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Spellsinger #3

The Day of the Dissonance

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To save his dying mentor, Jon-Tom the spellsinger and his ever reluctant sidekick Mudge the otter must venture across time and space to confront a danger unlike anything they have faced before

Jon-Tom and his friends have seen better days. After his motley crew moved heaven and Earth to save civilization at the battle of Jo-Troom Gate, his merry band went its separate ways. Mudge, the foul-mouthed otter, eagerly returned to thieving, drinking, and whoring, while Talea, the girl of Jon-Tom’s dreams, embarked on her own adventures, leaving him to study magic with Clothahump, the irascible wizard whose inept spell trapped him in this weird otherworld in the first place.
 
But now Clothahump is dying, and not even Jon-Tom’s spellsinging can make him well. In search of medicine for the centuries-old turtle, he and Mudge venture across the seas on a dubious quest that will require the assistance of an Amazonian white tiger, a ferret, and a gender-challenged unicorn. They’re going to need all the help they can get.

Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1984

90 people are currently reading
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About the author

Alan Dean Foster

497 books2,025 followers
Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.

Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.

Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.

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5 stars
701 (23%)
4 stars
1,178 (39%)
3 stars
956 (31%)
2 stars
152 (5%)
1 star
18 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
Profile Image for Craig.
6,268 reviews176 followers
June 4, 2024
This is the third book in Foster's Spellsinger series, but the second adventure since the first two told a single tale. It's a humorous quest fantasy, with a couple of the original cast members reprising their roles and a few new characters. I especially liked the tiger woman and a gay unicorn. One aspect that I did not care for was that the conclusion of the previous book revealed Jon-Tom's true love, his one absolute soulmate, the woman who came back from death itself so that they could be together forever... well, she's not in this one, she's off doing her own thing, and Jon-Tom ends up spending a lot of time with an underaged young woman named Folly who's naked a lot. It kind of messes up the continuity and lessens the likability of the character. On the other hand, Jon-Tom spends a lot more time actually Spellsinging, though younger readers will probably have to go ask their grandparents about some of the songs. It's altogether a light and funny quick read, told with Foster's customary clarity and good humor.
Profile Image for Thom.
1,810 reviews73 followers
July 8, 2016
Grabbed this quick book in a lull, probably read it as rapidly as my younger self did. This time I was interrupted by work instead of trips to the local video game arcade.

Jon-Tom is tasked with a new quest, and his former companions have scattered to the four winds. He picks up one, the lovable otter Mudge, and sets out to cross an ocean in search of precious medicine. The rest are summoned or acquired on the journey, and make for an interesting assortment.

At times the journey seemed to skip a bit, but at least this speedy story was finished within the covers of one book. Fairly sure this was the last I read as a youth, impatient with the author's pace and on to weightier college tomes.
Profile Image for Danie Ware.
Author 59 books205 followers
August 18, 2025
Still loving these, old friends revisited.

They've dated a little (though not as badly as some), but still magic.
Profile Image for Wendy.
184 reviews
October 24, 2012
Well, it's got a gay unicorn - have to give extra points for that!
Profile Image for Lory Blanco (areaderheart).
627 reviews17 followers
May 19, 2021
I enjoyed the previous one but this installment really had a lot of misses. Somehow, Jon-Tom got progressively more annoying as the story went on. The whole Folly thing, made me very uncomfortable. Apart from the fact that she was also very annoying.

Honestly, the only thing that got me through this book was the quest (I love quests stories!) and the secondary characters. Roseroar was great. Also, props for the gay unicorn, I about died at that lol.

I think I'll wait a while to pick up the next one. I'm not as motivated to get through this reread as I was before.
Profile Image for Amie.
500 reviews8 followers
May 17, 2025
Day of the Dissonance carries the Spellsinger series forward with more random magical mayhem and quirky (and sometimes even likeable) characters. Jon-Tom continues to grow into his odd new world, this time on a mission to save a dying wizard. The pace and humour stay strong, and I liked how the world keeps expanding without losing its charm. Still light and entertaining, but building momentum nicely.
Profile Image for Cognatious  Thunk.
534 reviews31 followers
March 3, 2018
While I will not be reading his first two books again, I'm quite happy I continued the series. I enjoyed this book immensely.
Profile Image for Todd Mulholland.
58 reviews2 followers
April 25, 2014
The spellsinger comes into his own.

