I recently started to read Christopher Stasheff's books, and I loved the Wizard in Rhyme series, infact I enjoyed them so much I'm having a hard time with his other series as I liked the characters so much in a Wizard in Rhyme:-)

I waited impatiently for the fourth book in the series A Wizard in Rhyme to be printed. I was not disappointed by the wait. I enjoyed the plot and characters have to be read to be believed. Stasheff has never failed to entertain me with a new twist to each book. I highly recommed this book to all readers of Science Fiction Fantasy.

A Wizard in Peace is the 4th book in the Rouge wizard series where magnus and his sidekick Dirk once again find themselves on a planet abandoned by their old government but unlike the other stories this planet hasn't been taken over by a dictator but by bureaucrats. On their travels around the planet Dirk and Magnus stumble upon the local madhouse, which insodently is located in an abandoned spaceship. The mentaly insane inpersonate the bureaucrats to help Magnus and Dirk overthrow the local government. After all who could be better suited to impersonate bureaucrats then the insane?

Depending on how long one has been reading the Warlock series, one could become rather bored with Stasheff's never-ending devotion to the family Gallowglass. This book is one that justifies HIS devotion, and rewards the reader for his/her loyalty. Time well spent!

It has been pointed out in many cases that it is difficult to give Magnus a task too difficult to accomplish, too daunting to undertake, but this one gives him a REAL challenge.

The plot is simple... Magnus' continuing goal to provide regressed colonies with the government best suited to the needs of the society present on each planet he encounters, primarily by inserting himself into said society. What he finds on this planet is a Brazil-esque bureaucracy managing every facet of society. With no open rebellion in sight, and fewer even capable of thinking of one, Magnus has no method to use short of bloody mayhem. What he actually does do is both innovative, and emotionally draining. Magnus does things which, while noble and compassionate in nature, still have him questioning his own ethics. The solution to this society's problems takes much longer to implement than in previous quests, a statement on how difficult it is, even with Magnus's considerable talents, to start a revolution where there is no conception of what revolution IS.

From the lofty viewpoint of three books later, it is easy to say that, so far, this is the BEST of the Wizard series. Magnus has to make some very difficult decisions on his own about HOW to use his abilities... Stasheff poses some difficult questions about what is the RIGHT THING to do. So... if you were slowing down on the Wizard series, this book will give you momentum to keep going onto future books.

I first read this book and met this author many years ago. To my dismay, I lost the book and couldn't remember the author! When I found them again, I couldn't let go. The whole concept of escaping an oppressive, unimaginative society, also stagnant! and being able to set up your own version of reality was exciting. Rod G.'s efforts to absorb magic! real magic! along with his logical companion's reactions were realistic and funny. The different twists, touches of myth and legend, (love that witchmoss), history,Finagle and Murphy,overall the sense of HUMOR was too much fun! I've continued to read his books, good and not-so, and recommend them highly.

There are only a few sci-fi books that I have carried around over the years (Foundation series, City, Dune) and - while certainly not of the literary merit of those, this has been an entertaining read many times over.

You have to get past some of the cutesy acronyms in the first part of the book - and some of the characters are a little 2-dimensional. However, this is an enjoyable ride and excellent for what it is. The character of Gwen, in particular, is such a treat.

I read a number of the other Warlock series, but none had the whimsy and magic of this first book. Too bad, because we need more like this. It somewhat reminds me of Heinlein in his "Glory Days" and "Starman Jones" period. Written as juvenile fiction, but fun for adult kids-at-heart.

I'm going to have to buy a new copy - mine is over 30 years old and falling apart from being read so much.

"The Warlock In Spite of Himself" is one of the best books I've ever read. Combining elements of fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction has never seemed so easy, or been so entertaining.

The book follows the adventures of Rod Gallowglass (nee D'Armand) and his struggle to free the planet of Gramarye (a lost world of colonists from Terra) from the clutches of a dictator.

What follows has some of the best elements of fantasy swashbuckling and futuristic hocus-pocus of any book in existence. What clinches the book for me, though, is the inclusion of my favorite Fantasy/SF topic: psychic powers!

That's right! Gramarye (whose society has reverted to a medieval setting) has it's own set of "witches" and "warlocks," each with psychic powers of varying degrees.

