Just as aged Bilbo Baggins gives way to a new hero, Frodo, at the start of The Lord of the Rings
, so does elderly Edgewick "Wick" Lamplighter, now a Grandmagister at Great Library, leave center stage to a youthful protégé, the pint-sized Juhg, in this Tolkienesque sequel, set nearly a century later, to Odom's The Rover
(2001). In the tradition of Fritz Leiber's immortal Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Juhg and his burly human friend, Raisho, set out on a series of fantastic adventures, centered on a search for a rare volume that Wick wants for the Vault of All Known Knowledge. The narrative moves along at a snappy pace, with much good humor, zest and color, but around halfway through, the action becomes repetitive and the fantasy effects heavy-handed. Nevertheless, the magic lies in the details, where books and wizards, both good and evil, glimmer. Agent,
TK (July 1)
