Matthew later learned he had tumbled through a time portal to enter The First Realm, where he changed from a youth into a fearless Knight called Matterhorn the Brave, who wielded a magical, truth-telling sword in service to his queen. In this exciting juvenile series, filled with wild and wacky adventures, Matthew is joined by friends Sara, Aaron, and Nate who become known as The Travelers.
With book one, The Sword and the Flute, Matthew discovers the First Realm and becomes a knight “recruited to keep an eye on the portals of earth that connect all realms of space and time.”
Book two, Talis Hunters, takes Matthew and his friends, Aaron the Baron, and Princess Jewel, 10,000 years into the distant past of the Pacific Northwest, as they search for Sasquatch who guard the Band of Justice.
In Pyramid Scheme, book three, Matthew and his friends meet Elok, a mysterious stranger who befriends them and magically transports them to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to save them from death. In Egypt they meet the heretics who intend to rewrite history and take over the earth.
Jewel Heist, book four, begins when a wraith from the First Realm kidnaps Princess Jewel. This adventure takes them to the Caribbean and the Bermuda Triangle. The Travelers meet fierce cannibals; discover a sunken portal that answers many Bermuda Triangle mysteries, and battle a category-five hurricane when they try to rescue Princess Jewel.
Dragon’s Lair, book five, finds The Travelers in China where they search for Etham, the heretic who kidnapped Princess Jewel. They form an uneasy alliance with the dragon, Yu, when the creature asks for their protection from the dragon hunt in exchange for help finding Etham. Their investigations lead them to the royal courts of China, a thirteen-year-old boy destined to become Emperor of China, and an eccentric court jester with a daring deception.
In Rylan the Renegade, Queen Bea joins the Travelers to find Rylan, former Crown Prince of the First Realm. He is the only one who can save Earth. But, Rylan has more pressing problems, such as Erick the Red, and his Vikings. The Travelers and Queen Bea meet Erick face-to-face and learn the secrets of his Travel Suit and find access to the Terminus Room, which may be critical to their own survival as well as that of Earths. In volume 7, Tunguska Event, Matterhorn and his friends travel to Siberia to prevent the largest natural disaster in recorded history. Despite help from a legion of fairy folk, a fiery blast destroys thousands of miles of forest, and hurtles Matterhorn and Nate into the distant past. When the Travelers search through time for their missing friends, two of them face death, a second explosion kills thousands, and a mysterious monk propels the conflict into modern times-Matterhorn’s home town.
In book 9, The Book of Stories, the Matterhorn series concludes with a ferocious battle in 1983. Matterhorn and the Travelers must save themselves before they can save the world, because whoever wins the battle will rule on earth unchallenged. Full of surprises, endings and new beginnings, this volume reveals the identity of the Tenth Talis!
Each of Hamel’s nine fantasies engages the imagination with intrigue, danger, time travel, and alternate realities. The characters are three-dimensional, well-defined, and ones young readers can quickly identify with. The action is non-stop, with “teaser” book endings that draw the reader to the next book. The series is an excellent story for families, or enjoyed alone.
