From archive (archive)
Subject: Power & Magic (minor spoilers)
From: jmast@unix.cis.pitt.edu (John M Allen)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh, Comp & Info Services
Date: 12 Nov 89 21:09:54 GMT




			    POWER & MAGIC
			    by Daniel Kane
			 The Gay Men's Press
			  ISBN 0-85449-078-7

			       A review
			    by John Allen

   There is a great evil in the land.  Legend says that there is only
one person in the world who can take up the key of power and magic to
destroy this evil, but other legends say that he will destroy mankind
by handing over the key to power and magic to Dias, the lord of
demons.

   In many ways, this is a very typically Quest book.  The forces of
good join together to find the powerful magic item that will destroy
the forces of evil.  There are some places where the author telegraphs
what is coming so that when it does arrive, it is not a surprise.  At
other times however, there are surprising twists in the story.  The
most intriguing one is the nature of the key to power and magic.

   The book is atypically in its extremely positive portrayal of gays
and lesbians (which is not surprising considering the publishing
company).  The major complaint that I had with this aspect of the
story is that it seem a bit too heavy handed most of the time.  The
vast majority of the good guys were g/l and hardly a chapter went by
without some mention of the oppression of g/l people in the land.  The
reason for this oppression was worked into the story in a believable
manner, but it still seemed to be overbearing.

   On the whole, I think that it is well written and the story is good
although a bit worn for the average fantasy lover.  The ending gives a
marvelous twist to the plot and is well worth reading especially for
g/l sf readers.  I would give it a +2.5 on the modified [-4..+4]
scale.

P.S.  All royalties for the book go to the Terrence Higgins Trust Fund
to help in their work with AIDS patients.

\		 |  |			John Allen
 \		\ ||			allen@mercutio.lcl.cmu.edu
/ \					jmast@unix.cis.pitt.edu

"He had given his body to others to serve the loneliness inside of
himself, and they had taken it, perhaps to serve their own."
                        -Daniel Kane _Power_&_Magic_