This is the third book of the spellsinger series, and continues to follow our protagonist, Jon-tom Merriweather. The spellsinger from our land really comes into his own in this book. The previous two books were basically one story, and while the spellsinger came out victorious, he never seemed to be effective, but rather lucky. In this one, he take a far more active agency in his own story.

I liked this one better than the other two. It felt more like a high-fantasy story, and the characters (and the troubles they found themselves in) were very interesting and entertaining.

The story continues to be told in third person omniscient, switching back and forth as far as who's feelings are revealed, sometimes too frequently. Other than that slight quibble, this is a very enjoyable escapist high-fantasy story. I'd put it very slightly heavier than the myth series, but on around that level.
Profile Image for Camille Stanford.
231 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2012
I might have really liked this book - the story, places, and characters were well-developed - except for all the problems I had with the language and innuendos, especially from the side character, Mudge, who seemed to have very few redeeming and likable characteristics at all. I like the idea of spells coming from songs (especially more modern ones), but I don't think I would enjoy the other books of this series.
Profile Image for Teresa Greer.
7 reviews
May 3, 2013
Sentient animals? It's been done better in so many other books. This series of books straddles the line between juvenile and adult lit, and is suitable for neither. Adults will likely find it ridiculous and boring, and unsuitable for younger readers due to the casual dropping of the F-bomb here and there in the dialogue. Not to mention that the constant popular culture references really date the story. Quaint, but not charming.
Profile Image for Chris.
62 reviews18 followers
February 24, 2012
I read this as a teenager.

Back then I read sci-fi and fantasy almost exclusively, and this author (ADF) was one of my favorites; in particular, his Spellsinger series.

Don't know if I would like this book the same if I re-read it as an adult, but in my memory it was an entertaining read.
Profile Image for Chris Boulton.
182 reviews2 followers
June 30, 2013
A gay unicorn, parrot Pirate Captain, sands of time, a demon kangaroo being carried around in a kangaroos pouch and manic depressed telepathic mushrooms .. what more could you want?

Also I'm a little bit in love with Roseroar.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
4 reviews
Read
November 20, 2013
Pretty basic fantasy book. Not hard core reading, but a good read none the less.
Profile Image for Meggies.
941 reviews12 followers
August 6, 2017
Jon-Tom hat sich mittlerweile damit abgefunden, dass er vom Hexer Clodsahamp nicht so schnell in seine Welt zurückgeschickt werden kann.
Hinzu kommt, dass der Hexer auch sterbenskrank ist und dringend eine Medizin braucht, die ihn vor dem Tod bewahrt.
Diese Medizin gibt es jedoch nur in dem Laden "Irgends und Nirgends", dass sich im weit entfernten Crancularn befindet.
Jon-Tom macht sich zusammen mit seinem Freund, dem Otter Mudge auf, die Medizin zu besorgen. Aber es ist ja klar, dass dies keine ruhige Reise werden wird.

Der dritte Teil des Bannsänger-Zyklus beginnt sehr resigniert, da Jon-Tom mittlerweile damit abgeschlossen hat, je wieder in seine Welt zurückzukommen.
Auch die Beziehung zu seiner Freundin Talea hat nicht so funktioniert, wie er es sich vorgestellt hat. So gehen beide getrennte Wege. Doch Jon-Tom kann sich damit nicht so recht abfinden.
Er lebt nun bei Clodsahamp, der ihm unter anderem Magie lehrt. Aber Clodsahamp ist krank und benötigt dringend eine Medizin. Ansonsten stirbt er.

Die Reise ist für Jon-Tom eine willkommene Abwechslung und so macht er sich auf den Weg.

Wer die ersten beiden Bände der Reihe schon kennt, weiß, dass das natürlich keine einfache Reise wird. Viele Gefahren befinden sich auf dem Weg, aber es gibt auch neue Bekanntschaften, die Jon-Tom und Mudge schließen. Die Tigerin Roseroar zum Beispiel ist ein Kraftpaket und wird Jon-Tom eine gute Freundin.
Aber auch das Frettchen Jawar und das Mädchen Wahnwitz stoßen zur Truppe und mischen alle gehörig auf.
Als dann auch noch das homosexuelle Einhorn Drom auftaucht, scheint das Chaos perfekt.

