By Brandon Mull

It’s a normal day for Jason. He’s working in the zoo, taking care of the animals, and trying not to think about the career in dentistry that his parents planned for him. He’s reached his favorite part of the job, seeing the hippo. Then he falls into the hippo tank and is transported to another world.

At first, Lyrian isn’t that different from our world. In its general structure and makeup, it’s pretty similar. It just happens to be ruled by an evil wizard emperor. And he happens to be quite dangerous. Oh, and it turns out that magic is a thing that exists here. So maybe Jason doesn’t want to be here.

Unfortunately, right before he can begin his quest home, he happens to get drawn up into a plot to destroy the emperor. And once in on this, he can’t go back. So he joins up with Rachel, another person who’s been drawn into Lyrian from Earth. If they succeed at their quest, they will probably make it home. If they don’t…who knows?

This is one of my favorite middle grade books, and the subsequent series is amazing. I’ve read it multiple times and every time it’s just as good. You should read this if you like quest stories that. This one, while it is epic, is also funny and creative and compelling. You’ll be trying to figure things out early a lot. The characters are amazing, and if you get to the end of Book Three, that truly is amazing.

If you’ve read Fablehaven or 5 Kingdoms, you’ll like this one too, maybe even more than either of those!

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 3
• Age: 7th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★★