This book took me completely by surprise. When I bought it over a year ago at a used book store in Kirksville, Missouri I believed I was getting a comedy. It was a fantasy novel, but the cover illustration showed a woman in a green dress using a small tree branch to knight (apparently) a man in modern clothing while a green dragon in the background looked on. Between that and the description from the back describing a man from our world being magically transported to a world of myth and magic, one can understand why I'd expect a lark. What I got instead was a meaty, full-blooded and intelligent fantasy novel.
Rather than take the Tolkien route of a world elves, dwarves and hobbits/halflings, author Christopher Stasheff created a medieval realm of knights, wizards and divine right. Saints intervene and sacraments have value in this world. Magic is sustained by a power that seems to flow through the universe, and which can be channeled by rhyme, gestures and sometimes a material component. The newly-minted wizard further learns the true depth of symbolic power in the world to which he was drawn as the story progresses.
If religion in general and the Catholic faith in particular offend you, you might feel somewhat uneasy with this book. Then again, you can remind yourself that it's just fiction describing some other place, a world where other rules apply. I found the connection between symbols, magic and faith fascinating, and the study of human nature was far superior to what we find in most fantasy novels. The "evil races" of this narrative are actually corrupted humankind (something that makes quite a bit more sense that the naturally evil orcs and goblins of other fantasy worlds), and no human is depicted as being utterly beyond redemption in this life.
There were a few minor flows in the story. One might be how the protagonist never really seemed to miss family and friends. When he thought back on life in his home universe, what came to mind was his college and his messy apartment. Also, the love interest aspect of the story felt a little forced.
Still, this is a clever and well-developed story. If you read it, you may be as surprised by it as I was...even though I've already told you so much.
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