FRACTAL MODE

Anthony's latest series (beginning with Virtual Mode, 1990) started life as a fantasy involving parental neglect and child abuse, but here it meanders off into standard reality-hopping adventure. Our heroes—abused 14-year-old Colene from Earth; Darius of the sympathetic magic; Seqiro the telepathic horse; and Provos, who remembers only the future—fall across the "modes" (realities) to magic-world Oria, where the highly magical Nona, the ninth child of a ninth child, hopes to overthrow the "despots" by transforming their male "animus magic into female anima" magic. To achieve this, Nona must journey to Earth (where Colene will save a friend from special abuse and torture) to learn about fractals—Oria, you see, is part of a fractal universe, and Nona must be able to orient herself in order to effectively wield her magic. Not too much more than a fantasy Time Tunnel—our heroes fall away into a new adventure at the end of each episode—displaying the usual Anthony rewards and drawbacks.