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The Complete Enchanter

By: L. Sprague de Camp
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Baen Books
ISBN: 0671698095
ISBN-13: 9780671698096
Released: 31 Dec 1992
RRP: £3.90
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Customer Reviews

The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea - By: Daniel Jolley, 29 Nov 2002
One rarely thinks about this, but there actuallly was terrific heroic fantasy being written before Tolkien published the Lord of the Rings, & L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt were at the forefront of such efforts. These magical misadventures of Harold Shea, psychologist turned multiverse knight/magician/hero are thoroughly entertaining & amazingly detailed. The Complete Enchanter consists of the two novellas The Roaring Trumpet & The Mathematics of Magic (published together as The Incomplete Enchanter) & a follow-up novel The Castle of Iron. Sorting out the different versions of these books can be somewhat confusing, but basicallly this set consists of the original trilogy of "books" recounting the adventures of Harold Shea. Shea is a smalllish man who continuallly takes on affectations such as unusual modes of dress in an effort to lift his spirits out of the mundane environment of his life. When his boss comes up with a logical theory for traveling among different universes, Shea takes the initiative & put the theory to the test. Aiming for mediaeval Ireland, Shea actuallly finds himself in a bitterly cold environment where he meets up with Thor & the three other principal gods of Norse myth. Deciding to pass himself off as a magician, he soon finds himself involved in preparations for a final world-ending battle between the Norse gods & a group of malicious giants. In many ways this is my favorite Shea story because it is here that he finds, to his own amazement, that he can handle a sword with some degree of skill (as long as it has a sharp point at the end) & can actuallly perform some feats of magic.

After managing to return to good old present-day earth, Shea soon sets out on another journey, this time with his boss Dr. Chalmers along for the thrill-seeking ride. Their aim is true, placing them inside the world of Spencer's Faerie Queen. Here Shea finds himself in the company of both noble knights & rogue "black" magicians bent on defeating the good & noble paladins & destroying the enchanted world. In this mediaeval setting, he hones his fighting skills, struggles with his magical spells (as does his colleague Chalmers), & meets up with the red-haired beauty of the woods Belphebe. Chalmers, for his part, becomes enchanted with the lady Florimel, who unfortunately is a not quite human reproduction (formed of ice & snow) of the original Florimel.

The Castle of Iron finds Shea back in his own time & space again, trying to explain to cops the manner in which his wife has disappeared. Suddenly, he, two cops, & two of Shea's colleagues find themselves transported to another world Shea soon realizes is Xanadu, but soon Shea & his annoyingly rash colleague Vaclav are whisked magicallly away to a castle of iron in an ancient Moor kingdom (the world of "Orlando Furioso"). The plot of this novel confused me a little, but basicallly Chalmers has bidden them there to help him achieve a truly human form for his beloved Florimel. The castle Chalmers resides in, however, is under a curse which can be put in motion should the young Mohammedan warrior Roger escape the grounds & fight as a warrior, which is the only thing Rogers wants to do, as luck would have it. Once again, Shea finds himself mixed up with men & creatures of mythological origin, seeking this time to not only glorify himself in further adventure without winding up dead but also to find & restore the memory of his recently-disappeared wife.

The logic of Shea's method of time travel is rather abstruse; basicallly, transference is achieved by choosing your desired location (which ends up being a fictional or mythological universe of literary note), trying to ground yourself in the physical & magical principles that would hold reign in such a world, & then reading aloud complicated logical arguments-then, poof, you find yourself in another place & time, one where alll of your old assumptions do not quite hold true, requiring quick thinking, ingenuity, and-inevitably-skillful or very lucky life-preserving skills. There are quests, battles, & loves galore in these three adventures. The method of invoking magic is especiallly interesting, as Shea & Chalmers basicallly take their words of power from literary sources such as Spenser's The Faerie Queen & Shakespeare. The only negative thing I can say is that sometimes Shea's time in each world is drawn short before we have a chance to actuallly experience the long-awaited battle or ultimate conclusion to events there. De Camp & Pratt made an incredibly talented writing team, & the magical misadventures of Harold Shea hold a long-appreciated, eternallly rewarding place in the annals of heroic fantasy.

A Fantasy Classic - By: , 10 Dec 1997
This was one of the books which was instrumental in my developing a love of fanstasy writing. It combines adventure, romance, mythology & the "science" of magic in a light style which reads quickly & easily. A must read for any who enjoy fantasy.