Spellsinger

Series · 8 books · 1983-1994

By Alan Dean Foster

Books in series

Spellsinger

1983

Among sentient animals and humans, hardheaded and hard-shelled wizard Clothahump searches across dimensions for a wizard to defeat looming armies of Plated Folk. Jonathan-Thomas Meriweather, part-time wannabe rock guitarist and janitor, makes magic to his well-worn rock repertoire on his duar instrument. While lyrics may be righteous, the magic is too often something else.

The Hour of the Gate

1984

Spellsinger Jon-Tom follows bespectacled turtle wizard Clothahump for allies against invading insect Plated Folk with new magic - and way home to our world. Crew is his crush Flor, 5' otter Mudge, red-hair Talea, big bat Pog, gambler Caz, dragon Falameezar. Froggy Bribbens guides them in split river under mountain but no farther to arachnid Weavers or mythical Ironcloud.

The Day of the Dissonance

1984

Clothahump, the wizard, is dying. All that can save him are rare medicinal powers to be found across the Glittergeist Ocean, past distant Snarken, Jon-Tom, the Spellsinger, sets out on the most perilous pilgrimage of his still-young career, armed with only his music-making duar and a reluctant Mudge, the otter, as his guide. Along the way he conjures up Roseroar, Amazonian tiger, rescues Jalwar, the ferret, and together they free Folly, the beauty, from bondage! Spellsinger and his motley crew press on, confronting a forest of Fungoid Frankensteins on the Muddletop Moors, a parrot pirate on the high seas, cannibal fairies in the enchanted canyon, and the evil wizard of Malderpot who poses the greatest challenge of all!

The Moment of the Magician

1984

The call came from the far South of the strange world where Jon Meriweather was stranded—where animals walked and talked, and where magic really did work. It came to Clothahump the magician, a cry for help from a beleaguered city, held in thrall by a darkly powerful magician. Reluctantly, Jon and a rebellious Mudge set out—only to discover that the evil they face stems from Jon's own world. And if Jon is to conquer it, he must risk never, ever returning home...

The Paths of the Perambulator

1985

With Clothahump and Mudge the Otter, Jonathan Meriweather, the Spellsinger, now faces the greatest challenge of all - for the mysterious Perambulator is threatening the very fabric of the universe.

The Time of the Transference

1986

Another tale of talking animals and misdirected magic in the #1 New York Times –bestselling author’s whimsical “Foster knows how to spin a yarn” ( Starlog ). Jon-Tom has been trapped in a strange land of talking owls and wizarding turtles for a year now, his sole consolation that in this universe his musical abilities have inadvertently made him something of a sorcerer. But when an encounter with some burglars leads to him snapping the magical duar that channels his power, he finds himself an ordinary human again—on a quest to repair his instrument with nothing but his staff and his semi-faithful, ever-complaining otter sidekick to defend him. The journey takes them to the ends of the earth—and beyond. On the run from some half-wit pirates, they dart into a cave and find themselves in San Antonio, the shortcut to home that Jon-Tom has long dreamed about. But Texas wants nothing to do with this long-haired wizard, or the unpleasant creatures who are tracking him.

Son of Spellsinger

1993

Foster resumes his Spellsinger saga: Much to Clothahump the Wizard's distress, ex-hippie Jon-Tom and otherworldly Talea's son Buncan wants to be a questing hero, but not a spellsinger. Instead, he forms a band with Mudge's kids, otters Nocter and Squill, one that creates a wild, unpredictable magic - based on rap!Then an anteater arrives with rumours about a dangerous legend. Soon the young rappers, aided by a drunk rhino, are off on an odyssey to a fortress where evil sorcerers threaten the world. And where only the unknown power of Buncan's beat can stop the hordes of hideous hybrids.

Chorus Skating

1994

The discovery of errant living notes escaped from an extradimensional symphony leads Spellsinger Jon-Tom and his otter sidekick, Mudge, on a perilous quest to rescue some spoiled princesses, battle a guerrilla gorilla, and match wits with an evil alien band

Author

Alan Dean Foster

Author · 129 books

Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race. Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux. Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.