Introduction

Unemployed after graduation, Kenneth McNary seeks inspiration on the Appalachian Trail. He never suspected that it would find him first. Ken is transported to a fairytale world by a god-like sentience and is tasked with uniting its denizens for a coming war-a war with eternal consequences for every soul consumed by the Enemy. While grappling with his strange surroundings, Ken learns that humans are slaves to near-immortal beings who have lost their magic. Complicating this situation is a mysterious new race of magic wielders and the reappearance of subterranean, flesh-eating creatures long thought extinct. To survive and embrace his destiny in a land hostile to humanity, Ken must discover the Fire within. But he faces two problems: he is a novice pitted against masters, and the magic may kill him before the masters do!

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

Fire, death, and the dust of lives forever extinguished. Black smoke blotted out the sky, an artificial night shrouding pitiful scenes being played on a world drawing its last tortured gasp.
Qualin waited at the Gateway for the inevitable confrontation. Here they would come, at the end of all things. He looked at the two trees, growing side by side, and the magical doorway bridging the gap between their soot-covered trunks. Even now, it wouldn’t be too late. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. What would you do if faced with a choice, absent any forewarning, to enter an unknown world, potentially leaving all that you hold dear in this life? Would you really take that door? Under what conditions, if any?

2. Do you believe in true magic in our world? Whether affirmative or negative, do you find support for your belief based upon science, religion, or something else? Do you find Ken's discussions on magic convincing or illusory, and if so, why?

3. We place our faith in our chosen religion that supports God's existence (or not), but what if like Ken you directly encountered a spiritual entity so powerful as to be God, but also so strange as to repudiate our religious constructs? Do you have the capacity to embrace a new vision of God or is there no such possibility in that our God is all encompassing?

4. The Elder Race's lifespan is comparatively immortal to that of mere humans, and yet, which race has the more meaningful existence? Would immortality lessen the richness of our lives, our passions… our ability to embrace risk and evolve beyond our limitations?

5. Free will or fate… why is this debate so important to Ken, and to us as humans?

6. Ken is the reluctant wizard… more accustomed to relying upon his wits than the ability to conjure, especially when it comes with a price. Would you be able to resist the temptation of magic? Are aspects of our life truly in balance or does human nature inherently lead to chaos?

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