Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Apropos themes of refugees and found families are addressed in a way that retains fantasy flavor while realistically presenting the brutality of ignorance and beauty of humanity. Rook, Drift, and Fox are white, and there are some supporting olive and brown characters. The Voran magic isn’t a gimmick, as it causes complications, unpredictability, and danger. The exquisite worldbuilding will please steadfast fans of Johnson’s other Solace books. This need accelerates when their income is compromised and the twosome adds another: a shape-shifting boy aptly named Fox. Regara’s inability to endure the strain of leftover magic makes Rook desperate to get Drift and herself to Vora (not the mysterious forest that keeps appearing when she draws doors). In the aftermath, Rook has joined forces with Drift (who can “fly” by manipulating air) to make a home, sell black-market doors, and avoid authorities. Voran orphans have been corralled and a wall built (sound familiar?) to dam up magic residue from the Great Catastrophe. She and a boatload of magical kids were shipped parentless from the world of Vora into the harbor of Regara minutes before an explosion closed the portal between worlds, erased the memories of the Voran children, and made Regarans instantly distrust magic.

She uses chalk and the magic that courses through her to open portals.

Rook makes doors, but she’s not a carpenter. Several retailers including Amazon and IndieBound had listed the upcoming novel before it was officially revealed.The fate of amnesiac magical exiles and their adopted xenophobic hometown depends on a girl, some chalk, and her singular power. The novel, The Golden City is set to release in April 2023 for eBook and US paperback, a UK will follow in June. In August 2022, Johnson won a book deal with Ubisoft and Aconyte to write a novel about the Hidden Ones Basim Ibn Ishaq and Hytham. For Wizards of the Coast, she wrote several novels and short stories for the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms fiction line. All four of those books were published by Delacorte, she later wrote the Marvel novel Triptych for Aconyte Books, released September 2021. She later wrote an unrelated novel, The Door to the Lost (2019). Two standalone sequels followed, The Secrets of Solace (2017), and The Quest to the Uncharted Lands (2017). Johnson's middle grade debut novel, The Mark of the Dragonfly (2015) went on to become a New York Times bestseller and was chosen for the ABA Spring Indie Next list.

The Door to the Lost by Jaleigh Johnson