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Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff
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Her Majesty's Wizard (1986)

by Christopher Stasheff

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735511,607 (3.74)7
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Matt Mantrell is a slacker. A worthless bum who can't seem to finish what he starts. Until the day he finds a scrap of paper with some runic poetry in an old book in the library. He can't seem to leave it alone, though it threatens to disrupt his aspirations of becoming a PhD. When he finally breaks the code of the runes, he finds himself transported into another world where magic is the norm and he is a powerful wizard. The question then becomes, Will he believe?

This book reminded a lot of Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series - an antihero gets transported from the current time to a parallel world where he is the savior. Covenant, though, can't afford to allow himself to believe. And that refusal to believe leads him down a road of destruction. Matt simply refuses to believe at the beginning. Unlike Covenant, Matt does eventually allow himself to test the waters, so to speak and by experimentation, he starts to understand the world he finds himself in and to, eventually, accept it for what it is. In the end, Matt finds what he's always been after - purpose and acceptance.

I read this book on the heels of the Piers Anthony Space Tyrant series and the writing styles are markedly different. I prefer Stasheff over Anthony, even though Stasheff can be harder to read. Stasheff is content to write a book with a joke or two built it and allow the story to form and end. Anthony prefers to maximize the joke density, making the overall work seem very contrived and insubstantial.

Definitely looking forward to the next in the series. ( )
1 vote helver | Oct 18, 2011 |
A great book. Only one POV, and the main character had some great powers. The only think I didn't quite like was the magic system. :) ( )
  LaserWraith | Mar 10, 2011 |
Currently re-reading & it's a fun book. No redeeming qualities beyond being a good way to escape for a bit. He did almost as good a job on this as he did on "The Warlock In Spite Of Himself" although I consider that to be his best book. ( )
  jimmaclachlan | Sep 25, 2009 |
I remember liking this book so much that I turned my older sister onto the series. Now she still reads them and I don't. I thought it was very funny that all he had to do was make things rhyme for them to be magic. I liked the idea of a guy from a different planet and the effect he had on the new planet and the effect the new planet had on him. ( )
  annekiwi | Jan 12, 2009 |
This is a fun book. Just - pure fun. Yes, it has some morals to it. Yes it has religion as the foundation for magic and the magical world that a hero from our world finds himself in. But at the heart of it, it is a fun book.

Pieces of this book fit a male-written-fantasy-from-the-80's-or-early-90's. Some of the women are described in anatomically dubious detail. But, it's a fantasy world, so I guess that's to be expected. There are not the angsty, heart-wrenching dramas that are found in many of today's fantasies, but there is character depth. There is not impossibly steamy sex, but there is a very believable pair of romances. It is, actually, quite a refreshing change of pace.

This book is similar to Piers Anthony's Split Infinity. (Only Anthony's fantasy world - not his futuristic sci-fi world.) The style is similar, though I prefer Stasheff's writing. The method of using magic is also similar, though I prefer Stasheff here as well. I do greatly recommend this book. ( )
  ca.bookwyrm | May 30, 2007 |
Showing 5 of 5
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Matthew Mantrell leaned forward across the little table in the campus coffee shop and tapped the sheet of rune-covered parchment before him.
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Book description
    WANTED: A SUPERWIZARD!

Matt didn't know the scarp of parchment was a trap. So he read the runes - and found himself on a world where reciting verses worked magic.
His first effort got him locked in a dungeon by the evil sorcerer Malingo.
Trying for light, he brought forth a fire-breathing, drunken dragon who told him Princess Alisande, rightful ruler, was also held in the dungeon.

Naturally, he had to free her, himself, and the dragon, using poetry lifted from Shakespeare. And because she was young and beautiful, he swore to serve as her wizard. Then he learned that his job as wizard was to fix it so the htree of them could overcome all the dark magic and armies of Malingo!

The addition to the party of a lust witch and a priest who became a werewolf now and then didn't seem much help. Mat figured he had got himself into quite a predicament.

For once, he was right!

    DRAGONLIGHT!

     What this dungeon needed, Matt decided, was light. He took a deep breath, extemporizing a spell, then began to recite.
    There was a shattering roar, and light seared Matt's eyes. He fell back against the wall, while something huge and scaly rasped and grated against the wall.
     "Who hath done zhish to me" Light came again, a five-foot gout of flame, showing a mail-scaled snout with pointed teeth. "Thou! Dost thing no hide from Shteo - from Shtegoman, worm of a man!"
     Flame seared out again, and Matt leaped. The fire missed him as the dragon lurched to the side. the great eyes were bleary.
     The fool beast was drunk!
     And apparently he was the sort who grew mean in his cups. Now he was taking another blast-furnace breath, preparing to incinerate Matt to a cinder!
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0345274563, Mass Market Paperback)

Matt read the forbidden runes and found himself in a world where reciting verses worked magic. He got himself locked in a dungeon, created a fire-breathing dragon, and eventually discovered a beautiful princess he swore to save. Little did he guess how hard that would be....

(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:38:55 -0400)

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