The Warlock Heretical

Warlock #7

by Christopher Stasheff

THOU SHAT NOT SUFFER A WITCH — OR WARLOCK — TO LIVE!Beyond science and sorcery, time and space, the enemies of peace once again come to the lost colony planet Gramarye. Their to tempt the clergy with visions of power, and lead them in war against the throne to establish a theocracy.

The Abbot of the Monastery of St. Vidicon has promoted himself to Archbishop, separated the Church of Gramarye from the Roman Catholic Church, and appointed himself — not the Pope — as head of the church. Anyone who disagrees, up to and including the Queen, is labeled a heretic and excommunicated.

The peasants and nobility of Gramarye, not sure who to believe and fearing for their souls, slowly choose sides as armies gather and the shadow of civil war looms over the kingdom.

It’s up to the High Warlock Rod Gallowglass and his family to find some way to avert the coming battle before the first blood is shed — if they’re not burned at the stake for heresy first!

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Adult, Humor

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

The late Christopher Stasheff was an American science fiction and fantasy author. When teaching proved too real, he gave it up in favor of writing full-time. Stasheff was noted for his blending of science fiction and fantasy, as seen in his Warlock series. He spent his early childhood in Mount Vernon, New York, but spent the rest of his formative years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stasheff taught at the University of Eastern New Mexico in Portales, before retiring to Champaign, Illinois, in 2009. He had a wife and four children.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another good installment in the Warlock saga. Rod Gallowglass, his robotic companion Fess, his wife Gwen, and their four children defend the rightful crown of Graymayre against the evil political schemes of foreign agents and time travelers and all other comers. The religious overtones of the details get a little convoluted at times, but it's a fun story. Stasheff's stories featured the dynamics of family and teamwork to great advantage, and he was among the best at blending high fantasy tropes into good science fiction.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is 3 1/2 stars. The main issue in this book was dealt with by the author in part in other novels, but the separation between church and state is the paramount, and only issue in this one. This is actually a short story dragged out due to the slow effect each proclamation from the brainwashed Abbot is described in large detail throughout the community of Graymere. The major difference between this novel and all the previous ones is that in the end, Rod finally gets his man. At the end we have a captured futurist that is finally identified by Rob prior to the confrontation scene at the end, and both neutralized and immobilized. The actual antagonist is caught red handed, but we never get to the interrogation stage, which I must assume is in the first few scenes of the next novel, an actual cliffhanger, when compared with the “happy” endings of all the prior novels. I felt jipped, but not by the lack of violence and prevention of the civil war once again, but by the book ending prematurely. At this point I’m growing tired about the futurists being unknown and trying every scheme to turn Graymere into a totalitarian state. I am hopeful that the upcoming novels are Rod getting proactive vs the scheming futurists rather than just reacting and applying band-aids to Graymere civilization. Seriously, if they have possession of a time machine, they can just kill Rod at the right moment of vulnerability, like when he’s in the bathroom or something simple like that. In any event, I am hopeful that Rod goes proactive in eliminating the source of threats to Graymere so we can all finally go home. Onward.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page 191 bottom has best quote by McGee.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another in the long series of "Warlock" books; this one features a focus on the necessity of the separation of church and state (and what a hard sell that would be in a medieval society!). The whole series is O.K., never truly great, but never truly horrible. Start at the beginning if you're going to read them, though - you really need some backstory to enjoy the later books.

[Đenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tentokrát agenti totality skúsia zlomiť Gramarijskú demokraciu pomocou náboženstva. V týchto knihách od Stasheffa sa mi vždy podarí pochytiť nejaké tie nové vedomosti o niečom z histórie, alebo z fungovania spoločnosti, režimu, kracie a tak. To sa mi páči, ako si to tam postavy nenásilne vysvetľujú a celkom pekne to zapadá do príbehu.