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Our protagonist is Matthew Mantrell, [[Ordinary High School Student|Ordinary Graduate Student]], English major and general intellectual, working on his doctorate during [[The Present Day]] (presumably [[The Eighties]], as that's when the first book was published). During his researches he comes across a piece of parchment covered in a language unknown to man. It turns out to be a [[Summon Everyman Hero]] spell that whisks him to "Merovence," the France of an [[Alternate History]] Europe still in [[The High Middle Ages]]. Once there, he makes a number of discoveries.
* [[Functional Magic]] exists, is controlled by [[Words Can Break My Bones|rhymed verse]], and co-exists with normal physics. Matthew, having a good six hundred years' extra knowledge to draw upon in both fields, is enormously powerful by the standards of the day.
* God and Satan exist, bringing with them [[Black and White Morality]] and the necessity of picking a side. Both forces offer power--evil in the form of [[Deal
* Saint Moncaire, patron of Merovence, brought Matthew here to restore the [[Balance of Good and Evil]]. All the other nations of Europe--Ibile, Allustria, Latruria, etc--have fallen under the reign of evil men, and a usurper, Astaulf, now threatens the throne of Merovence, aided by his [[Evil Chancellor]] Malingo. Matthew's job is to find [[Everything's Better
The series is relatively obscure--and, if truth be told, deservedly so. Books are a [[Cliché Storm]]: Matthew is set a task involving setting to rights another European country. He collects a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] as he travels, often supplementing them with [[Public Domain Character|Public Domain Characters]] created through [[Summon Magic]]; most of them fade back into obscurity, though two from the first book, the [[Black Knight]], Sir Guy de [[Bilingual Bonus|Toutarien]], and the dragon Stegoman, make repeat appearances. Matthew makes more study into the fabric of magic and Stasheff gets to soapbox about morality and virtue, whether in a Christian context or no. Main characters are flat, with secondaries having more interesting moments. So on.
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=== Tropes displayed in this series include ===
* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Matthew conjures up a sword [[Sharpened to
* [[Acrophobic Bird]]: Stegoman, the dragon, who is afraid of heights.
* [[Action Girl]]: Alisande for starters; more later.
* [[Adipose Rex]]
* [[A Day in
* [[Bare-Fisted Monk]]: Saul Bremener
* [[Black Knight]]: non-villainous example in Sir Guy
* [[Distracted
* [[Evil Chancellor]]
* [[Fantastic Racism]]
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* [[The Promise]]: in the second book, ''The Oathbound Wizard'', Matthew rashly swears to conquer the neighboring kingdom of Ibile, as his common birth is preventing him from marrying Alisande. The universe holds you to your promises.
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: Stegoman.
* [[Public Domain Character]]: [[Robin Hood]] and his Merry Men, [[
* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: [[Once an Episode]].
* [[Reality Warper]]: any wizard would count, but special mention goes to Frisson, a genius-savant who comes up with brilliant poetry as easily as breathing... which, given the setting's [[Functional Magic]], can go [[Off the Rails]] ''real'' fast.
* [[Rescue Romance]]
* [[Rightful King Returns]]: subverted. There's stories of a descendent of Emperor Hardishane, a [[King in
* [[Rousseau Was Right]]
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: all over the place. Whether villainous or virtuous, there's one thing to be said for the royals of this alternate Europe: they work for their crowns.
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