I'm always on the lookout for new authors, and I happened to see this book on the New Books shelf at the library, so I thought it was worth checking out - both ways. As I began reading it, it seemed to me highly derivative, as a tale of a band of desperate travelers from a magical universe crossing into modern day America, a little bit like the Keepers of the Hidden Ways series by Rosenberg. Strangely enough, it turned out to be a really easy read, and I got interested in the characters and their dilemmas. Sometime in the past, it was agreed that the land of Aandor could only be ruled by a king who contained the blood of all twelve of its kingdoms. When such a child was born, rival nobles began to plot how to prevent the child's ascension to the throne. To remove the child from danger, a group of loyalists, led by Cal McDonnell, went through a portal into our world where the child would be hidden.
Unfortunately, one of their own betrayed them, casting a spell which left all of them with total amnesia, and they all wandered off different directions, eventually dying or creating new lives for themselves on Earth. After thirteen years local time, however, another group has been sent, to find the boy emperor and capture or kill him, while a lone loyalist, a centaur named Lelani, has also headed for Earth, to try to find out what became of the original travelers and to help them protect and return the boy to be crowned.
A quick, amusing read, obviously meant to be the first of a series, as nothing is really resolved in this installment.
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