Wizard's Bane

This is one of the most amazing books I consumed in my teenage years, and having reread it (for at least the fifth time) to write these few thoughts I still find it wonderfully captivating. It's available online for free so you've got no excuse not to go check it out!

So, the story: in a world of myth and magic, the Dark League "waxes strong to make chaos of what little order there is in the World" whereas our heroes of the North try to keep things safe.

"the question a responsible magician must face is whether the goal is worth the consequences. All the consequences. Those who follow the Council of the North try to use magic in harmony with the World. Those of the League are not so bound."

One of The Mighty of the North realises that the struggle is not going well, and decides to seek aid from "Beyond the World". He performs a Great Summoning and... William ("Wiz") Zumwalt is working late, debugging some code when he steps out for a breath of fresh air. and...

BOOM.

The worlds collide, just like that. Wiz is whisked away into a land where there are no computers, no coke cans and where he can't even write English, let alone write software. Did the Mighty make a mistake? Or, as one of the Demon's of the Dark League says,is he "A plague, a pox, the bane of all wizards"?

The thing that first interested me about this was the computer angle. At that point in my development I was aware of Unix in terms of textbooks and hand-coding HTML. Luckily, I'd picked up enough from newsgroups and my general interest in programming to follow most of the jargon, and my fiancee (who knows less about computer programming than I do about thoroughbred horses) enjoyed it greatly even without the info.

It's not an overlong book, but the worldbuilding is still top-notch. Little things - like learning the words of the spell - "Patrius repeated them to her several times, speaking every other word on each repetition so magic would not be made prematurely. As a trained witch Moira easily put the words in the right order and fixed them in her mind". It's that sort of attention to detail that really makes this world ring true. The stereotypes are there - elves, for instance, practically immortal and with a cheshire cat-like ennui for Humans - "Know, infant, that this place has stood for aeons and on. It was builded by magic on a foundation of magic and it would take more magic than a mortal could learn in a puny lifetime to touch it or any of mine". Even with the tropes, there are twists in future books that show their worth, and even in this one actually - the difference between adult and immature dragons, for instance.

So the world is nicely done. Characterisation is also very good; Wiz and Moira could hardly be more different, the evildoers of the league are suitably vile and scheming, the dragon riders are done in a very exciting, aerial combat kind of a way and when the Mighty work their magic it's very mighty indeed.

It's something of a perfect fantasy book - not high, not epic, so not perfect for everyone of course, but it's light, dashed with humour, and a truly easy yet gargantuanly satisfying read. The digression in chapter seven to tell Shiara's Story is slipped in very neatly, Kenneth's song in Chapter eleven adds a touch of poignancy before battle and the twelfth chapter is a true masterpiece, bringing this most riveting of stories to a brilliant denouement.

It's interesting to look at the tags other readers have given it. Over four thousand people marked it as "to read again". A hundred and ninety people called it a "trashy novel", and a hundred and fifty-two reckon it's a "scifi classic". Everyone seems to have a view... to summarise mine? Unmissable.