The Warlock in Spite of Himself

The Warlock in Spite of Himself has a really good setting.

That's it, that was the good part. It also has the height of 60s sexism in Fantasy: Protagonist (who is always right and good) disdaining help from women, recommends spanking arrogant women, falls in love with every pretty one, one violent graphic assault/rape/coercion (later justified b/c she was faking him out), … I could go on.

Then there are politics more blatant than in Sword of Truth (literal Marxists itching to shoot the aristocracy) – though that part was pretty fun, really. I can get behind "it's so bad it's good", but I can't get behind the sexism and to be honest plain middling writing.

Rodney d'Armand is a SCENT agent, whose job is to rediscover lost colonies and prepare them for re-entry into the confederation of worlds. His latest mission has taken him to the land of Gramarye, and soon realises that he has found a planet that was settled by a group that wanted to recreated Renaissance European society. So he isn't surprised to find a mismatch of architecture and customs taken from all over Europe, and a monarchy with both the aristocrats and a society of beggars on the verge of rebellion against their queen, but he is stunned to find witches on broomsticks, werewolves, ghosts, and tiny elves, and starts to suspect that the lords' suspiciously similiar-looking councillors may have off-world knowledge.

Realising that a show more constitutional monarchy would probably be the most stable form of government for this planet, he masquerades as a mercenary under the name of Rod Gallowglass, with his robot companion Fess occupying the body of an artificial horse, and sets out to join the queen's guard.

An enjoyable science-fiction romp, which is apparently the first book in a series.

From the back cover blurb: The lost planet of Gramarye wasn't so much evidence of galactic advances as a phoney shrine to the forgotten traditions, rites and graces of renaissance Europe. Sounds just like the SCA to me! show less

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Rodney Gallowglass is a spy whose job is to discover unknown planets that need to be brought into the fold of the enlightened democratic intergalactic system. When he lands on the backward planet of Gramayre in his spaceship disguised as an asteroid, Rod and his epileptic computer Fess discover a world of fantasy creatures �?? witches, ghosts, werewolves, dwarves and elves. Gramayre was originally settled by a group of humans who wanted to revert back to a feudal society. Now itƒ??s a benevolent monarchy thatƒ??s threatened by anarchists, witches, and a man who wants to be dictator. Rod suspects that the agitators are being provoked and funded by an off-world interest. He decides that show more setting up a constitutional monarchy will be the best way to prepare Gramayre for moving on to a real democracy. Meanwhile, the people of Gramayre think Rod is a warlock because heƒ??s got technology they canƒ??t understand.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself, published in 1969, is a humorous science fantasy. I picked it up because I like science fantasy, I knew that Christopher Stasheff collaborated with L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt whose humorous HAROLD SHEA stories I enjoyed, and, lastly, an audiobook version of The Warlock in Spite of Himself has just been released by Wild Voices.

According to the publisher, The Warlock in Spite of Himself is ƒ??sword-and-sorcery with a witty, edgy, wry twist.ƒ? Though the story is fun and action-packed, I found that The Warlock in Spite of Himself, especially this audio version, didnƒ??t live up to the publisherƒ??s promise. It was often funny, but I wouldnƒ??t call it ƒ??witty,ƒ? ƒ??edgyƒ? or ƒ??wry.ƒ? There was nothing remarkable about the prose and I thought the humor was often juvenile and most likely to be enjoyed by teens (though The Warlock in Spite of Himself, because of the sexual content, is not marketed to teens).

Besides attempting to entertain us, Stasheff also uses his story as a platform to promote democracy and a representative government. Iƒ??m all for democracy and representation but, unfortunately, Stasheffƒ??s treatment of different governmental systems is rather superficial and simplistic ƒ?? democracy=good, Marxism=bad ƒ?? without any serious discussion or explanation about what makes this so. This makes the story feel not only shallow, but also dated.

