DARE TO GO THROUGH
THE PORTA MAGICAE ADVENTURE BOOK SERIES
THE PORTA MAGICAE
& THE CRYSTAL OF AMÄY NON
“It was a good day to skip school.
They were so young – any Friday was a good day to skip school. That’s all it was supposed to be!
He was even holding her hand!
Everything was. Even the door; even the waterfall beyond its threshold. Everything was perfect!
So, why were they on that ledge about to be shot?“
•
Backpacks packed, planes, trains, and ferries confirmed, hostels booked, routes overly planned—everything on the list was ready weeks in advance for the trip of a lifetime. Or so they thought.
Oh, not the planning—the planning was ok.
What they hadn’t even imagined was that it was after they jumped through that door that their real journey of a lifetime would begin.
Dare to go through the door with them, and follow Faye and Raffael on an adventure that will transcend the barriers of time and space as they journey on a trip around the world, lurking behind the scenes of some of the most incredible events that helped define the history of the world as we know it.
A young adult novel with timeless illustrations – coming soon
THE SERIES
Besides our main story, nine other books – a variety written to suit different ages – are being created simultaneously, and—in the spirit of Porta Magicae—in collaboration with authors, researchers, and artists from around the globe. But when you are searching for a magic door that travels the world over, we cannot stop there. Our goal is to write books with adventures from every country the door travels to.
We visit every country in search of clues, images, stories, and anything and everything that could lead us to the Porta Magicae, and we chronicle our findings in the pages of our books so you can join us in the adventure.
Follow our team on Facebook and Instagram to learn first when we publish. Email us, or subscribe at the bottom of the page to be added to our email list. We’re coming out soon; be part of the magic!
Fully Illustrated Story
PORTA MAGICAE TO
ROME
“A WOODCARVER’S KEY”
Daniel and his loyal dog Argos discover an odd key and stumble through a magic door into ancient Rome. Disoriented with everything that is happening, they are forced to separate and escape from a misunderstanding with the wrong key. Now, with Roman soldiers hot on his trail, Daniel must find Argo and the key—their only way back. Together with courageous new Roman friends, he embarks on a daring quest home, demonstrating that true bonds of friendship can defy the ages and transcend the boundaries of time.
Coming Soon! To see more of
“A Woodcarver’s Key”
Short Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
PARIS
“THE CREATORS OF TIME”
During a school field trip to a Washington, D.C. museum, two friends become separated from their group. Searching for inspiration for a community art project, they follow a hallway leading them much farther than they could have ever imagined: on a time-traveling detour to the museums in Paris. But they’re not alone. Coming from different timelines, Leo, Mary, Pablo, August, Claude and Edgar join them for the most amazing adventure of their lives—and collaborate on the best school art project ever created!
Coming Soon!
Young Adult Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
VENEZUELA
“KEREPAKUPAI-MERU”
Young Simón finds himself in the middle of a massive earthquake—in the Caracas of 1812— and saves the life of a stranger by jumping through time into the middle of a revolution— to the year 2017. Not understanding how, they have traveled in opposite chronological directions, and amidst flying rocks and bullets, they are forced to jump again, and repeat—literally time after time—to survive incredible perils in their adventure. Can they stay alive and find their way back before they are trapped in another era… forever?
Coming Soon! To see more of
“Kerepakupai-Meru”
Fully Illustrated Story
PORTA MAGICAE TO
THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
“THE VANISHING HAWK”
Anna is visited by a hawk carrying a piece of plastic in its beak. While holding the plastic, she realizes that if she really makes an effort and pays careful attention, she can actually understand the hawk. Following its instructions, she travels through time across the Porta Magicae to a ship, The Beagle, anchored in the crater of a volcano in the Galápagos Islands and embarks on a mission to save the hawk’s species and that of all his friends—before they vanish.
Coming Soon!
