advice. Finally, there is the Senses Taker who tries to bury them in questions and forms. With the help of his pencil and dictionary Milo manages to complete them all and they begin the climb to the Castle in the Air. They reach the Princess Rhyme and the Princess Reason, who delight that someone is here to rescue them. They say how clever Milo must have been to get here, but Milo is filled with doubt now since he has no idea how to get them back safely past all the demons. They assure Milo that he has changed from who he once was and can now do anything. The Demons begin to destroy the stairway and Milo, Tock and the princesses don’t know how to get back down. Milo realises that time flies and Tock, who is a Watchdog, can get them down safely. As they land, the demons move in trying to ambush them. They just about have them surrounded when the kings, and their armies, from Digitopolis and Dictionopolis arrive. The demons are outnumbered and retreat. It is declared that Rhyme and Reason once again reign over both kingdoms and that Milo and Tock are heroes. Milo heads for home and ends up back where he started from. As he stands in his room he looks around and does not see his car or the tollbooth. There is a letter on his bed. It explains that now that he knows his way, he no longer needs the tollbooth, so it has been collected for other people to use. Milo is sure that he won’t even have time to go on another journey since now he realises just how much he must do right at home. His schoolmates come by again and this time, Milo joins them, excited being able to go out and do things. CHARACTERS • Milo, a boy, the main character • Tock, a ticking watchdog and loyal companion of Milo. The job of a watchdog runs in his family (fatherto-son). • The Humbug, a large talking insect who acts as the anti-hero • King Azaz the Unabridged, ruler of Dictionopolis and lover of words • The Mathemagician, ruler of Digitopolis and lover of numbers • Rhyme and Reason (also known as The Princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason) • Faintly Macabre, (or Aunt Faintly) the Not-So-Wicked Which • Alec Bings, who sees through things. Like the other members of his family, he grows downwards from a fixed point in the air until he reaches the ground • Chroma, conductor of the world's color • Kakofonous A. Dischord, a fan of noise: the "A" stands for "AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE!" • The Awful Dynne, an emotional, noise-loving creature formed of blue smoke; an accomplice of Dr. Dischord. His grandfather was The Dreadful Rauw, who died during "the Great Silence Epidemic of 1712". • The Soundkeeper, ruler of the Valley of Sound, and keeper of a large collection of previously-uttered noises; a stern woman who actually prefers silence, and at one point banned sound in her valley because she felt the locals had abused the privilege • The Dodecahedron, an inhabitant of Digitopolis with twelve faces: one happy, one sad, one angry, and so forth • The Everpresent Wordsnatcher, a monstrous filthy bird that anticipates everything you say and takes the words right out of your mouth; has ambitions of being a demon, but can only manage to be a nuisance • The Senses Taker, a demon who distracts passers-by by supplying them with illusions of things they would rather be perceiving • Officer Shrift, apparently Dictionopolis' entire police force, who enjoys arresting and imprisoning people, but isn't concerned with keeping them incarcerated. He is taller sitting down than standing up, and is almost twice as wide as he is tall. • The Whether Man, who tries to send travellers beyond Expectations, Milo's first stop on his trip. Lost his way long ago, if not a bit literally. • The Lethargarians, whose regular schedule consists of dawdling and dillydallying, with a little timewasting every so often; their home is in the Doldrums • The Spelling Bee, an expert at word-construction who quarrels violently with the Humbug
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