DELOS

Four alien teenagers go on a quest that no one else has survived in more than 6,000 years in Miller’s YA SF/fantasy sequel.

There’s something unusual about 16-year-old twin siblings Cynthia Summers and Kaden Krossway. Cynthia is a tall, Black girl with silver hair and eyes, and Kaden is a white boy with brown hair and eyes; both have superpowers called magikas that had manifested on their birthday three months before. Cynthia’s include the power to manipulate air, and Kaden can summon “Devil’s Fire.” They were born on another planet, but now live in Alexandria, Virginia, where they’re supposed to be safe from Iblis Arrayal, who’s drawn to their powers for unknown reasons and wants to track them down. On orientation day at school, the teens connect with their good friend Alec Mulsiver from the planet Exetros, and Sorra Arrayal, the granddaughter of Iblis. Suspicious of Sorra’s sudden arrival, Cynthia initially believes her to be a spy, but after the two girls team up to fight off a surprise magical attacker,the four friends join together to go on the Quest of Six Waters—a dangerous treasure hunt that will help them find the missing Lil of Lurkur; she’s a powerful witch who protects the Lurkur Woods, which house the power source for all magikas. Meanwhile, the threat of magikal-enhanced pirates hangs over the proceedings. Miller employs quite a large cast of characters, which only grows as the narrative goes on, but he succeeds in creating an atmosphere that never feels too dense or overly complex. Events proceed at a quick pace, which makes for a mostly easy read, though some scenes feature a large amount of exposition about various elements of the fictional world (“Eternes, they had learned from the Lil herself, were objects that came directly from sacrosites and significantly enhanced a person’s magikas”), which may require a second glance. This series entry works well as a standalone, but the suspenseful ending offers more questions than answers and will no doubt leave readers looking forward to the next book in the series.

A brisk, lively adventure that’s likely to appeal to SF and fantasy fans.