The Compleat Enchanter

Light, humorous novels by a good pair of authors who were close friends. The main character finds himself stuck in various mythological worlds (ala A Connecticut Yankee) and gets out of jambs via wits and technological know-how. Good vacation read.

One of the best of the "Unknown" school of quasi-rationalized fantasies, with great humor yet genuine respect for the heroic

An anthology of three short novels, almost novelas, featuring the adventures of Harold Shea. He and his fellow psychologists at the Garaden Institute speculate about ways to transpose themselves to another world and Harold then does it, appearing in the realm where Norse mythology is true and

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finding himself involved in the battles of the Asgards. Further experimentation leads to still more adventures where he has to work out the local rules for magic. Good stories with some humor and a bit of romance.

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I own The Compleat Compleat Enchanter, which contains all the works in this volume, and more. I loved Harold Shea (and still do), and purchased this book at a second hand store because it still looked new, even though it's forty long years since it was (and more).

The Afterword about Fletcher Pratt,

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written by L. Sprague De Camp in 1975, nearly 20 years after Pratt's untimely death from liver cancer, is worth reading, all on its own.

I do wonder, sometimes, if those who encounter these works nowadays see them in the same light as I did, in those long ago days, when they were popping up here and there, and then molded into the collections (of which this is smack dab in the middle of them). Having a bit of knowledge about the various mythos that Harold Shea ends up in gives one a different perspective.

Harold wasn't written to be likeable, and yet he is (at least to me). It's a decent book, and worth reading.

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