Subject: Review of _With_A_Single_Spell_ by Lawrence Watt-Evans

From: [email-masked] (Doug Ingram)
Date: 8 Jul 91 19:24:45 GMT

WITH A SINGLE SPELL
                       by Lawrence Watt-Evans

               Review copyright (c) 1991 by Doug Ingram

[Bibliographic information at the end of the article]

	While this book isn't exactly part of a series, it is the second
book of a group of unrelated tales set in a world called Ethshar.  The
other two are called _The_Misenchanted_Sword_ and _The_Unwilling_Warlord_.
All three books are similar in their approach:  they are simply stories
about rather mundane people who are the victims/benefactors of very
unusual events.  That, and a friend's recommendation, are what drew me
to this out-of-the-ordinary fantasy book.  

	Actually, all of the books I've read by Watt-Evans thus far 
(including the Ethshar books and the Lords of Dus series) are similar
in this regard, and I find it very refreshing.  Not something I'd
recommend for everyone, of course, but it's nice to read a light and
entertaining story once in a while which doesn't have the fate of the
whole world hanging in the balance (well, that's not entirely true in
the Lords of Dus series, but I digress).  

	This particular story revolves around an apprentice wizard named
Tobas, who is just at the point of mastering his first spell when his
master passes away.  True to the form of Watt-Evans' hapless characters,
Tobas promptly burns down all of his master's old valuable possessions
when he tries to break the seals on his master's Book of Spells, leaving
poor Tobas looking forward to a bleak future of helplessness and poverty
until he decides to venture to the mainland from his home to see what the
Hegemony of Ethshar has to offer for him.

	At first dazzled by the glamor of the big cities, Tobas' stomach
soon leads him on a fruitless hunt for work.  Finding that no wizards want
the burden of an old apprentice and that the town guards have little
patience for vagrants, Tobas allows himself to be talked into becoming
a dragon hunter by a silver-tongued recruiter.  Soon after, Tobas arrives
in a remote kingdom with the assignment of killing a nasty local dragon.
The rewards, of course, are considerable for Tobas should he succeed, but
the job also carries a high mortality rate.  

	It's a real delight to read about Tobas and his fellow recruit,
Peren, as they hunt for the dragon like the hapless idiots they are.  While
not intended as Pratchett-like slapstick, Evans' subtle humor shines
through in this book.  Of course, Tobas soon finds himself deeply involved
in magic and adventure, as one might expect, and it's a delight to follow
along with him.  The beauty of Watt-Evans style is that he lets the plot
follow the protagonist along seemingly random paths, giving the reader
a feeling of freedom, for lack of a better term, while still providing a
story rich in detail and characterization.

	Again, it's not the kind of story that I can recommend for everyone,
but if you've read too much epic fantasy by Tolkien, Eddings, Donaldson
and the like, give Watt-Evans a chance.  I picture the first three authors
as scholarly professors, preaching a complex and inspiring tale from on
high while Watt-Evans, on the other hand, is the weathered old camp guide
who is glad to share an amusing tale over a campfire.  Each storyteller
has his own merits, so if this is the kind of story you're looking for,
Lawrence Watt-Evans' Ethshar series may be for you.

%A Watt-Evans, Lawrence
%T With A Single Spell
%I Ballantine Books
%C New York
%D March 1987
%G ISBN 0-345-32616-4
%P 263 pp.
%O paperback, US$3.50
%O order from Ballantine Mail Salies, Dept. TA, 201 E 50th St., NYC, NY 10022.

Doug Ingram // [email-masked] // [email-masked]
			"Carpe Datum"