How Rod gains their trust and friendship, and eventualy enlists their help in his crusade to bring Democracy to the land, makes for a most interesting part of the story.

This is the first book of a rather lengthy series. I urge everyone to read it, but I offer this note of warning: if you read "The Warlock In Spite of Himself," you'll want to read *all* of the "Warlock" series... and you won't regret a second of it

My main problem with this book is that it takes Saul's POV the entire time, and to be honest, his need to contradict himself all the time just annoys the heck out of me and takes up too much space. I'm surprised Saul has a guardian angel at all actually. Narlh is the best reason to keep reading. And how stupid is Saul to never realize that Matt is the Lord Wizard of Merovence despite being told that at least 5 times in 3 days??? That one fact alone nearly made me stop altogether, till I realized Matt had to show up sooner or later so I kept on.

This book is just full of wonderfully ironic happenings. The main charachter has a delightfully sarcastic sense of humor and the author relly did a good job of letting you know what he is thinking. This whole series is full of awsomly wierd creatures and the human element is definatly there. The book has a livley plot full of humor.

The Witch Doctor is a marvelous book. Complete with humour, a great plot and likeable characters, this book is a great read. I would reccomend this book to all readers who like humerous fantasy.

While I truly enjoyed the first book of the series (Her Majesty's Wizard), I found this and subsequent books in the series to be a major dissappointment. The main character never seems to learn anything, nor does Stasheff follow up with his leads from the previous book. Whatever happened to Max telling Sir Guy what orders to give? Or Matt realizing, after a year as a wizard in this world, that words have power? Major gaps like this shouldn't happen even in a poorly-written series; a Wizard in Rhyme had the potential to be so much more.

The Oathbound Wizard is about a boy called Mathew that has travelled through dimensions and has ended up as the Lord Wizard in a country called Merovence.In this world thigs you say are taken more literally than here and Matt swears that he will overthrough the evil Wizard Lord of Ibile.Matt goes into Ibile and defeats the evil Lord (picking up loads of friends on the way) and marries Queen Alisande of Merovence.

This is the book that got me into reading even though I hated it so much. A very exciting, interesting and romantic book. This book can not simply be described. One would have to read it and see for himself. I don't really like poetry but in this book , it is a way of making magic that is far beyond explainable. The only books I ever read were books for school and I read them because I had to. This book made wanna read it just to see what happened next. This is truly the best book I have ever read.

Every once in a while a book comes along that is a must read...This one isn't.

Well, OK perhaps that is a little harsh, but unless your a diehard fan of the WARLOCK series, this is not the book to judge Christopher Stasheff by. As he says in his Note to the Reader, "The author is very much aware that the events in this book are extremely unlikely, if not downright impossible..."

Now with that out of the way it IS a fun book and if you follow the series, you can tell through the foreshadowing that there will be some interesting developments in the future. Keeping this in mind, (I did!) you will find that the book is best thought of as a transitional piece to allow certain plot line to emerge.

Okay, it must be understood that this is part of an ongoing series and as such has alot of back story holding it up. This book is the continuing story of the Gallowglass family that has it's origins in the book "Escape Velocity" and actually starts in "The Warlock In Spite Of Himself". This is the story of Gregory Gallowglass, the youngest of Rod & Gwen's four chuldren, and his first steps towards independance. This story also tracks the witch Finister who has been the nemesis of the Gallowglass children for five books now. The story begins where "Quicksilver's Knight" left off, with Gregory escorting the witch Finister to the Royal Coven. Stasheff, as always, recaps events from the previous books to fill in any reader who might not be reading the entire series. The story is a fun read, an excellent example of science-fantasy, where ESPers are seen as witches & warlocks and an entire future colony has gone SCA, for real.

This is different from most of Stasheff's book's. It starts right after Quicksliver's Knight. With Gregory poised to fall in love with the most unexpected person. I think this book is extermly well written. Stasheff's knowledge of psychology really shined through. I was glad that Magnus was included in this book and not just mentioned. It' was also nice to see that he remebered some of the smaller details form previous books. This a book that I will be glad to read again and again. In fact I already have!

