With oughta-be-in-pictures imagery and dialogue designed for laugh tracks, Wright relentlessly riffs off every fantasy and action-movie cliché in this boisterous agglutination of modernized myths, the sequel to The Last Guardian of Everness
(2004). The cast of thousands includes Pendrake, a dethroned media mogul who carries an unbelievable array of espionage equipment to accompany his magic sword; his daughter, Wendy, who rarely stops giggling and pouting long enough to use her considerable magical powers; her husband, Raven, who controls the weather with the Ring of the Niflungar; and their allies Lemuel, Peter and Galen Waylock, three generations of guardians of the gate between the physical world and the realm of dreams. Together they battle talking seals disguised as Congressmen, physical manifestations of War and Fate, and the bumbling mage Azrael de Grey, who claims he meant well when he invoked Morningstar, the dark god who can only be defeated if Lemuel blows the horn that destroys the world. Wright follows in the footsteps of Neil Gaiman and Tim Powers with his own distinctive style and ideas. Characters are often flattened for the sake of a joke, and it's sometimes hard to tell what's parody and what's just overblown, but a little forgiveness and disbelief-suspending make this a highly enjoyable ride. Agent, James Frenkel. (Mar. 16)
