HARP, PIPE, AND SYMPHONY

Di Filippo's lyrical debut fantasy novel, conceived when he was 18 and written a decade later, features an innocent young hero much in the mold of Voltaire's Candide. After a brief, unexpected meeting with his doppelgänger, perhaps the book's most original if overly enigmatic figure, Thomas Rhymer strides down the Great Road to discover a world "where everything's in harmony." In a series of mild adventures, Rhymer encounters scoundrels, liars, villains and even an upside-down castle. The action picks up a bit when he comes across the scrumptious tidbit Mab, Queen of Faerie, whom he later catches reading Candide . This amiable apprentice work will be of most interest to fans of Di Filippo's more sophisticated fiction (The Steampunk Trilogy ; A Mouthful of Tongues ; etc.) curious to see a lighter side of this versatile author. (Feb.)