The Warlock In Spite of Himself

Today's post is 'The Warlock In Spite of Himself' by Christopher Stasheff. It was originally published in 1969, then released in 1998 both are published by Ace. It is 374 pages. This was the first book that Stasheff wrote and it launched his writing career. The intended reader is everyone over the age of about 16 who likes an interesting take on sci-fi. It has some implied sexuality with dialogue and hinting but no descriptions. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

Rod Gallowglass lives in a future universe that is trying to bring all worlds into a peaceful democracy. How this is done is one agent like Gallowglass as send to unknown worlds to contact the people who live there. If they are peaceful intelligent people then he would help them by introducing new and different politics. It works to help the world join the universal democracy when the time comes. So Gallowglass lands on the world that calls itself Gramercy. It was peopled by travelers who wanted to have medieval glory again. There is a queen, with seven noble lords and many peasants. This world is a medieval one with something off. At first Gallowglass thinks that is because some how things like magic work on this world. Gallowglass gets himself named as a warlock because of his 'magic' which is really just brains and science but he cannot shake the name. He gets himself a side-kick, other than his robot horse and then hired as a soldier for the queen. His goal to help this planet become a constitutional monarchy so that it will have an easier time when the democracy comes. He meets all the people with power in the world and he saves not only the world but the future of the universe. His love interest is Gwen a powerful witch who holds the future in her hands.

I do not really have anything to say about this book. It was okay. It was not boring but I really did not have much fun with it. I think that it because this is the first book that Stasheff wrote. I can see where the seeds of a great writer are but this is not his best work. That said if you want to read the Warlock series you need to start with this one. I may read more in the Warlock series just to see where it goes but I still like this Wizard in Rhyme series the best. I think that my main problem with the book is the way women are treated in the book. They are sex objects or annoying, To expand on those points I mean this. There are women in the book everywhere but they are either just boobs with no faces, no personalities, just there for sex. Or in the case of the queen or Gwen they just get in the way; they are only really good when a man is directing them.

Rating is a 3 stars. I get nothing for this review. I borrowed this book from the library.