Customer Reviews

Her Majesty's Wizard

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just by looking at the cover, 'Her Majesty's Wizard' would appear to be just another fantasy adventure. Well, not so fast...

A graduate student named Matt finds and reads an ancient manuscript, unknowingly transporting himself to another time/another world that has some interesting differences from our own world. Matt finds that through reciting poetry and literature, he can cast "spells" which help him and his new-found friends through some really tough spots as they seek to reclaim their kingdom from a wicked tyrant and his magic.

Two aspects of 'Her Majesty's Wizard' kept me hooked:

1 - The action is practically non-stop. You will have to turn many, many pages from the very beginning to find a place to breathe! Stasheff has given action/adventure fans their money's worth.

2 - The deeper implications of moral and theological thought. Stasheff's writing goes way beyond a casual look at "good vs. evil." He is able to examine, without getting too preachy, what drives his characters to do what they do. Stasheff gives us some very good scenes in which characters have to make some serious and possibly costly decisions that affect not only themselves, but many others. I appreciated the deeper look into the moral and theological issues, although it seems from other reviews that other readers don't. I found it refreshing.

If you enjoy fantasy or just like a good adventure, I highly recommend 'Her Majesty's Wizard.'

A university student from 1980s Earth is sent into a fantasy world, where he finds himself its most powerful wizard and must quickly adapt to the role. This world is build on an alternative reality concept: a medieval Europe where magic is worked by reciting poetry. Naturally the hero's vast knowledge of Shakespeare et al. comes in handy.

Had I taken the book too seriously, I would have been disappointed with magic where any rhyme will do and always works according to plan. The book could have been much shorter if the hero had simply said 'Yawn, yawn, evil's gone'. Fortunately the magic doesn't get overly abused. The battles involving magic were great, it's only the rules that need adjusting.

Stasheff is clearly a talented and well studied author. He's a bit too heavy on the religious angle, but that aside if you're looking for a read to just relax and have fun, this will do nicely.

[ Similar (and better): Terry Brooks, "Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold" ]

I do not read nearly as much Fantasy as I used too. There was, however, a time, which Fantasy was the only genre, I had any desire to partake in. Enter "Her Majesty's Wizard" by Christopher Stasheff.

This novel is a perfect mix of Fantasy, Humor and Morality all spoon-fed to us with the masterful prose of Stasheff. First published in 1986 this novel was released by DelRey when they were at the top of their game. Time was in the mid 1980's to early 1990's if the cover had the DelRey imprint on it I would buy it. This is a great example of the strong staff of editors they had in this era.

"Her Majesty's Wizard" is an example of what I like to call Reality based Fantasy. What I mean by this is that one of the primary characters, usually the hero, starts out in our reality and is transported into another reality which is different in many ways usually involving magic of some sort. This is the case in "HMW".

I hate giving away too much of the plot of a book in a review. This tendency drives me crazy when others tell me the beginning, middle and end of books so please forgive me as I only give a gist of events. The hero, Mathew Mantrell, is transported to a realm where his penchant for archaic writings and rhymes gives him magical powers. Matt's challenges are many fold. The challenges include whether or not to believe in what is happening. Secondly, whether or not to defend good, side with evil or sit on the sidelines. Thirdly, whether or not to accept universality God and what that means to Matt's existence and many more challenges. All of this sounds pretty heavy but it really isn't. One of the great aspects of this book is how light is really is in some ways. The novel does not take itself to seriously and it makes for wonderful experience.

Christopher Stasheff followed this book up with a torrent of novels that take place in this same universe as Matt. All of the novels are good but this is the best of them and, in my humble opinion, it is Mr. Stasheff's best novel period. Read and enjoy.

What an enjoyable book! I really like the fact that Stasheff dealt with religion in his medieval world. It makes sense, because the Catholic church was a main part of people's lives in the middle ages. The world, an alternate universe, is very interesting. Oaths CANNOT be broken. People aren't knighted because they are great fighters- they get martial skills as soon as they are knighted. Sins, even little ones, actually matter. Matt, the hero, has to go to confession before he can effectively fight on the good side. If he is not shriven, he is a liability to his team. Matt is a rhyming wizard. His application of rhymes is very creative. My favorite rhyme was when he works backwards from Richard III to help an embittered ogre. As Richard grows younger and less evil, the ogre grows less angry and ugly. Sometimes Matt makes up his own verse- and very crummy verse, at that. The side characters are just that- side characters. The princess Alisande, especially, doesn't have much personality. After reading the Warlock books, in which the hero's wife and children are such individuals, I was a bit disappointed in the flat sidekicks. But the interesting universe and rhymes make up for it. Don't go looking for any great romantic scenes, though! The adventure is the main point in this book.

As other reviewers have suggested, HER MAJESTY'S WIZARD is somewhat light, fun reading. The whole idea sounds silly at first, but the plot turns out to be original and interesting, and it's surprising well-written, though none of the characters are quite deep enough to keep a place in your heart after you've put down the book.

Beyond the book's light fantasy feel, however, lies what seems to me a modern retelling of a medieval morality play, complete with demons, witches, Hell, God, the Devil, and continual preaching. Of course, there are new elements, like wizards (who are good) and warrior nuns, but in general the whole thing reads as if written in response to every Sunday-school child's prayers for REAL entertainment. Catholic doctrine is literal in the parallel universe in which our hero finds himself, and it is this he must follow while battling the hordes of evil alongside knights, dragons, and a beautiful princess who is always right.

For the aforementioned Sunday school child (or grown up), this book probably IS an answer to prayer: high fantasy meets the (more strict) teachings of Christianity. For the rest of us, it's a little disturbing being preached at when we're trying to enjoy a good adventure tale. The battle between good and evil is a nearly universal theme in more formulaic fantasy novels, and it's all very well, but this book defines good as literal medieval Christian doctrine and evil as everything else, and that -- to me -- is a bit unnecessary.

In spite of that, three stars for an interesting idea and its fairly witty execution.

Stasheff brought a wonderful note of originality to his novel with the concept of the power of verse to release magical powers, and he wrote a fun adventure story for a fish-out-of-water hero who has to learn about the power he has but doesn't know how to use. This is the best book in the series, and really deserves to be read, while some of the sequels feel tired and redundant. The Queen's decision to play stand-offish for political reasons, and the use of morals and were nice tweaks on the usual plot for fantasy stories.

This is one of the best "formulaic" fantasy books written. As a "hero-gets-transported-to-a-fantasy-realm" book, it is a common premise. Since the hero incidentally has some great power of his own, also fairly common in escapist fantasy. This is not EPIC fantasy. The world is not so foreign that we cannot recognise elements of our own world in it... that is the point here. By making many of the elements VERY common, and, in fact, archaic, we readers already have a good starting point. We get dragons, witches, dark powers, and the princess in distress. Sounds good to me!
The main distinction here is that the protagonist is a career student with no real direction for his studies... a true gen-x'er. He is transported to a realm that he cannot take very seriously, until his life is threatened. What starts off as an ironic joke puts him at the center of a power struggle that has both political and religious powers coming to bear. Magic is real, and basic physical laws don't seem to work quite right. Religion is less ambiguous, there is no grey area. Much of the hero's time is spent trying to understand the new rules, and almost a reluctance to believe what he seems to already know.
The story of the power struggle is incidental to the lead character's need to understand and accept both his newfound role as a true power in the coming struggle, and his true value as a friend to those around him, his self worth. In short "Her Majesty's Wizard" is a Love story, a Wizard tale, a Growing-Up story, and a Good vs Evil tale... with happy and sad endings.
I can say without a doubt that this is a great book, whether or not one continues further with the series. Stasheff's other work, "The Warlock in Spite of Himself", is also a great read with a more Science-Fantasy bent... also the start of a series, but a good stand-alone as well.

This is a reread for me. I remembered this as a light pleasant medieval fantasy which followed a reasonably predictable formula. After rereading, I judge this as a light pleasant medieval fantasy which follows a reasonably predictable formula.

I was somewhat amazed to look on the Internets and find that this book has gotten such glowing reviews. While certainly not awful, its plot is predictable and the singing/poetry writing Wizard such a done-to-death trope that I have a difficult time really calling it more than just plain Good. If you really really like the genre, then I guess you might even call it Very Good. But I certainly would not go any better than that.

Maladjusted student type gets whisked by a magic parchment to another world where his odd collection of mismatched skills actually make him a force to be reckoned with. Poetry can call magic and Catholic dogma turns out to be all true. All his has to do to achieve true bliss is assist a drunken dragon and put a damsel-in-distress back on her rightful throne.

If you like your world-building heavy on the verisimilitude then this is not the book for you. The laws of the Kingdom strain credulity, and rather conveniently line up behind whatever the author wants to teach about Medieval laws and customs and the Judeo-Christian ethic.

As noted, a light pleasant book. The formula is dated. The moral of the story is not subtle. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend the novel, but it's only fair to note that a lot of folks seem to like it a whole lot more than I do.

I read this book when it was first published some 25 years ago (!) when I was going through a fantasy phase. While it will never be confused with great literature, it is an example of fun fantasy entertainment not much in vogue any more. No brooding vampires or boy wizards here, and the story only takes one volume to complete. It recalls earlier, and admittedly superior works, such as Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions and L. Sprague DeCamp's Incompleat Enchanter series. The plots are very similar, a 20th century man is suddenly transported to a medieval world where magic works. He has to figure out the rules by which spells are cast, defeat his wicked foes, and win the girl.Pretty standard, but fun anyway. Some reviewers complain about the Catholic dogma in the story, but as Stasheff said, its hard to imagine a medieval Europe without Catholic dogma. No need to take it so seriously. I've read fantasies where the Norse gods are real, but didn't feel that the author was trying to get me to worship Odin. Its a piece of entertainment, for Whatever's Sake. Anyway, I enjoyed it and you might too if you like how fantasy used to be written. The sequels, by the way, weren't that good, and the author fudged on the milieu he created by introducing an ecumenical element.

Interesting and Fun. I love this book and read it again every year or two. The sequel is enjoyable too.