Magic Casement

A Man of His Word, Book 1

By: Dave Duncan

Narrated by: Mil Nicholson

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Princess Inos lived an idyllic life in her fathers' sleepy, backwater kingdom, and she was best friends with her childhood companion, the stableboy, Rap. But when a prophecy seemed to say Inos should be married, she was exiled to the Impire to learn to be a lady. She was far away when Rap's magical talents began to emerge, and it was he who told her of the fate awaiting them both.

©1990 D.J. Duncan (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Wonderful fairy tale

Captivating, classic fairy tale, with a spirited, strong-willed princess, a half-breed faun with magical powers, bloodthirsty goblins, and I especially love the Princess's Aunt Cade, a dumpy, prissy middle-aged widow with a surprising adventurous streak. A fun story for all ages. I'm buying the sequel!

Better than expected

Well- developed interesting characters. fantastical setting which is somehow well grounded in reality. Enjoyed the narrator.

An unexpected treat

This is a hidden gem in the fantasy genre. Not a well known series at all but an immensely satisfying listen. The character development and fantasy world that is created by Duncan is rich and detailed. The first book is primarily built around character development and some might find it a little slow in parts, but it still holds the interest and has a lot to offer. The story really picks up in the 2nd book and the 3rd and 4th are just epic! Highly, highly recommended.

Interesting Magic

Dave Duncan has come up with a great magic concept and a unique character. The magic concept drives the conflict in the plot. A fun light read. Worth a listen.

Fantasy with slight romance

I enjoyed reading this fantasy, and eventually the whole series. Actually, I read and listened, alternatively. To me, Nicholson's narration sounded a bit fuzzy at times, not always crisp enough to easily distinguish words.

3rd person POV (my favorite for fiction) set in a medieval world called Pandemia. Plot involves a variety of races of humans/humanoids: humans, elves, goblins, dwarves, djinn, imps, pixies, faeries, trolls, mermen, gnomes, etc.

Magic centers around words of power: 1 word makes a genius, 2 words makes an adept, 3 words makes a mage, 4 words makes a sorcerer, etc. Words are highly coveted and guarded. There are ways to get words and ways to share words. It's not clear where the words come from, but Rap speculates on the subject.

So, Duncan's magical fantasy series begins here, with a stable boy, a princess, magical words, politics, and several mysteries. There is tension between the four ruling warlocks and between the Imps (organized, socially savvy, elegant) and the Jotun / Jotnar (rough seafaring Viking types from Nordland). Goblins also play a big role in this series, as do the Djinn from Zark (much like Arabia, stereotyped).

No sex or swearing, but it does get grisly at times, especially in goblin land. It's also fairly heartwarming at times, and occasionally just mildly amusing. A thread of romance runs through it -- a stableboy yearning for a princess.

I enjoyed the plot. Not crazy about the princess, but I'm rooting for Rap, the stableboy who grew up by the end of this first book. Hooray also for Fleabag the wolf. I am also strangely attached to Little Chicken, the goblin.

Good map in the book -- even higher resolution map at the author's website.

Quibble: Duncan writes very well, but IMO, he uses too much anachronistic language in this series which yanks me out of the medieval setting.

Key Characters to make listening easier:

Holindarn, King of Krasnegar, his sister Aunt Kadolin (Kade), his daughter Princess Inos (Inosolin), Rap (Raparakagozi), factotum Foronod (a Jotnar / Jotun), stable-master hostler Hononin, Guard Master Thosolin, psychotic killer Thane Kalkor of Gark (a Jotnar pirate raider from Nordland), Duke Angliki in Kinvale, duchess Ekki, chaplain Mother Unonini, Djinn sorcerer Rasha aq'Inim Sultana of Arakkaran, Imperor Emshandar, Yggingi Pronconsul in Pondague, Little Chicken goblin from Raven Clan.

There is also a charismatic imp named Andor, Jalon the half-elf minstrel, Darad the Jotun ogre, Dr Sagorn the old scholarly Jotun, and Thinal the thief, an imp.

