LANTAMYRA

An imaginative tale about an Earth girl’s adventure on her grandmother’s alien home planet.

Tylya Lansing grew up hearing her grandmother Lenora’s stories of her former home world, Lantamyra, an Earth-like planet where dragons live and magic thrives. Tylya’s boyfriend, Josh, has no idea about his girlfriend’s mysterious family history or the existence of dragons or magical crystals. On an expedition to the local canyons, Tylya and Josh find Lenora’s scepter, which allows travel between worlds and had been lost in an accident decades ago. Lenora returns to Lantamyra, and Tylya tags along; Josh, through a series of unfortunate events, ends up traveling with them. Once on Lantamyra, they set out to learn more about the crystals that provide power on that world and, apparently, on ours. Although the novel’s storyline is clearly well-thought-out, there are some odd details; for example, as part of her preparation to leave Earth, Tylya leaves a video note for her mother in the VCR—which may cause some readers to wonder if the novel is meant to be set 15 years ago. The novel also starts the story with little preamble and expects readers to be emotionally invested in the characters rather quickly. That said, amid the impressive worldbuilding, one of the more intriguing aspects of the novel is Waterwyk’s thoughtful consideration of the interplay between magic and science. The book will no doubt engage readers keen on tales of dragons, magic and interplanetary voyages.

A sci-fi/fantasy page turner that may have wide appeal.