Short Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
BARCELONA
“BARCA NONA”
Sarah receives an invitation to the Barcelona Atheneum and a package containing a rose and what looks like an ancient dial. During her visit to the Atheneum, the dial transforms the library’s elevator into a gateway, leading her and another young visitor to a rare book section where stories leap off the pages into reality—and where, unfortunately, reading the wrong information could decide the fate of the world as they know it.
Coming Soon!
Fully Illustrated Story
PORTA MAGICAE TO
INDIA
“THE DOORS OF ELLORA”
More information coming soon!
Short Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
OLD HAVANA
“THE TIME PIRATE”
More information coming soon!
Short Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
THE WORLD
“CHILDREN OF THE RAINFOREST”
More information coming soon!
Short Story with Illustrations
PORTA MAGICAE TO
THE SPACE STATION
“BEYOND THE HORIZON”
More information coming soon!
A note from the authors
If you let yourself be taken by the lore that surrounds the magic door, you can be transported to places that—once upon a time—actually existed. Moreover, were you lucky enough to be captivated by the true magic of those locations and their people, we can only hope you would fall in love and venture far and wide into the world that still exists. We create a fantasy world, one where traveling through time is possible, as a means to connect you with the fantastic yet very real universe in which we live. The books we are creating have taken years to make because we have traveled to every country and immersed ourselves for months at a time in each location we bring to you. However, even though our research has been exhaustive, our illustration studies now number in the hundreds, our photographs in the tens of thousands, and our conversations with locals are beyond measure, we can only dream of fully comprehending the complex cultural wonders we have encountered. That is why, for every Porta Magicae book, we have partnered with writers and artists from around the world to create the magic we bring to you. Beyond that, and more importantly, it is always you who we want to be part of the stories. Please write to us, send us your ideas, tell us about your favorite locations because only then can we achieve a real collective authorship, transcend the singular experience, and truly bring the world of our stories together.
— Our books are not out on the shelves yet, but please continue scrolling down so you discover more about them —
“Daniel and his loyal dog Argos lived with their family in an old farm, just outside a small town in the mountains of southern Appalachia, in the United States. It was 11:45 PM on one of those lazy evenings when Daniel thought that the worst thing that could happen was his mom catching him reading in bed with his dirty shoes on, again. Fifteen minutes later, Daniel found himself more than 4500 miles away from home, 1700 years back in time, with elephants and giraffes stampeding by his side, and ancient Roman soldiers in hot pursuit—his muddy shoes were the least of his concerns, as his Porta Magicae adventure had just begun.”
This fully illustrated story that will transport you to ancient Rome and take you on an adventure through its busiest streets, causing chaos at the Colosseum, and escaping from the Emperor’s personal guards as you find your way through some of the most impressive locations of the era. Should you be inspired by the story to visit Rome, the events you follow have been purposely arranged in a sequence that can serve as a guide, walking you through Rome with an accurate idea of what each location looked like at the height of the Roman Empire.
Porta Magicae a Roma: “La Chiave dell’Intagliatore”
“Daniel e il suo fedele cane Argos vivevano con la loro famiglia in una vecchia fattoria, appena fuori da una piccola città delle montagne dell’Appalachia meridionale, negli Stati Uniti. Erano le 23:45 di una di quelle pigre sere in cui Daniel pensava che la cosa peggiore che potesse accadere fosse che sua madre lo scoprisse di nuovo a leggere sul letto, con le scarpe sporche addosso. Quindici minuti dopo, Daniel si ritrovò a più di 7000 chilometri lontano da casa, 1700 anni indietro nel tempo, con elefanti e giraffe che correvano ammassati al suo fianco, e antichi soldati romani all’inseguimento — le sue scarpe fangose erano il suo ultimo pensiero, mentre la sua avventura nella Porta Magicae era appena iniziata.”
