The Silver Cage – Mik Wilkens

Imagine if you would two worlds joined together by Springs of Power. The Power in question allows magic to be shaped into spells and werewolves to take on the true form of the wolf. Our world, the Earth, has limited magic due to the lack of Springs. But this does not stop our business consultant, David Conner, from being drawn across into the magical realm of Lucasia.

David has dreams, not the type of wealth and prestige but of unicorns and wolves. In one such dream he is bitten by a wolf and wakes up to find that everything is just fine. That is, until the moon comes up. Rapidly, our totally bemused hero of the piece is drawn into a world so different from that which he knows where he has to learn to trust the very wolf that bit him in his dream.

I thought at first I was going to read another werewolf tale: yes and no. David is also a Pureblood, able to draw on the Power o f the Springs and shape spells. He is also wanted as a sacrifice to open a portal for an ancient wyrm who has all but lost its mind listening to the Stone. Add to this a whole bunch of double-crossing dragons, shape shifters and bandits and you soon get the picture of a world locked in an ever repeating cycle of wars between the demonic Phantans and the human populace.

The land of Lucasia is under the control of a powerful human witch, Alexsa, who is determined at any cost to open the portal to the Phantans and gain control of the Power and plunge the world into darkness and chaos. It was Alexsa that lured David into Lucasia, Alexsa that wants absolute Power, and Alexsa that wishes to control everyone. What she has not understood about David is his desire to regain the woman of his dreams from her clutches and his determination to do what is right.

Bring on the knight in shining armour.

Mik Wilkens tells a real good fairy tale, a land of magical folk that interact in real terms with the world and people around them. At no time does she let the story run away with itself. It is a tightly controlled, well thought out story that will appeal to both fans of the fantasy genre and newcomers alike. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it is one of those tales that just goes on getting better with every page. I could easily read this again and again and keenly look forward to a sequel.

A solid title with no pretentions or delusions of grandeur. It does not copy from other titles or fall into age old clichés. The Silver Cage is a great book especially when you consider the $5.99 price tag which for an ebook is well priced.

A good 4 ½  out of 5 five stars.

Mathew Bridle