What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ballad of Wuntvor #3
A Disagreement With Death
Wuntvor has caught the cold eye of Death himself, who seeks to add the hapless apprentice to his morbid minions...
185 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1989
3 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Craig Shaw Gardner
151 books136 followersCraig Shaw Gardner was born in Rochester, New York and lived there until 1967, when he moved to Boston, MA to attend Boston University. He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Broadcasting and Film. He has continued to reside in Boston since that time.
He published his first story in 1977 while he held a number of jobs: shipper/receiver for a men's suit manufacturer, working in hospital public relations, running a stat camera, and also managed of a couple of bookstores: The Million Year Picnic and Science Fantasy Bookstore.
As of 1987 he became a full time writer, and since then he has published more than 30 novels and more than 50 short stories.
He also published under these pseudonyms:
Peter Garrison
He published his first story in 1977 while he held a number of jobs: shipper/receiver for a men's suit manufacturer, working in hospital public relations, running a stat camera, and also managed of a couple of bookstores: The Million Year Picnic and Science Fantasy Bookstore.
As of 1987 he became a full time writer, and since then he has published more than 30 novels and more than 50 short stories.
He also published under these pseudonyms:
Peter Garrison
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 29, 2019
Any book with a musical number in it is all right by me. It’s just pure dumb fun.
May 20, 2022
Having charged into hell (the Netherhells) in the previous trilogy, Wuntvor heads to heaven for this finale, as well as into the realm of death for a faceoff with Death himself. Despite the epic scale these keep the same tone from previous entries. If you were hoping for resolution, there is a little but no grand epiphanies, and it feels like the door was intentionally left open for further adventures.
I was disappointed the Norei was left behind for most of this one, again. I think we should be careful not to confuse a narrators sexism with an authors sexism. There are definitely plenty of competent female characters in the story. None of them fleshed out well, but while Wuntvor's name is never given he read like someone between 17 and 21...old enough to be seen as a man but also young enough his immaturity and limited understanding of women is someone what understandable. And also at a ripe age for some personal revelations. Wuntvor makes some slow shuffles towards personal growth, getting a little more competent and confident as he goes, but it feels like two steps forward one back at times.
He somewhat reconciles himself to his crowd of companions but doesn't really make any progress seeing them as people with depths in their own right. (There's a consideration to Wuntvor throughout, so he does feel like someone who wants to learn and progress.) Alea has zero growth in the series, possibly even gets a little dumber at the end, and never gets a firm no from Wuntvor, which is frustrating given how many times he thinks about what he needs to say. Norei feels like she did competent things offscreen, but as we don't really see that...
This feels like it was set up for third trilogy which may have been abandoned. And I enjoyed it enough, I'd probably read any further adventures. But I would like to see a bit more dynamics to the characters, not just change for a punchline but a little actual growth. However, I do get there's a balance to play with tonal consistency... but so many cartoon series these days start pure nonsense and then grow into a deeper plot and see real character growth... and I'd love to see a bit of that with this series.
I'm rambling. I do like Snarks. Hendrek and the Dealer of Death gets something of a character arc, not big ones but moments of progress. It's an imaginative and generally fun world. Kind of mush of other fantasy and myths but that works well enough.
In the third trilogy that doesn't exist, I think I'd like to see a little time jump with the characters having moved on a bit, settled into new lives. To keep up the new locations, they could venture into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms...perhaps in a quest for Wuntvor to release himself from the eternal apprentice gig...as his ultimate goal is to also be a wizard.
I was disappointed the Norei was left behind for most of this one, again. I think we should be careful not to confuse a narrators sexism with an authors sexism. There are definitely plenty of competent female characters in the story. None of them fleshed out well, but while Wuntvor's name is never given he read like someone between 17 and 21...old enough to be seen as a man but also young enough his immaturity and limited understanding of women is someone what understandable. And also at a ripe age for some personal revelations. Wuntvor makes some slow shuffles towards personal growth, getting a little more competent and confident as he goes, but it feels like two steps forward one back at times.
He somewhat reconciles himself to his crowd of companions but doesn't really make any progress seeing them as people with depths in their own right. (There's a consideration to Wuntvor throughout, so he does feel like someone who wants to learn and progress.) Alea has zero growth in the series, possibly even gets a little dumber at the end, and never gets a firm no from Wuntvor, which is frustrating given how many times he thinks about what he needs to say. Norei feels like she did competent things offscreen, but as we don't really see that...
This feels like it was set up for third trilogy which may have been abandoned. And I enjoyed it enough, I'd probably read any further adventures. But I would like to see a bit more dynamics to the characters, not just change for a punchline but a little actual growth. However, I do get there's a balance to play with tonal consistency... but so many cartoon series these days start pure nonsense and then grow into a deeper plot and see real character growth... and I'd love to see a bit of that with this series.
I'm rambling. I do like Snarks. Hendrek and the Dealer of Death gets something of a character arc, not big ones but moments of progress. It's an imaginative and generally fun world. Kind of mush of other fantasy and myths but that works well enough.
In the third trilogy that doesn't exist, I think I'd like to see a little time jump with the characters having moved on a bit, settled into new lives. To keep up the new locations, they could venture into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms...perhaps in a quest for Wuntvor to release himself from the eternal apprentice gig...as his ultimate goal is to also be a wizard.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2021
The last book of the Ebenezum and Wuntvor series has the apprentice compete with Death for his master's life. The specter is intent on the idea that Wuntvor is the Eternal Apprentice, who is always reincarnated, so Death can never take him. Throughout the series, he's been showing up to try, being thwarted by Wuntvor's ever-increasing group of companions every time; but taking the master wizard is a new tactic. The apprentice sets out for Heaven to request help from the lesser god Plaugg. Along the way, they stop by the dragon Hubert's old home, where his success in the theater has led to his relatives trying to be comedians, although it hasn't stopped their desire to eat humans. In Death's own territory, they first have to beat his champion at bowling, then fight off his forces. The ending wraps up most of the loose ends in the series pretty quickly. As with many of the other books in the series, it seems a bit padded, but it was a fun dragon ride.
May 16, 2020
Craig Shaw Gardner returns with the ending trilogy of Wuntvor, when Death tries to take the Eternal Apprentice (Wuntvor). Unfortunately, this book just didn't work for me - for a humour book I didn't laugh, the main character's name is really difficult to work out how to pronounce and the plot goes from point to point, with no real idea how it got there!
October 21, 2020
Don't judge a book by its cover. This had a good cover.
November 11, 2024
A visit to heaven and the world of death via dragon and tour bus.
April 18, 2020
I would probably have enjoyed this book a lot more if it didn't depend so heavily on the previous 5 books about Wuntvor. I read the first 2 then this, and I spent a good part of the story trying to figure out the reason behind the story.
July 15, 2014
The best thing I can say about this series is that it's over. They are quick reads, but they aren't particularly good reads. Discworld did it better. Xanth did it better, at least for a while. This was ok at it's best and painful at its worst.
March 28, 2011
Although it begins with clever ideas, it quickly gets old as the clever ideas repeat themselves like an overused third grade joke. Seriously, as Mark Twain would say, "the novel goes nowhere and arrives in the air."
May 30, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
Read
August 25, 20101ST PUBLICATION IN UK. COVER BY JOSH KIRBY.
Want to read
May 26, 2011Didn't really get into it, so giving it away.
June 6, 2011
The best so far.... fifty-foot-high ferret. I laughed by A#$ off.
March 10, 2014
Side Aching Funny!!!! :-D
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews