The Sunlit Lands is a crossworlds, or “portal fantasy” series finished in 2021. The characters travel between our own world and another, magical world. The author, Matt Mikalatos, is a professed Christian, and this series is marketed as teen and YA fiction.
I have just had the pleasure of finishing the series, and it has been my first introduction to this author.
First of all, Matt Mikalatos is good at humor. I opened up the first book, feeling kind of skeptical (my default attitude when beginning a recommended book), and started laughing at the fantasy map before I even reached the first page. And that was certainly not the end. I laughed out loud so many times reading this series. It contains one of the funniest characters I have read about in a long time. Maybe ever. Jason Wu. I had so much fun with this character that I got impatient whenever he failed to appear in a chapter or two. There is a short in-between book called Jason Wu and the Kidnapped Stories that will definitely interest anyone who enjoys him in the main series.
Next, the themes in this book are incredibly intriguing. This is the first time I have ever encountered a Christian fantasy author who was willing to dip his toes into the thorny subjects of prejudice, racism, and injustice. If you are like me, encountering these topics usually makes me incredibly uneasy, as I expect to get preached at, talked down to, or have oversimplified solutions to these complicated real-world issues thrown in my face. For the first book or so I wasn’t sure quite what to think, but as the series went on, I began to value the inclusion of these subjects more and more. The main characters are modern American teens, and these are the topics that dominate much of current discussion. This author approaches these subjects in a way I have honestly never experienced before, and I really appreciated the things he had to communicate. These books can definitely spark discussions and make you think. I commend this author for writing a story that organically incorporates these kinds of themes.
And, it’s a pretty good story! Sometimes I struggle to enjoy fantasies because I find them very predictable, but this series didn’t show its hand too early, and had fresh characters and new spins on familiar plots. The fantasy world was very unique, and each book in the series improved upon the last, which is how a trilogy should be.
If I were to offer a critique, it would be that God does not really feature in the story. His presence is strongly implied, and the worldview is certainly Christian, but in a fantasy story that deals so much in the real world and with real-world problems, I felt his absence.
If you enjoy fantasy and are interested in something a bit different from the norm, I recommend the Sunlit Lands as your next read. And, if you can, have someone else read it while you are reading it, so you can enjoy and discuss it together.
It’s that kind of story.