The Land of the Wand by Debra Hill and Sandra Brandenburg

Authors: Debra Hill and Sandra brandenburg
ISBN # 1929374437
Publisher: Fire Mountain Press
1st Published: 2006
249 pages

One weekend in June, four people in Chicago all go, separately, to the same gift shop in the Galleria and examine an ornamental crystal wand. Rock star Marshall Storme, fantasy author Evan Stone, architect Valaura Bennet and fast-food worker Lillian Curtis all look at the wand, though only Marshall and Valaura are seriously interested in purchasing it. They are all transported to a parallel dimension, a place where the myths of earth originated, and live as real, if unusual, beings.

Befriended by the Daemona, the four dimension travellers find themselves embroiled in a holy war with the savage Anjeles. Led by the mad King Yahoo, the Anjeles are trying to wipe out eh Daemona and their four brother-kings, Nicholas, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub and Lucifer. It is Lucifer, King of The Land of the Chalice and the Lightbearers, who is the nemesis of King Yahoo. But they have gone to war against the eldest brother, Nicholas, and the four travellers are caught right in the middle.

The Land of the Wand is a bold, bright, colourful start to The Lost Myths Saga (comprising of 4 books), which strives to do for Paganism what C. S. Lewis did for Christianity with The Chronicles of Narnia.

There is a reversal of Judeo-Christian religious teachings – here the Daemona are portrayed as simple, peace-loving, warm and welcoming, whereas the Angeles are depicted as barbaric and threatening zealots.

The characters are all wonderfully flawed and painfully human (even the other-dimensional beings) and it is their journey of self-discovery, given a light and humorous touch that makes this such an easy read. The writing style flows almost effortlessly and having four separate prologue chapters does nothing to hinder the narrative, which has a comfortably friendly and familiar tone throughout.

Ultimately, though, the prevailing message is that acceptance and understanding of others will eventually, it is hoped, lead to harmony and peace, which is as simple a rendering of Pagan thought as you’re ever likely to see, but relevant in any era.

(The Land of the Wand, Volume 1 of The Lost Myths Saga, will be published by Fire Mountain Press and will be available in the US and UK from April 2006.)

Rating: 7