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Windrose Chronicles #3
Dog Wizard
On any given day in Los Angeles, you might meet a person claiming to be a wizard from another world. In the case of Antryg Windrose, it happened to be true.
Though Joanna Sheraton was an A-1 professional hacker, she could honestly say that computers weren’t her whole world—nor was the city of Los Angeles, the United States or the planet Earth as most people knew it, for that matter. Because Joanna had crossed the Void between universes into another reality, where magic was the only true science.
There she’d met Antryg Windrose, a mad renegade wizard, who, owing to a rather bizarre set of circumstances, now lived with her in sunny California—seemingly as far away as he could get from his former colleagues on the Council of Wizards. Most of them considered him a charlatan…a mere dog wizard who lacked the proper discipline needed to wield magic. Yet when monsters began invading the Council’s world—abominations from across the Void—even those mages not convinced Antryg was responsible knew that he was their best chance of combating the terror.
So they pooled their power to Summon him back, a call he fully intended to ignore…until they took away that option by kidnapping Joanna. Then he had no choice but to try to rescue her, though he knew it might cost him his magic, and his life.
Though Joanna Sheraton was an A-1 professional hacker, she could honestly say that computers weren’t her whole world—nor was the city of Los Angeles, the United States or the planet Earth as most people knew it, for that matter. Because Joanna had crossed the Void between universes into another reality, where magic was the only true science.
There she’d met Antryg Windrose, a mad renegade wizard, who, owing to a rather bizarre set of circumstances, now lived with her in sunny California—seemingly as far away as he could get from his former colleagues on the Council of Wizards. Most of them considered him a charlatan…a mere dog wizard who lacked the proper discipline needed to wield magic. Yet when monsters began invading the Council’s world—abominations from across the Void—even those mages not convinced Antryg was responsible knew that he was their best chance of combating the terror.
So they pooled their power to Summon him back, a call he fully intended to ignore…until they took away that option by kidnapping Joanna. Then he had no choice but to try to rescue her, though he knew it might cost him his magic, and his life.
389 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 23, 1992
89 people are currently reading
581 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,580 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 10, 2025
Good story, but suffers from the change of POV character to Antryg Windrose for most of the book. Maybe I miss having the plot circle around Joanna, because when she comes into the story my interest perked back up. Good buildup to the reveal of the big, bad monster and the actual antagonist late in the book. Coming off two really good books makes me just a little unhappier with this one than it probably deserves. 3.75/5
January 9, 2014
In our magicless world, Joanna and her friends have dreadful visions, and this summons the exiled wizard Antryg back to his home world. As the foremost expert on the Void, only he can solve the mystery of why gates between realities are opening at random within the mages' Citadel. But Antryg is hindered by mistrust and the geas binding his powers, and time is running out...
I was pleased to return to this universe and these characters. This isn't a perfect book: the plot gets a bit dogged down in magic/technobabble at times; nothing stalls my interest like a plot twist that centers around a paragraph of nonsense words. Antryg babbles ~amusingly~ pretty much constantly, which amused me at the start but now just reads like a patronizing affectation on his part. Calling guardswomen incomparable beauties and suchlike rubs me the wrong way. Just give someone a straight answer and stop trying to cozen everyone into liking you! ugh. Even Dumbledore could speak to the point when it mattered. But Hambly has rounded Antryg out enough that although I don't find his dotty patter charming the way she seems to expect I will, I do understand why he puts on the act. Joanna remains a solidly believable character, but she has very little to actually do.
Still, I'd love to read more of Antryg's world, where magic is known but constrained by an increasingly powerful Church, and wizards are sworn to remain neutral, even when it means that terror and tyranny stalk their lands. I enjoyed getting an eye into the mages' Citadel, with its odd placenames, leftover magics, and the hints of how the outside world works (like the way each wizard takes their tea suggests the class they were born into, and explains some of the tensions between them). Not the most satisfying book in the broad strokes, but the interesting bits are all in the details, from Joanna's ruminations about finally emotionally opening up (and thus becoming vulnerable) to the tension between mages and the townsfolk that supply their daily labor.
I'd be remiss if I didn't note that the cover art for this is awful and doesn't fit the characters or feel of the book in the least.
