In the far northern reaches of Arthurise - a London-based derivative world - sixteen-year-old Jonathan Gouden is faced with a mysterious plague killing the country's women. The country's top medical researcher, Lady Florel, appears to have gone mad through an overuse of a new drug called fantillium.
The king directs Jonathan's father, and Jonathan as his apprentice, to use fantillium to research a cure for the plague and save the queen. Jonathan and his father discover the drug allows Illusionists to create real-world hallucinations which affect the reality of anyone who is under the drug's influence, while most drug users can only create projections visible to those high on the drug.
Jonathan and his father work to find a cure, but the task seems impossible, even with the fantillium's ability to speed up time. When the plague attacks Jonathan's mother and sister he turns to Lady Florel and her research for help. But Lady Florel is only interested in the parallel universe where she rules supreme and bringing Illusionists from Arthursie to that alternate world.
In Nod'ol Lady Florel resides over games in the Illusionarium. Jonathan is drawn into the parallel world and forced to compete--if he succeeds he will receive the cure for his family and kingdom, failure will mean repeated, painful, illusionary death. Jonathan must learn to control his talent to entertain the audience and receive the cure.
Jonathan meets the other contestants and discovers there's more to the games and to the other competitors than Lady Florel let on. When the fate of both worlds hangs on the result of the contest Jonathan discovers there's more to his skill than he believed. To get home to his family and where he belongs, Jonathan is prepared to literally bend the world.
The battle of the Illusionarium tears through Nod'ol. Jonathan's adventure leads him to appreciate how choices can change the course of one's life.
Readers who enjoy fast-paced action-fantasy will enjoy this trip across dimensional boundaries into a steampunk-fueled quest. Through vivid description, Jonathan's adventure may contain mature content suited for older teen readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment