Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy

I thought it was an excellent book. Hardy has a fabulous writing style and progresses the storyline well. I especially liked how after Alodar learned each of the arts he had a trial and used each of the magics to a practical end. Hardy also has the laws of all of the magics and clearly limits how far a certain art can be used, which makes for an interesting read.

This book is from 1980 and I am just reading it in 2007. It is an interesting book on several levels. The story is somewhat formulamatic, young lord's family is disgraced and out of power until the young lord can perform some deed or accomplish something that will restore the glory to his family...yadda...yadda. However old stories are not worthless and can be repeated with success if the writing is good. Mr. Hardy's writing is quite good and the story moves along drawing the reader with it. In most spots, the story line is evident and there is little surprise. What makes it work and what I liked was how the author covers the essence of each of the "magics" he gets into. Just one example, I am a chemist and enjoyed the sequence where the hero is learning alchemy. The main bone of contention is the yield of processes and how this affects a multi-step process. The assumption that yields are 50% is not accurate or course, but it does point out that a five step synthesis at 50% per step ends up with a final yield of 3% from starting materials. There is a lot of fun in the chemical factories where processes are ground out in an assembly line fashion, and there is some pathos in the mention of what happens to workers who stay in the industrial environment too long. All-in-all, I really enjoyed the book, would recommend it to others, and will look for the other two books that follow this one.

This is an excellent book that follows the adventures of Alodar (a journeyman thaumaturge). His quest to win the queen's heart lead him to study all five magics of the world (thaumaturgy, alchemy, magic, sorcery, and wizardry) and put that knowledge to a greater cause.

This book spawned two sequels (Secret of the Sixth Magic, Riddle of the Seven Realms) that follow different characters, but with the same great writing style.