The Warlock's Companion

Warlock #8

by Christopher Stasheff

Fess was, indeed, a beloved cyborg. But what about the masters he had served before rod gallowglass? What about the young spoiled joyrider? Or the revolutionary hero? Or the crew of the pirate ship? The gallowglass children are about to hear the truth-from the horse's mouth.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

235 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

The late Christopher Stasheff was an American science fiction and fantasy author. When teaching proved too real, he gave it up in favor of writing full-time. Stasheff was noted for his blending of science fiction and fantasy, as seen in his Warlock series. He spent his early childhood in Mount Vernon, New York, but spent the rest of his formative years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stasheff taught at the University of Eastern New Mexico in Portales, before retiring to Champaign, Illinois, in 2009. He had a wife and four children.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stasheff's Warlock series has always been one of my favorites, and this one is my favorite save the first, The Warlock in Spite of Himself, and the last, The Warlock's Last Ride. The Gallowglass family is spending the night in a haunted castle they're investigating, and Rod's faithful cybernetic steed, Fess, opens up and tells the four children stories about their father's early years, and his own pre-family exploits. The spooky medieval setting is a wonderful counterpoint to tales of space-opera derring-do along the spaceways. It's a very effective framing technique for short stories that don't fit well in the context of the other novels, but provide fascinating information and insight into Stasheff's universe outside of Graymayre. Fess's character is captured very well, as are the Gallowglass children. Great fun!

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in the long line of "Warlock" books, this one with a framing story of the High Warlock and his family exploring a "haunted" castle on Gramarye, and his robotic "steed" Fess telling the children of how his robot brain had served many masters, through the Warlock's family line, coming down to them. Nifty little vignettes tell us stories set in the Asteroid belts and starships, while the framing story continues the endless saga of Gramarye. Not bad.

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you do if your horse could talk, fly, run REALLY REALLY fast?
Call him FRIEND especially when he's a robot that you have been with all your life.

[Đenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rozpravanie o tom, ako sa VESS stal a co vsetko sa mu prihodilo kym sa dostal k Rodovi. A Rod a jeho rodinka sa stahuju na hrad, ktory dostali za odmenu a kde strasi.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very forgettable installment of this series. This is an interlude from the real issues Rod has been confronting in the rest of the series regarding the futurists. They have absolutely nothing to do with the plot here. It is a very linear story whereby the family was granted a haunted plot of land of which the castle is the focus of the haunting. The entire family goes there, learns the story of the haunting and straightforwardwise gets rid of the ghosts. In the interim the main story is broken up by flashback stories from Fess regarding his prior owners, mostly from Rod’s family, and a few about Rod himself. Most of these stories suck but the few about Rod’s ancestors and Rod himself make the book readable. I sure hope the next stories in this series get us back on track, otherwise the author is heading for Piers Anthony land. Onward!

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more a series of short stories about the cyber-horse and previous masters, bound together with some side plot. This would really be most interesting if you've at least read the first book, as that really sets the stage for many of these shorts.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorites in the series, besides the original.

[Laura]

I had to put this book down. The "thou," "canst," "whilst," (etc.) in certain characters' dialogue drove me absolutely nuts, although I did think Fess was an interesting character and I liked the story he recounted of the past. I got 1/4 through before I gave up.

[C.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnus is coming into his powers and Fess tells stories of his previous owners.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this episode, Fess regales the children of stories from Rod's past, and Stasheff blends the whole thing with a story from the present.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish