Part of the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series, The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers by Hugh Cook is a strong action-orientated standalone novel that accomplishes several things that the other books were not able to. There is a certain air of familiarity here; the book presents a fairly straightforward plot, sticks to it, and offers plenty of swordfights, mystery, and humor throughout it. The Women and the Warlords and The Wizards and the Warriors both seemed to lose focus midway through, teetering on the edge of uncertainty, but not here.
The story follows a red-skinned Ebrell Islander named Chegory Guy as he explores the neighboring city. It has fallen victim to a massive energy drain and the recent theft of its precious wishstone has caused everyone with a knife to be questioned. There is also a pseudo-political struggle for power while demons run amuck, possessing others at will.
Cook manages to create a diverse cast, each with just enough personality to make them memorable. Personal favorites were Empress Justina, Uckermark, and Chegory Guy himself. He makes for a simple hero, always having to make decisions between what is better for the city or better for him. He's still a rambunctious youngster, but manages to grow up a decent amount during the novel's time.
And gone are the awkward dictionary entries at the beginning of chapters. Instead, we have a slew of editors and fact checkers inserting notes or deleting paragraphs of text as they please. It's not as strange as it sounds, and actually adds a lot of flavor to the story, making it seem much more real than it could possibly be.
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