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A highly enjoyable and a-typical Castle book. The second to last of an eight book series had me laughing out loud on several occasions. Such an emmersive and wonderful book that best tipifies what DeChancie fans love most.
For those unfamiliar with the Castle series, a synopsis: A magical castle, stranded between space and time, with windows to 144,000 worlds, is home to travelers, adventurers, and a multitude of strange beings. Humans are among them, including Gene Ferraro, who wandered into the castle through an entrance in the City of Pittsburgh's subway system. His best friend, Snowclaw, resembles a yeti, speaks perfect english (thanks to the workings of the castle,) and wields a substantial axe. The proprietor of the castle, Lord Incarnadine -- Inky to his friends -- serves as a sort of Captain Steubing to the residents of his love boat. He's frequently on vacation from the castle, and even he doesn't understand all of the secrets of its' construction.
In this volume of the series, a party being thrown by Inky. Which calls for many special visitors. Which, of course, calls for flaws in the castle defenses. Which leads to many uninvited guests. Which leads to the real action of the story. The story rings of an "interdimensional frat party" with all the uninvited guests and problems therein. The only difference is that here, rather than having the excise police arrive to break things up, the partygoers break out swords and magic spells to do away with the party crashers.
The magic of DeChancie's work in the Castle series is that it uses humor, both in direct portions and in-jokes, in a way infrequently read in the era in which it was written. Today, adventure and humor walk hand-in-hand in television series such as Hercules and Xena. DeChancie's smart, smooth writing style, present here as well as earlier (Starrigger Trilogy) and later (Dr. Dimension, Living with Aliens) works keeps the reader engrossed and enthralled.
-- Kevin Stamber
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Find these books. They are worth the effort of tracking down.
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That being said, Castle for Rent is presented in a very readable and highly enjoyable way. Filled with DeChancies own humor/fantasy style in a masterful example of a "read in one sitting" book. Like many of the Castle books, a reader can easily read for two hours without realizing it. The character development and storyline evolve in a wonderfully smooth manner after the first chapter or so.
Highly Reccomended for any fan of Douglas Adams stories, Terry Gilliam films or any person who appreciates "smart comedy" that refuses to take itself seriously.
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Filled with twist and turns, both obvious and devious Castle Murders is a typical Castle Perlious book....just a lot of fun to read.
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The actual story line of the book can be assertained by reading other user reviews, but suffice to say it's a story about a magical castle that resides at a universal and dimensional nexus.
Castle Perlious is the first novel in a series of 8 that will leave you amused and thoroughly entertained.
One day, someone somewhere will pick up Mr. DeChancie's books and you'll see them made into a TV or Mini-series, possibly into a video game, maybe into a pen and paper Role Playing Game. At any rate, they're far too good to remain cult classics forever.