Review: Pedant "A Very Unusual And Witty Short Fantasy"

Book review: The Pedant and the Shuffly

Who knew John Bellairs had a sense of humor? All right, his humor shines through in his many quirky spinechillers, but I had no idea he had written something like this.

The Pedant and the Shuffly is a cool enough title on its own, but it frames a very unusual and witty short fantasy. The premise is simple: Snodrog (don't laugh) an evil magician, uses cold logic to entrap and transform his victims into Flimsies (don't laugh). But soon, Wodehousian-named Sir Bertram Crabtree-Gore, a good magician, teams up with a Shuffly (don't laugh), and Snodrog soon has a worthy opponent(s)...

Bellairs' starkly descriptive prose is as good in this book as it is in his famed chillers and The Face in the Frost. Though this book is unusually short (about half the regular for his books) and relatively simple in plot, it is laced with witty satire in logic and Latin.

Kids will enjoy the cute plot. Adults will enjoy the witty undertones. Both will enjoy The Pedant and the Shuffly!

author unknown