Rereading: TIME AND MR. BASS by Eleanor Cameron

The fifth and final book in the Mushroom Planet series is the best, in my opinion. It was published in 1967, thirteen years after the first one, and Cameron had grown as a writer in those years.

Mr. Bass, at home in Pacific Grove, CA for a while, gets an urgent phone call from Towyn Niog in Wales, head of the Mycetian League, the council of mushroom people on Earth. He needs Mr. Bass to come to his ancestral home there as soon as possible. Mr. Bass makes plans with his friends David and Chuck to travel by space ship so they can come with him, rather than just using his method of instant mental travel. He senses the boys have a role to play in the trouble in Wales, and it proves to be so.

When they arrive, they learn that the ancient scroll and the necklace of jewels that are the priceless treasures of the League have been stolen by Penmaen, a locksmith Towyn hired to help open the chest they were kept in. The three new arrivals are soon on his trail, and discover that Penmaen is selling the jewels one by one to raise money for his travels, and each person he’s sold one to has had a severe personality change and is doing odd things relating to mushrooms. When Mr. Bass persuades them to sell the jewel back to him, their frantic trance fades, and they come back to themselves.

That’s not the only trouble brewing, David has a frightening encounter with a dark spirit known as Narrow Brain, a centuries-old enemy of Mr. Bass and the League, he’s trying to keep Mr. Bass from translating the ancient scroll. The elderly man and his friends travel to the Mushroom Planet, Basidium, to try to find out what the scroll means, but can they accomplish that before the next meeting of the League?

The science fantasy elements of this series are downplayed in the final book in favor of magic, history, the land of Wales, a chase after the thief, an ancient crime, an evil spirit, and wonderful characters. Highly recommended.

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