While there are a number of good things about this book, I am disappointed and irritated by the fact that Mr. Stasheff felt it was necessary to repeat a scene from [b:Her Majesty's Wizard|828440|Her Majesty's Wizard (Wizard in Rhyme, #1)|Christopher Stasheff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178735564s/828440.jpg|1868416], verbatim and in full. The only things which changed in this book were the characters' names. ( )

Having discovered his friend Matthew Mantrell missing, Saul Brenemer tries to find his friend in the usual ways - going to the coffee house, checking at this apartment, calling his mother and informing the police. But nothing provides any clues on Matt's whereabouts until Saul goes back to Matt's apartment and finds a second parchment, one with a very personal message - to him. In much the same way as his friend, Saul is transported into a world of magic and polar opposites. Unlike Matt, however, Saul is determined to avoid commitment to either side. But this only real hope for survival is the magic that comes to him through poetry and song and each spell brings him closer and closer to making the commitments that he so fears.

I liked this book slightly more than the second and slightly less than the first. It's pretty obvious that while Saul claims that he wants nothing to do with either Heaven or Hell that his actions definitely place him in the white camp. Saul is more like Covenant than Matt is, but his disbelief and claims of free-agency are shallow and forced and transparent. The romance he shares with a ghost is interesting - well over half the book is dedicated to either keeping her soul out of her body or returning her soul to her body. But, in my mind, the scene with the nymph Thyme steals the show.

Matt, Sir Guy, Allisande, Max and Stegoman make a brief appearance at the end, but they are definitely the sideline in this volume. Additionally, the writing in this one is first person, as opposed to the third person used in the other two volumes. It provides a different point of view, and we are show much more of Saul's thought processes than Matt's. Unfortunately, it just seemed that Saul was lying to himself as well as everyone else. As mentioned in the book, you can't accurately be judged by your words, but only by your deeds - and Saul's deeds are all good. ( )