I was pleased to return to this universe and these characters. This isn't a perfect book: the plot gets a bit dogged down in magic/technobabble at times; nothing stalls my interest like a plot twist that centers around a paragraph of nonsense words. Antryg babbles ~amusingly~ pretty much constantly, which amused me at the start but now just reads like a patronizing affectation on his part. Calling guardswomen incomparable beauties and suchlike rubs me the wrong way. Just give someone a straight answer and stop trying to cozen everyone into liking you! ugh. Even Dumbledore could speak to the point when it mattered. But Hambly has rounded Antryg out enough that although I don't find his dotty patter charming the way she seems to expect I will, I do understand why he puts on the act. Joanna remains a solidly believable character, but she has very little to actually do.
Still, I'd love to read more of Antryg's world, where magic is known but constrained by an increasingly powerful Church, and wizards are sworn to remain neutral, even when it means that terror and tyranny stalk their lands. I enjoyed getting an eye into the mages' Citadel, with its odd placenames, leftover magics, and the hints of how the outside world works (like the way each wizard takes their tea suggests the class they were born into, and explains some of the tensions between them). Not the most satisfying book in the broad strokes, but the interesting bits are all in the details, from Joanna's ruminations about finally emotionally opening up (and thus becoming vulnerable) to the tension between mages and the townsfolk that supply their daily labor.
I'd be remiss if I didn't note that the cover art for this is awful and doesn't fit the characters or feel of the book in the least.
August 1, 2012
I love Hambly and this is well written, and if you liked the first two books then this is a nice follow-up. But it’s not really my kind of story. There’s too much magic, and I have never liked the mixing of magic with technology. The combination of mysticbabble and technobabble had me skimming some passages.
I like the characters and I was glad to see Joanna and Antryg again. I wish there had been more written about their life together in Los Angeles, either before or after the adventure depicted here. I know this isn’t meant to be a romance, but I was left unsatisfied with the state of their relationship.
The cover art for this edition seems to belong to some other book.
I like the characters and I was glad to see Joanna and Antryg again. I wish there had been more written about their life together in Los Angeles, either before or after the adventure depicted here. I know this isn’t meant to be a romance, but I was left unsatisfied with the state of their relationship.
The cover art for this edition seems to belong to some other book.
February 1, 2013
Better than I expected. Having completed her original story in the first two books, it was natural that this third book would almost stand alone. And is a better tale for it.
Map quibble. I love illustrations almost as much as maps. Why, then would the publisher insert a labeled illustration without the legend?
Technical note: most of the "me"s were rendered as "the"s, making reading really difficult.
Halfway through the book, the identity of the next Arch-mage was obvious. ;-)
Map quibble. I love illustrations almost as much as maps. Why, then would the publisher insert a labeled illustration without the legend?
Technical note: most of the "me"s were rendered as "the"s, making reading really difficult.
Halfway through the book, the identity of the next Arch-mage was obvious. ;-)
April 24, 2023
You know how in Star Trek they'll just randomly talk about polarizing the whoseewhatsis and there's always a ticking (figurative) clock at which point the *insert technobabble here* will happen? And did you know that Barbara Hambly wrote at least one Star Trek book? Do you see where I'm going with this?
Where I'm going is obvious to anyone who knows my taste. This book is awesome.
Okay, there really is too much technobabble about various whatsises and doohickeys. And the author lost track a few times, I think, of which mages would know what about, say, computers. (Answer, only Antryg should have the faintest clue.)
And because of the technobabble and similar magic handwaving, there's no way for the reader to actually hold the author to account for plot fudging.
Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun for those of us who at least occasionally like our entertainments old-fashionedly goofy.
Where I'm going is obvious to anyone who knows my taste. This book is awesome.
Okay, there really is too much technobabble about various whatsises and doohickeys. And the author lost track a few times, I think, of which mages would know what about, say, computers. (Answer, only Antryg should have the faintest clue.)
And because of the technobabble and similar magic handwaving, there's no way for the reader to actually hold the author to account for plot fudging.
Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun for those of us who at least occasionally like our entertainments old-fashionedly goofy.
June 2, 2025
Could this be my favorite Windrose novel? Maybe!
I love the citadel descriptions, and having the “Dead God” come back was a treat. It’s too bad it took so long to get Antryg and Joanna back on the same page, though I don’t think the ending was ever in much doubt.
