I rarely fail to finish a book. But I didn't finish this one.

It wasn't bad. It just got boring. And that was particularly disappointing, because I've been a big fan of the original Incomplete/Compleat Enchanter stories by Pratt and de Camp since I was a boy. Back then, that book was part of the secret lore of science fiction fans; "Yngvi is a louse!" was one of our passwords (not literally, mind you. I never belonged to an SF club).

But as with many classic series and novels, the series has been resurrected and given into the hands of writers of far less stature than the original creators.

For those not familiar with the original stories, they were the adventures of a modern (1940s) psychologist, Harold Shea, as he traveled through realms of various mythologies by means of a syllogismobile, an exercise in metaphysical logic created by his friend and colleague Reed Chalmers. Harold discovers that he can work magic through rhyme in many of those worlds, and his adventures are classics of light, humorous fantasy.

The Exotic Enchanter is the second volume of a modern continuation of that series, i.e. there was another modern-day sequel written before this one. It continues an ongoing story from the previous novel; I hadn't read that one, and the lack of sufficient explanation of events between the original book and Exotic was a definite flaw. It consists of four stories by different authors.

I made it though two and a half of them before returning the book to the library.

"Enchanter Kiev" by Roland J. Green and Frieda A. Murray was a pleasant surprise. I'm not familiar with either of those authors, and I tend to scowl at modern writers in general; standards have slipped badly since the old days. But "Enchanter Kiev" was a quite passable successor to the classic Enchanter stories. Green and Murray managed to capture the style of the original stories quite well.

Not so the next story, "Sir Harold and the Hindu King" by Christopher Stasheff. This was a surprise to me as well, but for the opposite reason. Stasheff's Warlock series had been fairly well-written (although not terribly memorable), and rather reminiscent of the original Enchanter series. But his style in this story was leaden and painful. It limped, a soggy and awkward attempt to duplicate de Camp and Pratt's light, amusing style. It was repetitious, and oddly false to the original character concepts. All in all, quite a disappointment.

I hate to say it, but "Sir Harold of Zodanga" by L. Sprague de Camp was also a disappointment. It wasn't awful, but it simply made no impression on me whatsoever: reading it soon became a dull chore. I was sorry to see that the sole remaining author of the original (he has since died) wasn't able to maintain the style or humor of the series. Fletcher Pratt may simply have been irreplacable.

It was with something of a sense of relief that I returned the book to the library unfinished. Perhaps some day, if I'm terribly desperate, I'll try it again...but I doubt it.

In a fractional system, I'd give this one 1.5 stars. If it had all been as good as the first story, it would get 2.5 or even 3. ( )

This volume contains four stories describing Harold Shea's adventures in mythical lands of another's creation. Somewhat intriguing is the fact that each of the stories was written by different authors or (in the case of the first story) authors.

Roland Green and Frieda Murray combine on Enchanter Kiev in which Harold and Reed Chalmers find themselves in medieval Russia searching for the evil wizard Malambroso who has kidnapped Chalmers' wife Florimel. Chalmers finds himself in a bit of a pickle - a crisis of faith leaves him without the ability to cast spells. It requires a day or so of penitence to clear his conscience and free up his magical abilities.

Christopher Stasheff contributes Sir Harold and the HIndu King in which Shea and Chalmers continue their search for Florimel. This time they are transported to India as described in an Arabic story where they fall in with the local thieves' guild. While pretending to be foreigners wanting to learn from the local thieves, they discover that the Raja of the city is doing the same thing trying to track down the thieves' lair and wipe them out. The Raja and the Ohioans end up working together to escape the den of thieves and then to cleanse the city and the palace of the vermin. Malambroso makes an appearance and ends up losing Florimel to a quick-thinking Chalmers just before Shea, Chalmers and Florimel escape back into their native universe.

De Camp, himself, pens the third story in which Malambroso tries to get Shea and Belphebe to help him woo and win Florimel. In the end he is rebuked and so kidnaps Shea's daughter and hightails it to the Barsoom of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Harold and Belphebe follow and track Malambroso and their daughter across the wilds of the martian landscape, almost crossing paths with the (in)famous John Carter. Along the way, Harold takes the time to teach the self-proclaimed smartest man in the universe how to win friends and influence people while Belphebe has several opportunities to display her God-given wares to the barsoomian populace, given that Barsoomians wear no real clothing... In the end, Harold and Belphebe defeat Malambroso in a duel (2 on 1?) and retrieve their daughter. Malambroso falls in love with his Barsoomian nurse and tells Shea to let Florimel and Chalmers know that they have nothing to fear from him anymore - and so writes himself out of the series...

In the final story in the volume, Tom Wham takes Harold, Belphebe and Vaclav to Sheakespeare's Prospero's Isle before Prospero came to live. At their arrival, the island is claimed by a witch who Shea quickly identifies as the evil being that they must slay before they'd be allowed to return to their own world. This story answers the age-old question 'Which is worse? A witch or a dragon?' I'll give you a hint. If the witch had already subdued the dragon once, it's a good bet she can do it again. ( )