Prospero's Children, Siegel's debut novel, is Book One in an untitled trilogy. The second installment, The Dragon Charmer, is currently available in hard cover only, with a mass-market release planned for early July 2002. The third volume, The Witch Queen, is scheduled for a late July 2002 US release. It is available for pre-order through Amazon.

Sixteen-year-old Fernanda Capel is a model child: responsible, intelligent, studious, and well-behaved. Since the death of her mother six years ago, Fern has looked after both her younger brother, Will, and her father, Robin. Her biggest challenge as the story opens is fending off Alison, a beautiful coworker of Robin's who seems to have a far more personal interest in him than Fern approves of.

When Robin inherits a ramshackle house in Yorkshire, the ever-practical Fern wants to sell it immediately. But her father insists they at least go and look at it, and before she knows it, Fern is in the midst of an adventure that will forever change the way she sees her world, and herself. For hidden somewhere in the house is a key from the lost continent of Atlantis, a key that can open even the Gate of Death. And Prospero's Children—the last descendents of the people of Atlantis—are looking for it.

If the key falls into the wrong hands, it could do great harm. Fern and her brother must find it, aided by the kindly, mysterious tramp Ragginbone and guarded by the wolfish stray dog Lougarry. But others want it too, and would do almost anything to get it. The only way to save the present may eventually lie in the Forbidden Past of Atlantis itself.

This is a wonderful debut for Siegel, who has created a charming fantasy that feels somewhat like a cross between C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and something by Tanith Lee. Like Fern, the book wavers just on the brink of being truly adult but strays back into childhood on occasion. At one moment, it feels like your old favorite bedtime story; in the next paragraph, hard choices and very grown-up power struggles take center stage. Siegel's writing is descriptive and smooth, and she gives fresh, unexpected twists to various fantasy staples: a bloodthirsty mermaid, a shy hobgoblin. Very little in this book is exactly as it seems at first glance, making for a story line that really holds the reader's interest from start to finish. The story is familiar and yet new, a truly entertaining and engaging tale. Part coming of age story, part time-traveling mystery, and part old-fashioned fantasy yarn, Prospero's Children is quite simply a darn good read.

Demensions' Rating: