Customer Reviews

Dog Wizard

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've watched Barbara Hambly improve as a writer since her first books (not something every writer bothers to do when they get published) and I've been very impressed. I loved "The Silent Tower" and "The Silicon Mage" when they first came out, more than anything else because the character of Antryg Windrose was so compelling. When I finally got hold of "Dog Wizard", I was very struck by it, because for the first time I got to see things through Antryg's eyes, and it did not disappoint. Antryg's past experiences still haunt him, and shape who he is, rather than being thrown out with the last plot as many writers would do. Emotionally it rings very true to me, and embodies what I think is some of the best of Hambly's writing.

Read The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage? Wonder what happened to Joanna and Antryg after the miraculous save and his exile to magicless Los Angeles?

Well, they lived happily ever after. For a couple of months. Suddenly everyone Antryg knows has the same distressing dream... the senders can't get to Antryg, and they know it, but the message is clear: we can hurt the people around you.

And then Joanna disappears, kidnapped again across the Void. Antryg obeys the summons and is nabbed by the Council of Wizards. There's trouble again in Ferryth, and they want his help... if he's not the one causing the trouble himself.

Not trusting him one bit, the Council binds Antryg's power - leaving him with only his wits to defend himself, find Joanna, and get to the bottom of this before reality flies apart at the seams.

This book is not as wham-bam fabulous as the Windrose chronicles, but it's a good read, some of Hambly's better work. And if you, like so many, really need just one more dose of the daft wizard hero, you gotta get this book.

This book was picked up on chance, I enjoyed the Untrained Wizard so tried this one. The characters are so realistic and the story was such that the ending was not as was expected. I haven't read the others and was able to enjoy this one as a single book so that says alot for her storytelling. Now I will be reading the first two and hoping for a fourth or fifth. If anyone wants to read a book about magic and good vs. evil then this is one of the best to read.

The conversion of this book to an ebook was awful. Every page has a typo - usually two words run together without a space. But the worst was that every instance of the word "me" in the text was changed to "the". I can see how that would happen once when converting ascanned paper book to a digital file, but every time? The digital publisher did not proof-read this at all! Check the reviews before buying any digital book from Open Road Multimedia.

EmBee has already given a synopsis of the book's beginning, so I won't add my own. Dog Wizard is the third tale set in this particular world (the other two are, in order, The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage). As usual with Hambly, multiple plots come together and must be resolved before the book's end, the heroes are unusual, fully-fleshed out people, and there's a love story. The Windrose Chronicles is one of my favorite Hambly series, and Antryg is one of my favorite characters. So to finally get to read a story written from his point of view was a real treat. Let me emphasize that again just in case the author ever reads this and cares what I think: I LOVED having Antryg narrate. We also get a close up look at the Citadel of Wizards, and the men and women who live there. The secondary characters here are compelling, enough so that a spinoff book, The Stranger at the Wedding, was written about one of them, and the Citadel itself is fascinating.

Dog Wizard cries out for a sequel, and the author has apparently said she intend to write one...someday. I hope that day comes soon.

I've read every Barbara Hambly book published, but I think this is my favorite. She has a knack for inventing characters that are complex and real, but Antryg and Joanna are not only believable but wonderful. I can't think of them without a feeling of fondness that I'd usually associate with my own family.

I read the Windrose Chronicles when it first came out and have been waiting ( patiently? ) for another installment. I feel these are some of the best characters in Barbara's long and prolific writing career. Unique and intensley likable as well as multifaceted. We need more of this story! Parts one and two were my favorites, but this was wonderful.

This is a great read. Too bad it converted to e book so badly. Antryg Windrose is a very Doctor Who kind of character.

Dog Wizard (1992) is the third fantasy novel in the Windrose Chronicles trilogy, following The Silicon Mage. In the previous volume, Caris was revived by Antryg and returned to Prella. Aunt Min and Rosamund sent Joanna back to her own world. Antryg took poison to avoid torture by the witchfinders, but later showed up again on the hood of Joanna's Mustang.

In this novel, Antryg gets a job mixing drinks at a bar. He also rents an office in a duplex and provides wizardly advice. The neighborhood boys bring him tortoises to make rubbings of their shells.

Joanna has quit her job at San Serano Aerospace and is now a private consultant. People pay her large sums to correct or create programs for old and outdated systems. She now works from home, with occasional visits to customer sites.

Aunt Min is now the Archmage of the Council. She still seems to sleep during meetings and spill out her yarns and needles. But she does have the Master-Spells.

Rosamund is still on the Council. She loves Aunt Min and tries to protect her from strenuous activities. She is not very friendly with Antryg and wants to succeed Aunt Min as Archmage.

Daurannon is new to the Council. He had befriended Antryg many years ago when they were both novices. Daur is very ambitious and wants to be the next Archmage.

Sedes Katne is the Council Librarian. She is mageborn, but has only small powers. She has been a friend of Antryg for years.

LTRX2-499-9102-CF60913 is a particle physicist from another world. He had met Antryg previously while acting as the Dead God within a rural village. He had been tracking the xchi-particle flux within Sector Eight-Eighty, recognized the locale, and gated in with a great deal of equipment.

In this story, Joanna and others who are close to Antryg have strange -- and identical -- dreams. Joanna's friend Ruth knows where the dreams are set in a concrete storm drain. Antryg checks out the spot and sees wizard's marks from the Council mages.

Then Joanna disappears from her room. Ruth sees a darks area with a person dressed in black vanishing from view. Antryg immediately knows that a mage had come to this world through the Void and taken Joanna.

Antryg returns to the storm drain and draws his own wizard's mark. Then Council mages and sasenna appear and take him captive. He demands the return of Joanna, but none admit to knowing anything about her capture. During his struggles, Antryg is knocked unconscious.

Recovering his senses, Antryg finds himself in a room within the Wizard's Citadel. Obviously they want something from him. He soon learns that the Council has been conducting experiments with the Void. Everything seemed to be working well for the first two months, but then abominations started appearing up and down the ley lines. Even worst, anomalies have occurred within the Citadel itself.

The Council wants Antryg to investigate the occurrences, but they want to place a geas on his powers. Antryg points out that he will need his powers to protect himself. But Aunt Min uses the Master-Spells to apply pressure on his mind until he gives up and accepts the geas.

Antryg learns of the various events that have happened in the Citadel, the nearby village, and elsewhere on the ley lines. One strange thing is a moving Void Gate. Several mages have been chased by the Gate while hearing voices and smelling the scent of roses.

Antryg finds 9102 within the Vaults and exchanges information. Daur and the Council sasenna discover him with the strange being and are convinced that he has an abominable henchman. Then Antryg informs them that they will be working with his friend despite his looks.

Meanwhile, Joanna finds herself within a very unusual place. It is totally dark and her flashlight won't work. Then she discovers that the matches won't light. She decides that such energy is not allowed within this maze of corridors.

This tale leads Antryg into various and sundry adventures and traps. He tries to find Joanna within the Citadel, but all efforts fail. Then someone tries to kill him.

Although Antryg is constantly threatened with death, this work has little real action. The abominations kill and are killed, but the humans seldom even hurt each other. The book concentrates on solving the mystery of the weird happenings and takes the reader on a wild ride of twists, turns, and red herrings.

This is the last volume in the trilogy. A minor character in this story also appears in Stranger At the Wedding. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Hambly fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of advanced magics, interpersonal conflicts, and true romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

For those of you looking for pure fantasy mixed with modern technology, and don't like to read XXX-READ WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED books, this is perfect:-)