The Warlock Rock

Warlock #10

by Christopher Stasheff

When the townspeople of Gramarye become mesmerized by the beat of floating musical crystals, Rod Gallowglass sets out to uncover their mysterious origin before he loses his children to their sinister charm

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

286 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

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 3 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most amusing novel in Stasheff's long-running Warlock series, the story of interstellar agent Rod Gallowglass who is charged with protecting the telepaths of medieval planet Graymayre and finds a wife and a better life along the way. Rod, his faithful cybernetic steed Fess, wife Gwen, and their four children have some good times and many family adventures as they defend the planet from rabid political fanatics, time travelers, and all manner of dreadful foes. In this book the children are in danger of having their souls stolen by hard rock (literally) music. There are innumerable puns and sly allusions mixed in with the story, which, honestly, takes a back seat to the author being clever perhaps a bit too often. Rod comes up a bit short, but Fess saves the day!

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my last summation regarding Book #9 in this series, I made a reference to the fact that the author was becoming a Piers Anthony type writer, watering down his material for his fans and catering to the wrong crowd. What I cannot believe is my accuracy in the analogy when reading this book. This book was plum dung awful, right down to the shit puns and play on words that Piers Anthony began to use to excess after book #6 in the Xanth series. The jokes in here are awful, the plot, while linear, is boring, and the conclusion to this book leads me to truly believe that fans of this author should skip this book in its entirety, for it adds nothing new to the main issues Rod will face. I’m starting to think Rod sucks and his family are more potent now, and that he should go retire on Terra or go the prisoner planet and drink all day with the theology teacher tending bar. Boring! Get me a body bag for this one, clearly the worst book of the year. If the last 3 in this series are this bad, my reviews will get longer and acidic, like the rocks in this dumb story. All I got out of this book was in fact, a rock. I better not be wasting 3 days of my life with the last 3 in this series. Onward!

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gallowglass clan is nearly spent by all the types of music bursting around it. Rock music literally, as it comes upon the 6 from the stones at their feet, all of whom wander wondering at the sound. I dis like the interweave of different lyrics and band names, from the Grateful Dead to the words of the Immortal Puck as quiet as scrypted by that other immortal, whit Shakespeare.

[Đenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toto ma teda nebavilo. Celý čas mi na um chodila Pratchettova knižka o Soul music a jeho Valiace sa kamene. Do toho každú chvíľu sa Rod pýšil a hrdil svojimi deťmi, aké sú vyspelé, šikovné a sebestačné až mi to liezlo na nervy.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far better than I remembered from my early teenage years. I noticed far more of the musical references.

[Kurtbg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read , per usual, as references to music bands and genres are peppered throughout the book in tongue and cheek way.

Following through in the spirit of my review of The Warlock Insane of wondering how much autobiographical elements are woven into stories... I can picture the author trying to figure out how to teach his kids how do develop critical thinking skills.
In the book he “sneaks” in these lessons as the Gallowglass family seeks answers. Though, the father in the book doesn’t teach the children, it’s Fess, the robot horse companion that finesses the lessons.

[Esther_a · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the perils of comedic fantasy is the temptation to allow random cutesy puns to overtake the story. It's jarring to the suspension of disbelief.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually the first book I read of the series. Since I work in a Library, I see all these good books and the cover got my attention!

[Bidesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myslím, že si tu práci dám a seženu si někde v originále. V češtině trochu zanikají jisté slovní hříčky, ale i tak to bylo fajn.

[Eruwenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyline was subpar... but SO MANY PUNS.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soft rock, acid rocks, the beetles and Rolling Stones make hard rocks. Why are the dead dancing all over Gramarye?

[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

[C.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of puns in this book.

[Salome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must reread this in original.