Photo Courtesy of TJ Boyer

“Invasion” tells the story of a wizard named Shaméd who is caught in a time vortex and transported through time and space to Earth.

Raising my hand above my head, I slowly rose into the air. When I was at table height, I called out, “Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages. Step closer and cast your eyes on the wonders of the world. Come and read the adventures of Nogar the Golden Dragon. Read how he and those that follow him travel between worlds fighting evil. You will encounter dragons, wizards, elves, ogres, and even demons. Come, step closer, check out the books, buy them, and be caught up in the greatest adventures of all time.”

As I spoke, little sparks of light shot up from my hands. I created streams of different colors shooting into the air. I cast a rainbow of wonder for all to see. The sparkles and colors slowly drifted down and disappeared as if they were never there.

People began swarming, coming closer. The crowd grew and people were standing there talking with Mr. Weirick, and buying his books.

“I did not know you were a magician.”

Looking down, I saw a group of people that looked like soldiers next to Belinda. One of them began to remove her helmet. When it was off, I saw it was Jane. Slowly I floated down next to her.

“Hello, Jane. I see you found us.”

“Yes, it was easy once we saw the crowd building in this area. I looked up and saw you floating in the air. I told my friends I knew you.”

I looked at the others that were with her, then pointed at the table.

“I was helping Mr. Weirick. He is a writer. You should buy one of his books. You will like them. You like fantasy don’t you?”

“I just might have to. So how do you do the trick with the lights and floating in the air?”

“It is no trick. It is real, magic. Here give me your hand and I will show you.”

Belinda called out, “Shaméd, don’t do it.”

I gave Belinda a wink. Taking Jane’s hand, we slowly floated up. People began to take pictures. Jane looked around and smiled at her friends who were cheering her on.

A loud voice broke the scene.

“Ok, come on down here. You do not have permission do stuff like that.”

We floated back down and I looked at the man who had spoken.

“I did not know we needed permission.”

“Yes, you do. Whenever you want to do something outside of your table that might cause a large crowd you have to get permission so we can have people here to help in case of trouble.”

“Then, I am sorry. I will not do it, again.”

“Invasion” by TJ Boyer and Elizabeth Ajamie-Boyer

Co-written by Phoenix resident TJ Boyer, the science-fiction novel is part of the author’s Mirror Gate Chronicles series of books. Boyer is married to co-writer Elizabeth Ajamie-Boyer, with whom he has two children and three grandchildren.

Images Arizona caught up with Boyer to ask the author a few questions about “Invasion” — the latest selection in its summer book club.

From where did you receive your inspiration for this book?
The idea of this story came from a thought about what would happen if the character from my first four stories somehow landed here on Earth, in this time period, many thousands of years in his past. How would Shaméd survive? How would he get home?

Aside from that initial inspiration, were there any other experiences from your life that played a part in the setting, characters or trajectory of the plot?
None other than I have always had a wild imagination. I have been telling and writing stories since I was 15 years old.

What themes did you aspire to tackle with this particular work? Did any other themes reveal themselves to you during the writing process?
I wanted people to think about what magic could really be. Arthur C. Clarke said, “Magic’s just science that we don’t understand yet.” What would people think if someone from our time ever went back a hundred years with the knowledge we have now, like a cell phone or an iPad?

What or how are you hoping your book makes readers feel? What other takeaways do you hope they have?
I hope they enjoy the story and they realize there is more to life than only working, eating and sleeping.

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