Return to Aten: The Second Chronicle of Aten

Lynn Sinclair
Brown Barn Books (2006)
ISBN 0976812606
Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 13) for Reader Views (2/07)

Jodi awakens to find herself right where she had gone to sleep as expected and spends the next few days living her regular Earth life as usual.  She doesn’t even remember Aten, or she doesn’t think so at the time.  When she meets the leader of the Nera on a bench in the local playground, she is given the power to return to Aten at will.  Jodi returns, and only a few days had passed on Earth, but two years had passed in Aten.   Circumstances dictate that she must, along with the dashing stranger named Rad, travel to Holo to steal the magical brooch of the ruler, Major who is a deformed, gigantic man with fleshy lumps on his skin.  Rad has the power to see the future and knows that bad fortune awaits him in Holo.  All the while, Rad’s brother, Caden, who has the power of a magical, enchanting voice, has been captured by the Nera, a formerly good group of magical old women.  Rad’s other brother, Aladar, leader of the Awes tribe who has the ability to control plants, also pledged to help Jodi. 

Jodi finds herself with the responsibility of freeing Caden, defeating Major and setting Aten on the right track.  She and the other outsiders, or people from Earth, are set in motion as a long forgotten library reveals that Aten may not be what they think it is.  That, along with the remnants of an old highway and the decaying ruins of the Arizona city of Kopi, point to another question:  Is Aten a different world altogether, or what is to befall Earth in the not-so-distant future?

This is a story of romance, betrayal and an interesting take on the future of Earth.  Lynn Sinclair writes clearly and descriptively.  I could practically see the flesh of the skinless, half-human cave dwellers when Jodi fought them to free Rad.

“Return to Aten: The Second Chronicle of Aten” is for readers ages 10 and up interested in science fiction or fantasy.  Remember to read “The Key to Aten,” and watch out for any other installments in the Chronicles of Aten series. 

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