Castle Perilous

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Several Earth humans and some non-humans randomly find themselves Guests in a huge, rambling castle that is also under serious attack. However, they find they're each developing magic powers that may be able to keep them from harm.

Review
There's nothing fundamentally new about Castle Perilous – you'll have seen many of these elements before – the huge, unmappable castle; the magic portals to other worlds; the clever/brawny pairing; the bubbly, can-do woman with talent. They all play pretty much the roles you expect. But, to be fair to DeChancie, he deploys them all well, and this is a fast, fun read – enough so that I was willing to pick up most of the series. My database tells me I have only one in paperback, though I recall reading more. I have 8 of 9 in e-form. They're a bit like John Morresey's Kedrigern books – not groundbreaking, but light fantasy entertainment with some humor.

DeChancie does cheat quite a bit at the end of the book, with respect to sequels, and I don't remember how that later plays out; we'll have to see. For this first book, though, it's easy, lazy entertainment.