Global warming, world wars, nuclear fission: Did you ever stop to think that any of these were not exactly natural? That perhaps someone else, some outsider was manipulating Earth for reasons unknown? That's part of the premise of "A Sudden Wild Magic," a hilarious sci-fi/fantasy novel set on Earth, a parllel universe, and a small orbiting dimension known as Arth.
When the Ring--a society of benevolent witches and wizards, and quite sophisticated ones I might add, who guard Earth without the knowledge of ordinary humans--discovers the existence of a "pirate" universe, one manipulating Earth's climate and politics in order to gain answers for problems in their own world, they decide that these pirates must be stopped. This is to be accomplished by sending a small commando crew into the citadel of Arth, an offshoot of the pirate universe, where they will learn the otherworlders' plans and stop them. Of course, nothing goes as scheduled, and the invading crack force is diminished into a scant handful of women who, their original plans gone awry, decide to wreak as much havoc as possible. And how do they plan to succeed with no weapons, no sorcery, no nothing? Well, in a citadel devoted to (enforced) celibacy and where food is your basic nutritive...substance...a pretty face and a good cook can do a *lot* of damage. Wait: There's more coming. Add several centaurs, a young ruler who's fed up to the eyeballs with training at Arth (the food is bad enough, but it's the celibacy that's really getting to him), and a megalomaniac witch who sorcerously cloned her son several years ago, and you begin to get a general idea of the time you're in for. And it only gets better...
Fascinating and comedic characters abound in this book: Gladys, a quirky old woman who talks to cats and gods with equal nonchalance; Jimbo, her other-dimensional pet; the rigid High Head of Arth and his perennially put-upon aide, Edward; Mark, a Ring mage with what you could definitely call a split personality; and Zillah, a young mother with a wild, strange power of her own. Even minor characters appear fully drawn, such as Sim the crooked mechanic, or the king of the Pentarchy who looks something like a clerk and likes to shop while invisible. Philo the gualdian (a race very similar to humans, but the eyes are different) and Josh the centaur are charming.
The variation in this book is incredible--there are terrifying moments, serious ones, humorous episodes, and literally laugh-out-loud moments. (Picture a citadel of formerly sober and sedate monks doing the conga, and you'll see what I mean.) This is a book to be read once through for the story, once for the language, once to savor it, and several more times, merely because it deserves it. Enjoy, enjoy! And don't annoy any ether monkeys...