Chronicles #2

When an alien invasion threatens the existence of all the knowledge in the universe, eighteen-year-old Johanna Charette and seventeen-year-old Jackson Roth must rely on their wits, guts, and pluck to save the fantasy-come-to-life world of the Library of Illumination. It wouldn t be so bad if Johanna and Jackson weren t the ones responsible for breaching the portals to a dozen distant worlds. Now, outside forces are causing shock waves in the space-time continuum, and if that isn t awful enough, someone from another dimension is trying to steal a book of powerful spells created by a very famous wizard. At first, traveling to other realms in a time machine seems like a fun perk. However, discovering some inhabitants want to obliterate the teens doesn't leave them with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Instead, they find themselves forced to sacrifice their own welfare and the safety of their loved ones for the greater good.

Second Chronicles: The Library of Illumination  (Fantasy/SF/YA)

Books 5, 6 & 7

By Carol Pack

Artique Press

ISBN #978-0991542857

Price $25.96 (hardback)

480 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“An Imaginative And Delightful Read.”

Book #5, PORTAL, was actually in Chronicles #1, but is added here to lead into Books 6 & 7. In PORTAL, Jackson Roth causes a portal to open that sends him and Johanna Charette into another Realm, where they get into trouble, plus opens the door to an invasion to other Libraries in the rest of the Realms.

Book #6 THE OVERSEERS takes up from there. One of the  Overseers, Plato Indelicat, was killed in PORTAL, and Prime Realm Lamina is giving the dead Overseer a funeral and preparing for his replacement. Mal comes after Johanna and Jackson to take them to Lamina for the ceremony. Mal is one of the contenders for the Overseer position, plus the kids might be able to provide witness testimony against Nero 51 of Realm Terroria, for his part in the invasion and death of Plato Indelicat. The Realms are these twelve: Comedia, Inspiracon, Mysteriose, Numericon, Terroria, Dramatica, Romantica, Adventura, Educon, Scientico, Juvenilia, Fantasia (Earth), and (13) Lamina (Prime Realm). There is much stress in selecting the new Overseer.

Book #7 MYRDDIN’S MEMOIR takes up about 60% of the book. There is a lot going on in Book #7. Terroria is once again invading the Realms, led by Nero 51, and Johanna and Jackson are trying to discover who is after Myrddin’s secrets. A side story involves the child of one of the Overseers. We will probably hear more about this in Volume #3 of the series. In fact, some things are not actually concluded in Chronicles 2, and will continue in the next volume. The author’s switching POV three and four times within a chapter was awkward, but probably the best way to handle all the different scenes happening at the same time in the story. Over all, this is a fun series, and I highly recommend it to YA readers.

Tom Johnson

Author of THREE GO BACK