Review of The Pillar of Light: The Legends of Milana, by A.L. Travis

The Pillar of Light is a middle-grade novel that will appeal to young fans of mystery, fantasy, and adventure stories.

In the depths of the Brazilian jungle, a husband-wife team of missionaries suddenly receive a strange visit: An amazingly tall man with long black hair, carrying in his arms the battered body of a young girl with blond locks. Muttering some enigmatic words, the mysterious man leaves the girl with them, along with a strange necklace that the man urges them to hide before he turns around and disappears into the forest.

In the missionary hospital, the kind couple care for the girl, Nani Val Dynia, until she recovers her consciousness. When she wakes up, however, she doesn't recall who she is or where she came from. During the next three years, the couple take care of Nani, always wondering about her unknown origins.

Then, a group of high school students arrive to the jungle to help the natives and Nani volunteers to guide them to the nearest village. But before they reach their destination, their car crashes and they suffer a terrible accident. Upon waking, they find themselves in a bizarre, extraordinary parallel world. Where are they? Is this the land Nani comes from? What is the mystery of the six pillars? Will they ever find their way back home?

The Pillar of Light is the first book and a good start in The Legends of Milana series. I found the writing engaging and the dialogue natural. The descriptions help create the right amount of visual images without being intrusive to the flow of the story. The first few chapters were particularly interesting, prompting me to read on. The author keeps a good pace throughout most of the book. I found the mythology of the parallel world, however, a little confusing, especially the early explanations of the concepts of 'Healing' and the connection of male and female pairs at birth. For the most part, though, the mythology is imaginative and entertaining, and I had a good time reading about Nani and her friends.

To find more about the book, visit the author's website.