A peculiar peril

Adult best-selling author VanderMeer (Annihilation, 2014) turns to YA in this elaborate fantasy that in reality will enamor adult readers as much as teens. Taking the peculiar darkness of Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine series and the absurd humor and wit of Terry Pratchett, VanderMeer dreams up a wholly original tale, filled with complexity, imagination, and talking marmots. Here readers step into a multiverse, where different worlds are connected by magical doors, protected by the secret Order of the Third Door. Most people live their entire lives none the wiser, but 16-year-old Jonathan Lambshead gets pulled into the Order's sphere and a larger magical war upon the death of his eccentric grandfather, whose house of oddities and legacy as an Order member is left to the young man. The reader is tossed into a bewilderingly strange alternate Earth called Aurora, along with Jonathan and his two friends, Rack and Danny. Chapters focus among a variety of magicians, spies, beasts, and historical figures (Jules Verne, Napoleon, and Aleister Crowley, to name a few) set on new trajectories, gradually bringing these disparate players into a unified narrative. It's a wild ride that requires a few leaps of faith from readers, but they're in good hands with VanderMeer, who has a sequel in the works for those who emerge victorious from Aurora.

Jonathan Lambshead plans to spend his summer inventorying the English countryside manor of his dead grandfather, Dr. Thackery "Thwack" Lambshead--a task the 16-year-old orphan must complete before inheriting Thwack's estate. Assisting are classmate Danielle Rackham, 17, and her adopted brother, Dirk Wulf Rackham--a grad student with a prosthetic left leg and a damaged right foot. Thwack left Jonathan cryptic instructions regarding bird-children, a quest, and the Order of the Third Door, which Jonathan suspects are dementia-inspired nonsense. Then he finds a portal to Aurora, an alternate Earth full of talking animals and vegetables where warlock Aleister Crowley (aided by his bat-monster familiar and Napoleon's disembodied head) intends to capture an alchemical energy source and use its power to become Lord of Everything--actual Earth included--unless Jonathan and company can stop him. First in a duology, adult author VanderMeer's sprawling YA debut offers a riotous, slyly sophisticated take on the hero's journey. Boldly drawn characters, sublimely ridiculous worldbuilding, and a witty, prismatic narrative further distinguish the unique tale. Ages 12--up. Agent: Sally Harding, CookeMcDermid. (July)