Catastrophe's Spell

Catastrophe's Spell
Mayer Alan Brenner
Daw Books


Catastrophe's Spell is the first book in the Dance of Gods series by Mayer Alan Brenner, and published by Daw up until the early 90s (see here for more details).

From the few reviews I've read, Brenner has been compared several times to the great, great Roger Zelazny, something which, I must admit, I was a bit dubious about. After reading Catastrophe's Spell, I still don't understand the comparison. That's not to say that the book was bad, in fact, it was quite good -- but, for all their similarities in having written good books, in terms of style, what they're writing, etc, I'd say they were quite different.

Called upon by an old friend, Karlini, who has managed to get himself trapped in a magically snared castle that has the habit of vanishing and re-appearing on the other side of the world (think icebergs, here!), Maximilian the Vaguely Disreputable travels to the small, but busy, town of Roosing Oolvaya. There, Max is to find whoever has trapped Karlini, get them to stop (by way of Max's incredible charisma (and the help of his large, magical power, of course!)), and then return to wherever he was before...

That's the beginning -- but every good story needs a beginning, a muddle, and an end ... and Max is about to walk right into the muddle between Gods and men ... and immortals who want to kill the Gods, mortals who want to kill the immortals and become Gods, Deaths ... and a large amount of zombies, necromancers, and all-around general bad guys.

The humour was never farcical, always intelligent, but there was a certain madcap, slyness to it which I haven't experienced in fantasy for quite a while. Some scenes had me laughing out loud -- not good when traveling with a bunch of strangers, but a perfect remedy to Life.

I was also impressed with the idea of science and magic being intertwined, with Max trying to use science to understand how magic could possibly work ... and how it could be used to remove the Gods... The use of science to do magic was something that reminded me of Charles Stross' Bob Howard books -- and Brenner cited Stross as one of his favourite authors in a previous email.

While not seeming so densely packed with ideas as Stross' work (though that could be because Mayer Brenner's books have more pages, whereas Charles Stross' tend to be slightly thinner), Catastrophe's Spell has its fair share, both humorous and thought-provoking ... with Max spending some time pondering the nature of the Gods, and how they achieved their divinity... Jurtan Mont with his own private mental orchestra that causes unconsciousness whenever he hears a rhythm ... one of the Death's trying to take control of the the town of Roosing Oolvaya, a place where Gods just happen to hang out ... and a sorcerer/detective unable to cast even a minor spell without becoming mortally ill!

Catastrophe's Spell, although humourous is also an engaging, interesting story and an excellent start to the Dance of Gods series. I would like to see this book back in print -- there are some good books out right now, and there are some not-so-good books ... this one deserves its place with the former, and definitely has at least person who'd buy them. 7/10.

I will be reviewing the other books in the series, too. They can though, be read and downloaded (PDF) on Mayer's website -- that includes this book. Happy reading!