The Moment of the Magician (Spellsinger, #4) by Alan Dean Foster

The Moment of the Magician (Spellsinger, #4) Reviews

• 
  David Sarkies

  The series is beginning to drag
  4 February 2012
  
  I guess the Spellsinger series are beginning to drag on by this time. As I mentioned previously, one of the main reasons that I continued reading them was because I wanted to see if Talea would return, but I guess by the time I reached this book it became clear that she wasn't. However, as also mentioned, the problem with Jon-Tom is that he is still trapped in this world with no way to return, though one would wonder why he would want to return since he is a powerful magician here, while back on Earth he is little more than a janitor.
  Jon-Tom is once again summoned by Clothahump, the wizard turtle, who sends him to a swamp to the south to investigate the appearance of another wizard (a wizard who, as it turns out, has come from our world). Jon-Tom and the dirty otter Mudge decide to go on a journey to confront him, and if need be, defeat him.
  Many have suggested that Foster's continuity begins to degrade in this book. It is as if he had forgotten what he had written in his previous books and was not sitting down to create a Spellsinger franchise. However, the franchise lasted six books, and dropped away for a while. He has since written another two, so they are eight in total (not that I have read, or plan to read, the last two).
  Sometimes a franchise works well, other times it doesn't. I did enjoy the Spellsinger series, though did not necessarily get too caught up in the continuity as a kid. It was only when I studied filmmaking that I came to understand the importance of continuity (and I guess having Talea stick around would have been one of those important aspects, but then we must remember that Jon-Tom is an American college student who has become a hero in this world, and the mentality seems to be having a short time of passion before moving on to the next person).
  The continuity problems involve which animals can talk and which cannot. The main one people criticise are the horses, who in the first books are identified as being unable to speak, but in this book turns out that they can. This is not something that can easily be explained away (unlike some continuity problems in other films). There is also mention of a change in the roles of some of the animals.
  It has been a long time since I read this book, and there are no really decent synopsis' of this book on the internet, and as such there is little more than I can write about it. I should discuss the concept of the quest in the fantasy novel also being a reflection of one's quest to adulthood, or one's quest of self-discovery, but I will leave that for another time.
• 
  Thom

  A book rating of just okay, fourth in a series which eventually expanded to eight, and not a lot of prospect for the future. While no sharks were jumped in this tale, I believe they may be revving up the motor.
  
  First off, the main plot was alright. I enjoyed the villain, even if his powers weren't well explained, and most aspects of the situation.
  
  On the other hand, the protagonist was unchanged from previous books, more caricature than character. Worse were his counterparts, barely one dimensional and with moods waffling to suit the whim of the plot. Even the closing scene was pathetic. Good situations and good ideas were introduced and then discarded. Overall rating 1½ stars, and I am being generous. In the end, time to mark this series DNF and move on to something else.
• 
  Brian

  8/5/2018 - 5/10
  With book 4, the series definitely seems to be going down in quality. The plot seemed like an excuse to have a bunch of short and unconnected encounters while traveling (each resolved in about a chapter). This all led to a short and not very satisfying conclusion. The characters seemed more one-dimensional than usual, and that's not saying much.
• 
  Gina

  I picked this up on a whim and enjoyed it, but did not feel a need to hunt out more of the series. Based on reviews, it looks like people who had been going through the series found this book kind of a downgrade, but I had no expectations and thought it was fine. I appreciated that everything was easy to follow, even without having read any of the other installments.
• 
  Nai Wang

  You will only like these books if you already enjoy funny 80's fantasy books like Xanth or Myth.
• 
  Tim Gray

  Yes it's in many ways fantasy pulp fiction, but it's written by a skilled writer, and loads of fun. I haven't read this book for 20 years I reckon, and it's still fresh and fun.
• 
  Meggies

  Im weit entfernten Quasequa taucht Markus, der Unvermeidliche auf. Ein Zauberer höchster Klasse. Er macht dem dort amtierenden Hexer Oplode seine Position streitig. Oplode traut dem Frieden jedoch nicht und sucht bei Clodsahamp um Hilfe. Dieser schickt Jon-Tom auf die Reise. Jon-Tom macht sich auch sofort auf den Weg, mit der Hoffnung, dass Markus vielleicht auch aus seiner Welt stammen könnte, da die Hinweise darauf deuten. Vielleicht könnten sie ja gemeinsam einen Weg finden, wieder zurückzukehren.
  
  Im vierten Band des Bannsänger-Zyklus muss Jon-Tom diesmal einem Zauberer entgegentreten, der im fernen Quasequa die Herrschaft an sich gerissen haben soll. Jon-Tom hofft jedoch, dass dieser Zauberer auch nach einem Weg sucht, um wieder nach Hause zurückzukehren. Vielleicht stammen sie ja auch aus der gleichen Welt.
  Und so macht sich Jon-Tom zusammen mit seinem Otterfreund Mudge wieder auf einen weiten Weg, um die Welt zu retten oder sich komplett lächerlich zu machen. Der Weg ist beschwerlich, von Risiken gespickt und es müssen natürlich einige Abenteuer bestanden werden, bevor das eigentliche Ziel erreicht ist.
  
