Portal
George R. Mead
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 E-Cat World
ISBN: 0974197319

Through the Portal to other worlds. To other cultures, to confront twisted evil, to find new companions -- humans & otherwise.

Once upon a time, as the beginning of tales often go, there was a man who was neither very old nor very young. He was, as he put it, a 10 year old in a 34-four year body, maybe growing into adulthood.

His name is John Tinker, & he used to live not far from the small, isolated town of Grandeville, Oregon, in the late 20th Century.

Tinker wasn't prepared for a life he thought as a fairy tale. But that is what happened, after he was left an inheritance which he squandered. A decade later, he awakens to find himself wandering from place to place, headed for some end point ... he hopes.

& in the process he grows used to his new existence & his new companions: Sorrowful Mistidings, a Teller of Tales from The Six Lands; Mountain-That-Walks, a reader of rocks & stones from that cursed word place named Stumpf; &, Smoke of the Velvetmist, a gigantic telepathic carnivore.

Portal is an adult male quest tale which reminded me of those computer games boys are so fond of. Quite lyrical in places, filled with mysterious happenings, imminent danger & the amorphous presence of Evil. It is also in need of an editor.

Portal is a lively if incoherent read, which will probably greatly appeal to fantasy readers.
(11/07/04)

Rebecca