Review: The Unwelcome Warlock

The Unwelcome Warlock by Lawrence Watt-Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The series has built up enough continuity now that this book references most of the previous ones to some degree, particularly, of course, the similarly named The Unwilling Warlord. (I'd be prepared to bet the author sooner or later regretted naming two books in a way that enables them to be confused with each other.) It also seems to have a lot of references to Night of Madness, which I skipped in the series because it didn't appeal to me. I followed it OK, though; you could begin here, because even though it's not as self-contained as the earlier books, everything from previous continuity is adequately explained as it becomes relevant, but ideally read the earlier books first.

The mysterious power that feeds warlocks has changed, and Vond, the most powerful of them, is back. He built an empire in The Unwilling Warlord and then was drawn away by the Calling, which compelled warlocks who used too much magic to go to a particular place that was also the power source, but now he's returned, and since he has the very loosest possible grasp on the concept of "other people's concerns are important too" and is the most powerful magician alive, that's a problem for everyone around him. In particular, it's a problem for the former leader of the warlocks (now depowered), not least because Vond has decided to take over his house.

The book proceeds with a clash of pretty much every faction and person who has an interest in dealing with Vond, which is a lot of them, and none of them really have much of a plan most of the time; there are some regrettable consequences to that. One thing I like about these books is that the characters, even the very powerful ones, are often quite limited in their problem-solving ability, in that they're encountering new situations outside their experience and having to improvise, and often they get it wrong at first. That gives a realistic feel that anchors the plentiful magic and other fantastic elements, and means the resolutions don't come too easily, which is a risk of high-magic stories. Another thing I like is that they're generally well-disposed towards their fellow humans as a matter of course, and those who aren't are depicted as despicable.

Solidly crafted, this is a strong addition to a good series.

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