DIME STORE MAGIC
By Kelley Armstrong
Bantam Spectra Supernatural Fantasy
ISBN: 0-553-58706-4
Paperback
U.S. $6.99
Book Rating: 8
Review by James M. Ward

Kelley Armstrong writes a line of books called WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD SERIES. DIME STORE MAGIC is part of that series, but it’s a book that can be read without knowing about the other books.

In Ms. Armstrong’s “otherworld” universe, we see a modern day world where supernatural creatures like vampires, witches, werewolves, and sorcerers walk among normal humans and hide their existence as best they can.

In this world sorcerers tend to work in cabals with those organizations looking like huge corporations, but spanning the centuries and managing awesome magical power. Witches, to a Cabal sorcerer, are nothing more than employees to be used up as the Cabal sees fit.

Paige Winterbourne has taken on the responsibility of raising a young teenage witch into the ways of the coven. That would have presented more than enough of a challenge, but it seems young Savannah might be the daughter of a witch/sorcerer relation. The sorcerer is the head of a powerful Cabal and suddenly he wants his daughter back. He’s willing to take her using all the Cabals resources from legal means to direct attacks by cabal witches.

The combination of using normal legal means to gain his daughter and the use of supernatural force makes for a great read. In all of this trouble, Paige determines she is in the need for a supernatural lawyer and she finds Cortez, not only a sorcerer lawyer, but also one known for fighting the power of the Cabals. The only problem with him is that as we learn more and more about him we discover he’s the son of the most powerful Cabal in the world.

Ms. Armstrong works the world of the supernatural well with the natural world. I enjoyed reading this book and I strongly recommend it to readers liking modern day fantasy.

_{Fantasybookspot - fantasy book reviews and fantasy book author interviews}

Science fiction changed forever when the Viking probe landed on Mars in 1976 and sent back color pictures of the rugged, ochre-colored landscape. No longer could SF writers set their stories among the "canals" of Mars, or have colonists romping across the surface of the planet without spacesuits. Much previous SF had also contained elements of fantasy, including epic family sagas or unrealistically fantastic depictions of other planets. At the same time as the Viking landing, fantasy began to emerge as a separate genre, led by the best-selling sword and sorcery epics of Terry Brooks and Stephen R. Donaldson.

The Viking probe's real science and the rise of fantasy drove SF into the new level of scientific depth that permeates the genre today, as written by authors like Allen Steele. However, old-school SF, like Jack Vance, still offers the mix of science and the fantastic that dominated science fiction before the mid 1970s. _The Dragon Masters_ features genetically engineered dragons and the galactic remnants of the human race fighting for survival on a barren planet. This 1962 Hugo Award-winning SF classic has been reissued in a "Definitive Edition" single volume, along with _The Last Castle_, a novella that was the other half of the 1966 Ace Double of _The Dragon Masters_.

This novel has all the hallmarks of great classic SF: a fascinating world with a strange semi-human race, intricate backstory detailing the settlement of this world, a technologically superior alien antagonist in the Basics, human application of science in the breeding of battle dragons, and a climax that forces the human characters to ponder their role in the universe. All of these elements are presented briefly for the reader within the context of a small war between factions of colonists. Vance has clearly worked out the intricate details of the colonists, the semi-human sacerdotes, and the countless types of bred dragons. These elements seem scattered as he works through the immediate conflict between two settlements of colonists, but they all converge in the climactic final battle.

_The Dragon Masters_ also has many of the shortcomings of classic SF. Only a half-dozen characters are ever given individual names. The characterization of even the most detailed of these, Joaz Bambeck and Ervis Corcolo, is paper-thin. Huge sections of the novel, including all of Chapter 2, are devoted to explaining the political backstory. Yet the workings of the society, including the economy, are never detailed. The various battles, which take up three-quarters of the novel, are depicted from a distant, unit-level perspective. The narrative lists how many dragons of each different type went where, but it never shows the combat up-front through the eyes of a character.

Over forty years after it was written, _The Dragon Masters_ stands as a well-developed and solidly written example of the classic SF style that mixed elements of science and fantasy. It isn't as scientifically rigorous as modern SF, and it isn't as detailed as modern fantasy, but its middle ground between those extremes offers an accessible read for modern fans of either genre.