The Four Warlocks: Bright Water goblin sorceress of the North, Lith'rian elf sorcerer of the South, Olybino imp of the East, and Zinixo dwarf of West.

I read this series and the follow-up series "A Handful of Men" which also features Rap as hero.

Love the story, but the production values...

Loved the book when I first read it. Great world, interesting development.

But the sibilance in every sentence with an 's'!!! Dropped me right out of the story a number of times. The rest of the books appear to be from the same team, so I'll tough it out eventually, but I'll work through most of my library first!

Narration Warning

I will say Mil Nicholson’s voice and reading style are quite pleasing. One huge problem I had was the ABSOLUTE LACK of editing. Practically every line begins with a loud indrawn breath and ends with horrible mouth noises, lip smacking and/or swallowing. It almost seemed she has a cold or sinus infection.

I would consider this performance as 4 or 5 stars if only it had any sort of quality editing.

Fansastic story in a fantastic world.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Although the book might sound typical, with a princess, a castle, a magical history, and an stableboy as an unlikely hero , they way author Dave Duncan sets up the rules of the world is interesting. Magic Casement introduces you to the players, and starts to introduce the world to the characters, and to the reader.

The first thing that you notice are that there are no "humans" as a separate race. There are Imps, and Jotnar, and Elves, and Goblins, and Gnomes, and others, all of which are just people.

Second, there is magic... the kingdom of Kagaznagar where the story takes place was created by a powerful wizard... But there are rules to magic, and it all centers on "Words of Power", and the great Warlocks and Witches in the capitol of the Impire. But these are things that the residents of remote Kagaznagar care little for, and know even less about.

But when the king Holindarn becomes ill, it sets in motion an incredible adventures for the Princess Inosolan, and he childhood friend, and stable-boy, Rap. As Inosolan is introduces to fine living, and the expectations of royalty, Rap is thrown into the disgusting and horrid world of goblins. As they experience more of the world around them, they begin to understand how precarious their kingdom, and even their lives, actually are.

This is the first book or 4, so it does start a little slow, and it seems to end rather abruptly. On its own, it would need to be longer. As part 1 of 4... its a good opening, and a worthwhile listen.

What about Mil Nicholson’s performance did you like?

Mil Nicholson does a good job of keeping the voices and accents separate and distinct, and her British accent lends an aura to this reading. She does the ladies' and boyish voices well, but seems to be a little lacking in some of the men's voices.

I love this series!!

I first read this series long ago. I have been waiting for ages for it to come out in audio format. It is as good as I remember. I couldn't put it down. I am hoping for the last book to come out soon. This is one I could listen to over and over.

A very enjoyable audiobook.

I picked this up based on the the fact that I pride myself on having read, or at least having been familiar with, most of the fantasy series that people consider “classics” or important... Call me a nerdy snob if you must.

That said, until I came across a book in another series by Dave Duncan in the new releases section I had never heard of him or his books. Upon further investigation I realized that there’s a hole in my snobby-nerd, fantasy knowledge. From my research I picked this book to start my acquaintance with Duncan’s work.

I have to say that I’m glad that I took a chance with this audiobook/series. The writing is professional, well considered and deep. The narration is also excellent. In fact, until the last third of the book, I was wholly enchanted. Unfortunately, Duncan made the same mistake that many authors make and decided to have the plot hinge on one of the characters being immensely dense as well as on miscommunication between characters.

This kind of writing ploy, in my opinion, is the worst tendency of authors who get lazy and stop bothering to make sure that the characters’ motivations and intelligence match their actions. Instead of coming up with novel ideas to create real tension that moves the plot, they lazily generate tension that feels cheap, frustrating, and artificial.

It was doubly annoying because up to that point this was a five star book. Still though, it didn’t manage to ruin the whole audiobook. It just knocked some of the shine off of it. So Duncan gets 4 stars instead of five from this snobby, fantasy nerd.

It’s worth the credit, and I will pick up the next book... but with a little less enthusiasm than I might have if the author hadn’t offended my delicate sensibilities.