Book 1 in the Terra Magica series. Followed by Dragonrouge.

Take one young and handsome knight setting out on a Quest... Mix in:

A dragon at World's Edge waiting for a knightly meal... A naked princess staked out for a sea serpent... A Tartar prince looking for a Flying Garden... A super-wizard with a quest all his own... An angry efreet seeking vengeance... A fairy godmother with a sharp tongue and a fickle temper... Set them down in Terra Magica, the world just beyond Terra Cognita, and then stir!

The result is a marvelous tale of high fantasy, replete with a thousand wonders, narrow escapes, and continuous derring-do as only Lin Carter, Grand Master of Adult Fantasy, could write!

The first book in what would be Lin Carter's final series is subtitled 'An Adult Fantasy' but regrettably this is a simplistic by-the-numbers effort which combines elements of childrens fairy stories with the kind of knowing allusions James Branch Cabell used so well in his Biography Of Manuel books.

Carter is no Cabell though and the trademark cop-out solutions to the various tight spots his heroes and heroines find themselves in soon mount up.

Notes at the back of the book explain the various literary and mythological allusions in 'Kesrick' which is part of Carter's problem - Cabell would leave it to the reader to seek out the sources if they so wished but Carter can't help but show off his erudition. Perhaps more thought put into characterisation and plot would have paid off better. ( )