To Save the World

To Save the World, Heather Hayashi, Synergy Books, 2006

On the planet Arhka, Teregians and Vampires, two humanoid races with plenty of reason to hate each other, are forced into a temporary alliance against a new, alien enemy, the yukai mi. In the middle of this are dropped three people from present-day Earth; a teenage girl named Stephanie, Elise, her mother, and Eris, Stephanie's best friend. They got there due to a magic ring kept by Elise's father. When Elise was Stephanie's age, she spent some time on Arhka. Back on Earth, she tried to tell her family about it and was subjected to twenty years of psychiatrists, institutions and psychotropic drugs. Elise is not happy to be back.

Arhka is run by a sort of magic that revolves around a strange energy called ith'rya. During her previous visit, Elise got pretty good at manipulating it. She refuses requests to stay and help the Vampire-Teregian alliance, and takes the two girls back to Earth. Elise and Eris are ready to forget that Arhka exists, but for Stephanie, the transition back to high school is not so easy. After an unintended demonstration of ith'rya in the middle of her school cafeteria, and after yukai mi spaceships invade Earth, looking for the three of them, a trip back to Arhka is now a requirement. Whether they like it or not, Eris, Elise and Stephanie are now involved in a bloody, interplanetary war. After a night of basic training, Stephanie shows that her abilities with ith'rya are as strong, or stronger, than that of her mother.

Here is a novel that is quite good. First of a series, it has all the elements of good science fiction epic tales, with strong female characters. The story might take a bit of time to get going, but it's worth reading.