The Warlock Is Missing

Warlock #6

by Christopher Stasheff

When their parents suddenly disappear, the four Galloglass siblings--Magnus, Cordelia, Geoffrey, and Gregory--must combine the skills of their mother's power and their father's training in order to save them. Reissue.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Epic Fantasy

201 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

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 one of my favorites in the Warlock series. Rod and Gwen are missing, and it's up to their four children to rescue the situation. The kids learn to work together and cooperate as they explore and practice their powers; it's a good, uplifting story. The babysitter, Robin Goodfellow, gets a bit tedious a time or two, but Fess, the robot horse, is always worthwhile. Stasheff was one of the best at blending fantasy and science fiction, and at chronicling family dynamics.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I've read these books since they came out in the 80s, and it was fun to find two of them at my local used bookstore. I had no memory of this other than thinking I'd enjoyed it, and I expected to find the Gallowglass children looking for their missing parents. But instead this follows their adventures, with Fess and Puck, while their parents are away. It's a series of adventures with bad elements in their country as they travel together. Light-hearted and fun, I quite enjoyed this. Be prepared to never learn where their parents were in this volume - that's not the focus at all.

[Kurtbg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised by this book, because it was written in the Eighties, but the format and pace closely matched "The Midnight Folk" by John Masefield published in 1927.

The story focuses on the four Gallowglass children whose parents have vanished. The Father, Rod Gallowglass, is the high warlock of a medievalish fantasy world,m and his wife, Gwen, a witch disappear. The children endeavor to find them and have one adventure after another. A shockingly unexpected amount happens in the first thirty pages.

When I understood this was book six in a series, and went and read book 1 Escape Velocity I was shocked to discover that book six was completely different than the preceding, and following books.

[Đenis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zatiaľ, čo rodičia boli unesený do preč, deti zažívajú svoje dobrodružsto. Rovnakí nepriatelia za neprítomnosti veľkého čarodeja a jeho manželky začnú zase rozvracať kráľovstvo a tak sa do toho vložia deti podporované Pugom, leprechánom Kellym, Rodovým ocelovým koníkom a zčistajasna jednorožcom. Príjemné oddychové počúvanie, v ktorom deti zistia, že nie su všemocné.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so glad I read this book out of order, having somehow missed this book in the progression, because book #10 had me dreading the last two in this series. I enjoyed the plot in this one, having the main protagonists out of the picture literally so that the kids could go on an adventure. This one unbelievably gets rather bloody, no matter how careful the children are in being morally good, which mirrors the real world situations that this series quickly moved away from. What this book does not do for me is it once again fails with respect to the main issue in the series: that is trying to win the fight against the anachists/futurists/totalitarians. Once again, they treat the symptoms but not the cure. The children can and do subdue a number of the off worlders in this adventure, actually finding a futurist base of operations monitoring the planet happenings, but fail to derive any useable information from the site once they get the alien monitors out of the house. Furthermore, after all the antagonists are either killed, captured or neutralized, no one goes back to that house in future novels to derive what I’m sure would be lots of clues as to the real identity of the “bad guys” behind all of the intrigue to change Graymere from being democratic. Oh well, onward!

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features psychic, levitating, warlock children, a mysterious unicorn who has zero personality, a bumbling robot horse that shuts down when its presented with a logical fallacy, Robin Goodfellow as a babysitter, a leprechaun from Judea (a leprecohen, ugh this joke is in the book), a giant, evil warlocks, and other magical creatures that barely get more than a paragraph. Long story short, this book is dumb. Really dumb. But enjoyable in its dumb nature.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adventures while their parents were gone.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another in the long "Warlock" series - this one takes place at the same time as the previous novel; while the Warlock and his wife are trying to find their way back home through time and space after being swept away by their enemies, their children are left at home in the care of Puck. They end up drawn off on an adventure including unicorns, dragons, giants, wicked witches, bandits, and more. The children and their fairy protectors (including a Jewish fairy - a Leprecohen - named Kelly) overcome all these and more. It's not a terrible story, but it is not a great spin-off from the main plotline, and is less coherent than the other stories, in my opinion.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens whilst the warlock and his wife are missing? Ask any babysitter like poor Puck. Robin Goodfellow will probably never get to babysit his favorite charges again after all these adventures. Luckily for the King the children were left at home or there might not have been a kingdom for Rod and Gwen to return to.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

only for his fans. The well is running dry

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't remember why, but I found this book slower to get through than any other one in the series...I think it was the odd setting and changes in settings.

[C.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the books with the children discovering their powers.

[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