Wizard At Large, by Terry Brooks

Wizard At Large is the third book in the Landover series by Terry Brooks (the only fantasy author I read). I started with Brooks’ Shannara series and started reading the Landover series a few months ago when my boss recommended it.

Magic Kingdom for Sale — SOLD! is the first book in the series. Ben Holiday, a Chicago lawyer and widow, buys the magic kingdom of Landover from the evil wizard Meeks, who wants the kingdom for his own. Ben must overcome the challenges of being king to a land which hasn’t had a king in a very, very long time, and he must keep Meeks from taking the medallion that allows him to be king of Landover from him.

In the second book, The Black Unicorn, rumors of a black unicorn begin to spread. Ben, Questor, and Willow each have vivid dreams that are seemingly prophetic. Because of the dreams, Meeks is able to trick Ben into thinking he has lost the medallion to Meeks, and takes over. Ben must reclaim the medallion and defeat Meeks.

In Wizard At Large, Questor Thews — Ben’s Court Wizard — tries to turn Abernathy back into a human from the half man, half dog hybrid Questor accidentally made him years ago. As usual, poor Questor’s magic backfires and sends Abernathy to the U.S. — and into the hands of their enemy, Michel Ard Rhi.

Ben and company have to get Abernathy back before the wish demon Questor accidentally transfers in court scribe Abernathy’s place destroys Landover — and before Michel connives Abernathy into giving him Ben’s medallion, which Questor used while trying to transform Abernathy.

“Wizard” is my favorite in the series so far. I felt so bad for Questor, who always means well but has a hard time mastering the magic his evil half brother Meeks is so good at.

I read most of “Wizard” in one night. I couldn’t access the internet to work, so I spoiled myself and read instead. Terry Brooks has a habit of reviewing everything from the previous books, which worked in my favor this time since it’d been a while since I’d read The Black Unicorn. It would be annoying to someone reading the books back to back, but it’s usually brief and I usually just skim over it.

Brooks also uses a lot of description and does a lot of telling rather than showing, but the stories he writes are always so good that I barely notice.

Wizard At Large is a fantastic read for those who love fantasy and for those who like adventure stories. You can even read it to a child before bed, because Brooks keeps his prose family friendly — even though his main audience is adults. (I started reading his novels when I was ten or eleven, and my mom did, too.)

What did you think of “Wizard”? What is your favorite book so far in the series, and why?

PS: Photo coming soon! Photo is up!