A WORLD OF TROUBLES--TIMES TWO!

When Matt Mantrell--Her Majesty's Wizard--conjured himself from magical Merovence to his hometown in New Jersey, he discovered that vicious drug-dealing gangs had reduced the old neighborhood to a wasteland--and forced his parents to the brink of destitution. For Matt, the only answer was to transport them safely back to Merovence with him.

But the Mantrells weren't the only ones moving to Merovence: While Matt had been away, an army of Moors had invaded. As Queen Alisande led her army forth to engage the enemy, Matt launched his own campaign--with the aid of his fledgling wizard parents, the faithful dragon Stegoman, and a hapless tagalong thief. They sought to root out the real enemy behind the mayhem, even if it meant grappling with djinn, matching wits with a Moorish military genius, and trading spells with sinister sorcerers. For this enemy proved to be a cunning and deadly wizard--one who served the most evil master of all . . .

From Library Journal

Stasheff (The Secular Wizard, Ballantine, 1995) continues the adventures of the wizard Sir Matthew (Matt Mantrell), a doctoral student transported via an ancient poetic chant to the Middle Ages country of Merovence. Matt moves his parents from their decaying New Jersey neighborhood to Merovence where, with magical rhymes, they help him and his wife, Queen Alisande, fight off invading Moors and genies. Stasheff creates wonderful portraits of educated people, unappreciated at home but invaluable elsewhere. While there are scattered references to acclimate readers new to the series, a full understanding of the plot is best gained from reading the earlier books. For libraries with the series.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

I appreciate the Stasheff approach to family values. I've certainly read a lot of books where the hero is conveniently orphaned, or his folks just didn't understand him, or they can't appreciate the greatness that burns within his manly breast. But Stasheff gives us a hero who's spent a couple of years battling evil and now things are good and he slaps his hand up against his forehead and says, "Gosh, wonder how the folks are doing?" It's refreshing.

--Veronica Chapman, Senior Editor