by James Riley

Monsters! Magic! Mystery!

While on a trip to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., Forsythe Fitzgerald, known to his family and friends as Fort, watches as his father is snatched and pulled underground by a long clawed monster hand. Desperate to rescue his father, he is stopped by a voice in his head telling him to run. Six months later, a depressed Fort is invited to attend a special school to help him overcome the mysterious loss of his father. The school is out in the middle of no where, looks like an army camp and is heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Fort meets other students and instructors and learns that the school is not an ordinary one but one in which to learn magic to defend against the beings that control the monster hands that took his father. He also learns that several different types of magic books have been unearthed and only people no older than Fort can learn and work magic. Fort wants to learn “destructive” magic to get revenge for the taking of his father. Instead he is assigned to learn “healing” magic and has only three days to learn three spells to catch up with the other students or be sent home!  The other students took months to learn just one spell and adults can’t learn any, so how can he possibly learn three in three days? He gets help from an unexpected source…the voice he heard in his head so many months before. This mysterious voice enables Fort not only to learn his three spells but also to master several advanced ones as well. His sudden possession of arcane spells earns him the begrudging respect and the animosity of some of  the more accomplished students as somehow their skills are transferred into Fort. With the help of his new allies, he begins to search for the source of this strange voice despite foot dragging by some of them. Eventually his friends and he uncover the source not only of his mysterious voice but also to whom the books of magic originally belonged and why they want them back. Without revealing any spoilers, Fort discovers the true magic power of healing and that cooperation with others is the real strength of leadership. Does he rescue his father and thwart the aliens controlling the monster hands? Well, those answers and other adventures are in the sequels to The Revenge Of Magic. You’ll just have to read those to find out.

-guest reviewer, Bill Pfender