Stasheff's Rogue Wizard series is a bit uneven and A Wizard in Chaos is on the ordinary side of the series. This installment is a sort of amalgam of all the Rogue Wizard novels, we are given nothing new here except Magnus finally sheds his annoying sidekick, Dirk. It it a good novel for Stasheff fans but isn't the author's best work. All in all, a decent novel but it could of used a shot of originality.

WOW, just WOW, This story blew me away, I LOVED it! =

This book, while not focused solely on Amer and samona Crafter, is a compendium of excellent short stories by assorted authors in the spirit of the first story or stories by Christopher Stasheff. As a matter of fact, i would appreciate a third book in this marvelous series if it continued in the same spirit

i thought this collection of stories was very interesting, though the stupidity of people who have just discovered that they cant move things with their mind leaves me a little P.O.-ed And some characters were just great!

I bought the book because I loved the series, and the fact that Matt was going on Crusade - well I HAD to read it. But the plot is a disppointment. Not that I regret Prester John and coffee, or Kaprin as nursemaid to Alice and the baby djinn, but otherwise the book lacks the excitement and amusement that was so prevalent in the earlier books, The Witch Doctor excluded because I didn't like Stasheff changing his POV there either. The Wizard in Rhyme series is cool because there's always this sense that Matt is way in over his head and has to get rescued by Alisande and God, with help fom Stegoman and Narlh and Sir Guy, and his own Faith. Unfortunately, this book was mor serious than most, and giving Balkis so much attention just made it less enjoyable.

As an ardent fan of all that Stasheff has written in the Fantasy genre, I have enjoyed this universe the most, (second to the original Warlock series). I have enjoyed watching as a semi-devout Catholic career student became a world's most powerful practicing Wizard. I have been tolerant as the series became formulaic, with the occasional hidden lesson in historical theology thrown in (most of Stasheff's works contain SOME bits of education, hell, he illustrated HOW in one of the Warlock books). He has managed to keep some level of character growth, but in doing so, he seems to have lost sight (or maybe, has failed to make it as obvious to US, the readers)of the premise.

In "The Crusading Wizard", Matthew Mantrell becomes enmeshed in what has to be the oddest Combination Crusades. In an effort to prevent the onslaught of the Mongolian Hordes, and locate a special kind of kidnapper, Matthew must once again leave his wife's castle and wander about without a clue. A central point in this story is to introduce the plot device of Stasheff's next book "The Feline Wizard", Balkis.

It is nice to have a soceress of no small abilty help, but does Matthew have to get hit in the back of the head every thirty pages to prove how helpful she is? Could we take it for granted that he has learned something of the power of religious symbols in this world? It seems as if all those blows to the head have stupified Matthew to the point that he NEEDS the help of various Djinn, Personifications, and Pontiff's to come up with a good rhyme.

If you were wondering, this is not one of the better Wizard in Rhyme books... it is much improved over "The Haunted Wizard", and serves as a decent prelude to "The Feline Wizard", but one hopes that Stasheff is done with Balkis as a protagonist, and is willing to go back to the real struggle. Matthew is there to tip the scales when TRUE EVIL is attempting to exert itself, he IS the most powerful wizard in this world, St Moncaire chose him for that reason.

New readers should take heed, this book is not indicative of the quality of the entire series. Stick with the books PRECEDING "My Son, The Wizard". With any luck, this book serves as the background for an Evil that requires countering by someone as powerful as Matthew. Matthew certainly needs to be reminded of what he is capable of, and Stasheff needs to do the reminding soon.

Book after book, Matt Mantrell (from our Earth) has been saving Merovence (France) from evil. Now, he has to save civilization from the mongol hordes. He and his wife Queen Alisande lead the Frankish armies to join in a Crusade allied with the Arabs, against the Turks and Huns.

Unlike some of the WIZARD AT RHYME series, this does not go much into the Catholic way. It suffers, however, from Matt having too many friends, all powerful, and all willing to pitch in and help out. I'm a fan of Stasheff and think this is one of his better series but I agree with the authors who say that it's getting old. Introducing new characters (especially Saul way back in Book 3) helps (I'm not that big on Matt's parents--they sort of remind me of the left-over lovers in a Romance Novel sequel), but I think Stasheff will want to leave Matt alone and focus on other characters altogther if he doesn't want this to become just another hero wading through evil series.