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The Twelfth Age, Lily G. Stephen, 2008, ISBN 9780971265929 This is the third in a trilogy about two parallel planets, Earth and Zamora. In this volume, set mostly on Zamora, Shami is a young woman of Asian origin. While she was a small child, her parents were diplomats in a neighboring country. They were killed during a major student uprising, and Shami "fell through the cracks," ending up in a monastery, from where she was adopted by a Western couple. In school, Shami has been doing research on ancient writings and prophecies, especially those by a person named Stair. Thousands of years ago, he prophesied that most of the country of Dwarnstile was going to sink into the ocean, except for one rocky part, which became known as Sharu. It happened, and one day, Stair disappeared into a semi-mythical tunnel from the Queen’s Chamber, never to be seen again. For reasons she can’t quite fathom, Shami is compelled to go to Sharu and look for Stair. A seemingly disparate group of people also go to Sharu. They go partly for their own reasons, and partly because they are drawn by Shami’s energy, her internal glow, call it whatever you want. Among them is Miranda (subject of Part 2), and Leroy, her husband. Residents of Earth, she was given a piece of ancient wisdom by an ethereal race called the Els. The two felt compelled to travel to Zamora, to be with Shami, and to pass this ancient wisdom to the others in the group at this particular time. The Els also make another appearance. Familiarity with new age concepts like alternate dimensions, and the passing of ancient wisdom will certainly help when reading this book, but it isn’t required. This is a really good book (and trilogy) that’s just weird enough, without being too weird. Paul Lappen is a freelance book reviewer whose website, Dead Trees Review, has over 700 reviews on all subjects, with an emphasis on small press books.
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