Monstrum is a portal fantasy novel and is the first in a series of books dealing with the relations between our primary world and a secondary world, where many beings from mythology fled thousands of years ago due to human pressures. In the absence of humans they have prospered, created a highly diverse and egalitarian society, and now watch over humans from a distance despite humans not being aware of their reality. In Monstrum, the Gate that connects the two worlds is breaking down due to its age, indirectly threatening human society as we know it, and protagonist Bronwyn is recruited to repair it. To do so, she must learn how magic works, how the Gate was created, and how to function in a society that is entirely alien and in which she is an outsider. She attends classes at the local university, makes friends and enemies along the way, and learns that many things she had taken for granted back home are not the universal constants she thought they were. Important themes include balance and reciprocity, education, and inclusivity. Guiding principles or interests include the fluidity of history and received knowledge, world mythologies, humour, and the hope that humans and the societies we have built could be better and kinder.
Fantasy, portal fantasy, hopepunk, fantasy novel, isekai, comic fantasy
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