The Doomspell - Hardcover

Cliff McNish is an IT specialist. He wrote this book as a response to a request for a story from his daughter Rachel, and is now working on the sequel.

Grade 5-8-Rachel and Eric have been having identical dreams about an evil witch on a frozen world, but no one takes their story seriously-until the witch breaks through to their world via their cellar wall, capturing them as their father tries to save them. Plummeting through immeasurable emptiness between the worlds, Rachel discovers that she has new powers to control her descent and the space around her, which she uses to catch Eric and bring them both to a safe landing on Ithrea. The witch Dragwena and her dwarf slave Morpeth are there to greet them. Each of them has awaited their arrival for a very different reason. Dragwena has kidnapped many Earth children with the hope of finding one with powers equal to her own to share her evil reign over Ithrea and feels that Rachel could be the one. Morpeth hopes that she will fulfill an ancient prophesy and free the dwarves from Dragwena's enslavement. The remainder of the story becomes a series of life-and-death battles between the witch and almost everyone else on Ithrea. There is an abundance of both good and bad magic, many spells and transformations, and plenty of blood and gore reminiscent of popular video games. Readers will enjoy the plot and action, and probably won't miss the details of character development and philosophy that are found in more detailed fantasies. There is room for a sequel, as the novel ends with Rachel, Eric, and Morpeth heading back through the cellar wall to Earth and home.
Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
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