Le Brouet Des Sorcières

From Publishers Weekly Picking up where The Tangle Box left off, Brooks continues his increasingly convoluted narrative, again following the trials and tribulations of former lawyer?and currently Landover's ruler?Ben Holiday. Even as Holiday battles evil forces to keep his domain secure and his loved ones safe, his daughter, Mistaya, is kidnapped by his nemesis, the disgruntled witch Nightshade. Threatened by the mysterious Rydall, King of the Marnhull, Holiday must prepare to meet seven potentially deadly challenges. Meanwhile, his faithful sidekicks, Abernathy the scribe and Questor Thews the wizard, are sent to Earth, where Abernathy renews his acquaintance with Elizabeth, now an attractive teenager. Despite entertaining passages (Mistaya's training in witchcraft) and moments of depth (Holiday's struggles with his inner demons), the novel still feels cobbled together, a kind of prelude for the romances and battles of later installments. Fortunately, the familiar characters remain as appealing as when they first appeared, despite their involvement in these transparent and hackneyed situations. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From For the fifth time, Brooks brings us Ben Holiday in the Magic Kingdom of Landover. Ben's daughter, Mistaya, is growing with supernatural speed, just in time to become the object of a kidnapping. The kidnappers are working for the hostile potentate Rydall, who is challenging Ben to seven contests, winner take all--" all" in this case being the Magic Kingdom. As usual, Ben and his comrades and allies are forced to use both sheer magical muscle and subtler ingenuity to come out with their skins whole. As usual, they succeed. The Magic Kingdom books continue to be ingenious, witty, and generally fun to read, even though they do not reach for the exalted high-fantasty heights of Brooks' Shannara novels. Roland Green