You’ll find Cat’s story (that’s with a capital “C” and no article) in the Introduction to Book One: Wishes and Choices, Mythral’s Wish. D.B. Thomas’ story is below.
“I grew up reading the sci-fi classics. Later, I ventured into fantasy and magical realism. That background - and several physics classes - led me to include in this story many strange things about our Universe and the mysteries of time and space. My interests include a wide variety of games: physical and intellectual. I favor brain teasers, as well as tweaking the minds and assumptions of others. The reader will discover me as a part of each character -- just the good ones. My ‘Wish’ is that everyone gets what they deserve -- the good and the bad. What does that mean? Turn to the book's beginning and Cat will enlighten you.
My ‘Choice’ was to write this book. The ripples it creates will be your choice.
Perhaps when you have finished, you may know your true ‘Wish’ and ‘Choice’.”
- Author D. B. Thomas
What’s It All About
Dark magic terrorizing the Realm; magic duels from the backs of gryphons and dragons; and a snarky Cat commenting on your every choice--a fairly typical day for the wizard Mythral. However, being forced to take on an apprentice, and a girl at that, would ruin any wizard's day. He had foreseen his own death and the Law of Equilibrium would always manipulate his free will choices to keep the future and his death unchanged. He'd have to break that Law to survive and save the Realms.
Those who abuse others, like dark wizards and bullies, create dangerous and often impossible choices for those who would do the right thing. Navigating those hard, if not impossible, choices will define and shape our heroes.
It is a long-standing prophecy that “Mythral’s Choice will doom or save the Realms.” But which choice is that: the initial spell creating the Three Realms; the unorthodox selection of a girl apprentice; or the desperate casting of an insanely dangerous Spell?
Wishes and Choices: Mythral’s Wish is filled with moral dilemmas and mental puzzles to engage and challenge the reader. The quest to alter Mythral’s foreseen death leads them to all three Realms. Within these Realms, the reader will encounter gryphons, dragons, wizards with unique talents and even stranger dwellings, myths and mysteries. As they confront dark magic and betrayal, they must face their own flaws. Surviving the final confrontation compels both of them to fundamentally alter themselves in unforeseen ways.
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Praise for Wishes and Choices
☆☆☆☆☆ 5 out of 5 stars - Barnes & Noble, Goodreads readers
“Great Read. Didn't want to put it down.” - Barnes & Noble reader
“wonderfully engaging story” - Goodreads reader
“Fantastic book. A great pick for young fantasy fans.” - Goodreads reader
“The right mix of action, humor, and imagination.” - Goodreads reader
BookLife Reviews
09/02/2024
A great wizard faces off against the forces of darkness with the help of his unexpected teenaged apprentice in this realms-crossing middle grade debut. Mythral is widely known as the greatest living wizard, but when he casts his mind into the future via a sensing spell and foresees his own death at the hands of the evil magician MorKano, who aspires to rule the Realms and defeat the council of WISDOM. Mythral’s only chance to avert this future, according to his “very large, frowning, furry, four-footed feline” companion, Cat, is to take on a seemingly ordinary apprentice named Kit, a 14-year-old girl of “no special skills” from the nonmagical Realm One.
Self-important and still pained by a great loss, Mythral is unconvinced a girl could succeed as his apprentice, though he does admire the spark and wit she demonstrates when he first begins testing her and offers her the role of assistant shopkeeper in his bookshop. After all, he thinks, the unexpected choice might buck the future timeline—and “one had to look beyond an individual’s limitations and hope for the positive exceptions and surprises in life.” Soon, Kit is studying spells—including through a talking book called Remedial Spelling—and wondering how she’ll fare in the face of a real threat, as Mythral prepares for the “impending battle” and begins introducing her to the three Realms (via “translocation”).
The buildup to a “final test” is tense and fun, with lessons about personal biases and procrastination, though some stiff transitions and an abundance of adverbs often slow down scenes. With occasional explanations from the opinionated Cat about the worldbuilding and stakes, Thomas keeps the story moving and concepts like the Law of Equilibrium and much mucking with timelines clear. Still, for all the universe-threatening magic, what resonates most here is the cozy relationships, especially Mythral’s slow thawing toward Kit, Kit’s friendship with the wizard’s friend Perci, and the slow building of trust.
Takeaway: Realms-crossing adventures and a great wizard test a young teen.
Comparable Titles: Lindsay Fryc’s Emma and the Queen of Featherstone, Callie C. Miller’s The Hunt for Hollower.
Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A- Marketing copy: B-
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In the News
St. Pete Catalyst - October 26, 2024
“Young Adult Fantasy Writer Gives Readers Wishes and Choices” - By Bill DeYoung
Author D.B. Thomas (it's a pen name) is preparing the next two books in the "Wishes and Choices" series. Photo by Bill DeYoung.
St. Pete author D.B. Thomas’ first young adult novel, Wishes and Choices, is a fantasy adventure tale set in an alternate universe. In the fast-moving, pulse-quickening story, the wizard Mythral battles the forces of dark magic – and a disturbing prophecy about the future – with the aid of a non-magical protégé, a teenage girl named Kit.
(“One false step and evil wins,” warns the narrator – a wily cat – in the prologue.)
Published by St. Petersburg Press, Wishes and Choices is subtitled Mythral’s Wish. It’s this wish – to save the world’s Three Realms before the dark wizard MorKano and his minions can sublimate all – that drives the story. The reader is introduced to the Council of WISDOM (Wizards in Service, Decency of Magic), the Time-Path and the Law of Equilibrium (aka fate) and the ways in which they intertwine.
“I have always enjoyed books about strong characters doing the right thing, with integrity,” says Thomas, who’s chosen to use a pen name for Wishes and Choices. “I’ve always disliked people who are weak and gave in to their worst temptations and the easy path.”
It is a hero’s journey, with the destination never crystal-clear (until the end).
The main characters – wise, middle-aged Mythral and his young partners Perci (18) and Kit (13) -are challenged time and again by puzzles, dilemmas, traps and threats of both the physical and mental variety. “And they possess a lot of integrity,” Thomas points out. Which, the reader soon realizes, will come in handy.
“My characters process things subconsciously – they’re able to draw on everything they’ve ever done, or read, without consciously processing it. I think I do the same thing. And so at some point in time, I decided that there was a story – and that I was going to write it in hopes of influencing younger generations to be strong.”
A longtime fan of science fiction, and fantasy books like the Harry Potter series, Thomas began work on Wishes and Choices more than a decade ago – he knew the beginning, and the ending, and he always had a strong idea about the lessons of cooperation, truth-telling and good intent he wanted to convey to young readers.
“I don’t know how much you could influence adults, or even older teens, at this point,” he says. “Who have been influenced by peer pressure or whatever, or brought up by parents that let them be weak and not strong, and not make good decisions. I just want people to be strong and trust their good instincts. Not give in to other people’s bad pressures.”
Said Publishers Weekly’s BookLife review: “Thomas’s worldbuilding is rich, from wizardry to banishment to time travel … wizards, dragons, and magic are fantasy staples and offered in spades here; Thomas elevates the fantasy further by prompting reflections on free will and moral choices.”
Where will Mythral and his friends go from here? Thomas has the next two installments in various stages of completion: He knows what’s going to happen next in the story.
“I want to finish Book Three, because that brings all the storylines to a close and teaches all the big lessons and so forth,” says the author. “If they read these three, that’s all I really want.”
Wishes and Choices – Mythral’s Wish is available via Tombolo Books, Amazon and directly from St. Petersburg Press.
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Where to find Wishes and Choices
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/