Behind bookcases in some of the most beautiful libraries in the world lies a magical realm hidden for centuries from humans. In the Library Jumpers series, wizards with help from the fey nation created the Mystik realm to protect creatures with unique exteriors and magical abilities from human persecution. It was to house havens where the Mystiks could live in peace, but with all good things, evil festers and finds a way to destroy what is good. The magic faltered and splintered until the many havens and Mystik places became separated like islands.
The fey created the gateway books for the wizards to make travel to the individual havens and villages quicker and easier to access. The fey produced a force of magical knights called Sentinels to guard the libraries and keep humans safe from rogue Mystiks seeking revenge on humans for past oppressions.
Gia enters this world at a time where unrest has heightened and travel through the gateway books connecting the libraries and the entrances to the Mystik world restricted. Today, we’re taking a tour of the wizard havens in Thief of Lies.
First up, is Asile, which is located in a magical realm on the border of England and is accessed under a bookcase in the Duke Humfrey’s reading room of the Bodleian Library in Oxford University, England. The wizard haven is a castle surrounded by small homes that house the guards’ families. The High Wizard of Asile is Merlin (Merl) Sagehill. Up the hill from the castle is the city of Asile. 16th century buildings flank its narrow streets. Just beyond the city is a crumbling arena where in ancient times it housed great performances before it became a place of torture during a great war between the wizard havens.
The entrance into the French haven, Couve, is behind a bookcase in The Senate Library in Paris, France. Lush gardens and a quaint village surround the salt-white castle. The high wizard is Gareth Renard. His son, Bastien, is considered the “rock star” of the Mystik world with his good looks and confidence.
Conemar Sauvage rules Esteril, which is located through The National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg. After he was exiled from the French haven, Esteril accepted him into theirs since they hadn’t had a high wizard for many centuries after an enchantress cursed their haven. The castle is made of gray slate. The land is cold and dark.
The Spanish haven of Santara has lush, green grounds with the most amazing flowers and fruits unknown to the human world. The castle was built into the side of a mountain. The entrance into this haven is hidden behind a portrait of a young King Charles II in The Library of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial in San Lorenzo Del Escorial, Spain. Bonifacio Machado is the high wizard of the haven.
Mantello Haven in Italy is where Gia’s great-grandfather is from. He was to be high wizard before his death and now it is ruled by Lucio De Gennaro. The entrance is located in Riccardiana Library in Florence, Italy. Like most of the entries into other havens, Mantello’s is behind a bookcase guarded by two cherubs above it. The castle is stately and the village is quaint with winding roads and many shops. There are festivals, wine making, and a unique bookstore. Gia visits this haven in book two.
In Ireland’s Trinity College hides the door into the haven of Tearmann. The daughter of the prior high wizard and a princess from the fey nation, Briony Ó Fearghail, rules the haven. The people chose her after her parents died in an attack on their haven. This is where Gia gets her Irish ancestry. Tearmann is like walking into a fairytale or like entering a large Hobbit village. The foliage is lush and green and the homes colorful and stout. The castle was built inside an enormous cavern with stalactites and stalagmites and veins of silver streaking its walls. The haven is featured in book three.
Finally, Veilig Haven is accessible through the Port Elizabeth Public Library in South Africa. Enitan Uba is the high wizard, but after stricken by a Mystik disease, he now relies on his wife, Akua, to help him make decisions. The castle is at the edge of a high cliff with the Aqualian Sea directly below it.
A shelter was established by the French haven to protect witnesses to high profile crimes. It’s a chateau by a pristine lake with hot springs. Gia and friends spend time there in Thief of Lies to protect them from unknown dangers. Only a select few know the whereabouts of the shelter or in which library the secret entrance is hidden.
The Somniums are frozen or barren wastelands that formed when the Mystik world splintered. The entrance into these places are accessed through trap doors. Some doors have been discovered by the wizards and tagged by magic, which helps them easily find the entrances. The wizards use them as prisons for the worst Mystik criminals. Should someone fall into one of the untagged doors, they could be lost forever.
There are many other entries within the libraries leading to Mystik villages and covens. The Mystiks living in these places choose to live outside of the safety of the wizard havens, not trusting the Wizard Council to treat them fairly. We learn more about them in book three.
And that concludes the tour of the Mystik world in the Library Jumpers series. Thank you for taking this journey with us.
