Master of the Five Magics, 2nd Edition (2016)

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** Our reality is governed by physical laws So is magic Find out what they are "One of the most logical detailing of the laws of magic ever to appear in fantasy." - Lester del Rey ** Alodar did not know anything about the laws of magic. Yet he was the one who had to save the world. You will be entranced by Alodar's discoveries Because when he gets in trouble, you realize he really is in a jam. Some of the Amazon reviews for the first edition A definite must read -- Britt One of the greatest fantasy novels from the 1980s - Judith Great book -- Grooveman I can't say enough good things about this book.--Amazon customer A truly great read -- Jeffery S. Miller This book is flawless and fascinating. I can't wait to read it again -- Amazon customer I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction, and one of the greatest regrets I have is that I never found more than three books written by Lyndon Hardy, an author I still consider an automatic buy. In a way, this man's work defined what I expect from fantasy -- Amazon customer As my bookshelves continue to grow, I can name only a handful of books that I continue revisit time and time again. Duncan's Magic Casement series. Feist's Riftwar. Moon's Saga of Paksenarrion. And above all, Hardy's Master of the Five Magics. -- Amazon customer Master of the Five Magics -- a stirring tale of adventure, action, magic -- and romance. In the tradition of Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague deCamp A classsic fantasy, back in print after almost thirty years! Contains additional chapters, glossary, and author's afterward. ** Review From Goodreads To tell you the truth, I wasn't too impressed with the book at first. It really came down to me not liking the main character. Luckily, this changed and as the story unfolded, I found myself liking the protagonist more and more. Given that the book was written almost 40 years ago, the characters at times have a 2-dimensional aspect. But, the character growth really saves it in the long run and overarching theme is solid as a rock. The real strength of this book lies in the magic systems. All five magics work magnificently on their own, but eventually blend together in a pleasing way. This book is immensely important for the magic systems alone. All in all, I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in compelling magic systems and satisfying stories wrapped up in a single book. - Goodreads reviewer From Random House/Del Rey One of the most logical detailing of the laws of magic ever to appear infantasy -- Lester Del Rey From the Author As a youth, I liked stories about knights in shining armor rescuing damsels in distress. At that time, there was relatively little fantasy around compared to science fiction, so I read that, too. In comparing the two, I came to realize that in science fiction, once the setting was established, everything that happened followed logically. There were no rabbits pulled out of a hat at the last minute. In fantasy on the other hand, if there was an element of magic, most of the time it was diffuse and not crisply defined. At the last minute, some hiterto undisclosed spell could save the day. Perhaps the encounter with the unknown is an essential element of truly engrossing fantasy, but I, for one, found it a tiny bit dissatisfying. There is fantaistic invention in science fiction,, too, of course, but once postulated, the tales evolved from there. Isassc Asimov, in his classic robot stories,started with the positronic brain and the three laws of robotics, and from this small premise developed a treasure trove of short stories andnovels. I decided that I, too, wanted to write a story in which the problems that drove it came from the basic laws of nature. I wanted to write a story such that, when the protagonist got in a jam, the reader realized that he really was in a jam. And I wanted it to be a fantasy, not science fiction. Master of the Five Magics is the result.