Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy.
In A Wizard in Midgard, Gar finds himself on a planet modeled on the Norse interpretation of Earth -- complete with dwarves, giants, and people all constantly at war with one another. Immediately upon his arrival, he rescues a young girl caught in the middle of the conflict. But can Gar and Alea unify three separate races who have hated each other since their birth?
From Publishers Weekly
Planet healer Magnus d'Armand, aka Gar Pike, takes on Norse mythology and the proto-Nazi mentality spawned by its use in Wagner's Ring cycle in Stasheff's sixth installment of his The Rogue Wizard saga. Landing on Siegfried, a planet settled centuries earlier by Terrans, Gar falls afoul of the vicious slave-keeping Midgarders, normal-sized humans who fight continually with huge giants and tiny dwarves. An accident to the original colonizing ship's defrosting unit killed most of the initial settlers, forcing the inbreeding that created the planet's three races. With the help of Alea, a large but lissome escapee from Midgard slavery, Gar telepathically implants the songs and dreams of peace and freedom that will heal this unlikely but appealing world. Stasheff's Crayola-colored backdrops and childish stick-people befit his simplistic but morally decent messages: love your enemies, treat women as equals, govern your society with justice. When Gar and Alea sail off into the galactic sunset (though occupying separate bedrooms), not overwrought Wagnerian thunder but bouncy, reassuring strains of "It's a Small World After All" echo through the imagination. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The sixth adventure of Magnus Gallowglass, aka Gar Pike, takes him to a planet whose civilization is literally Wagnerian. Thanks to a series of accidents and wars, its population is divided into normal-sized Midgarders, Jotunheim giants, and Niebelheim dwarves. The Midgarders constantly persecute the other groups, though without much success. Stasheff works out the two good societies--the giants and the dwarves, that is--with considerable wit and ingenuity, but puts the Midgarders at the mercy of his political agenda, which he advances more than he has in at least some previous books. This time Magnus is less a deus ex machina than he has been in previous adventures, and most of his deeds are presented from the perspective of the Midgarder woman Alea, who is persecuted because of her height. She has telepathic potential, though, on account of which she accompanies Magnus off-planet once necessary reforms have been set to work. Alea may also make stalwart series readers hope that Magnus' loneliness is nearly at an end. Roland Green
Gar Pike is determined to throw himself into his work and heads for the planet Siegfried. Colonized many years ago, with no record left of the colony's survival, it has been largely left to its own devices. Because of naturally occurring mutations, there have arisen three separate races: one of giants, one of standard-sized humans, and one of dwarves. There's only one problem: They all hate each other and are warring constantly, the medium-sized people often making slaves of whatever prisoners they take. So Gar sets off to spread a story of peace and kindness throughout the land and meets an escaped slave early on in his journey. Alea grew up in a loving, unprejudiced household, but when her parents died and left her an orphan, she became a house slave to some rather nasty neighbors - just because she was a little taller than everyone else. She's not ready to ever trust anyone again, least of all a stranger taller than herself. But he seems so kind and accepting and thinks nothing for himself as he tries to help everyone get along. Can Alea allow herself to trust again - maybe, just maybe, enough to leave with him when the time comes?
Description:
Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy.
In A Wizard in Midgard, Gar finds himself on a planet modeled on the Norse interpretation of Earth -- complete with dwarves, giants, and people all constantly at war with one another. Immediately upon his arrival, he rescues a young girl caught in the middle of the conflict. But can Gar and Alea unify three separate races who have hated each other since their birth?
From Publishers Weekly
Planet healer Magnus d'Armand, aka Gar Pike, takes on Norse mythology and the proto-Nazi mentality spawned by its use in Wagner's Ring cycle in Stasheff's sixth installment of his The Rogue Wizard saga. Landing on Siegfried, a planet settled centuries earlier by Terrans, Gar falls afoul of the vicious slave-keeping Midgarders, normal-sized humans who fight continually with huge giants and tiny dwarves. An accident to the original colonizing ship's defrosting unit killed most of the initial settlers, forcing the inbreeding that created the planet's three races. With the help of Alea, a large but lissome escapee from Midgard slavery, Gar telepathically implants the songs and dreams of peace and freedom that will heal this unlikely but appealing world. Stasheff's Crayola-colored backdrops and childish stick-people befit his simplistic but morally decent messages: love your enemies, treat women as equals, govern your society with justice. When Gar and Alea sail off into the galactic sunset (though occupying separate bedrooms), not overwrought Wagnerian thunder but bouncy, reassuring strains of "It's a Small World After All" echo through the imagination.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The sixth adventure of Magnus Gallowglass, aka Gar Pike, takes him to a planet whose civilization is literally Wagnerian. Thanks to a series of accidents and wars, its population is divided into normal-sized Midgarders, Jotunheim giants, and Niebelheim dwarves. The Midgarders constantly persecute the other groups, though without much success. Stasheff works out the two good societies--the giants and the dwarves, that is--with considerable wit and ingenuity, but puts the Midgarders at the mercy of his political agenda, which he advances more than he has in at least some previous books. This time Magnus is less a deus ex machina than he has been in previous adventures, and most of his deeds are presented from the perspective of the Midgarder woman Alea, who is persecuted because of her height. She has telepathic potential, though, on account of which she accompanies Magnus off-planet once necessary reforms have been set to work. Alea may also make stalwart series readers hope that Magnus' loneliness is nearly at an end. Roland Green
Gar Pike is determined to throw himself into his work and heads for the planet Siegfried. Colonized many years ago, with no record left of the colony's survival, it has been largely left to its own devices. Because of naturally occurring mutations, there have arisen three separate races: one of giants, one of standard-sized humans, and one of dwarves. There's only one problem: They all hate each other and are warring constantly, the medium-sized people often making slaves of whatever prisoners they take. So Gar sets off to spread a story of peace and kindness throughout the land and meets an escaped slave early on in his journey. Alea grew up in a loving, unprejudiced household, but when her parents died and left her an orphan, she became a house slave to some rather nasty neighbors - just because she was a little taller than everyone else. She's not ready to ever trust anyone again, least of all a stranger taller than herself. But he seems so kind and accepting and thinks nothing for himself as he tries to help everyone get along. Can Alea allow herself to trust again - maybe, just maybe, enough to leave with him when the time comes?