A cracking good time!
I love the citadel descriptions, and having the “Dead God” come back was a treat. It’s too bad it took so long to get Antryg and Joanna back on the same page, though I don’t think the ending was ever in much doubt.
A cracking good time!
June 4, 2012
I think I liked this book better than the last because for most of it, Joanna was locked in a crystal and wasn't part of the story. I know, that's probably terribly un-girly of me, but her constant worry about loving or not loving Antryg was still annoying from the last book. Although, I have to admit that one of her laments did resonate with me - when she was worry about needing him and being afraid that that need would cause her to screw herself up for him or that she's not doing it right - not being the right kind of person; and worrying about giving into that need and then he leaves her. I get that concern, being a kind of person with that particular compulsion to be perfect (and yes, I blame that problem on past manic controlling boyfriends).
In any event, I enjoyed this 3rd book - the searching and saving the world. It did get a bit confusing at times as to what was going on. But I do appreciate the writing style here, where events are taking place and they don't appear to go on hold just because a couple of main characters are having a dialogue.
In any event, I enjoyed this 3rd book - the searching and saving the world. It did get a bit confusing at times as to what was going on. But I do appreciate the writing style here, where events are taking place and they don't appear to go on hold just because a couple of main characters are having a dialogue.
June 22, 2008
The third installment of the The Silicon Mage duo: not as closely tied in plot but you would probably get more out of it if you've read Silent Tower first. There is still plenty of wit and action here, and it was cool to see more getting done with the Void. I think the reason I didn't like this one as much as the first two was that the characters weren't together so the dynamic wasn't the same. Even Antryg can't carry all the witty banter on his own!
February 25, 2008
The bookclub edition I bought at Half Price Books has a particularly unappealing Darrell Sweet cover, I thought. This final Joanna & Antryg story is set about 4 months after the end of the previous 2-book cycle. It's more of an additional book in the same world than the conclusion of a trilogy. The plot is tight and exciting, but it mostly lacks the emotional edge of the earlier novels.
March 10, 2025
Voids are opening and abominations are running amok in Hogwart's so the Council of Wizards decides to ask Antryg for help. He is living with Joanna in L..A. and is not interested in coming back to the people that killed him, so to encourage him they kidnap Joanna. So Antryg goes to Hogwarts. He is the acknowledged expert on all things Void and the most powerful wizard living, and since the Council is facing a problem they can't handle and it could be really bad and Antryg is the only one who can fix it they naturally strip him of all his powers. And threaten to kill him.
What follows is Antryg searching the catacombs of Hogwarts for Voids and clues and Joanna and not really finding much that is helpful. The wizards hate him and continually try to stop him from doing what the summoned him for, there are multiple attempts on his life, and he has nightmares. Daily he sneaks away from his guards, goes underground looking for clues, steals some food, asks some people for help, takes some caffeine supplements to stay awake, then falls asleep and has nightmares. When the wizards catch up to him they threaten to kill him. Rinse and repeat.
This is really a very drawn out detective novel. It's a one piece setting, most everything happens in the castle city. While it's described as a series of interconnected buildings filled with secret passages and mazes in the end it's just one big house with a spooky basement. While I had a good idea who the culprit was early on the clues leading there were opaque and the method used was revealed Sherlock Holmes style, so a working knowledge of thaumaturgy would be helpful. Of course Antryg knew almost immediately but didn't tell anybody, just like Holmes.
A good book, but I found the Council of Wizards totally irritating and irrational. The world being limited to one enormous building didn't work well for me as it led to interminable passages describing trap doors and bridges and ladders and hidden doors. A decent story butt not my favorite in the series so far.
What follows is Antryg searching the catacombs of Hogwarts for Voids and clues and Joanna and not really finding much that is helpful. The wizards hate him and continually try to stop him from doing what the summoned him for, there are multiple attempts on his life, and he has nightmares. Daily he sneaks away from his guards, goes underground looking for clues, steals some food, asks some people for help, takes some caffeine supplements to stay awake, then falls asleep and has nightmares. When the wizards catch up to him they threaten to kill him. Rinse and repeat.
