ISBN: 0-06-105681-2 Order from: Amazon.com
This poorly executed generic fantasy has mostly standard elements of sorcery and combat, with a dash of role-playing games.
Reviewed by David on October 03, 1999
Genre: Fantasy (Sword and Sorcery, Multiple Worlds, Game Playing, High Fantasy)
Synopsis: Len Fong is a young shoe salesman in LA suffering in a boring job under an obnoxious boss. When a spell propells him to an alternate world, a world where magic is real, Len is forced to confron unbelievable monsters, even while his own posessions are transformed by the Chaos.
His coming is part of a magical plot to seize power, the plot that manages to wake fell enemies in the Chaos: the enemies that threaten the existance of all settled lands. Len and his new companions have to face a magical war, a war where allies turn into deadly threats, and sworn enemies are forced into uneasy friendship.
Full Review: This is a rather weak novel, recycling old motifs. The suspicion of the magical world's reality (shades of Donaldson's Unbeliever); parallel characters, role-playing style of magical and combat abilities, and 2-dimensional villains, make the plot and the associated world less than exciting. Added to an awkward style, with trite, therapeutic conversations between Len and others, and frequent breaks into flippancy, leave little room for suspension of disbelief.
Stackpole has written better novels, such as Talion: Revenant. I would suggest passing this one by.
Overall: 4.5; Plot: 4; Characters: 4.5; Style: 3.5; World-building: 4.5; Originality: 4;
Copyright date 1998, HarperCollins (HarperPrism), March 1998, Mass market paperback, 450 pages
ISBN: 0-06-105681-2 Order from: Amazon.com