Christopher Stasheff (1944–2018)

Egads, this was a terrible book. I found and enjoyed the first four books in this series in the library my late teens, just before the last four were released...so I somehow missed all the interim books. If they're all like this no wonder.

The half-fantasy, half sci-fi premise works when it's in a pseudo-medieval setting, but the space stations and planetary colonies that Stasheff imagines are pretty lame in closeup, and the fact that he over explains every little thing doesn't help. show more Seriously--half of this book could disappear and it would STILL be too wordy and boring.

The new characters are one dimensional, the characters we know are boorish, uninteresting and inconsistent by turns and I miss the presence of the Gallowglass kids.

There's a plot and a very labored set up for all of this, but I'll skip explaining it here because if you've gotten far enough into the series to be on this book, you already know it. And if you haven't--then don't read this book! Go back and start with The Warlock In Spite of Himself, which is interesting and far better written than this. show less

I *REALLY* liked this book. I think Stasheff is at his best when he's playing the sexes off one another - especially in the context of a good, solid relationship and how men relate with women and vice versa.

At the beginning of this volume, King Tuan tells his son Prince Allain that he should get married. He responds instantly with, "I'll go tell the Lady right away" and heads off to tell Cordelia Gallowglass that she gets to be married to him. Even though they both have assumed that they'd show more be married since they were children, Stasheff can't abide to allow the institution of marriage to be as perfunctory as all that. So Allain delivers his intent awkwardly and Cordelia (of course) takes offense and tells the good Prince to take his offer and shove it. And the rest of the story is bent around Allain trying to earn Cordelia's respect and affection and both Allain and Cordelia doing what they can to make sure that they do truly love one another.

Of course, it all ends up well with the two having been fated to mated - but the story-telling is a great deal of fun. Geoffrey acts as an excellent life-tutor for Allain - getting him drunk, leading him to quests for honor, and putting him in a position to experience life and decide what it is about life that is good. In the end, both Allain and Cordelia are tempted by beauty and allure, but both decide that their true loves are far, FAR superior to a pretty, but shallow substitute. show less

In the land of Merovance, Matt Mantrell and his wife, Queen Alisande have a good life. Except that Matt is getting restless and Alisande knows this. She also knows that some strange goings on in Latruria, causing her peasants in the south to grow discontent. While she doesn't want Matt to leave her side, she knows that he needs to stretch his legs and reestablish his own identity. So rather than have him come up with some hairbrained scheme on his own, she asks him to investigate the show more situation on the Merovance/Latruria border and determine what, if anything, she needs to do to address the situation. So Matt travels south and finds much more than he or his queen imagined: a lovesick poet, a hungry manitore, a corrupt chancellor, a humanist philosopher, and a horde of homeless partyers seeking the bright lights and the big city.

I know I've mentioned this before, but I continue to be struck by the subtlety and wit that Stasheff brings to the table. His double entendres and back and forth dialogue is interesting and playful. Adding Saul to the mix at the end must have been an absolute joy to write and you can feel the energy that Matt and Saul have together, feeding off one another. We also add another dimension to this universe, more fully fleshing out the magic system a little more - now it is known to be like the Force - a life force that surrounds all things, but the purpose to which it is put comes from either Good or Evil. It may be possible to walk the fine line between good and evil, but Stasheff does a pretty good job of showing that there really is no gray here - even someone who does everything he can to stay neutral will, in the end, be forced to choose. show less

Fun. It gets a bit preachy, here and there, about the value of education and of learning how to think for oneself, but there's a great story that the preaching is nicely intertwined with. I like Dar, and Sam (as much as we get to know of her), and Whitey of course. Lona's even more obscure than Sam. The least convincing part of the whole thing is the romances - Dar seems to be purely attracted to the physical, and I don't see much of a reason for either of the women to be interested show more back...but at least one of them finds something to want about him. Very abruptly, too, after spending most of the book being quite aloof. That aside, the story is improbable but fascinating. Each bit follows logically from the previous, but the entire chain of events goes off in some seriously weird directions. As a history of the Warlock universe, it's a great deal of fun - neat to see Fess' first encounter with the D'Armands from the other point of view (my latest reread was triggered by reading The Warlock's Companion, which gives it from Fess' POV). And the beginning of Gramarye, too, with a glimpse of what the SCA might become. A regular reread, in some ways better than the Warlock books themselves (less formulaic, at least). Always good. show less