cover image The Ancient Realm

The Ancient Realm

Sarah Leith Bahn. CreateSpace, $5.99 trade paper (114p) ISBN 978-1-4681-2401-9

Launching a series, this briskly paced though somewhat muddled fantasy centers on Agnes, an 11-year-old tomboy who lives in a Nova Scotia village with her twin brothers and widowed fisherman father. The simplicity of her life is shattered one night when Octavia, a new babysitter, gives Agnes a box of magical salt crystals that, when scattered, create a trapdoor leading to a castle floating in the ocean. There Agnes learns that Octavia is actually the Queen of the Pacific Ocean, one of the Guardians of Nature who serve in the Ancient Realm; Octavia recruits Agnes to join their ranks as Princess of the Bering Sea. Readers may have to work a bit to sort out Bahn's complex plotting, as Agnes meets two rogue Guardians (kings of mountain ranges) who both want to destroy nature for different reasons. Agnes joins forces with another Guardian to thwart one king's plan to contaminate the Earth's rivers, successfully completing her first mission as princess. Though the roles of some of the novel's many ancillary characters are murky, Agnes is a well-drawn, down-to-earth heroine with a sharp sense of humor. Ages 6%E2%80%9312.