Der gewohnt lockere Schreibstil des Autors lässt einem wieder durch die Geschichte fliegen. Diesmal hält sich der Autor auch nicht mit großen Detailbeschreibungen auf, sondern legt den Fokus auf die Geschehnisse innerhalb der Gruppe, die dann auch dazu führen, dass Jon-Tom immer mehr zu einem Bewohner der neuen Welt wird.
Jon-Tom nutzt aber auch die ihm in den Weg gelegten Steine, um neue Möglichkeiten zu finden und wird mehr als einmal als Retter der Truppe geehrt.
Selbst Mudge, der mit seiner großen Klappe auch so manchen Seitenhieb gegen Jon-Tom loslässt, muss bewundernd zugeben, dass Jon-Tom sich sehr weiterentwickelt hat.

Das Land, das Jon-Tom und seine Begleiter durchqueren, ist ebenso geheimnisvoll, wie die Medizin, die Jon-Tom besorgen soll. Am Ende zeigt sich aber mit dieser Medizin nochmals eine große Überraschung. Dieser Einfall sorgte gerade bei mir für einen großen Lacher.

Trotzdem lässt mich der dritte Teil unzufrieden zurück. Ich kann mich erinnern, dass dies beim ersten Lesen vor über 20 Jahren schon mal so war. Auch wenn die Gefährten fast keine Ruhepause haben und ständig Bewegung in der Geschichte ist, fehlt das gewisse Etwas der ersten zwei Bände. Da die Reihe aber wieder bergauf geht, freue ich mich auf das Weiterlesen.

Fazit:
Nicht so faszinierend wie seine beiden Vorgänger.
Profile Image for RunningRed NightBringer.
190 reviews2 followers
Read
November 7, 2024
Third book in the Spellsinger saga. Jon-Tom is a law student from California summoned to a land of talking animals to fight an evil threat and is stuck there. He can do magic by singing and playing a guitar like instrument called a duar. The results are a bit hit and miss. Singing Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" summons the giant kitty lady seen on the cover.

The series is comedic fantasy. A lot of the humor coming from either Jon-Tom's magic not working right, or his trying to be a decent guy in a world where the moral code skews a little different.

This book has him going on a small quest to retrieve medicine for his ailing mentor, a turtle wizard Clothahump. He's assisted by his friend Mudge, an Otter with fast paws and a lecherous mind and gains companions in Roseroar an Amazonian white tiger, Jalwar, a ferret saved from thieves, Folly, a human girl saved from pirates and Drom, a gold colored unicorn with a certain resistance to maidens of pure virtue.
He and his companions have to deal with pirates, thieves, overweight fairies and melancholic mushrooms.

It's a fun little book and worth a read. And if you're not familiar with all the song references, look em up on YouTube, you might discover a new favorite.
48 reviews
February 4, 2017
STILL nothing is happening in these books.. why am I so dedicated to finishing them! I don't know! I just know they go past quickly and I'm happy.

Yet. More. Characters. I've already forgotten who was in the first book, the entire menagerie of a troop that counts as the cast of these stories blurs into one. There is the fighty one, and the other fighty one, then the mouthy one, the reluctant one, and the wise one. I wonder if Foster picked out of a hat who would fill each role before writing the books. Still, the world building continues to be good, there were one or two events in this book that actually impressed me - I couldn't help visualising a few of them as the descriptions, whilst simple, really help get across detail rapidly. It's a definite skill of Foster's, and I think it comes from his screenwriting experience. A scene unfolds cleverly and succinctly and before you know it, the action is roaring ahead.

