Castle for Rent

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Organized, blue-skinned warriors are for some reason wandering all through the castle. And when Incarnadine, the castle's owner, goes off to consult a long-distant brother, he finds himself trapped in the very low magic environment of Earth - only to realize that the problem at the castle is much, much worse than a few odd warriors.

Review
The last book introduced the premise, characters, and setting, then did a bit of a reset at the end. Here, happily, we learn that that was a reset in name only, and our characters are happily established and settled in. As before, there's a threat to the castle's existence, and, as before, our heroes tackle it valiantly and with humor. There are one or two new characters, and one existing character (who was barely introduced but played a key role in book 1) is given more space.

DeChancie brings the action to Earth – and New York specifically – which I don't normally care for, but here it doesn't get too much in the way of a good story. DeChancie does rather overplay some aspects of the heroes' battles, throwing everything conceivable into the mix, but again the story comes through reasonably unscathed.

There's not much here that will make you think of this as a classic, but it's good, harmless fun. For those keeping track, I went back to the bookshelves and confirmed that I have the first eight books of the series in paperback, so these are all re-reads, but I have to admit that little of the matter stuck in my memory; it's more a feeling of broad familiarity as matters unfold.