This is the story of a newly qualified wizard who goes to work in the tiny backwater kingdom of Yurt. Daimbert quickly learns that the king has been put under a spell. Evil presence suggests that someone in the castle is practicing black magic. But Daimbert is supposed to be creating telephones, a class he skipped, and making illusions for after-dinner entertainment. How is he going to discover who is evil?

The story is fascinating. The story of how people can unwittingly become trapped by the devil. It tells of other people unwilling to tell what they know for fear of involvement, or collusion. It works through trying to discover who is a good person and who is an evil person, masquerading as a good one.

More than all those things, though, the story is fun. A king who loves roses. An illusionary dragon who frightens the soldiers. The friendship of a priest and a wizard, cemented despite traditional enmity between their two professions. A saint. A beautiful young queen. A grumpy middle-aged royal heir.

The only thing in this book that bothered me is that Daimbert falls in love with the queen. Nothing at all comes of it, but it bothers me nonetheless.

A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain

review by me from a disappearing website