I couldn't stop myself starting on the 4th one immediately after finishing this one, which, as before, is my entire recommendation. Also less animal sex in this one, that's nice.
Profile Image for Sara.
363 reviews2 followers
September 7, 2025
I mean, it was fine. Honestly more like a 2.5, but since I do sort of enjoy the story, I didn't mind adding a little half star, since I'm so generous. I think my biggest problem with this series (aside from who recommended it to me in the first place) is how chauvinistically MALE it reads to me....which, given the person who recommended it to me, tracks. The story was engaging, though; I actually think that so far this is the strongest book in the series. I kind of saw the final twist, but eh, I'm old; it was still funny. I loved the introduction of some of the characters, but I wish Foster hadn't tried to give Roseroar an accent because I never could quite figure out what she's supposed to be sounding like...Southern? Cajun? French? It's as mysterious as the titles of the songs that Jon-Tom uses; I find it so annoying that these books are literally about a guy casting spells by singing songs that are, I assume, meant to be actual songs that exist...yet he never actually says what they are. Is that a copyright thing, or is Foster just being a twit? I kind of feel like it's the former.
1,525 reviews3 followers
Read
October 23, 2025
To save his dying mentor, Jon-Tom the spellsinger and his ever reluctant sidekick Mudge the otter must venture across time and space to confront a danger unlike anything they have faced before Jon-Tom and his friends have seen better days. After his motley crew moved heaven and Earth to save civilization at the battle of Jo-Troom Gate, his merry band went its separate ways. Mudge, the foul-mouthed otter, eagerly returned to thieving, drinking, and whoring, while Talea, the girl of Jon-Tom's dreams, embarked on her own adventures, leaving him to study magic with Clothahump, the irascible wizard whose inept spell trapped him in this weird otherworld in the first place. But now Clothahump is dying, and not even Jon-Tom's spellsinging can make him well. In search of medicine for the centuries-old turtle, he and Mudge venture across the seas on a dubious quest that will require the assistance of an Amazonian white tiger, a ferret, and a gender-challenged unicorn. They're going to need all the help they can get.
Profile Image for Rob.
1,415 reviews
October 13, 2021
The story is getting easier to follow with the familiarity of the characters from the earlier books, I guess the point is to escape to this other world and just hang out? For me there is just some thing missing but I haven't figured it out yet. I am starting to like the characters and maybe that's enough for now. I don't think it would be easy to just skip books and still know what's going on, as sort of a morbid curiosity, This is a Good Read.
Profile Image for Christopher Grunberg.
11 reviews
March 10, 2022
This book made me consider whether I wanted to continue the series. I like it as a standalone book but it felt like a different episode in a TV show. I dont think it furthered the over arching story at all and I think I was just tired of the "JonTom has to go across the world to do x and on the way he meets y and z" story archetype.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
173 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2022
Quite a story! Mr. Foster's creativity is absolutely amazing! I mean it! Far beyond the wizards in his stories, Mr. Foster conjures up breath-taking concoctions of characters and situations that dazzle the mind.

Crazy fun story. Ending doesn't require a continuation to another book. Really liked it.
Profile Image for John Shaw.
1,197 reviews12 followers
August 25, 2025
When I was
much, much younger
I discovered the
Science Fiction Book Club.
Which was basically
a gateway drug
for nerds.

I found this darling
series by Foster.
It was just what young
me needed.

Fun
Full of Adventure
Serious, but only at really
at a late primary
early secondary school level.

I outgrew it pretty
quickly.
I do however have
nothing but happy memories.
Profile Image for Brian.
719 reviews
July 28, 2018
7/28/18 - 7/10

Book 3 was another quick fun adventure read. The romantic relationships are still quite juvenile, but I thought the characters and plot were a bit better with a bit of a predictable twist at the end.

447 reviews3 followers
March 31, 2023
Testing is so relaxing!

Can't say enough about ADF mastery of the written word. Always a great use of time, the ultimate payment. Once spent never returned sometimes wasted and sometimes jus what you meed.
Profile Image for Bill Jones.
419 reviews
May 24, 2024
Jon_Tom is sent on a quest to fetch medicine for Clothahump, the aged turtle wizard. He collects Mudge and sets off - only to find that this quest is more of an adventure than he expected. Really enjoyed it - good stuff!
Profile Image for Joshua Meyer.
134 reviews2 followers
October 28, 2024
Continuing the story, it seems like these could all be combined into one larger book, but it's still a fun journey. This might be the weakest of the stories so far in this universe. I did however enjoy all the cast of talking animals and banter. Lighthearted and a good palate cleanser.
907 reviews3 followers
July 30, 2019
Yes on an Alan Dean Foster kick at the moment. Not sure how to rate this one but not as good as the other two so far.
Profile Image for Ryan Freeman.
Author 13 books45 followers
March 1, 2020
It’s a solid 3 star book. It’s fun. It’s weird. It’s zany. As enjoyable as most other good fantasies to spend a Saturday afternoon in. Play on, Spellsinger!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews

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