never be acceptable in their home world, no matter how necessary it had been in Everworld. April narrates #3: Enter the Enchanted, #7: Gateway to the Gods, and #12: Entertain the End. Jalil Sherman: The scientist and sole African-American of the group, he wants to find the "software" on which Everworld runs and control it. In the real world, Jalil is obsessive-compulsive, but in Everworld, he is unaffected. His disorder is a secret to the rest of the group for a majority of the series. Senna, however, knows of his condition and was able to temporarily cure it while the two were in the Old World, on the condition he would swear to serve her. He refused. Jalil always tries hard to search for a logical explanation for the many illogical phenomena in Everworld. He and April often butt heads when it comes to religion since he's an atheist and naturalist, but the two often fall on the same side in arguments within the group. At the end of the series, he opts to stay in Everworld rather than return home to the Old World because he does not have to live with his disorder. His name ironically means "godlike." Jalil narrates #4: Realm of the Reaper and #8: Brave the Betrayal. Senna Wales: The witch who intertwines all the characters. Senna is David's girlfriend, Christopher's ex-girlfriend, and April's half-sister (they have the same father and different mothers) and has blond hair and gray eyes. Senna is the only main character with real magical power, and at times, uses the others for her own ends, whether through emotional manipulation or magic. Her magical power is much stronger in Everworld than in the Old World. Her name was originally Senda (meaning "gateway" in Spanish), but after her mother left her she began to refer to herself based on her father's mispronunciation. Senna sometimes uses her powers on others for her own benefit, whether for protection or distraction, though usually in an effort to further her own plans. Senna's ultimate goal is to overthrow the powers of Everworld and rule over it for her own. She is ultimately foiled in her plan, however, when she is killed by April in the penultimate book. Senna only narrates #9: Inside the Illusion.
Recurring characters Loki: The Norse god of destruction who brought David, Senna, Christopher, Jalil, and April into Everworld. Loki wants to use Senna as a gateway to the Old World to escape Ka Anor. Loki escaped from his prison when he was brought to Everworld centuries ago and at some point in the recent past overthrew and imprisoned Odin. He is also the father of Hel, Fenrir, and the Midgard Serpent. Ka Anor: The god-eating deity of the Hetwans who wants to devour all the gods in Everworld before they escape to the Old World. It also is trying to capture Senna, most likely to prevent the other gods from using her to escape. Thorolf: A Viking, in whose farm David, Christopher, Jalil, and April spend the night in Everworld #1: Search for Senna. Died and "ascended" to Valhalla in Everworld #8: Brave The Betrayal. Olaf Ironfoot: A Viking king with an iron foot, Olaf fought alongside David, Christopher, and Jalil against the Aztecs. He engaged Huitzilopoctli in personal combat wielding Mjolnir, before being sliced in half by the god. He is of African descent, likely due to the Vikings' tendency to intermarry with other peoples. Sven Swordeater: A young Viking who was stabbed through the cheeks, causing a speech impediment. Sven was also killed by Huitzilopoctli. Monsieur Jean-Claude LeMieux: A Frenchman who is brought to Everworld thanks to a nuclear explosion. He lives in and is the mayor of the Greek version of Atlantis. Etain: An Irish woman, the half-elf daughter of the Queen of the Elves, whom Christopher falls in love with. Etain seems to have feelings for him too; however, the series ends with the implication that she probably married the dwarf-king Baldwin in exchange for his assistance in the war to save Everworld. Keith: A violent and suicidal Neo-Nazi who worked with Christopher at an independent copy store for a short amount of time. Anica: A Wiccan who fled the Old World when Loki and other forces desiring a gateway began to search for her, taking refuge with the Egyption Pantheon of Everworld. Before leaving she left her illegitimate daughter with the girl's father and his family, the O'Briens. Anica fears Senna's wrath above all else, but at the same time, seeks her forgiveness. She is last seen pleading for it, but it is unknown as to whether or not she receives it from Senna. Merlin: The famous wizard who, along with Ka Anor and Loki, is trying to capture Senna, though in his case it is merely to keep anyone from using her, and likely to prevent her takeover of Everworld. Senna fears him the most, and refers to him as the most powerful being in Everworld, because while he lacks the power of the average god, his cleverness and imagination give him an edge. His ultimate goal is to bring all the deities and people of Everworld together to stop Ka Anor, a goal that is finally coming to fruition by the end of the series.
People
Old-Worlders The Old-Worlders are people who do not live in Everworld and who live in the old world (Earth).
Gods Many gods were in the Everworld series. Nearly all the gods shared similar characteristics such as shape shifting, physical perfection, superhuman strength and immortality. They could only be killed by the weapon of another god such as Thor's hammer Mjolnir or through severe injury. Even then, there is a chance they could heal. Real world weapons however do seem to harm gods. When the Sennites arrived with automatic weapons, they apparently killed Fenrir. Many of the gods had special powers related to their field and some were radically more powerful than others. Nearly all of them were portrayed as being cold and cruel in their attitude toward humans if not outright insane due to their power and long lives and would rather carry on their petty squabbles from ancient times. Most are slow to change or act unless they feel immediately threatened allowing the threat of the Hetwan to grow. The gods in Everworld included: Greek Zeus Athena Apollo Artemis Ares Dionysus Heracles Hera Hermes (not specifically named, but seen) Aphrodite Eros Ganymede (Eaten by Ka Anor) Poseidon Norse Odin Loki Baldur Thor Hel Midgard Serpent Fenrir (Apparently killed by the Sennites) Valkyries Egyptian Amun-Ra Sobek Osiris Isis Khnum (not specifically named, but seen) Roman Jupiter Neptune Venus Aztec Huitzilopoctli Quetzalcoatl Celtic Daghda (Eaten by Ka Anor) Brigid Donn Yoruba Eshu Mesopotamia Ereshkigal Persian Ahriman Hetwan Ka Anor Coo-Hatch Goddess of the Ore God of Fire This list is not complete
Vikings The Vikings are very similar to their real world counterparts, but in many ways are easier to relate to than other groups of people. A mixture of farmers, craftsmen and warriors that glorify battle, but are trustworthy allies. Among the peoples of Everworld they are easy to get along with and motivate into needed action instead of bickering amongst themselves. They are also the most cosmopolitan of Everworld humans, as they readily accept people of other races into their ranks (African, Asian, etc.) They worshiped Loki for an unknown period of time when he overthrew Odin and other major gods such as Thor and Balder disappeared.
Aztecs The Aztecs, in their Everworld incarnation, are portrayed as an utterly savage and barbaric society of cannibals. They are first encountered at the end of the first book, Search for Senna. The Aztecs are known by many names in Everworld, including "The Blood-Drinkers," "The Mexica," and "The Heart Eaters." Some groups worship Huitzilopoctli, while others worship Quetzalcoatl.
Coo-Hatch