  Sehr lustig wird es ab der Hälfte des Buches, den Jon-Tom trifft auf einen Haufen durchgeknallter Otter, der seine Geduld sehr oft auf die Probe stellt.
  Der chaotische Pulk von Pelzträgern zerrt an den Nerven des Bannsängers, lässt kein Fettnäpfchen aus, sind aber auch ein Herz und eine Seele, wenn es darauf ankommt.
  
  Apropos Bannsänger. Jon-Tom scheint sehr viel besser geworden zu sein. Meist kommt auch wirklich dass bei dem Banngesang heraus, was Jon-Tom beabsichtigt. Doch gibt es auch immer wieder Momente, wo alles komplett schief läuft.
  
  Außerdem gibt es ein Wiedersehen mit einem alten Bekannten aus den ersten zwei Bänden.
  
  Nach der Resignation aus dem dritten Teil, macht sich Jon-Tom nun doch wieder mehr Hoffnung, einen Weg nach Hause zu finden. Mit dem unbekannten Zauberer ergibt sich für ihn ein völlig neues Bild. Jon-Tom ist sich sehr sicher, dass er und Markus einen Weg finden, zurückzukehren. Aber erstens kommt es anders, und zweitens als man denkt...
  
  Der gewohnt flüssige Schreibstil des Autors lässt einem wieder durch die Geschichte fliegen. Ist man am Anfang noch in den heimischen Glockenwäldern, geht es alsbald auf eine abenteuerliche Reise in die Ferne. Jon-Tom hat nun schon einiges mitgemacht, seit er in Mudges und Clodsahamps Welt angekommen ist und meist war es nichts Erfreuliches. Man wünscht ihm förmlich, dass er endlich mal ein Erfolgserlebnis hat.
  
  Teil 4 hat mir wieder besser gefallen, als der dritte Band, denn er war rasanter und abenteuerlicher.
  
  Fazit:
  Besser als Teil 3, fast wieder so gut wie die ersten beiden Teile.
• 
  Jill White

  I got this book at a library sale with no clue about the author or the story. It turned out to be Number Four of a seven part series. Kudos to the author because I was able to get into the story without feeling I had missed something from an earlier story. This author has a wonderful imagination. He created a world and populated it with some of the most extraordinary characters. The basic plot is to stop an evil magician from controlling this world. That's where my four stars instead of five come in. While I appreciate the layout of the story: the bad guy takes over, our hero had to be sent for, he has some adventures as he traveled to the headquarters of the evil-doer, and then there's a battle between the two. My problem was that the traveling went on and on, over half the book, and I was getting a little fed up with it. Since this is part of a seven-part series, maybe some of the characters he meets will show up later since he met a group from an earlier book. (I should probably read the earlier books). But over all, I enjoyed it.
• 
  Igenlode Wordsmith

  Amiable lightweight comedy sequel. I have a vague feeling I read earlier volumes in this series back in the 1980s when they were new, but I don't recognise anything beyond the character names.
  
  Most of this book is taken up with a long and episodic travel sequence, although a couple of those encounters do have consequences later on during the plot climax. Personally, I find myself sympathising with Mudge - it is a bit hard on him to find himself constantly pulled out of his life of scoundrelly disrepute in order to share Jon-Tom's misadventures simply because he is apparently the designated Sidekick of the series..
  
  In this volume we have not only Mudge but a whole boatload of otters, and they manage to generate squabbling entertaining chaos...
• 
  Rob

  The Spell Singer is not my favorite series by Alan Dean Foster but still the characters do sort of grow on you after a while. The feeling of the story is that it is like a long D&D Campaign, lots of good and fun parts but maybe starting to get to familiar? I will continue the series and see what happens next, It is however much better than the real world which could use a better Author right now. This was a Good Read.
• 
  Numa Parrott

  This definitely scarred me as a child.
• 
  Dumitru

  A
• 
  Debbie

  /
• 
  Christopher Grunberg

  Liked it alot! It got away from the "quest across x to do y" formula used in book 3 and felt much more gripping. When JonTom is captured by the PlatedFolk I was on the edge of my seat.
• 
  Sonus Wellstar

  Seeing a lot of other reviews, for this 4th Spellsinger effort, that echo the mild disappointment I felt after reading. The series does seem to be dragging by this point, and I miss the characters from earlier books that are only mentions by now. But I will press on with the series-not as a masochist, I just feel like I wanna know how it all turns out for Jon-Tom.
• 
  Jeremy Gallen

  The fourth installment of author Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger series, which he dedicates to Tim Hildebrandt, opens with the Quorum of Quasequa debating the salamander magician Oplode the Sly, who is tasked with going to the Isle of Kuntaweh and fetching Pandro the raven. In the meanwhile, a human magician named Markus the Ineluctable is on the rise, gradually consolidating power, while protagonist Jon-Tom prattles with the turtle wizard Clothahump about his love for Talea. When Jon-Tom hears about Markus hailing from Earth, he thinks the magician may hold the key to returning home.
  