This is really a very drawn out detective novel. It's a one piece setting, most everything happens in the castle city. While it's described as a series of interconnected buildings filled with secret passages and mazes in the end it's just one big house with a spooky basement. While I had a good idea who the culprit was early on the clues leading there were opaque and the method used was revealed Sherlock Holmes style, so a working knowledge of thaumaturgy would be helpful. Of course Antryg knew almost immediately but didn't tell anybody, just like Holmes.
A good book, but I found the Council of Wizards totally irritating and irrational. The world being limited to one enormous building didn't work well for me as it led to interminable passages describing trap doors and bridges and ladders and hidden doors. A decent story butt not my favorite in the series so far.
July 14, 2024
You know that thing where they do a sequel to something you really love but only one of the main actors can reprise their role so they shift the story to focus on them with the original main characters appearing more as a cameo rather than a full character? That was exactly how this story felt.
Antryg was my favourite character for the first two books, and it was great being able to peek behind whatever was going on inside his addled mind, but lack of other POVs and the reduction of Joanna's role made it all a bit bland.
It was fine, and if you liked the last two books this will be fine. There's a lot of new insight into the wizards and politics but the whole story felt like an afterthought and it really didn't feel like it was needed.
Though finding out Antryg was working as a bartender and tarot reader in California was fun.
Antryg was my favourite character for the first two books, and it was great being able to peek behind whatever was going on inside his addled mind, but lack of other POVs and the reduction of Joanna's role made it all a bit bland.
It was fine, and if you liked the last two books this will be fine. There's a lot of new insight into the wizards and politics but the whole story felt like an afterthought and it really didn't feel like it was needed.
Though finding out Antryg was working as a bartender and tarot reader in California was fun.
January 23, 2025
This book was fine, I guess? I enjoyed being in the world and seeing the characters again, but it felt very different from the first two. For a start, this book is heavily focused on Antryg, with most of the characters from the previous two books making minimal or nonexistent appearances. Even Joanna, our primary POV character from the first two books, spends most of this third installment bottled up in a mostly-off-screen prison. And I am left rather frustrated, since while book two ended on a narratively satisfying conclusion to the arc of the initial pair of books, the conclusion of this book leaves open plot threads that would imply a fourth concluding volume, which as far as I can tell does not exist. So, while I enjoyed this book for what it was, I am left with a slightly sour taste from the series as a whole.
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January 12, 2020This is a sequel to the two-parter about Joanna, Caris, and Antryg. This time Joanna is kidnapped from earth and Antryg goes back to find her and is compelled by the Council of Wizards to deal with the Void, which is cracking up all over the place. He keeps trying to find Joanna, but a geas has been placed on his magic, rendering him essentially powerless. He finally is reunited with Joanna (who brings Magister Magus along with her), while Antryg has met up with their old friend the “Dead God,” now known as Nineteentwo [?]. Eventually everything gets sorted out (I wish she would go back and write about young Min, Minhyrdain the Fair), parts of it are hysterically fun.
2020 note: Clearly I need to reread this.
2020 note: Clearly I need to reread this.
September 30, 2024
After someone uses the Void to kidnap Joanna from our universe, Antryg throws himself on the mercy of the Council so that he can rescue her in his original universe. The Council claims ignorance of her whereabouts. But this is the least of everyone's worries, because a gate to the Void has been left propped open and all manner of nastiness is flowing through...
I was disappointed with this instalment, mostly because Joanna was given bugger all to do for most of it. Sure, it was great to see Antryg in his element and more deeply explore his place in his world, but it's the mark of a lazy author to not even bother to find space for the series' other main lead, who is now reduced to a damsel who conveniently gets thrown on ice until the plot requires her. The plot in general was okay.
I was disappointed with this instalment, mostly because Joanna was given bugger all to do for most of it. Sure, it was great to see Antryg in his element and more deeply explore his place in his world, but it's the mark of a lazy author to not even bother to find space for the series' other main lead, who is now reduced to a damsel who conveniently gets thrown on ice until the plot requires her. The plot in general was okay.
