Found: Avalon Manga from Seven Seas
From Seven Seas, isbn 9781934876640, releasing on or about 26 May.
Avalon: The Warlock Diaries, vol 1
from the publisher —
Adriane, Emily, Kara, Ozzie and the entire Avalon gang begin a brand new adventure in a new story written by Rachel Roberts with visually dynamic artwork by Edward Gan! When a handsome young warlock appears, the mages realize he may be trouble. But the warlock shows them a fairy map with the portal sequence that will lead the mages right to Avalon, the source of all magic.
If you don’t have a daughter or niece of the appropriate age, or daily contact with young girls [what? ... I resent your assumptions. c'mon, I work at a bookstore, I have to know this stuff...] you might not be aware of the Avalon: Web of Magic novels.
here’s the pitch for novel #1:
It’s every girl’s fantasy to find herself pulled into a new magical world—and make a difference to the extraordinary creatures that live there. That’s what awaits them in Avalon, a place where magic is real. It begins with winged cats, mighty mistwolves, duck-like quiffles and one pretty amazing golden ferret that are not of this world. Hurt, hungry and barely alive, they have come to be healed, to be helped, to get home—for a last desperate attempt at survival. But the magical animals did not come alone. The evil that stalked them in their world has followed them into ours. It will not stop until it gets what it wants: the secret map to a place called Avalon. The animals’ only hope is to fulfill an ancient prophecy and find three very different, but special girls: a healer, a warrior and a blazing star, who can lead them through a web of magical worlds, to the place from which all magic flows, Avalon.
…in other words, this is a distinctly western take on the Magical-Girl-trope — and as far as I know it was developed independently without foreknowledge of the Japanese versions. So yeah, doubly good.
8 novels extant, 12 planned. This will be the first of three manga (maybe more? …ask 7seas) — YES, this is a 12 Volume YA Fantasy Series you’ve never heard of. If you have a Warriors fan in your house maybe you should turn them on to this.
