A Wizard in the Way

Rogue Wizard #9

by Christopher Stasheff

Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy. A Wizard in the Way When his longtime traveling companion settled down and got married, Gar Pike―the Rogue Wizard―had thought it would be even better to work no distractions, no disagreements, no one to care about but himself. But he wasn't alone for long. He recently managed to saddle himself with a new Alea, a young woman with a certain amount of psychic ability and a heavy dose of attitude to boot. The funny thing is, he's beginning to like having her around―particularly when they land on the planet of Oldeira. The problems Gar and Alea encounter on Oldeira include not only the tyrannical Wizard Lords who rule the provinces, but also the attitude that has been beaten and bred into their serfs. To complicate matters, Gar and Alea adopt two desperate peasants who are perfect examples of the mind-set of the entire lower class. How to raise morale and shape these people into a force that will overcome their oppressors while not getting caught or killed themselves―these are all questions that Gar and Alea must answer fast. And the only way to do it The Way.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

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 book is the ninth in the spin-off series that features the oldest son of Rod Gallowglass, the Warlike in Spite of Himself, who has become quite an interstellar adventurer and freedom-fighting agent in his own right. Magnus (aka Gar Pike) and his companion Alea find themselves on a planet where the evil overlords have formidable psionic abilities of their own, and to make things worse the oppressed serf populace doesn't seem to realize they need to be liberated. It's a clever set-up, but the narrative gets a little too bogged down in Taoist philosophical debate in places, and the romantic attraction and tension between the two liberators seems a bit too contrived and drawn out. It's a fun read, but not one of the better novels in the series.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting planet. Introduced to Taoism.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this novel, our hero GarMagnus (and the cheshire cat Evanescence) finds himself with his girlfriend female traveling companion on a planet where ghosts are real and a lot more people have the mentalic powers that GarMagnus has. As it turns out, those with the strongest powers have been promoted to the role of Wizard or Magician (complete with pointy caps a Magician's Apprentice from Fantasia) and are one of two types of mage: fire or ghost.

Fire Mages are entirely mechanical, possessing flame throwers and the closely guarded secret of napalm. Ghost Mages, on the other hand, are powerful telepaths who can speak to the symbiotic creature: the ghost. Ghosts are formed of a life form native to the planet mixed with the soul of a dying human. There is a proper discussion of souls and whether people have them and what one might be and if the soul is the person or simply a memory of the person; the opportunity isn't missed. The ghosts can also inflict pain on people, and can kill people through too much pain; the ghosts aren't entirely passive.

Through greed and basic human nature, not only did the Mages take a leadership role in their territories, they became brutal tyrants. With GarMagnus + co's help, the Tao is taught to the populace and hope is had that Mages can once again return to the helpful, healer role they were designed to have.

It was an interesting book, made all the more so because I am quite familiar with Taoism. Completionists should read it. It is not the strongest story in the series, though thankfully it isn't the weakest either.

[Kathy Sebesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forced and not very interesting.

[Grimread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately I realised too late this is part of series but I must say it is a very amusing little book that inspires me to find the whole series if I can.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read combining magic and the Tao

[Cheryl]

Magnus and Alea are trying to decide which planet needs them next when Herkimer finds a Television signal pointing in a direction that has no colony planet listed. Undiscovered planets are always interesting so they head off to see if they can help these lost colonists, will it be another planet that doesn't truly need them like Brigante? Maybe not, since the very first person they meet is being terrified by ghosts, and chased by soldiers. This planet has a whole new problem, and it's not just that the serf's are being treated badly, time to teach the Way.