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tarana's review
5.0
Loved this book in my early 20s. Still love it. This time I listened to the audiobook, which has numerous cast members. Haven't listened to an audiobook like this, but I enjoyed it. I still recommend this book to fantasy lovers.l
liseplease's review
3.0
Haven't read this book in probably 15 years or more, so I decided that the re-read should count for this year. :) It was still funny, but very much a a guy's book/story. There was some internal cringing on how women are represented (even for the 80s is was pretty bad), but I understand that was part of the character development.
shirezu's review
4.0
I had first come across Christopher Stasheff years ago with his Rogue Wizard books. The combination of sci-fi, fantasy and politics intrigued me and though the books weren't masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination they were good reads which were slightly educational.
This is the first book Stasheff wrote and the progenitor of the Rogue Wizard books so when I wanted to reread those books I decided to go back a little further and start at the very beginning.
While I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the later books I kept in mind that this was written well before them and before he had hit his stride. It was still enjoyable and a good quick read and good to see where it all began.
This is the first book Stasheff wrote and the progenitor of the Rogue Wizard books so when I wanted to reread those books I decided to go back a little further and start at the very beginning.
While I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the later books I kept in mind that this was written well before them and before he had hit his stride. It was still enjoyable and a good quick read and good to see where it all began.
rixx's review
2.0
The Warlock in Spite of Himself has a really good setting.
That's it, that was the good part. It also has the height of 60s sexism in Fantasy: Protagonist (who is always right and good) disdaining help from women, recommends spanking arrogant women, falls in love with every pretty one, one violent graphic assault/rape/coercion (later justified b/c she was faking him out), … I could go on.
Then there are politics more blatant than in Sword of Truth (literal Marxists itching to shoot the aristocracy) – though that part was pretty fun, really. I can get behind "it's so bad it's good", but I can't get behind the sexism and to be honest plain middling writing.
That's it, that was the good part. It also has the height of 60s sexism in Fantasy: Protagonist (who is always right and good) disdaining help from women, recommends spanking arrogant women, falls in love with every pretty one, one violent graphic assault/rape/coercion (later justified b/c she was faking him out), … I could go on.
Then there are politics more blatant than in Sword of Truth (literal Marxists itching to shoot the aristocracy) – though that part was pretty fun, really. I can get behind "it's so bad it's good", but I can't get behind the sexism and to be honest plain middling writing.
vaderbird's review
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
cmbohn's review
3.0
This one was fun. Not sure if I'll read more in the series, and I found myself wanting to skip ahead, but it was still fun.
ssminski's review
3.0
I tried reading this with an open mind since it was written in 1969. And for the most part, it was fun, irreverent, and a little witty. The melding of sci fi and fantasy is a fun twist, one that is fairly shaky on the sci fi but not insulting.
However, the attitudes towards women (all women are either pretty and conniving or hysterical) and then the queen needing a king, and then the whole weird shadow democracy thing. That's where the cracks between the 60s and now start appearing.
If you can get past some of the more glaring societal issues and allow yourself to enjoy the whimsy of the worldbuild, you'll enjoy it. The relationship between Rod and the robot Fess is particularly fun. However, if you are more sensitive, maybe avoid.
However, the attitudes towards women (all women are either pretty and conniving or hysterical) and then the queen needing a king, and then the whole weird shadow democracy thing. That's where the cracks between the 60s and now start appearing.
If you can get past some of the more glaring societal issues and allow yourself to enjoy the whimsy of the worldbuild, you'll enjoy it. The relationship between Rod and the robot Fess is particularly fun. However, if you are more sensitive, maybe avoid.
tome15's review
4.0
Stasheff, Christopher. The Warlock in Spite of Himself. Warlock No. 1. Ace, 1982.
I wonder if Mark Twain knew what he had started when he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The formula is simple—take a practical, scientific bloke and stick him in a world rife with practitioners of magic. In such a world, tech is interpreted as magic. In this instantiation, a far-future government agent lands on a planet with a lost colony of folks who have created a utopian community based on Renaissance European aristocratic society in which there are witches, warlocks and other magical creatures. To help him, he has a robot horse with strong AI that is prone to epileptic fits at inconvenient moments. Comedy, mystery, adventure and romance ensue. The romance elements seem a bit dated, but the comedy and adventure still work. The formula is very robust. Stasheff himself ran the Warlock series to a dozen volumes. Enjoy.
I wonder if Mark Twain knew what he had started when he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The formula is simple—take a practical, scientific bloke and stick him in a world rife with practitioners of magic. In such a world, tech is interpreted as magic. In this instantiation, a far-future government agent lands on a planet with a lost colony of folks who have created a utopian community based on Renaissance European aristocratic society in which there are witches, warlocks and other magical creatures. To help him, he has a robot horse with strong AI that is prone to epileptic fits at inconvenient moments. Comedy, mystery, adventure and romance ensue. The romance elements seem a bit dated, but the comedy and adventure still work. The formula is very robust. Stasheff himself ran the Warlock series to a dozen volumes. Enjoy.
ms_m's review
4.0
I rediscovered this while cleaning some bookshelves. The first time I read it was in high school, I am glad to have found it again. An awesome mix of science fiction and fantasy
tarotsystem's review
4.0
Honestly, this book may constitute a 'guilty pleasure' type thing for me. The premise is really great - a scifi story that reads like fantasy, where the magic is psychic and the culture is basically a giant Renaissance festival made a lost planetary colony. The characters are not bad. Fess, the epileptic robot, is far and above my favorite of the bunch. And I have a weakness for puns, you see, and he clearly loves puns.
But why guilty? Well, because of the writing. The writing is... well. There is an entire page where the protagonist, Rod, explain the game of cricket to his erstwhile servant, Tom. Why does he do this? So that Stasheff can then have Rod make the pun "no rest for the wicket".
Yeah.
But why guilty? Well, because of the writing. The writing is... well. There is an entire page where the protagonist, Rod, explain the game of cricket to his erstwhile servant, Tom. Why does he do this? So that Stasheff can then have Rod make the pun "no rest for the wicket".
Yeah.