The Wizard of Yurt isn't as bad as he thinks.

A Bad Spell In Yurt by C. Dale Brittainy is the first in a series of books about Daimbert, the Royal Wizard of Yurt. Brittainy's web site is here: http://userpages.bright.net/~bouchard/

The series follows the career of a graduate of the wizards school who takes the position of Royal Wizard of the small western kingdom of Yurt.. By Daimbert's own admission. he doesn't know how he graduated. Especially after that incident with the frogs in transformation class. He didn't quite major in taverns at school but he wasn't the most attentive student either.

He does have a talent for improvising spells, a determination to actually read those text books he never cracked as a student and willingness to learn other forms of magic Most importantly he make friends (some of them unlikely) and never takes himself very seriously.

I own all of these books. I just completed a marathon re-reading if the series. I liked it before and I liked it this time. I'm not going to give you a blow by blow description of each book. If you can find them, read them. You'll enjoy them.

The major problem in the first book involves a demon. This problem is a real killer.

The Wood Nymph and the Cranky Saint
A major sub-theme in this series is magic's uneasy relationship with christianity. And vice versa. Since Daimbert's best friend is a priest this causes both of them some trouble.

Mage Quest
It is off to the exotic and mysterious east on a quest for blue roses, lost princes and a treasure. Daimbert finds that getting there is not half the fun. Once they arrive in the east things go down hill from there.

The Witch & The Cathedral
Religion, magic, demons and trips to the far north, the land of wild magic keep Daimbert hopping. A lovely witch with a rock climbing hobby just complicates things.

Daughter of Magic
One of the complications from the previous book, the love between the witch and the wizard, results in a daughter. At a very precocious five, she's already learning spells. If Daimbert's hair wasn't already white from his first adventure coping with Antonia would turn it over night. This time his child's safety is on the line.

Is this Apocalypse Necessary?
Life with a nearly teen age witch daughter is fraught enough. But Daimbert, who has had suspicions about a fellow wizard's motives before, now finds himself in direct conflict with the best wizard of his generation. Things are going to get so messy Daimbert's going to have to die to solve his problems.


This is being cross posted at Live Journal http://bookmobiler.livejournal.com/

Dragons, Dogs and (grande) dames

Merlin's Dragon by T A Barron is a YA book. Barron's web site is here: http://www.tabarron.com/.

The viewpoint character in this book is a ?????? Well, he doesn't know himself until the end of the book. He looks like a small green lizard and has a talent for smells and luck.

He needs the latter quite a lot as something always seems to be wanting to eat or squash him. This is your typical magical journey of discovery with a very atypical hero. An interesting book with perhaps a few to many way points on the journey.

This is part of, or rather set in, a magical world the author has already developed. It stands alone as a story.

Divorced, Desperate and Dating by Cristie Craig Her web site is here: http://www.christie-craig.com/

This is the third of her books I've read (see the tags on Live Journal for the others) and the second in her D, D & D series. As usual very funny. One scene with a telephone had me in tears of laughter.

An engaging heroine and hero, a twisty plot and lots of sexy bits. And that not even counting the crotch seeking missile dog.

She's got another book, Gotcha!, scheduled for next June. I'm not quite sure if it's part of this series or not. No matter, I can hardly wait to read it. I do wonder what she'll be counting next though.

Once Upon A Christmas by Diane Farr. A Christmas Regency romance. (And that's the best kind) Diane had a web page, but it has fallen victim to AOL.

This site has some information. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/farr/ At least at this point the homepage link at the bottom still goes to the dead AOL site.

A light and amusing Christmas tale. Just the thing for a cold winters day. I read a lot of Regencies. I have since I fell in love with Georgette Heyer's books. This was true to the period with one of those deliciously interfering grande dames to move the plot along.



This is being cross posted at Live Journal http://bookmobiler.livejournal.com/