November 19, 2023
I didn't really remember this, and reading it again I understood why. It's a bit of an after-thought and doesn't add much to the story of Joanne and Windrose. There's too much wandering around in tunnels and altogether too much of people blaming Antryg Windrose for absolutely everything. There's a kind of "distrust trope" sometimes, where everyone treats a character like crap just because of his reputation and not when he's clearly honourable and knows more than anyone else. I find it tiresome. It was okay in the first two books, because there was actually reason for it, but not really in this one.
January 12, 2018
Whoa! Rarely do I find an author break the formulas that work in a series without breaking the series! While the storytelling was the same quality as the previous ones, this was enjoyable as much for the different story type and for having the mad wizard the central character.
I noticed the further Windrose adventures either don't have the same characters (strange, since Windrose is a character's name) or are short stories but I'll probably jump into them as well.
I noticed the further Windrose adventures either don't have the same characters (strange, since Windrose is a character's name) or are short stories but I'll probably jump into them as well.
May 14, 2018
This one is very Antryg-centric (on the one hand I really like Antryg but I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see more of Joanna.) The pacing seemed a bit slow in the middle, but I enjoyed the effects and visitors from other worlds, especially the Dead God.
June 7, 2019
Happy to say the book held up over time
I am always afraid, when I read something that I read long ago, that the suck fairy has visited. I'm happy to say this did not happen with this book. I'm also happy to say that it was a more convoluted and complex book than I remember
I am always afraid, when I read something that I read long ago, that the suck fairy has visited. I'm happy to say this did not happen with this book. I'm also happy to say that it was a more convoluted and complex book than I remember
March 22, 2025
This is a difficult book to read. All you keep thinking about is the torture people will think of for the good guys. But it was definitely worth it to see their strength of character. Even though it also showed the baseness of their enemies.
January 19, 2020
Loved this series, and wish I there were more of them.
August 21, 2020
Happy sigh. Oh Antryg! Love this series.
December 31, 2021
A really enjoyable fantasy novel. A fully self contained story even though it is part of a series. Now I know another fantasy writer to fall in love with!
November 22, 2022
Somehow this entry in the series didn't do anything for me. I guess I just didn't care and as a result I was bored and it took me forever to drag myself through.
April 7, 2023
3.5 stars
February 9, 2025
Can a Dog wizard get into more trouble?
This series just gets more incredible with each chapter! I just love how much trouble everyone can get into. But does it all work out or just sort of not really? More questions for the next book...
This series just gets more incredible with each chapter! I just love how much trouble everyone can get into. But does it all work out or just sort of not really? More questions for the next book...
June 14, 2025
Loved it!
June 18, 2020
After reading the other 2 books in this series I enjoyed this third and last one. I read Hambly's A Free Man of Color probably 20 years ago and liked it very much and her name has stuck with me. This fantasy series is of course quite different but her world building and characters do draw you in.
December 8, 2015
The two previous Windrose Chronicles sent our heroes tramping across the country in time-honored fantasy fashion, but for this one Hambly has decided to write something that bears a startling resemblance to a classic English country-house mystery instead. It does vary from the usual template, to be sure: instead of a country house we are (once we leave L.A. behind after a chapter or two) in the Citadel of Wizards. Naturally, then, the suspects are all wizards, as only someone with magical powers could have committed the crime here, namely opening a gate into another world and then holding it open long enough that the fabric of existence starts to shred. Which means that the butler did not do it, although, as per usual, the criminal turns out to be the least likely suspect. Our detective is, of course, Antryg Windrose: in a neat twist, he's also (to all the characters in the book, at least: the reader knows better, of course) the number-one suspect, due to his past record of tampering with the Void, and so, in yet another clever bit of plotting, he has his magical abilities temporarily removed, leaving him to investigate as best he can armed with only his wits and his encyclopedic knowledge of the various passages that wind through the citadel. As Joanna's particular skills don't really lend themselves to this kind of work, Hambly arranges to have her kidnapped and dumped into a magical prison where nothing can happen to her: she stays there for most of the book, only emerging for the climax, when her computer abilities and weapons skills allow her to help save the day. Extra layers of intrigue -- especially once the Witchfinders show up -- serve to deepen the mystery: it's hard to tell whether the attempts to kill Antryg are intended to stop him from learning the truth, to further a different nefarious plot than the central one, or to obtain revenge for what the wizards believe to be Antryg's murder of Salteris.