  Thus, Jon-Tom fetches Mudge the otter for another adventure, with the two aiming to cross the river Tailaroam. They soon meet the prairie dog General Pocknet, who brings the travelers to his subterranean home, with he, gophers, and moles fighting in defense of an ugly sculpture known as the Mulmun. Following this, Jon-Tom and Mudge encounter a Will-o’-the-Wisp, a despotic eagle called Gyrnaught, and doppelganger mimevines. The adventurers ultimately find themselves crossing wetlands, where dwells a goop mountain named Brulumpus. The insectoid Plated Folk play a minor part in the narrative, briefly holding Jon-Tom captive.
  
  However, a holt of otters on an island in Lakes District rescues the spellsinger, with the lutrines aiding Jon-Tom in visiting the Quorumate to meet Markus. Unexpected help arrives when the spellsinger’s visit to the magician goes awry, with a battle of sorts concluding the novel’s action. Overall, this is another enjoyable novel in Foster’s series, with plenty of memorable animal characters, mature themes, and references to Earth music. Some of said allusions to said songs might pass over the heads of younger generations of readers, but I definitely appreciated this animal-driven story from a mainstream author, and would recommend it to those who enjoyed its precursors.
• 
  Todd Mulholland

  The same-ness starts getting to you in binge reading.
  
  This is the fourth book of the spellsinger series. However, there ends up (other than the first) being a level of same-ness to the stories. A problem appears. Jon-Tom has to go take care of it. Mudge doesn't want to go. They take a long journey. Jon-Tom succeeds in getting them past the problem, except for one time when Mudge has to save them. They get to the problem, and things go badly, until Jon-Tom manages to defeat/solve the problem. There is a hint that more adventures continue. When the next book starts, those adventures haven't appeared, but details from the previous story have been dropped.
  
  For this book, problem = An evil wizard who may be from Jon-Tom's world that's taken over a town. Problem Mudge has to solve = Plated folk colony. Dropped threads into the next novel = the troup of otters they've picked up along the way.
  
  Last book, problem = Clothahump's headache. Problem Mudge has to solve = the bandit (not pirate) band. Dropped threads = Roseroar, the unicorn, and Folly (what happened to all of them?)
  
  That said, they're entertaining escapist fiction. If you've liked the others, you'll like this one.
• 
  Lance Schonberg

  What if instead of being a good-natured, well-intentioned law student and struggling musician, Jon-Tom and instead been a middle-aged failure of a magician on Earth whose combination of circumstances and poor life decisions had made him bitter and stripped away all sense of ethics and morals?
  If you’d been wondering the same thing, fear not! Moment of the Magician answers that question. Fair warning, there are dangers along the way as well as more otters. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. We might also see an old friend or two.
  Trying to slow down the reliving of my youth in the consumption of this series, but the reading is as quick and fun as I remember. It’s a fairly obvious good magician versus evil magician story, but the enjoyment is in the character interactions and those work genuinely well. You might find a few inconsistencies here and there in this book and as the series progresses when you look back at the first book or two in the series, but most of the that is the author fleshing out the world a bit more.
  Start at the beginning, though. It’s worth it.
  
• 
  Ensiform

  Look, I don’t mind that ungulates are non-sapient in one book and intelligent in the next, or that the race of the police changes, or that the social standing of rodents changes --- but when most of the plot or dialogue serves only as comic effect, it makes the reality of the characters, their dialogue, disappointing. I’d like more of the starkness of the original book; this series is getting more and more cartoony. Still an intriguing main plotline, tho.
• 
  Arito Sato

  日本語版
  
  わがままな魔術師
  
  http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%8F%E3%...
• 
  Mandy

  The vocabulary was impressive at times, and it's decently written. However, the premise was a bit cheesy for me and its execution was at times a little disappointing. It's very much a save the world adventure story, but the plot progression was easily distracted at times. It kept getting off track for me.
• 
  Barbi Faye (The Book Fae)

  Book Four is peopled with tough-talking prairie dogs, some magical mime-vines, & a mammoth mountain of living muck. Say that ten times fast! Spellsinging Jon-Tom & his buddy otter Mudge, adventure south to the city of Quasequa. Our intrepid band go up against their foe, Marcus the Ineluctable, a power hungry magician and his minions and of course save the day! Natch!
• 
  Chris

  I read this as a teenager.
  
  Back then I read sci-fi and fantasy almost exclusively, and this author (ADF) was one of my favorites; in particular, his Spellsinger series.
  
  Don't know if I would like this book the same if I re-read it as an adult, but in my memory it was an entertaining read.
• 
  Serena

  I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.
  
  My Rating System:
  * couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
• 
  Jami

  read this series in high school. I'm sure I liked it much more then than I would now.
• 
  Chris Boulton

  Not as good as the first three but still a good jaunt through the world of the Spellsinger!
  
  Nice to see some more Otters :D I love me some talking Otters.. :D
  
  No gay unicorn tho :(