The Siege of Wonder

Mark Geston is also a Stoel Rives attorney is Boise, Idaho -- an environment where button down shirts have velcro backups. Against this dour background, Siege of Wonder stands out as a scintillating achievement -- a brilliant concept match by excellent writing. A stalemate between magic and technology is decided by an agent dazzled by magic, but ensnared by technology. Overall, this is a tour de force.

Magic reappeared in the world, and now the Earth is divided into two empires, forever at war: a cold and rigid technocracy devoted to science, and the chaotic kingdoms of magic, filled with dragons and rocs and ruled over by an elite of wizards. After centuries of combat the technocrats have begun to figure out the source of the magicians' powers, and to use that knowledge against them. At the beginning of the novel an agent is sent to the wizards' capital to plant a very special device. The information it will gather could end the war in a year's time. Geston's novel is the story of that agent; what he did, what happened after he planted his eye in a unicorn, what happened to the war. This work is not typical of Geston, or anyone else. The style is plain, but is more like Jorge Luis Borges than anyone else. The story is told in brief episodes, little flashes of light from the war. This story is not for everyone, being more interested in a love affair or the gleam of starlight on a zombie's armor than with the line of march or the order of battle. I read this book 25 years ago, and it has stayed with me. The price is cheap enough that you might want to indulge yourself. It remains one of my favorites. A story as far away from doorstopper fantasy work as it is possible to be.