Another issue that makes The Warlock in Spite of Himself feel dated is Rod Gallowglassƒ??s attitude toward women. For a future spaceman from an enlightened intergalactic confederation, itƒ??s suspicious that his attitudes about women are congruent with those found in most 1950s American science fiction. He instantly falls in love with a woman just because sheƒ??s beautiful, laughs at the idea of asking a woman for help, thinks that men need to comfort women with lies about their relationship (ƒ??for a woman lives on loveƒ?), expects women to be weak and afraid, thinks they should be spanked when they misbehave and (if beautiful) ƒ??claimedƒ? after a man proves his worth to himself.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself is over 40 years old, so Iƒ??m not asking it to fit my 21st century sensibilities (though plenty of old SFF does), but rather Iƒ??m explaining why the novel doesnƒ??t hold up very well. I have no doubt, though, that it will be a fun and comfortable read for readers who originally encountered it and loved it a few decades ago, for readers who get nostalgic about old-fashioned science fiction, or for readers who occasionally (or always) enjoy a light, shallow, slightly silly adventure story.

The audio version of The Warlock in Spite of Himself was produced by Wild Voices and performed by a full cast. Unfortunately, this was not a good production and this may have contributed to my disappointment with the story. There are bad sound effects, inconsistent volume levels, and intrusive background music ƒ?? all of these obscure the narration. The main narrator, Dennis F. Regan, was fine (though he pronounced ƒ??demesnesƒ? like it looks), but some of the voices for the secondary characters were difficult to understand, sometimes because it felt like they were at the far end of a long tunnel. I couldnƒ??t even hear some of what Fess the computer said, even with the volume on my Audible app turned all the way up. Needless to say, I wonƒ??t be trying any more Wild Voices productions. If you decide to read The Warlock in Spite of Himself, I suggest that you read the paperback or Kindle version.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature. show less

This book was written in good fun and that's the way it should be taken. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It doesn't have to maintain its internal consistency. It doesn't try provide deep hidden meanings. Its politics are out in the open (Democracy is good. Anarchy and Despotism are bad). Its portrayal of women is what it is...

I've read some reviews of the book that were very down on the way the leading ladies were handled. I, personally, thought that they were consistently rendered - perhaps too much so. I imagine that they would have matured and changed as much as our protagonist. But not so much. I certainly didn't find it demeaning to women, in general, or these women in particular.

The book is a fun read with some pretty good show more one-liners provided by our hero. I prefer a little more back-and-forth style banter, but (again), it is what it is.

Stasheff wrote a prequel to this book entitle "Escape Velocity". While it does, technically, take place prior to this book, I'm not completely convinced that it's best read first. I did read it first and without reading this book, I would not have understood the significance of the final events in "Escape Velocity".

Read 6/2007 show less

I had first come across Christopher Stasheff years ago with his Rogue Wizard books. The combination of sci-fi, fantasy and politics intrigued me and though the books weren't masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination they were good reads which were slightly educational.

This is the first book Stasheff wrote and the progenitor of the Rogue Wizard books so when I wanted to reread those books I decided to go back a little further and start at the very beginning.

While I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the later books I kept in mind that this was written well before them and before he had hit his stride. It was still enjoyable and a good quick read and good to see where it all began.

A funny book, in addition to being an odd mixture of historical thriller, romance and sci fi adventure. A great way to introduce "science fiction" to readers who don't think they like it. Rod Gallowglass and his trusty robot/steed “Fess” (a faulty bionic entity that has a tendency to "reboot" at inopportune moments) end up somewhat marooned on the planet Gramarye, only to find it inhabited by medieval-era humans and technology. In addition, Gramarye has witches, elves, gnomes, and ghosts. Rod and Fess work to save the people of Gramarye from some time travelers (from Rod’s future) who are devoted to dominating Gramarye. First in a lengthy series of books about Rod, his shape-shifting wife Gwen and their three children.

One of the sub-genres in the 60's was creating fantasy effects with science fiction technologies. after all "Any competent technology can appear as magic to the ill-educated" is a cliché now, isn't it? Mr. Stacheff's tale was interesting, for its time.