''A Wizard in Rhyme'' is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Christopher Stasheff. The series follows the character of Matthew Mantrell, an English literature Ph.D. student, who is transported to a magical world where poetry is used to cast spells. There his knowledge of poetry, gained through his literature studies, establishes him as a powerful wizard and positions him as "lord wizard of the realm". The series consists of eight novels, and is said to have hints of

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

and

Fletcher Pratt Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American people, American List of science fiction authors, writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War an ...

.Steinberg, Sybil S. (1997). "My Son, the Wizard: Book V of A Wizard in Rhyme". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. 244:46. p60. ''A Wizard in Rhyme'' takes place in an

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Europe, featuring several geographical differences (most notably a land-bridge connecting Britain to the mainland) and two major supernatural differences: the existence of magic, which can be influenced by the speaking of rhymed verse; and the established and real presence of the Christian

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

and

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

, leading to a prevalence of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

thought and morality.

Geography

The following are domains of the realms covered in the novel, with the approximate geographical counterparts in the real world. * Merovence: (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) When introduced in Book 1, it was ruled by recent usurper Astaulf, who shared power with his sorcerer-henchman Malingo. Merovence was, at the time, the last bastion of morality and Christianity within Europe, as its rightful ruler, the uncrowned Princess Alisande, was still devoted to good. Its patron saint, Saint Moncaire, took action to save it from destruction: he sent a magic spell, encrypted in the language of Merovence, out into the other universes; the first person to interpret it would be drawn into Merovence and help in the crusade against evil. That man was Matthew Mantrell. Its name is probably derived from the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

line or from

Merovech Merovech (; ; 411 – 458) was the ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty. He was reportedly a king of the Salian Franks, but records of his existence are mixed with legend and myth. The most important written source, Gregory of Tours, recorded that ...

, and its capital is called Bordestang. * Ibile: (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) When introduced in Book 2, it was ruled by sorcerer-king Gordogrosso, and then by Prince Rinaldo after The Gross One's defeat. The name ''Ibile'' seems to have been derived from

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

, and its capital is called Orlequedrille. * Allustria: (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) When introduced in Book 3, it was ruled by the witch-queen Suettay, and an army of scribes in an extensive bureaucratic network. The name ''Allustria'' is either derived from Allemagne (French for

) combined with

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

. * Latruria: (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) When introduced in Book 4, it was ruled an evil sorcerer-king who was succeeded by his grandson, Boncorro. The name ''Latruria'' seems to have been derived from

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

combined with

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

. Its capital is Venarra. * Bretanglia: (

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

) When introduced in Book 6, it was ruled by an ambitious king who was succeeded by Prince John then King Brion. The name ''Bretanglia'' seems to have been derived from

and Anglia, the medieval Latin name for England. Its capital is Dunlimon (a near-

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. Most twenty-first century historians think that it was originally a settlement established shortly after the Roman conquest of Brit ...

). * Erin: (

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) also known as the 'Isle of Doctors and Saints' in many of the previous books. Not much is known about Erin, other than

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

s live there. The name

Erin Erin is a personal name taken from the Hiberno-English word for Ireland, originating from the Irish word ''"Éirinn"''. "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in preposi ...

is another name for Ireland. Note: There are some inconsistencies with the actual name of Britain and Ireland in the series. In book 4, Matthew mentions that the countries

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and Ireland are respectfully named Angland, Scotia and Erie, yet in Book 6 Britain is called "Bretanglia," and Ireland, "Erin." However, this may be Stasheff making reference to

and

when referring to Angland and Scotia respectively, while Bretanglia refers to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

as a whole.

Novels

*''Her Majesty's Wizard'' (1986) *''The Oathbound Wizard ''(1993) *''The Witch Doctor'' (1994) *''The Secular Wizard'' (1995) *''My Son, the Wizard'' (1997) *''The Haunted Wizard'' (1999) *''The Crusading Wizard'' (2000) *''The Feline Wizard'' (2000)

Main characters

* Matthew "Matt" Mantrell: A PhD student who, through reading some odd runes, stumbled into a magical world similar to his original Earth homeland. The geography of the new world is similar to Matt's home world, and even shares some common history. By accident, he discovered he could perform magic in the new world by reciting rhymes. Royal Consort to Alisande and Royal Wizard. * Alisande: The rightful ruler of Merovence. * Sir Guy de Toutarien: Alias Sir Guy Losobal. A brave and upright knight and epitome of romantic knight in feudal age. He hides the fact that he is a descendant of Hardishane, a hero in the past who fought evil and established an Empire for goodness and order. Married to the Lady Yverne. * Stegoman: A fire-breathing dragon, befriended and cured by Matthew. * Saul Delacroix Bremner: Alias The Witch Doctor. One of Matthew's fellow students. Brought to Matthew's world by the Spider King to aid in the overthrow of Allustria. * Ramon Mantrell Matthew's father, a shopkeeper and scholar and thus a powerful wizard in his own right, along with his wife.

References

External links

Christopher Stasheff's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wizard In Rhyme, A Fantasy novel series