Footwizard

This is our 13th outing into the Spellmonger universe. Well, more like 20th if you count all side novels and novellas let alone the two spinoffs that Mancour has penned. People think that Pratchett and King were/are prolific authors, but Terry Mancour keeps pumping out at least two very lengthy books a year in what has now solidified itself as my all-time favourite series. To not only continue a singular storyline for so long but have it become progressively more and more engrossing, engaging, and all-around brilliant is something I have never come across in any other series I’ve read or listened to. This man is my idol.

Now, as I’ve said prior to every Spellmonger review that I’ve penned, these aren’t books that you can just pick up. Or at least, they aren’t by this far into the series. This is the single most expansive yet easily understandable fantasy universe I have yet come across, but you do need the knowledge of the story so far and the world within which it takes place if you are to get a worthwhile listen/read from this book. So, if you are reading this review, I’ll assume you too have carved your way through Mancour’s literary mountain and we can just crack on.

A nice change of pace this one. No world-ending villains or blood-soaked battlefields here. No, no, no. In this outing, Min and a retinue of his best and brightest are off on a seven-week quest to the Vale of Anghybel, a land devoid of magic. It’s a land of unusual beasts, unusual peoples, and unusual threats where Mancour has really let his imagination go wild whilst always keeping his creations grounded within the rules and logic of his universe. This book is far less about the action and much more about the story, where several of the slow-burn storylines set up through the series either get explained or at least fleshed out a great deal more. Often this slower story would get a thumbs down from me, but not here. I love this series and I loved this book. It answered so many questions, linked so many events that we’ve been told about, and, quite frankly, expanded the Spellmonger universe to a degree that I can’t explain without giving too much away about the story. We get to see different sides to peoples and races we thought we already knew and are introduced to completely new ones that will turn much of what we thought we knew on its head. I’m always amazed by how Mancour can keep what is primarily a single-person perspective continuous storyline constantly chugging along with ever greater steam, but he does manage it and I am eternally thankful for it.

We get some real character growth from some of Min’s closest allies, the sort that truly makes you happy to see considering how much you’ve invested in these fictional people. There’s a whole heap of information on the early human colonisation and its disastrous downfall which I personally have been gagging for for about ten books now. We get to learn a great deal about races we’ve only heard about in passing and even more detail on those we know well. I’m struggling to define anything in particular that won’t give anything away, so I shall simply state this: although the pacing and content of this book may not be as overly exciting as you have come to expect, if you love the Spellmonger universe as much as I do, this book is genuinely one of the best in the series.

That’s all I’ve really got to say on the matter. If you’ve gotten this far into the series then of course you are going to give this book a go, and if you haven’t, then what the hell are you waiting for? Get off your arse and bury yourself in the best example of an extended fantasy narrative that I have ever had the good fortune to find.

Also, Mancour, you are an absolute shit! He put something in this book that had me laughing so hard I nearly fell off my rowing machine. Anyone who reads/listens to this book will know exactly what I am talking about when it happens. It is both a shining light in dark times and the bane of many people’s existence for those of my generation, and Mancour snuck it in like a pro. Bravo, you marvellous bastard.

Narration, as ever, is the absolute best of the best.  Whether John Lee has become my favourite narrator purely because of his talent or also because he is the narrator of this masterpiece of a series, I do not know. All I do know is that if for some reason Lee was unable to keep narrating the Spellmonger books, they would lose a fair whack of the magic that makes them so amazing.

Personal Score: 4.5 stars

Professional Score: 4.0 stars