LitPick Review
Demons, goblins, dragons, mages, and unlikely yet noble alliances combine in the plot of The Quest for the Demon's Portal, the second book in Robert Valle's Mage's Quest series. Chaant and Ky'el meet up with other brave warriors and mages after their first battle with the demon horde in Almarra. They are hopeful that they might have vanquished all of the demons, but then they hear of another more powerful Demon Lord heading to the city of Elharra. Hoping it is not true but nobly following their credo to protect humans from evil, they decide they must help the Elharrans to defend their city. They team up with all the most powerful warriors and mages to do so, including Eldrid who knows all the secrets of the powerful ring and all the spells cast by the mages. The wise Eldrid holds the secret to helping the warriors and mages understand why demons continue to threaten their peaceful cities. Eventually their battles lead them in tunnels where they are to find science-fiction-like answers to their questions about the demons' origins, and it seems likely, right to the Demon Lord himself. Is it true that the humans on planet Altor may know more about the demons than their history leads the warriors to believe? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Opinion:
With rich character descriptions and thrilling battle play-by-plays, this story has both strong male and female characters. The author definitely achieves his goal of writing a great second novel for his Mage's Quest series, yet the book can also stand alone as a novel without reading the first book. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy books may love how these genres are combined in this series. This book is appropriate for adult audiences and young adults because of its mature charcters, vivid fantastical battle scenes, and occasional elements of romance. The author's world of Altor is fascinating and worthy of continued books in this series.