Magic Casement
By Dave Duncan.
Balantine/Del Rey Books. ISBN 0345-36628-X.

When I saw that Dave Duncan had another medieval fantasy story in print, I immediately purchased the first book of his four book "A Man Of His Word" series. I had come to like his style of writing, character development, and inventive storyline in his previous series, "The Seventh Sword," (the first book of which was reviewed in Chain-Mail #3), and I was expecting something similar to the first series, perhaps even a continuation from the storyline set up therein. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had managed to create an entirely unique fantasy story and pleased that he has maintained his high standard of quality and excitement.

In the medieval fantasy world created by Mr. Duncan magic is a power that only a few have and is generally a closely guarded secret. Unlike the mages of AD&D, who learn spells from written documents, in the world of the Magic Casement, magic is possible only if the a person knows powerful, special words that are as complex to speak as they are powerful. Having one such word does not make one a spell-caster, but instead gives a person minor powers, such as foreseeing, farsight, weather prediction, or other simple, divinatory capabilities. Knowing one word often enables the person to live a long life or be very lucky.

Such Novices often seek to learn another magic word so that they may become an Adept, unable to be killed by mere mortal actions or any common ill, and are capable of becoming ultra-proficient at any job, task, or craft he chooses. The highest possible goal requires a minimum of three words, at which time the person is elevated to a Wizard, incapable of being harmed by anything (save another wizard), master of all he perceives, and able to perform all magical wonders the reader would associate with an AD&D wizard of more than 50th-level!

The story involves the remote kingdom of Krasnegar, where the king's only heir is a young woman, Princess Inosolan. When her father falls ill, the gravity of the political situation becomes tense, since both bordering kingdoms wish to gobble up this territory for the sake of having it, not for any great intrinsic worth. They will not accept a queen as ruler, and so Princess Inosolan is first carted off to her uncle's duchy where her grandmother attempts to wed her off and place a king on the throne as a result. But her father has insisted that she marry out of love, not need, so no suitor is selected and no king is destined to rule. The stage is irrevocably set for war.

Another protagonist is young Rap, a stableboy who has discovered that his very name, given him by his mother and spoken as her dying words to him is in fact a magic word of power: thus is he endowed with foresight and on his way, grudgingly, to become a wizard.

Become a wizard he must, for soon the king dies, giving his magic word to his daughter, a word which had been given to him by his own father, a powerful wizard and had originally established the kingdom: thus is she instilled with the minimal base of power to eventually become a wizard herself. Soon, however, a conspiracy is uncovered where the border kingdoms and greedy men seek not only to annex the kingdom to their lands, but also take Inosolan's magic word from her to augment their own powers.

A time comes when she, Rap, and the bizarre Doctor, who has been a friend to the king, are trapped and about to be captured with torture for each of their magic words obvious. If they all share their magic words, which would result in dilution of their power, then each could become a Sorcerer, a quasi-wizard whose powers are between Adept and Wizard and who, using this new found ability, could instantly defeat the armies of those seeking to capture them.

But no one is willing to be the first to give up their word for fear that the Adept thus created would turn on them and kill, thus increasing the word's power for himself. Also there is a magical casement to be opened, a magic portal with the ability to show one a glimpse of the future. Each protagonist decides to view what its secrets, but in doing so draws the attention of a powerful wizardess who comes through it and abducts Inosolan, leaving Rap, his goblin slave, and the Doctor to be captured by the army.

With no other recourse available, the three dive through another view in the magical window to escape the army, with their fate to be continued in the next book, Faery Lands Forlorn (just released). One is left wanting to see if the assumptions drawn after reading this book will come true. Will Rap become a wizard despite his wish not to? Will he use his powers to free Princess Inosolan, and will this act lead him, a simple stableboy now powerful mage, to marry her? Can the visions in the magical casement ' some of which foretold danger and death be altered by actions of the protagonists?

We'll have to wait to find out... But in the meantime, start with Magic Casement. You won't be disappointed!

This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com