Two Renegade Realms

March 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-It's been three years since the events chronicled in One Realm Beyond (Zondervan, 2014), and Cantor has spent all that time growing physically, if not emotionally. His quest to find his elderly mentors, plus, of course, a way to save their realm from alien invasion, hasn't been going well, and he hasn't seen his companions Bixby or Dukmee in two years. That changes by order of Bixby's parents, and the three are reunited just in time to have several more adventures, including rescuing Chomountain (aka the right hand of Primen) from his overlong fishing vacation (due to amnesia) and discovering a variety of useful tools and texts in a series of booby-trapped libraries and the like. Newcomers to the series include Neekoh, who has inherited the generations-long and painfully lonely task of searching for Chomountain; Tegan, another Realm Walker with memory issues of his own; and several new dragons. Everything leads up to a righteous battle against the buglike Lymen invaders. Memory and change are the important themes. Who has been stealing the memories of so many, including Chomountain, Realm Walkers, and Mor Dragons? Why is Cantor having such a hard time accepting his goofy but talented shape-shifting dragon and his changing feelings for the oh-so-girly but supremely competent Bixby? VERDICT Fans of the first book will appreciate the opportunity to meet up with old friends, and will look forward to future adventures.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

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