The first thing a reader will notice with the odd piece of fantasy literature is the publisher’s note. This note basically states that this is a possible true accounting of events by Septimus Agorius. Whether the information within can be proven to be true or just a hoax created by some old British family is still unknown, but personally I would have to say this story is entertaining all the same.

Having noticed this book on a normal visit to the bookstore with Dalerone, we both quickly acquired copies thinking it would be a fun read. I was completely amazed with the illustrations found within, and the life-like drawings of dragon parts. Having run out of things to read one fine day I decided to give The Dragon Chronicles a try. After reading the publisher’s note on the first page I was perplexed, wondering if this could at all be something real, or just another lame excuse for a “realistic” fantasy story. I dove quickly into the tale of Septimus Agorius as he travels the Four Kingdoms to do his Sovereign’s bidding and slay the dragons plaguing his domain.

After having read this book I was still not completely turned away from the possibility of a hint of truth behind the tale. Much like modern fairy tales, they are mostly derived from an embellished ancient event, and so I hoped that this may be something of the same. The writing style is a different sort of story taking many interesting looks at dragon anatomy and mannerisms. Still somewhat skeptic as to the authenticity of this book, and whether there was any truth behind it I decided to read through again and see if there was anything I could find to dissuade my first thoughts. And I’ll be . . . there it was, a novel supposedly written somewhere around 400 A.D. makes mention of steel! Now for all those people out there who don’t have this random bit of trivia in their heads already, the process of creating steel wasn’t discover until around 1855 A.D. which completely rules this novel out as anything more than an attempt to gain notoriety, which to say in the least was disappointing. But none the less this novel still receives a rating of 7 for presenting a good story, even with its false pretenses, and one of the best illustrating jobs I have seen in a long time. If you are looking for something for that rainy Sunday go out and pick up The Dragon Chronicles.

Dissolution is the beginning of a new era to the dark elves. The minions of Lolth find themselves without a god, without leadership, and without the magic of the high priestesses. Richard Lee Byers, the author of the first of the six book series, brings us to a new view of the dark elves. Using his marvelous style in showing a character’s personality he begins the journey that would change history. R. A. Salvatore the supervisor of the series chose six authors to write “The War of the Spider Queen” series, and gave Richard the chance to begin it. His hard put effort in writing Dissolution does it justice in making it a perfect prologue.

The main plot behind this novel is let the reader understand the fact that the events that are happening all around the under dark cities might well change things forever. More that one story is woven to one, captivating the reader at every turning point. One of the most beloved characters by R.A. Salvatore, Gromph Bearne the archmage of Menzoberranzan, has taken liberty to seek the distruction of Quenthel, his most hated sister. Meanwhile Quenthel is oblivious to his attack, and inflicting fear upon the hearts of her students, and worrying about the disappearance of her magical powers. Pharaun, an ex-Master of Sorcere, enjoys a secret rivalry with Gromph. He is put in a mission to find a few renegades that run away from the city. In which he gets hunted by his own family, and when he thinks he is rid of that problem, he finds that the “renegades” are a band of rebels lead by a mysterious lich. Pharaun discovers from this band that they are attempting to attack the Drow city and change the way things are governed. Ryld Argith, one of the previous minor Master of Melee-Magthere the school of fighting, on the other hand is dragged by his friend Pharaun into a dangerous adventure into a lot of

This was my first big leap into fantasy and I had high expectations. I wasn’t quiet sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first, but by the end I couldn’t put it down, and can’t wait until I get the second part in the mail this week.

This is your typical fantasy book here, it’s got everything you expect and plenty more. There is your usual hero, who is trying to impress his father, get the girl, prove he is worthy etc. etc. Aside from that there are some very interesting characters that help our young hero in his quest. Our young prince battles along-side a young druid struggling to find out her true past, a well-trained foreign rogue, a typical Halfling hunter and the worlds most renowned bard.

The story sticks to the typical fantasy story-line for most of the book, but can go from bringing you the most expected to being entirely spontaneous and unexpected. That’s what we love about fantasy though, giving the author his freedom to let the impossible happen. Douglas Niles has an awesome way of describing all the battle scenes in his story and it really makes them feel very real. It is a tad gruesome but you get used to it.