The Warlock Insane

Warlock #9

by Christopher Stasheff

Armed with his superior technological knowledge, Rod Gallowglass has proved to be equal to the challenges of the planet Gramarye, until an evil sorcerer sets out to destroy him on the battlefield of the mind. Reissue.

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

247 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

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 one of the weaker novels in the Warlock series, and perhaps my least favorite. Rod behaves unintelligently and poorly, doesn't listen to good advise, and the book has a rather rushed feel to it. There are some clever bits of dialog and Rod's family behaves in a very patient and compassionate manner (that he does little to deserve), but the story just didn't come together for me as well as the other books did. The other characters are mostly well developed, and the planet Graymayre and its inhabitants and trappings are always fun to explore. Stasheff was the best ever at mixing the fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as portraying the dynamics of a family working together in such situations, but the Gallowglass family deserved better than this one.

[Al "Tank" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stasheff does his usual good job of telling the story. His writing has always been crisp, well-edited, and his characters consistent.

But this plot suffers. I get the feeling his publisher (Ace) bugged him for another Warlock story, so he made a rather lame one up under pressure. It just doesn’t rise to the level of the rest of the series. I get the impression his heart just wasn’t in it.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh man. So I picked this book up in a used bookstore, thinking "This looks zany and fun. I could use a little escape into another world and I used to love fantasy as a kid." I liked it because the little blurb on the first page inside the cover was so delightfully random. A robot horse tutor that turns into a vampire, a knight named Rod, some crazy old English dialogue. And it seemed like every page I turned to was chocked full of bizarre fantasy creatures and ludicrous situations. "A real romp!" I thought. "Good old-fashioned fun for old-times' sake." Nope. This book was awful. There was absolutely zero plot moving anything forward. A bunch of stuff--mostly repetitive fight scenes that made no sense--just kept happening for no reason. They are loosely held together with the premise that the main character is hallucinating, although no explanation is given for why he is doing so until the very end and then it is too little too late. Some evil wizard who has it in for him. 250 pages of a thinly-developed character being suddenly put in inexplicable peril and then magically and uncreatively rescued by some cheap gimmick. The author, Stasheff, twitters, I'm sure, at the little puns and clever-isms--like shallow references to Greek mythology and computer programming--but it all falls horribly flat.

I feel like I don't ask a lot from fantasy books. Create a little make-believe world for yourself with whatever you want--just make at least some attempt to stick to your internal logic--I'll buy into it, I swear. I'm easily and willingly duped. And tell me a little story. It doesn't have to be a good story. It can be simple. Good vs. Evil. That's fine. I'll enjoy it. And that's pretty much it. Unfortunately, this book couldn't even manage that. I can't believe I stuck it out for the whole thing. I can't believe I'm continuing to waste my time by writing about it...

Finito.

[Đenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tento Rod ma moc nebavil. Dostal jemnú psýchu a radšej sa pobral kade ľahšie aby nikoho nezabil. No a na ceste ho samozrejme chce zabiť úplne všetko. Rodova fantázia sa prelína so skutočnosťou a sám nevie, čo sa deje a ako z toho von.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better book than the last one; make it 3 1/2 stars. We start with the simple trick whereby again our protagonist is taken in by a chestnut seller, even though one of the children warns him that the seller’s mind is a complete blank, a huge warning bell that no one bothers to heed. A transparent trick, but it escapes the most paranoid mind on the planet again? Getting beyond this initial problem, assuming he is poisoned over and over again, I do like the clever solution offered up by the real hero in this novel, St. John, who through divine intervention, rescues Rod from the void to go to the Terran moon (or Graymere moon?) to find his mojo. This novel reminds me of the scene in Animal House where we have the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other whispering advice into the protagonist’s ear. Hence, the reappearance of the devil/demon in the last page.? Cute, I appreciate the humor of it. However, to broach the more serious issue that I keep going back to, assuming Brume and his henchmen are either futurists or totalitarians, they are captured like the good Abbot’s aid in custody and should be interrogated. That’s how the next novel should start rather than it being simply another trick by the futurists and Rod trying to break the next scheme. I shall see shortly. Onward!

[Marianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is best if you've at least read the first book, which provides context for backstory. Book #8 also gave some nice backstory relating to this, but perhaps less essential.

The space-faring warlock starts seeing things that aren't there, but feel real to him. I didn't feel like the moments of insanity really fell together well. It just felt like he pinged from place to place, and there was no tension about him having permanent problems or not winning the day and not figuring out the problem. Just fell short for me.

[Kurtbg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always wonder how much the author weaves into their works. How autobiographical it is and how much they use writing as a cathartic tool. If I was asked to relate this story based on the authors state of mind it would be this: man has kids. Responsibility increases. Doesn’t know where his self went as he came entrenched in being a parent. Uses writing to try and figure out where he went and what’s important.

I find reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with this type of mindset to be slightly disturbing. That’s the interesting thing about reading, which is pulling something from the work that may or may not be purposeful by the author, but resonant with you as a singular reader. Music is like that, too. Good stuff.

[C.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly my least favourite of the series. I find as the series goes along I almost start to dislike Rod.

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read and wonderful plot development. The characters in this series are great and you find yourself cheering for them and crying for them as well.

[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

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as far as fantasy goes. Book in bad condition so this one gets donated. =)