Odom,Mel. The Rover

The Rover is a delightful romp with a curious librarian who has never (up until now) done a outwardly brave thing in his life. Combining all the best elements of good High Fantasy--intricate plotting and structure, compelling and humorous characters, rollicking and suspenseful action--this effort by Mel Odom will hopefully be the first in a new series.

Wick is the son of a lamplighter and only a third-level librarian at the remote and secret Vault of All Known Knowledge. The Head Librarian, Grandmaster Frollo, thinks Wick spends much too much time reading trivial legends that provoke his imagination into all kinds of unconstructive flights of fancy.

The story really begins when Wick takes a package to the Customs House and ends up on a heady adventure that starts with him fighting a legendary creature of evil--the Boneblight, being kidnapped by pirates, sold into slavery, becoming a thief, meeting elves, dwarves, and a very nasty dragon before finding his way home again. Along the way, Wick realizes he has learned a great deal by his reading, that he has more in him than he thought, and that the there is a really good reason for keeping the Vault of All Known Knowledge's location a secret.

This is a great tale, artfully told and although the characters are all derivative of the masters of Fantasy--they are so well-crafted that they are a true homage to the great Tolkein who began it all. Odom has a great deal of fun with the genre, and librarians as well.

Leane M. Ellis, October 1,2001.