Early in the 22nd century, the world underwent a vast and rapid change. The tectonic plates of the Earth began to shift and rapidly changed the face of the planet. Since then, the events of this time have grown to be known as the time of the Great Shift or the Great Chaos- and have become myth and legend. As a result of these events, the population of Earth severely dropped and little remained of the old ways. While some forms of old technology exist, the ways of man have receded. Slavery is not uncommon, bandits roam the highways. Maddigan’s Quest follows the circus troupe ‘Maddigan’s Fantasia’, who come from the city of Solis, a beacon of freedom and peace for the desolate world. Each year, the Fantasia leave Solis to perform and earn a living, but this year is different: they have been set the task of obtaining a new Solar Converter to replace the existing converter–the only power source in Solis–which is failing. At the centre of this quest is 14-year-old Garland, the last member of the Maddigan family line. Near the beginning of the Fantasia's journey, just after Ferdy Maddigan, the group's leader and Garland's father, is killed, two boys and their baby sister appear from the future. But while the younger brother, Eden, seems to be a blessing to the performers with his illusionary skills, his older brother Timon is hiding a dark secret which threatens the Fantasia, their mission, and the future of Solis itself.
Maddigan's Fantasia, re-released under the title Maddigan's Quest, is a novel written by Margaret Mahy as a tie-in for the BBC show Maddigan's Quest. The circus troupe Maddigan's Fantasia are on a mission to get a new solar converter from Newton for their hometown Solis. But on the way there, the Fantasia meet two strange boys, Timon and Eden. They are from the future and have come to help the Fantasia change history: in their timeline, when the Fantasia did not get back to Solis in time, the council gave up on them and took a new path, a radiation path. Timon and Eden's parents were killed because an evil monster called the Nennog rules Solis in the future and their parents tried to work out a way to change the past. They created a time slider, but they were killed for it, so Timon and Eden did the job for them and then they saved the Fantasia and Solis was saved.