Questa storia ti trasporterà nell’antica Roma e ti condurrà in un’avventura attraverso le sue strade più affollate, dove porterai il caos al Colosseo sfuggendo alle guardie personali dell’Imperatore, mentre trovi la tua strada percorrendo alcune delle località più impressionanti dell’epoca. Se la storia ti ispirasse a visitare Roma, gli eventi che seguirai sono stati appositamente disposti in una sequenza che può guidarti mentre cammini per la Città Eterna con un’idea accurata di come ogni luogo appariva all’apice dell’Impero Romano.
“One sunny afternoon in the early spring of 1797, a boy named Simón was testing his skills with his favorite slingshot at his family’s farm just outside Caracas, Venezuela, when the earth started shaking, and the bottles he was taking aim at fell to the ground and broke to pieces at the exact moment he was letting his shot go. More than 200 years in the future, in the year 2024, Alejandro was coming really fast on his bike down a trail in one of his favorite parks in the mountains of West Virginia, in the United States, when the ground moved from under his bike at the same time that a small rock—coming out of nowhere—hit his handle bar like a shot and made him roll off the trail. Without knowing how, both Simón and Alejandro now find themselves together in the middle of a massive earthquake, and the year is 1812. Still disoriented, they realize there is a young man about to be crushed by a collapsing wall. There is no time to think, so they react on pure instinct and help him out of danger by jumping all together through an open door. But they seem to have moved from one tough spot to another, as the sound of gun shots and tear gas fills the air—they are now in the middle of a revolution, in the year 2017!”
Time and time again, our characters find themselves in need of using the Porta Magicae to get out of trouble, by jumping from adventure to adventure—Andean snowstorms, giant anacondas, enormous waterfalls, and some of the most dangerous rapids in the world are there to receive them. Follow their journey through the incredible Venezuelan landscape —and encounter some the most unique characters you could imagine—as they struggle to find a way to control the accuracy of the magic door before they make a mistake and get locked in an eternal time trap.
Porta Magicae a Venezuela: “Kerepakupai-Merú”
“Una tarde a principios de la primavera de 1797, un joven llamado Simón estaba practicando su puntería con su gomera favorita en los terrenos de la hacienda de su familia en las afueras de Caracas, Venezuela, cuando la tierra comenzó a temblar de tal manera que todas las botellas a las que apuntaba cayeron al suelo rompiéndose en pedazos en el instante en que disparaba su piedra con toda sus fuerzas. Más de 200 años en el futuro, en el año 2024, Alejandro rodaba cuesta abajo a toda velocidad en su bicicleta en uno de sus parques preferidos en las montañas de West Virginia, Estados Unidos. De repente, el suelo se estremeció bajo su bicicleta al exacto momento en que una piedra golpeaba su manubrio haciéndolo rodar fuera del camino. Sin saber cómo, Simón y Alejandro se encuentran ahora juntos en medio de un fuerte terremoto, en el año 1812. Aún desorientados, se dan cuenta de que hay un joven a punto de ser aplastado por una pared que se está desmoronando. No hay tiempo para pensar, así que reaccionan por puro instinto y lo ayudan a salir del peligro saltando todos juntos a través de una puerta que se abría frente a ellos. Pero al caer, se dan cuenta de que han pasado de un apuro a otro, ya que disparos y gas lacrimógeno llenan el aire. ¡No lo saben aun, pero han brincado al medio de una revolución en el año 2017!“
Una y otra vez, nuestros personajes se encuentran en la necesidad de usar la Porta Magicae para salir de problemas, saltando de aventura en aventura—tormentas de nieve, anacondas gigantes, enormes cascadas y algunos de los rápidos más peligrosos del mundo están allí para recibirlos. Sigue su viaje y acompáñalos a recorrer algunos de los paisajes más increíbles de Venezuela. Conoce a algunos de los personajes más únicos que te puedas imaginar— y descubre con ellos cómo controlar la precisión de la puerta mágica para no quedar atrapados al antojo del tiempo por toda la eternidad.