Bad Spell in Yurt [Import] [Paperback]

C Dale Brittain (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Baen Books, US (September 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555940579
• ISBN-13: 978-1555940577
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I'm both a fantasy writer and a professor of medieval history, having loved fantasy since I discovered Tolkien in ninth grade. That and a long trip to Europe with my family in high school--including lots of climbing around castles--got me interested in real medieval history. The two different facets work together surprisingly well--including that both are tough ways to make a living! For one thing, real medieval history can come up with much better plots than anything I could create.

Real medieval people were rather grim by our standards: ruthless, violent, always thinking about death, and with no religious tolerance--and those were the good guys! My own fantasy tends to be lighter, though it always ends up being about sacrifice, mortality, redemption, and similarly knee-slapping topics.

The characters and situations for my first published novel, "A Bad Spell in Yurt," came to me literally in a dream. I'd been trying intermittently for over 20 years to get a novel published, but this one worked! And it became a national "top 10" best-seller in the fantasy/science fiction genre. (Ought to have more dreams like that...)

The "Yurt" series is six books long; they can be enjoyed in any order, but there is still an overall story arc. The books in the series are (in order) "A Bad Spell in Yurt," "The Wood Nymph and the Cranky Saint," "Mage Quest," "The Witch and the Cathedral," "Daughter of Magic," and "Is this Apocalypse Necessary?" This overall story is now wrapped up, though I'm contemplating "Yurt, the Next Generation."

Of my other two novels, "Count Scar" is the closest I've gotten to real medieval history. It's set in a thinly-disguised version of southern France in the thirteenth century. My husband, Robert Bouchard, and I co-wrote it. "Voima" was my chance to revel in the Nordic myths I've always loved, while making up new myths of my own (no Odin or Siegfried here). For some reason "Yurt" fans have never taken to it, but it may be my favorite book.

More information about my novels is available on my website, www.Daimbert.com. Recently I've made my out-of-print books available for Kindle. I like a physical book in my hands myself, but for everyone who enjoys the convenience of reading onscreen, enjoy!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Spell" is anything but "Bad", May 16, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Bad Spell In Yurt (Mass Market Paperback)

Humorous/light fantasy is a much-neglected subgenre, and talented writers in it are quite rare. ...I was delighted to find "Bad Spell in Yurt," a lovely book by a talented author.

Daimbert is not a particularly good wizard, but it doesn't matter so much because Yurt is not a very big kingdom (as he informs us on the first page). He answers an ad requesting a Royal Wizard in the kingdom of Yurt, where the old wizard has just retired. When Daimbert arrives, at first he thinks that the worst problem he'll have is having to perform magic that he doesn't know, due to his skipping classes. He meets the weakened King Haimeric, the amazingly holy chaplain, the young queen, the flirtatious youthful queen's aunt Lady Maria, the king's sullen-looking nephew Dominic, and various other characters. On the surface, all seems fine, except for Daimbert's problems installing telephones.

However, something is rotten in the state of Yurt. Daimbert finds that he is not the only source of magic in the castle -- someone or something is causing the king to grow weaker and weaker. When he asks the old Royal Wizard about the problems, the only thing the old man will say is that no one can go into the north tower. Daimbert must unravel the mystery, and find who is responsible for all these problems. But can a class-skipping young wizard face evil and win? Hopefully!

C. Dale Brittain adds a little spice and flavor to the usual wizards and medieval settings. There are no strained attempts to make this tale ultra-different, but rather Brittain simply lets it flow. We have kings, wizards, demons, courtiers, and political plotting. Yet the plotline never becomes bogged down or too serious.

Humor in this book is never blatant or overdone, eliciting chuckles rather than belly laughs. I loved Daimbert dyeing his beard gray and buying the threadbare red-and-black top, writhing when the constable announced that they wouldn't expect telephone magic for at least a few weeks, and noting that his "Christmas suit" is ruined after slaying a dragon. It's wry and understated, but very realistic. Readers could definitely imagine someone thinking this way.

Daimbert is a delightful character. He's not flawless, or even very skilled, but his brainpower and niceness overcome the fact that he's not too good at wizardry. The supporting characters are a little less defined, but all are great, especially aging (sometimes NON-aging) ingenue Lady Maria, the solemn chaplain (who is as likeable as Daimbert in a very different way), and the ex-Royal Wizard, who is the sort of crotchety, capable wizard that everyone likes.

Descriptions are pretty good, evocative when describing action but never overdone. The dialogue is also realistic; too many fantasy books take themselves too seriously, resulting in silly melodramatic language, but this book is full of characters who talk like real people. The conversation with the demon is especially well-done, as is Daimbert's debate with the chaplain.

... Fans of Discworld ...should check out the adventures of Daimbert.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun book with a well developed cast, December 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Bad Spell In Yurt (Mass Market Paperback)

The main character, Daimbert, is a likeable, good-hearted young man who grew up in the city without knowing a true home. A recent graduate of the School of Magic, Daimbert never took anything too seriously, including his magical academia (oops). As the story progresses, he grows into a man who is ultimately willing to sacrifice everything in order to protect and serve the people he has grown to love.

With a title like "A Bad Spell in Yurt", I knew the book wouldn't take itself too seriously. I expected a fun, light-hearted story that would be an easy read for a lazy vacation. What I didn't expect was a story that would engross me from beginning to end, with some very emotionally charged scenes. I highly recommend it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable light fantasy, September 16, 2000

By 

Tess (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Bad Spell In Yurt (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is not as lighthearted as the title might indicate, but it still has a great deal of charm. It is a light, engaging read, but there is nothing light about the subject matter. Kudos to Brittain for being able to pull it off! The depth of the characters and view really surprised me-- very rarely are fantasy books, especially light fantasy books, written like "real life," where sometimes there ARE no easy answers or ready-made villains. The characters are very real people, and their relationships and reactions to each other are complicated and not always easy to define (just like real life). I don't want to scare anyone off by this "heavy" review because it's not a "heavy" book at all. I found "A Bad Spell in Yurt" to be an excellent light fantasy that can be appreciated on a deeper level (if one is so inclined). It is worth noting that my twelve-year-old brother liked it as much as I did, in his case without doing all the complicated analysis.