Spellsinger Books In Order

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Publication Order of Spellsinger Books

Spellsinger is a series of fantasy/fiction book written by an American writer of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, literature and fiction books Alan Dean Foster. The series follows Jonathan Thomas Merriweather, aka Jon-Tom when he is unwillingly sent into a fantasy world by turtle wizard Clothahump. At the moment of transport, Jon-Tom is high on cannabis and initially thinks that is just but a dream but soon finds himself in a strange world with little chances of returning home anytime soon. The world he is sent to is known as Spellsinger and is largely occupied by animals that resemble those found in planet earth, but all are anthropomorphic, meaning they are bipedal, intelligent, able to handle tools and wear clothing and almost closer sized to their human counterparts. However unlike earth where humans are the dominant species, on this planet all species are equal.

Foster began the publication of Spellsinger series in 1983 when Spellsinger the first book in the series was published. The series ran eight novels concluding with Chorus Skating in 1994.

Spellsinger

In the first book from a series written by the award-winning author of Science fiction Dean Foster, we are introduced to Jonathan Thomas Merriweather, aka Joh-Tom, a pre-law student with pretentions to rock stardom. He is smoking cannabis when he is transported from the University of California to a weird world in which animals wear clothes, talk and live alongside humans by a powerful wizard known as Clothahump. The wizard is searching for another powerful wizard, an En, geeniar, or Engineer as he is under the impression that this is a name that our world gives to wizards. Unfortunately, he transports Jon-Tom who works as a part-time janitor and on his paycheck reads “sanitation engineer.”

However, it all works out for the best as Jon-Tom soon finds out that in the magical world he possesses the power of a Spellsinger, a mage who can make powerful spells via music. The threat to the western areas of this planet comes from the Plated Folk, large versions of insects and arthropods who regularly mount assaults on the Western regions. However, the spiders are not included in the main society which consists of centipedes and other insects such as beetles. Spiders have their own community known as The Weavers and are very isolationist. The series features many main characters with many of the primary characters appearing in their respective volume, but other characters appear in several books in the series.

Jon-Tom is a law student at UCLA. He is pulled into this world by Clothahump, and since he is high on drugs at the time of transportation, he at first believes that he is dreaming. However, this dream is soon over when Mudge stabs him. Jon-Tom soon discovers that he is capable of wielding the power of a Spellsinger, a magician who uses songs to cast spells. Jon is an easygoing man; he is also naïve and the kind of person who looks for the best in people.

Then there is Mudge is also one of the main characters, he is somehow an anti-hero due to him being a thief, womanizer, gambler and alcoholic and doesn’t take life seriously but all these traits seem common to the other species in the series. He is the man who assures Jon-Tom that he is not hallucinating by stabbing him with a knife and despite him and Jon-Tom having a shaky start; they ultimately become very close friends.
Talea is an old friend of Mudge and shares the same profession. She is a woman with green eyes and red hair. While she is able to keep up with Mudge’s behavior, she finds him lustful attitude disgusting. She is quick with a tongue as well as sword and often disagrees with Jon due to his naïve outlook and this result in some fights between them.

Clothahump is an old turtle wizard who brings Jon-Tom to his fantasy world while casting a spell calling an otherworldly wizard to assist him to save his own world. His magic was intended to send “an engineer” to his world, and so he gets what he wanted in Jon-Tom. Other main characters include Weegee, the otter whom Mudge madly falls in love with. Then there is Buncan Talea and Jon-Toms son who wants to be a Spellsinger yet his singing voice is horrible to the point that he summons demons into the house regularly. Nickum and Picket first appear in the sixth book in the series while Neena and Squill are first mentioned in book seven, and are Weegee and Mudge’s four children.

The Hour of the Gate

Jon-Tom and his friends have made it all the way to Polastrindu and just need to convince the Council that the armored threat is real and an attack is imminent. However, more defenders are needed for defense. The Weber people would be well suited, but their land lies behind the mountains, where no one has ever come back alive.

Jon-Tom and his friends want to do the impossible and set off. A great adventure begins a race against time. On their journey, the friends encounter different beings that are more or less helpful. The group is a colorful mix, and this gives an equally great variety of possibilities as the author skillfully exploits the various talents of the creatures and spins around to create a beautiful story.

Jon-Tom continues to evolve, even though he is not making any progress with his magical powers. However, he realizes that he has finally left his student life behind and also has to think about his future. He also gives some thought to the female members of the group. The red-haired Talea awakens in him a longing, and so he not only has to worry about the upcoming war but also about his love life.

In their journey, each character skill will be tested as they face several problems that need to be solved. The first two books in Spellsinger series, Spellsinger and Hour of the Gate focus on the crisis that Clothahump invited Jon-Tom to help with while the remaining six novels tell of other random adventures of Jon-Tom and his friends.

Book Series In Order » Characters » Spellsinger