The mystery story comparison only goes so far: Antryg isn't investigating the way a classical Great Detective would be, as his focus is, naturally, more on finding and closing the Gate that's filling the basement with hungry abominations (as the basement is actually a magical labyrinth, this turns out to be a tall task) than on figuring out who was responsible for opening it. However, Hambly does do an excellent job of scattering disguised clues throughout the book, so that when the criminal is revealed (alas, there's no big drawing-room scene a la Poirot) lots of things fall neatly into place. And the different narrative structure gives "Dog Wizard" a freshness that was at times missing from "The Silicon Mage." Hambly once again shows that she was one of the better fantasy writers working in the '80s and '90s, and I'm glad to see that her website says she is, for the first time in over a decade, working on a new fantasy series.
The mystery story comparison only goes so far: Antryg isn't investigating the way a classical Great Detective would be, as his focus is, naturally, more on finding and closing the Gate that's filling the basement with hungry abominations (as the basement is actually a magical labyrinth, this turns out to be a tall task) than on figuring out who was responsible for opening it. However, Hambly does do an excellent job of scattering disguised clues throughout the book, so that when the criminal is revealed (alas, there's no big drawing-room scene a la Poirot) lots of things fall neatly into place. And the different narrative structure gives "Dog Wizard" a freshness that was at times missing from "The Silicon Mage." Hambly once again shows that she was one of the better fantasy writers working in the '80s and '90s, and I'm glad to see that her website says she is, for the first time in over a decade, working on a new fantasy series.
March 4, 2013
I usually don't bother rereading this one when I reread the first two books of the series, so I've probably only read Dog Wizard two or three times. I gave it a try this time through and, well, there were nice things about it but I definitely remembered why I don't usually bother.
A few months after the events of The Silicon Mage, Antryg and Joanna have settled down in LA. Joanna is a freelance programmer now, and Antryg is bartending and fortunetelling, which is pretty much what he can do in a world without magic. Then Joanna gets kidnapped across the Void (what, again?) and Antryg, who if you'll recall had been sentenced to death in Ferryth, goes back to face the Council of Wizards because, hey, they've got Joanna. Only they don't have Joanna, they have no idea what he's talking about, and they want his help because there are Gates through the Void in the Citadel and they're all going haywire.
I just don't think the plot really worked in this one. Maybe it would have been better if the story had tried to make it a bit of a mystery about where Joanna had been taken, but the book tells us in one of the chapter epigraphs pretty early on, it tells Joanna only a little later, and then we the reader get to watch Antryg wander around being confused about that. And he doesn't even solve this one! Basically she runs into him!
I do like how most of the book is Antryg's POV, which we never got in either of the two previous books -- those were all alternating between Caris and Joanna -- and how we get to see the Citadel and hear about how he was trained there, after Suraklin, and the friends he made. But he also spends most of the book with his magic bound, and wouldn't it have been more exciting to see a wizard be a wizard?
The actual plot with the Gates was kind of meh and overly complicated (and I ended up not really caring who took Joanna, which is probably bad, and I didn't want to read about her wondering if she should break up with Antryg), though, hey, at least the Dead God comes back. Everyone likes him!
(Ebook woes: in the Open Road edition almost every instance of the word "me" has been changed to "the." Whoops. Also the ebook does reproduce the map of the Citadel, numbered, but it doesn't reproduce the labels that the numbers go with. It's a good thing I kept my paperback.)
Overall, if you read the first two and just have to get more of Antryg and Joanna you'll probably read this anyway, but I really don't think it's as good.
A few months after the events of The Silicon Mage, Antryg and Joanna have settled down in LA. Joanna is a freelance programmer now, and Antryg is bartending and fortunetelling, which is pretty much what he can do in a world without magic. Then Joanna gets kidnapped across the Void (what, again?) and Antryg, who if you'll recall had been sentenced to death in Ferryth, goes back to face the Council of Wizards because, hey, they've got Joanna. Only they don't have Joanna, they have no idea what he's talking about, and they want his help because there are Gates through the Void in the Citadel and they're all going haywire.
I just don't think the plot really worked in this one. Maybe it would have been better if the story had tried to make it a bit of a mystery about where Joanna had been taken, but the book tells us in one of the chapter epigraphs pretty early on, it tells Joanna only a little later, and then we the reader get to watch Antryg wander around being confused about that. And he doesn't even solve this one! Basically she runs into him!
