Reviews

I have to admit The Vortex Entrance, the first book of a trilogy, took me by surprise; I had been told it had been written by a fourteen years old boy and, honestly, I did not know what to expect. I must also say I’m not a huge fan of Eragon (another book written by a teenager), so I approached The Vortex Entrance with a little diffidence, but with an open mind.

And, as I said, it surprised me. Coming, as I do, from 35 years spent working as a professional translator and editor on Sci-fi and Fantasy books written by renowned authors, I found The Vortex Entrance a good example of both genres.

A reader can feel a little “Harry Potter” taste here and there (with young sorcerers being trained and all that), but it has been done so well that it is just that, a taste, a wink to the reader that makes the book even more interesting instead of becoming a mere repetition of a more famous book, or a déjà vu.

Besides that, the plot is developed quite well, and it is intricate enough to hook the interest of the reader, mixing science fiction elements with fantasy to create a compelling story that, in the end, leaves the reader eager to go on and learn what will happen next.

A huge war is coming, Sorcerers and Vanishers facing each other, with a handful of young sorcerers carrying the burden of fighting it.

The Vortex Entrance is mainly a young adults book, but it can be read with pleasure by adults as well, and if anything, it has a freshness in dialogues between teenagers that no grown up writer (no matter how good) will ever be able to match, because this is the real thing!

Action, feelings, drama and humor blend in equal parts throughout the story, developed with a talent surprising in a writer so young.
A book I read with real pleasure, looking forward to the next two volumes, and that I would love to have my daughters read.