The Crystal Stair

Gom's dream has come true. His quest is over – so he thinks. But even as he starts life with his mother in her enchanted dwelling, Gom is made to climb the crystal stair. Atop it, he learns that Harga has to leave him, that he must go back to Pen'langoth and find another mentor to teach him magic – and that he has to become a wizard, he has no choice. In the lake city, such old favorites as Carrick, Essie, Shadow, and Jofor are joined by new ones. While looking for his wizard master, he finds once more that things are not always as they seem! Grace Chetwin's "ability to create memorable scenes, as well as her individualized, well-delineated characters," as a ALA Booklist review put it, make bustling lake towns, magic forests, and distant star realms all seem equally real.