I do like how most of the book is Antryg's POV, which we never got in either of the two previous books -- those were all alternating between Caris and Joanna -- and how we get to see the Citadel and hear about how he was trained there, after Suraklin, and the friends he made. But he also spends most of the book with his magic bound, and wouldn't it have been more exciting to see a wizard be a wizard?
The actual plot with the Gates was kind of meh and overly complicated (and I ended up not really caring who took Joanna, which is probably bad, and I didn't want to read about her wondering if she should break up with Antryg), though, hey, at least the Dead God comes back. Everyone likes him!
(Ebook woes: in the Open Road edition almost every instance of the word "me" has been changed to "the." Whoops. Also the ebook does reproduce the map of the Citadel, numbered, but it doesn't reproduce the labels that the numbers go with. It's a good thing I kept my paperback.)
Overall, if you read the first two and just have to get more of Antryg and Joanna you'll probably read this anyway, but I really don't think it's as good.
February 4, 2013
Premise: Sequel to The Silent Tower and Silicon Mage. Joanna again returns to Antryg’s home dimension, but not willingly this time. Antryg follows in search of her, but he finds his former colleagues are less concerned with the fact that he’d escaped his death sentence than with who or what is causing severe disturbances in the Void. Disturbances that threaten to unhinge the world of magic, and trap both Antryg and Joanna between dimensions.
This is a tremendously misleading
cover, just FYI.
This book is set about 6 months after Silicon Mage, but the publication dates are five years apart. As such, Dog Wizard is less “Part Three” and more “the continuing adventures of.” Some characters recur, but the tone and the emphasis is a bit different, and the plot is relatively unconnected to the previous books.
It was a pretty fun book, though. This book spent much more time with Antryg, getting into his head, where the previous ones mostly focused on Joanna. There was a lot more about magicians and their private culture and interactions. They hold themselves somewhat separate from the world, but are always actually interacting with locals and in danger from authorities. It felt a lot like the community in some liberal arts colleges I know, both for good and for ill.
I was surprised to see the return of one character in particular, but happy. The multiverse implied by this series doesn’t get a lot of play, otherwise.
The solution to the mystery was satisfying and sad, and while I saw one of the final twists coming, I still enjoyed it when it landed. It does rather beg for another sequel, but other than a stand-alone book in the same world and a handful of priced-just-too-high-for-a-short-story offerings on the author’s website, this is the end of the story for now.
Similar to the other offerings by Open Road Media, this book had terrible OCR translation. It wasn’t unreadable by any means, and it didn’t have the section break problem that plagued Silicon Mage, but it confuses “the” and “me” a lot. So. My advice: only buy the Kindle/Nook/etc. version on a very cheap sale, or if you’ve got room, check it out in paperback.
This is a tremendously misleading
cover, just FYI.
This book is set about 6 months after Silicon Mage, but the publication dates are five years apart. As such, Dog Wizard is less “Part Three” and more “the continuing adventures of.” Some characters recur, but the tone and the emphasis is a bit different, and the plot is relatively unconnected to the previous books.
It was a pretty fun book, though. This book spent much more time with Antryg, getting into his head, where the previous ones mostly focused on Joanna. There was a lot more about magicians and their private culture and interactions. They hold themselves somewhat separate from the world, but are always actually interacting with locals and in danger from authorities. It felt a lot like the community in some liberal arts colleges I know, both for good and for ill.
I was surprised to see the return of one character in particular, but happy. The multiverse implied by this series doesn’t get a lot of play, otherwise.
The solution to the mystery was satisfying and sad, and while I saw one of the final twists coming, I still enjoyed it when it landed. It does rather beg for another sequel, but other than a stand-alone book in the same world and a handful of priced-just-too-high-for-a-short-story offerings on the author’s website, this is the end of the story for now.
Similar to the other offerings by Open Road Media, this book had terrible OCR translation. It wasn’t unreadable by any means, and it didn’t have the section break problem that plagued Silicon Mage, but it confuses “the” and “me” a lot. So. My advice: only buy the Kindle/Nook/etc. version on a very cheap sale, or if you’ve got room, check it out in paperback.
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