The Oathbound Wizard

Matt Mandrell, unsuspecting graduate student, never imagined his research would lead him to a strange scrap of parchment that would change his life forever. . . .

Crossing the void of time and space, Matt is whisked away to an enchanted world where speaking in rhymes works the most dazzling magic. There he wins not only fame and power as the Lord High Wizard, but the heart of the beautiful Queen Alisande. His dreams are shattered, though, when he learns that he can’t marry his true love; wizard or not, Matt is just a commoner in this bizarre land.

So Matt makes a foolish vow: to conquer a kingdom, any kingdom, if that’s what it takes to claim his bride. But, as Matt discovers, in this world of enchantment, such an oath cannot be broken. He has truly committed himself to win a crown or die trying.

In search of lands to conquer, Matt sets his sights on neighboring Ibile, where the evil Gordorgrosso rules with an iron fist and sinister magic. Matt marches off against the tyrant, gathering a small band of unlikely allies, including a surly dracogriff, a well-spoken cyclop, and a damsel in distress. But against Gordogrosso’s foul genius, Matt is going to need much more than a few stout-hearted companions and some clever rhymes. . . .

Oathbound Wizard is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.


From the Paperback edition.

Poetry's magic--real magic--draws Matthew, Lord Wizard of Merovence, deeper into trouble in this sequel to Her Majesty's Wizard . In his alternative world, where words become truth and magic spells are created by verse, Matt's thoughtless declaration that (in order to be a worthy suitor to Alisande, the queen of Merovence) he would unthrone Gordogrosso, evil sorcerer-king of neighboring Ibile, lands him in the middle of that unhappy kingdom. He's joined by Narlh, a discontented dracogriff with an inferiority complex; Fadecourt, a cyclops with an unsavory reputation in Ibile; and the beautiful and noble Yverne, fleeing the attentions of the king's hoodlums. As the ill-assorted band moves in on Gordogrosso, Queen Alisande marshals her knights to save the beloved commoner whom she cannot wed (even though he is a wizard), and Matt's magic produces unusual results, including the addition of Robin Hood and his band to his forces. Stasheff's fantasy romp has a strong theological underpinning: God is serious about his creatures and about their taking responsibility for themselves, their actions and their words.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Prevented by his lack of royal blood from marrying the woman he loves, former college student Matt Mantrell--now Court Wizard to Queen Alisande--swears an oath to overthrow a neighboring tyrant and finds himself bound to carry out his promise. Aided by a group of companions, including a neurotic griffin, a cultured cyclops, and minions from heaven and faerie, Matt enters a land of darkness and evil to fight the good--and seemingly impossible--fight. Fans of pure fantasy will enjoy this sequel to Her Majesty's Wizard ( LJ 10/15/86).
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.