“A Disagreement With Death”
by Craig Shaw Gardner
Book Three: The Ballad of Wuntvor
“Gardner skewers all the clichés of quest-fantasy with wit, style, mordant irony and great glee –this series could have been serialized in National Lampoon, or filmed by one of the Pythons!”
– Spider Robinson
Side note: First off I have to apologize for starting with the third book in this series. My son picked this book up at a yard sale and I thought I’d check it out. I must say, however, that after reading this one; I’m definitely going to seek out the rest in the series!
Back Cover Summary:
“Something in the air is pretty scary.
The sun is gone, the wind’s contrary.
It’s quite excting, we must confeth.
It must be time for a date with Death!”
Strange have been the travels of Wuntvor, hapless apprentice to the mighty mage Ebenezum. Strange indeed his journeys in search of a cure for his master’s malady of magicks!
Yet stranger still the road that lies ahead!
For Wunt has caught the cold eye of Death himself, who seeks to add the Eternal Apprentice to his morbid minions. To lure the lad to his dread domain, the Relentless Reaper has captured the wizard in his grim grasp!
Now, if the Fates (Mary Jane, Victoria and Hortense) allow, Wuntvor will strike out for Death’s Kingdom, to engage the Specter in strange and noisy contests, so that Ebenezum might be spared.
But Wunt must walk the alleys and lanes of the Afterlife with caution, lest he stumble into a gutter and lose Death’s game … permanently.
Stacy’s Review:
Wow! This was, by far, the funniest book I’ve ever read! Every single page had me in fits of giggles! Really, Craig Shaw Gardner is seriously twisted, and I love it!!!
A Disagreement With Death is the third book in “The Ballad of Wuntvor” series. But honestly, you can read this book and not feel as if you are missing anything.
The story begins with a showdown between Wuntvor, the Eternal Apprentice (a wizard), and Death. Death covets Wuntvor’s soul, which, up to this point had been unattainable. Death has spirited Ebenezum (master mage/wizard) to the land of the dead, and now expects Wuntvor to exchange his soul for that of his master. So Wuntvor sets out on a journey to find a way to rescue Ebenezum without sacrificing himself.
Wuntvor begins his travels with this cast of characters:
Snarks - a Demon (Has a sharp, acerbic tongue & sarcastic wit.)
Tap - a Brownie (Has a penchant for shoes.)
Hubert - a Dragon (An entertainer, of sorts.)
Alea - a Damsel (Beautiful, of course, and not at all in distress.)
Richard - a gentleGiant (Self explanatory really.)
Norei - his beloved, a Witch (Sensible, intelligent, sweet & quite the kisser.)
Hendrek - a Viking-type warrior (Has a ‘headbasher’ mentality.)
Seven Dwarves - (Singing is in their contract.)
Jeffery - a Wolf (Licks his lips at the thought of tasty snacks, you know; pigs, little girls dressed in red, grandmothers.)
Cuthbert - a talkingSword (Detests blood and ichor, and recently … ectoplasm.)
Brax - a salesDemon (Likes to beat upon a drum.)
Guxx - a dreaded rhymingDemon (This one lacks a sense of humor, go figure. btw … he’s lost his ability to rhyme.)
Mother Duck - a semi-Villianous threat. (A bit of a harpy, really.)
And last, but not least … a Ferret. Yup, you heard right.
Some Excerpts:
Etiquette is as important to wizards as it is to anyone else. Say, for example, that one of your numerous vistitng in-laws criticizes the upkeep of the home. You, or course, should smile graciously at this remark, and pleasantly reply that you will be more than glad to turn them into a broom.
–From Ask Ebenezum:
A Handy Compendium of Wizard’s Do’s and Don’ts,
fourth edition,
by Ebenezum,
greatest wizard in the Western Kingdoms
***
“We are traveling now through the Region of Unrelieved Grayness!” our guide explained. “At least that’s what they call it hereabouts. With a name like that, it’s no wonder property values around here are so low!”
“It’s too bad we need this guy to take us to your master,” Snarks whispered in my ear. “Otherwise, we could strangle him.”
***
After a fair amount of insanity, and several pages into the book, Wuntvor’s companions dwindle down to a party of four (Five, if you include the ferret). From here, they determine that they must meet with ‘Plaugg’, a marginally magnificent god who resides somewhere in Heaven. But first, they have to figure out just how to get to Heaven, so that ‘Plaugg’, the inconsequentially majestic minor deity, can tell them how to get the the Kingdom of Death in order to resuce Ebenezum.
It’s a total laugh fest … with a ‘party-line’ crystal ball, the Three Fates, minus one that just couldn’t hack it anymore, to a bunch of ‘punch-line delivering’ dragons. Every page is a gem!
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