LAURENCE@SU-CSLI.ARPA (04/10/84)
From: Laurence R Brothers <LAURENCE@SU-CSLI.ARPA> The Many-Colored-Land series is in fact a tetralogy; The Adversary is the fourth book. The Adversary has not yet come out in American paperback, but it is available at bookstores that carry those Pan editions. I found the ending to be somewhat of a let-down after expecting some incredible tieing up of loose ends, but the action is still good. I am now reading Damiano's Lute, the second in a trilogy by R.A. MacAvoy, author of Tea With the Black Dragon. It's about a lutist named Damiano, living in Renaissance Italy. He's a "witch", and his lute instructor is the Archangel Raphael. Don't go away! There is a reasonable plot, and though Damiano is still a bit of a simp, the writing is well done, and the characters have some depth. If you read her first novel and found it interesting but lacking literary depth, as I did, you will be pleasantly surprised by the Damiano trilogy. If MacAvoy can continue to improve her prose at this rate, she'll be one of the most noted writers of the coming few years. I have read so little that was really well done this year, that at present she has my Hugo vote. -Laurence -------