Prospero lives in one of the Southern Kingdoms (which are an eclectic collection of tiny city-states closely resembling medieval Italy), ruled by an eccentric wizard named King Gorm. Prospero's house is a truly baroque and tasteless affair constructed with almost Victorian over-elaboration. The inside of the house is littered with curios and oddments, much of it magical, including a temperamental magical mirror.
Soon after this, Roger Bacon comes to visit, with dark tidings of menacing apparitions spreading across the Northern Kingdoms. The two wizards decide to investigate together, and so goes the story.
John Bellairs is mostly a writer of children's stories and, so far as I can ascertain, The Face in the Frost was his single foray into fiction meant for a more mature (well, barely) audience. That is a pity, because his whimsical humor mixes well with his tightly plotted adventures. Since it has been 30 years since this book was published, it's probably a forlorn hope that he'll ever produce another. I count myself lucky to have found this one.
Tim
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