“Maggie Sheffield lives in the city of Londren. She encounters an injured old man who carries many secrets, including an old scroll. The man shares information about an old group of friends, members of the Council for Exploration into Worlds Unseen. As the man lay dying, he begs that someone take the scroll to the city of Pravik and give it to a man named Huss. Maggie is drawn by the old man’s story and volunteers to help.
Partway through her journey, Maggie seeks out an inn to spend the night. She gets lost in the city of Calai. Two rowdy thieves attempt to rob her, but she is rescued by a young gypsy man named Nicolas and his black bear.
Nicolas sends Bear to the forest to wait for him and escorts Maggie to a nearby inn. Once she has a room, he leaves her to head back to the forest. But he doesn’t get far before he senses the hounds that are chasing her. Nicolas returns to rescue Maggie from those who hunt her. The two set off on a journey for Pravik, which is no simple task. Dark forces want the scroll Maggie carries and will stop at nothing to get it. Maggie joins up with the last surviving members of the Council to discover the truth.
Worlds Unseen is a much more complex story than the intro I’ve given. Thomson weaves several characters’ journeys together on this fantasy adventure, though Maggie is the heroine. I enjoyed Thomson’s allegorical style. She creates a wonderfully realistic fantasy world. I would have liked to see more development between Maggie and Jerome. Their relationship seemed to happen very quickly. It was a bit difficult to follow all of the characters at first, but once things got going, everything came together in an exciting conclusion. Recommended.”
