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Young adult fantasy writer gives readers ‘Wishes and Choices’
St. Pete author D.B. Thomas’ first young adult novel, Wishes and Choices, is a fantasy adventure tale set in an alternate universe. In the fast-moving, pulse-quickening story, the wizard Mythral battles the forces of dark magic – and a disturbing prophecy about the future – with the aid of a non-magical protégé, a teenage girl named Kit.
(“One false step and evil wins,” warns the narrator – a wily cat – in the prologue.)
Published by St. Petersburg Press, Wishes and Choices is subtitled Mythral’s Wish. It’s this wish – to save the world’s Three Realms before the dark wizard MorKano and his minions can sublimate all – that drives the story. The reader is introduced to the Council of WISDOM (Wizards in Service, Decency of Magic), the Time-Path and the Law of Equilibrium (aka fate) and the ways in which they intertwine.
“I have always enjoyed books about strong characters doing the right thing, with integrity,” says Thomas, who’s chosen to use a pen name for Wishes and Choices. “I’ve always disliked people who are weak and gave in to their worst temptations and the easy path.”
It is a hero’s journey, with the destination never crystal-clear (until the end).
The main characters – wise, middle-aged Mythral and his young partners Perci (18) and Kit (13) -are challenged time and again by puzzles, dilemmas, traps and threats of both the physical and mental variety. “And they possess a lot of integrity,” Thomas points out. Which, the reader soon realizes, will come in handy.
“My characters process things subconsciously – they’re able to draw on everything they’ve ever done, or read, without consciously processing it. I think I do the same thing. And so at some point in time, I decided that there was a story – and that I was going to write it in hopes of influencing younger generations to be strong.”
A longtime fan of science fiction, and fantasy books like the Harry Potter series, Thomas began work on Wishes and Choices more than a decade ago – he knew the beginning, and the ending, and he always had a strong idea about the lessons of cooperation, truth-telling and good intent he wanted to convey to young readers.
“I don’t know how much you could influence adults, or even older teens, at this point,” he says. “Who have been influenced by peer pressure or whatever, or brought up by parents that let them be weak and not strong, and not make good decisions. I just want people to be strong and trust their good instincts. Not give in to other people’s bad pressures.”
Said Publishers Weekly’s BookLife review: “Thomas’s worldbuilding is rich, from wizardry to banishment to time travel … wizards, dragons, and magic are fantasy staples and offered in spades here; Thomas elevates the fantasy further by prompting reflections on free will and moral choices.”
Where will Mythral and his friends go from here? Thomas has the next two installments in various stages of completion: He knows what’s going to happen next in the story.
“I want to finish Book Three, because that brings all the storylines to a close and teaches all the big lessons and so forth,” says the author. “If they read these three, that’s all I really want.”
Wishes and Choices – Mystral’s Wish is available via Tombolo Books, Amazon and directly from St. Petersburg Press.