SOLVED. Young Adult/ Junior Fantasy trilogy. Two stepbrothers in a rowboat in Boston bay are trapped in a tidal cave. They travel to a world of dragons & magic, try to defeat an evil wizard. Their parents just got married. Circa late 1980s/early 1990s. [s]

[Gary]

In my early teens, I read a trilogy of books about two young boys whose parents just got married, making the boys stepbrothers. One of them was athletic, the other scrawny and nerdy. In the first book, they take a rowboat onto the water of the bay in Boston. They enter a tidal cave after which the tide comes in and they're trapped. They see a light in the cave and go toward it, only to wake up in a world of magic.

I remember in the first book, the athletic brother is reprimanded by an evil wizard for humming and a girl there defends him, saying "he didn't know", meaning that music is banned in the city. The other brother manages to encounter a dragon. By the end of book one, the two of them are able to return home and have learned how to be brothers to each other.

In book two, there is a scene where the nerdy brother entertains a moot of dragons by playing (horribly) a set of bagpipes.

I am unable to recall the titles of any of the books, the name of the series, or the name of the author. I have attempted to get my checkout history from the library from which I borrowed the books when I was young, but those records were from before that library switched to digital records and my checkout history there is lost.

What I do know is that the books are from the late 1980s or early 1990s. I've scoured the internet with searches for children's books (trilogies) about dragons, brothers, and Boston, but I simply have run into nothing but dead ends. If anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it, as I've been trying to find and buy these books for over 20 years now.

Thank you and God bless!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

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[Kris]

Gary, thanks for updating the topic header. I copied a few details to the header. Feel free to edit it.

[Capn]

We have a list for books of this description!

Portal is in Water: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Was it specifically a Christian Fantasy trilogy? Whopper of a list here if so - "Christian Fantasy": https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

[Ann]

Maybe the Dragonfire series? The second book Castle Beneath the Sea has a description of "An ancient underwater city is the last thing Ethan and his stepbrother Nicholas expect to find when their rowboat overturns. But even stranger is the crafty old dragon who lives there, who demands that the boys stay in the city"

There are three books in the series.

[Gary]

Ann wrote: "Maybe the Dragonfire series? The second book Castle Beneath the Sea has a description of "An ancient underwater city is the last thing Ethan and his stepbrother Nicholas expect to fi..."

You've given me hope! I did some searches for the rest of the books in that trilogy, and while some of the details conflict with what I remember, enough seems to mesh that it's the best lead I've had in over twenty years. I'm definitely going to look into this, especially because the names of the lead characters sound incredibly familiar.

Even if this turns out not to be the trilogy for which I'm looking, thank you so much for bringing hope back to my search!

[Gary]

Ann wrote: "Maybe the Dragonfire series? The second book Castle Beneath the Sea has a description of "An ancient underwater city is the last thing Ethan and his stepbrother Nicholas expect to fi..."

YES!

Seeing your suggestion, I was able to locate and order the first book of the series, "Thieves of Nir". Having just received it in the mail yesterday, I looked through it and immediately recognized the artwork of the illustrations, as well as various scenes in the text. This is, in fact, the trilogy for which I've been searching!

Thank you so much for helping me find these books! As soon as I confirmed it was the right one, I placed an order for the other two in the trilogy and I hope to be enjoying them again soon, for the first time in over twenty years. This mystery can officially be declared [SOLVED] !

Thank you and God Bless!

[Capn]

Thieves of Nir - Dragonfire series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/2764...
(nicely done, Ann, & congrats to Gary!)

[Kris]

Great. Glad you found your book series, Gary.

Book 1 - Thieves of Nir by Morgana Rhys - Ann's find.
"Dragonfire" series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/2764...