The Wizard in Waiting

Pelmen the Powershaper #2

by Robert Don Hughes

When the kingdom of Chaomonous is taken over by Queen Ligne, the living Imperial House desperately calls for the wizard, Pelmen, to come to its rescue

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction

357 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 12, 1982

About the author

Dr. Robert Don Hughes (born 1949), is an American educator and writer, author of both mainstream fantasy and science fiction and evangelical non-fiction. Born within a mile of the beach in California, he now teaches missions, evangelism, world religions and apologetics at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Kentucky. He spent two terms as a missionary in Africa, first in Zambia and then Nigeria. He regularly assists churches as interim pastor or revival leader. He’s better known on the Internet as the author of such fantasy and science fiction novels as The Prophet of Lamath and The Eternity Gene.

Reviews

[Len Evans Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book as is true of many second books in trilogies has a slight issue of slowing down a bit in the middle third, while being faster paced in the 1st and last thirds. Despite that it is still an awesome read. It is such fun watching as some characters grow and learn, whilst others stubbornly stick to the ruts they have lived in for years and thsu suffer for it. I love the fact that despite my remembering the ending to this book, I had a really hard time getting through the last few chapters due to just how well the author managed to build the suspense and tension. Not to mention that the ending felt just as awesome as I recalled! Truly a masterful author with a wonderful talent, would have been nice if he had written more than just five fantasy books. Ok... time to get started on the final book in this trilogy!

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fantasy series. Nice story line that reads well. Good villains and heroes and just the right touch of humor throughout the book. Very recommended

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

While his first novel (and the first in this trilogy), _The Prophet of Lamath_ was a fairly decent outing for an inexperienced author, Hughes's second is much more polished, complex, and interesting. It stills relies on some fantasy cliches, but Hughes is hardly alone in relying on standard adventure elements and plotting. The social and political machinations, as well as the interesting characters and their interactions are what really make this novel tick. And living castles with their own ways of speaking (and their own pet peeves) are pretty cool.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although it's not really my style of fantasy. The sentient Imperial House "character" was amusing, and the book itself almost reads like a sort of play, although I didn't quite enjoy the cast of characters. The way it's written makes me feel like I missed a book that happened before this one, and the ending suggests there is another to follow.

[Evan Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the first book in the series really is just a solid three...your average quick read fantasy..it had just enough new concepts surrounding its central character to get me to pick up this second.... and I am glad I did.

While the first introduced us to a cast of characters, they mostly were pretty cut out 2d characters that only served to move the plot along for the central character of Pelmen.

In this next installment we get a bit more theology... a lot stolen from Star Wars with a “ Power” that is everywhere and guides the main character. There were also some obvious allusions to the authors own Baptist background and understanding of the guidance of the Holy Spirit coached as the “Power” shaping Pelmen.

Overall within this standard Palace intrigue fantasy storyline, we get a lot more character development , swordplay action, romance, and daring do.

Looking forward to picking up the last in the series.

[SpentCello · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went in with very low expectations based on my experience with the first book in the series, but I was pleasantly surprised that the writing style was significantly better. However, it still wasn't great and so many other aspects of the book were very mediocre. The Imperial House really annoyed me rather than being funny and almost all the characters are irritating in their own simple-minded ways. The thin and obvious metaphor of Power (God) was not particularly insightful and felt more like watered-down theology than an easily accessible fantasy version of Christian theology. There was also an over-reliance on physical violence to show evilness which was boring and repetitive. Overall, this felt very much like a censored/sanitised version of a Monty Python skit.

[Marco Hoogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would probably rate this at four and a half stars. As this book still delivered on the comedy side, and the story was still engaging enough. Not quite as strong as The Prophet of Lamath for me, but still an entertaining read (From what I remember - we are talking over 30 years ago!)

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magic, higher powers, talking castles and barbarians. Full of twists.

[James]

When the kingdom of Chaomonous is taken over by Queen Ligne, the living Imperial House desperately calls for the wizard, Pelmen, to come to its rescue

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old book, but one which has aged well.

Good story, characters and plot. The sentiment fortress lifts this to 5 stars.

[Benj · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover shows the two-headed dragon, which is odd, as a large part of the plot revolves around the fact that the dragon is dead.

[Charles McGonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story keeps getting better - interesting characters and world. One thing I noticed, though, is that the author has no idea of combat - very little description of fights, and little enough respect that people learn to fight very well in under a month. It's probably the same assumptions I'd make, but it definitely stood out.

[Cheryl Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been many years since I last read this trilogy and for some reason the middle book is my favorite. What most impresses me is the rare contribution of faith in a science fiction book. Hughes does a wonderful job of expressing faith, how even those who perform miracles can still have doubts and must go on faith.

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was supplied a copy free in exchange for a honest review.
I was not impressed with this story characters or the way it was written, probably due to not having read the first one.
I may try again if I get to read the first in the series.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did I miss this series when Bob wrote them in the late 70's? Hm . . . I guess I was memorizing Greek vocabulary (which of course I remember none of now). In any case, I missed out. Lots of fun.

[Venture Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is published by Venture Press.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable quirky read