Title: The Gilweean Gateway
Author: R.A. Lindo
Publisher: Perium
Quote: "[T]he trunk of each tree began to bend, arching forward whilst the branches formed into legs."
Kaira Renn's never liked her friend Guppy's mother. Now she knows that it's because Meyen Grayling is secretly attracted to the dark side of the magical world, where most wizards simply lose their minds. As the teenagers and Guppy's big brother Jacob follow Meyen through the Gilweean Gateway, guarded by sentient trees, they're joined by another teenager prematurely drawn into the Society for the Preservation of Magical Artefacts by concerns about a parent, though Conrad's role in this story seems to consist mostly of being seasick.
In a long series of fantasy adventure stories, this is Volume 2. It can be read on its own but will make more sense if you've read Volume 1, a large part of which consisted of explaining the names and properties of the magical objects and places that figure in the other books.
How many people will like this series once they discover it? I honestly don't know. In saying that this magical world is similar to Harry Potter's I mean primarily that it's not a "High Fantasy" medieval kingdom like Tolkien's, but I also mean that when I read the first Harry Potter book I thought something like "Well, that's well done, with more thought than adults usually put into writing books for teenagers," but I didn't foresee it becoming a global super-seller. I had a similar reaction to Brian Jacques' Redwall books, which sold well enough that at least a few volumes (there were many) seemed to get into every public library, but did not become a global super-seller. I think this series, too, shows more thought than most adult writers put into novels aimed at thirteen-year-olds. Who knows what the vagaries of the market will do with it. Several people who've read these self-published e-books like them. Enough for a traditional publisher to pick up at least paperback reprint rights? I don't know.
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