Chaos Gate

Claire walked away from her family's camp near 17th Century Strasbourg into world-changing struggles. The horror of the Thirty Years War engulfed her life when raiders from a marauding army attacked her family and the group with whom they were traveling. Though Claire escaped capture, the shock and horror of the attack froze her voice. Mere Rowan, an elderly wanderer, took Claire in, comforted her and slowly discovered what had happened to her. She discovered, too, that the girl’s troubles signaled the beginning of an invasion from other worlds. Joined by a giant bear, a hummingbird and a boy orphaned and persecuted because he is Jewish, Mere Rowan and Claire take the perilous road to Chaos Gate in hopes of healing her grief, finding her parents and preventing the invasion.

Claire walked away from her family's camp near 17th Century Strasbourg into world-changing struggles. The horror of the Thirty Years War engulfed her life when raiders from a marauding army attacked her family and the group with whom they were traveling. Mere Rowan, a powerful good magician, served as a guardian of the innumerable paths between worlds. Her duty was to defend peaceful worlds from the dark powers and evil creatures of chaos. Her great fear was that someone would open a gate through which monsters would pour. Though Claire escaped capture, the shock and horror of the attack froze her voice. Mere Rowan took Claire in, comforted her and slowly discovered what had happened to her. She discovered, too, that the raiders were more than ordinary barbarians and that the girl’s troubles signaled the onset of an invasion from other worlds. Joined by a giant bear, a hummingbird and a boy orphaned and persecuted because he is Jewish, Mere Rowan and Claire take the road to Chaos Gate in hopes of healing her grief, finding her parents and preventing the invasion.

Robert Walton taught at San Lorenzo Middle School for thirty-six years before his retirement in June of 2006. He and Phyllis, his wife of 39 years, still reside in King City. They have two sons – Jeremy, thirty-three and Jon, twenty-eight. Robert is a life-long rock-climber and mountaineer. He’s made numerous ascents in the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite. His writing about climbing has been published in the Sierra Club's Ascent, in "High" magazine, and in " The Climbing Art". A dramatization of one of his climbing stories was broadcast on KUSF on November 22nd, 2006 and subsequently on NPR. His three previous books, “Joel in Tananar”, the "Dragon and the Lemon Tree" and “Flower Tumbles”, though out of print, boast a wide readership. His short stories have won numerous awards. Most recently, "Don Francisco Rides to La Paz" won first place in the Saturday Writers 2008 short story contest. Other writing prizes include the Central Coast Writers short fiction prize in 2006, the Deep South Writers’ Conference 1995 Contest, first place in Fantasy/SF; the Shenandoah Valley Writers’ Guild 1995 Contest, first place in children’s literature division; the Los Angeles Quarterly 1998 Screenplay Competition, first place. A story of his also placed first in the Monterey Herald’s short fiction contest and another won the John Steinbeck short fiction award. Most recently, his story "Dogwood Dream" won first place in the New Millennium 2011 short fiction contest. His newest book, Chaos Gate, won the 2010 Yorkshire Publishing Company prize and was just brought out in September. Robert is a 1970 graduate of Crown College, U.C.S.C.