Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic Book #2)

Three years have passed since Eff defeated the mirror bugs that threatened to destroy the Western settlements and became a hero, despite her being the thirteenth child. Now 18-years-old, Eff needs to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Her brother Lan, magician prodigy and the seventh son of a seventh son, wants her to continue her magical education with formal training at a name school. The only problem is Eff still has difficulty with Avrupan magic and must compensate by using Aphrikan magic to force her spells to work. Instead of more schooling, Eff really wants to continue helping Professor Jeffries at the menagerie and to explore more of the mysterious Far West past the Great Barrier. Eff’s desires become reality when she’s asked to join an expedition with Professor Torgeson and Wash, her Aphrikan magic mentor. On their journey they uncover some peculiar findings: magical and normal animals petrified. Eff and the others must find out if this happened because of some natural fossilization process or if another creature with great power is causing this.

Across the Great Barrier is an excellent follow up to Wrede’s first book in the series, Thirteenth Child. You won’t find Wrede’s version of the late 19th century western expansion in U.S history books, but she does an excellent job creating a fascinating alternate history. In this book we even find out that while the events parallel our own U.S history, the characters are in the United Sates of Columbia not America. Wrede’s novel is historical, coming-of-age, and adventure rolled into one good story. While this story is a sequel, enough of the first book is explained that it could stand alone. Here’s to hoping that there will be more books in the series!