Reluctant Sorcerer

Hawke opens his third fantasy series by introducing Dr. Marvin ``Doc'' Brewster, a research scientist whose time-travel machine takes a wrong turn into a parallel magical universe. Doc's first time machine, programmed for a round trip, left the laboratory and didn't return. So when he constructs a second, he goes along for the ride and lands in the Kingdom of Frank, where an annoyed bull promptly destroys the vehicle. Doc is befriended by Mick O'Fallon, a leprechaun and aspiring alchemist who takes him for a sorcerer. Hoping for a few lessons, Mick offers Doc accommodations while he hunts for his first time machine. Neither knows that it is in the hands of powerful adept Warrick Morgannan, who is curious about the device and its creator; their encounter must be for a future volume. Hawke's (Time War series) fairly bland tale, with its frequent, annoying authorial intrusions, cannot be redeemed, however, even by an entertaining chat between Brewster and the ``werepot prince,'' an enchanted chamberpot that returns to its original human form during full moons. (May)