MENILMONEA

In Catuhe’s coming-of-age fantasy novel, two magically gifted teens discover that their world is not as it seems.

Young Menilmonea goes out looking for the various kinds of mushrooms that she uses in her healing arts; thanks to her ability to speak to them (a version of mycomancy), the mushrooms themselves aid her in her search. She and her best friend, Aureal, both have gifts—Aureal can sense and speak with animals—but they seem to be unique in this regard. These gifts are from the Mother, as their village Titan (Tunka, a giant tortoise and magical protector) tells them. When Tunka sinks into such a deep sleep that not even Menilmonea’s mushrooms can awaken him, she and Aureal set out for the next village over to seek help from another Titan. Upon learning that this Titan is also in a deep sleep, Aureal and Menil find themselves on the verge of panic. Traveling to the nearest Tower, where villagers customarily meet the Mother to Ascend (“Its stone walls, streaked with flashes of pure energy, appeared older than the very world”), the two again find their expectations dashed; the Mother is not at the Tower waiting to help them. Instead, they find a portal that can take them to different places around the world. As they search distant lands for a solution, they learn that the Mother may not be what they’ve been told, and that the world is a bigger, scarier place than they could have ever imagined. Catuhe limns a world that grows richer and deeper as the protagonists explore beyond their small village. Readers will vividly feel the friends’ curiosity and fear as they learn that so much of what they’ve based their lives upon may be lies. The work includes the author’s gorgeous full-color digital illustrations, which emphasize the beauty and strangeness of the world within. This novel is the first in a series; readers will eagerly anticipate the following installment.

A rich fantasy narrative with beautiful illustrations that will keep readers glued to the pages.