Spellsinger: Difference between revisions

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The ''Spellsinger'' series is a fantasy series written by [[Alan Dean Foster]], which has been described on this wiki's [[This Is Your Premise On Drugs]] page as "Narnia on an unholy combination of pot and Viagra".

In the first book, ''Spellsinger'', the hero Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, also known as Jon-Tom, is a prelaw student with pretentions to rock stardom, who is innocently smoking pot when he's abruptly transported from the University of California at Los Angeles to a weird world in which [[Lions and Tigers And Humans Oh My|animals talk, wear clothing, and live alongside humans]] by the turtle wizard Clothahump, who was searching for a great wizardly "En'geeniar" (meaning an engineer, as he was under the impression that this is the name our world gives to wizards). Unfortunately, he caught Jon-Tom, who works part-time as a janitor and on his pay stubs is called a "sanitation engineer"<ref>and his mind was "the most receptive" at the moment, which might have had to do with that joint he smoked</ref>.

In the first book, ''Spellsinger'', the hero Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, also known as Jon-Tom, is a prelaw student with pretentions to rock stardom, who is innocently smoking pot when he's abruptly transported from the University of California at Los Angeles to a weird world in which [[Lions and Tigers And Humans, Oh My!|animals talk, wear clothing, and live alongside humans]] by the turtle wizard Clothahump, who was searching for a great wizardly "En'geeniar" (meaning an engineer, as he was under the impression that this is the name our world gives to wizards). Unfortunately, he caught Jon-Tom, who works part-time as a janitor and on his pay stubs is called a "sanitation engineer"<ref>and his mind was "the most receptive" at the moment, which might have had to do with that joint he smoked</ref>.

It all works out for the best, though, as Jon-Tom soon discovers that in the magical world he has the power of a spellsinger: a wizard who can make powerful magic through music. Using this new-found power, he and a cast of creatures set out to do battle with the evil anthropomorphic insects known as the Plated Folk.

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* [[And Call Him George]]

* [[And I Must Scream]]: Jon-Tom when he's captured by the underwater Plated Folk colony in the fourth book. His captors need to carry him back alive and whole to their homeland [[A Fate Worse Than Death|to answer for his crimes]], but they don't dare give him the slightest chance to work his magic. Enter "[[Beware My Stinger Tail|The]] [[The Paralyzer|Ruze]]"...

* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: Or possibly Animorphic Personification. Or something in between. Either way, Gyrnaught is evidently the Personification of the Nazi [~~http~~:~~//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~~File:Reichsadler.svg Iron Eagle symbol].

* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: Or possibly Animorphic Personification. Or something in between. Either way, Gyrnaught is evidently the Personification of the Nazi [[wikipedia:File:Reichsadler.svg|Iron Eagle symbol]].

* [[Bug War]]: The periodic wars against the Plated Folk.

* {{spoiler|[[Canon Welding]]}}: ''Chorus Skating'', the last novel, includes repeated cameo appearances by {{spoiler|a dimension-hopping [[Humanx Commonwealth|thranx]]}}.

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* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: the spider folk and the owl/lemur town.

** A more literal one in the third book. With fat man-eating elves.

* [[Hollywood Tactics]]: Subverted in the second book when the heroes find the Plated Folk are fighting with [[Tunnel King|intelligent]] [[~~Its~~ Raining Men|tactics]], which are supplied by {{spoiler|a military computer from Earth}}. This is an [[Oh Crap]] moment by Clothahump who notes that magic items or great beasts he can counter, but there is no simple way to deal with what an enemy ''knows''.

* [[Hollywood Tactics]]: Subverted in the second book when the heroes find the Plated Folk are fighting with [[Tunnel King|intelligent]] [[It's Raining Men|tactics]], which are supplied by {{spoiler|a military computer from Earth}}. This is an [[Oh Crap]] moment by Clothahump who notes that magic items or great beasts he can counter, but there is no simple way to deal with what an enemy ''knows''.

* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: Talea is actually fairly tall for a human in her native land, but she's a good foot shorter than Jon-Tom.

* [[Humanity Ensues]]: Clothahump threatens Mudge with it when the otter initially refuses to help Jon-Tom. Also happens to Jon-Tom's group in ''Perambulator''.

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* [[Language of Magic]]: here it equals [[Techno Babble]].

* [[Like a Fish Takes To Water]]: Flor assimilates much more quickly than Jon-Tom does.

* [[Lions and Tigers And Humans Oh My]]

* [[Lions and Tigers And Humans, Oh My!]]

* [[Loads and Loads of Races]]: Possibly the record-holder for this, as every species of mammal, bird, amphibian or turtle known to Earth is a sentient race. Also an unspecified number of insects and spiders, plus assorted mythical creatures and unique creations.

* [[Loveable Rogue]]: Mudge, for a certain definition of "loveable".

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* [[You Can't Go Home Again]]: Averted in that in ''The Time of the Transference'', Jon-Tom discovers a passage that allowed him to go back. He did go back to his own world, but returned to Clothahump's, because he liked it there better.

** The last two books suggest he's made the trip back and forth a few more times, to sample our world's new music and stay in touch with his parents.

* [[Your Universe or Mine]]

* [[Your Universe or Mine?]]

[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]

[[Category:Spellsinger]]

[[Category:Trope]]