Magic Time by Marc Scott Zicree and others

It's kinda like the Stand meets the Lord of the Rings meets the Once and Future King...
If that sounds like the beginning of a pitch for a TV series, well, blame it on the fact that Zicree is a TV writer. This three volume work (Comprised of Magic Time, Angelfire, and Ghostlands) is a massive undertaking that follows the adventures of a (semi-stock) band of misfit adventurers out to save the world. At times, especially in Ghostlands, the books begin to feel a bit like reading treatments for potential TV episodes rather than chapters in a book. So, to sum it up, the Magic Time series is not without its faults, but it does deliver on the goods.

A government-sponsored project gone awry erupts across the nation with disastrous consequences. The Source Project, a mission to harness otherwordly energies for some nefarious purpose or other, breaks loose, severely altering the world as we know it. Electricity, combustion, radio waves, every other modern convenience we hold near and dear, all cease to work. But what the Source taketh away, it also replaceth... some people become twisted into new creatures: dragons, flares (fairy-like beings of light), and grunters (pale-skinned cave-dwelling monsters). "Other creatures" are also alluded to throughout the series, but never materialize.

Cal Griffin, a young New York lawyer raising his kid sister, is dropped into the middle of this maelstrom. Cal becomes the King Arthur of the series, literally, when he pulls a mystic sword from a garbage heap beneath the streets of NYC. He's led there by Herman "Goldie" Goldman, the (stock) eccentric homeless guy whose mental state seems to allow him close access to the doings of The Source. Cal joins forces with Colleen (the semi-stock tough female mechanic), and Doc Lysenko (the ultra-stock old Russian Doctor) to battle Ely Stern, Cal's evil lawyer boss. What's that? A stock evil lawyer? Not quite! He's a stock evil lawyer who turned into a stock evil DRAGON!

From New York to Chicago to the badlands of South Dakota, Cal and his merry band of outcasts struggles to reach the source of The Source and have a chance at saving humanity.

The idea of the story is wonderful. In execution, the books feel a bit like a screenwriter using another avenue to hype his project to studio execs. The characters have cardboard backstories (lost wives, abusive husbands, absent fathers, etc.) and we're never pulled too deeply into anyone's story. This may be because we're following half a dozen or more characters at any given time. Couple this with odd narrative focus shifts in the middle of certain chapters and you have a story that begs you not to pay attention to it.

There is enough excitement and mystery, however, to keep you grudgingly hooked, at the least just to see how it all turns out (and the final battle is pretty damn cool). Die-hard sci-fi/fantasy readers will probably take a pass on these books, but those looking for Tolkein-esque modern day fantasy-lite should be pleased.

Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks

As far as pub bets go, this may well be one of the stupidest ever made, based on a vague memory, that happened to lead to one of the better travelogues written in the last few years. Hawks, a British comedian, was visiting Ireland once many years ago when he happened to see a man by the side of the road with a full-sized refrigerator. At the time, he wondered who the man was, why he was hitching with a major appliance, and who in their right mind would pick him up. Fast forward many years, when the memory, long forgotten, surfaces in a night of drinking. Hawks wakes up in the morning to find a note, a contract of sorts. He's bet his friend 100 pounds that he can hitchhike around the entire country of Ireland with a fridge (didn't see that coming, did you?). Never mind that a fridge costs more than 100 pounds. Never mind that such a venture might take a month or more. It could be done, when thought about properly, and that's enough for Hawks.

What follows is an amazing tale of luck, slight courage, and adventure. Hawks manages to get a bit of sponsorship from a popular morning show, keeping the loyal listeners abreast of his whereabouts and planned path. Ireland embraces Tony, affectionately dubbing him the "fecking eedjit with the fridge". They embrace the fridge even more, and it briefly becomes a symbol, uniting the small towns of coastal Ireland with the quest of a slightly mad comedian. Fans of Bill Bryson who've ever wondered what it would be like to travel with a younger, drunker, hornier, crazier Bill Bryson would do well to follow the adventures of Tony Hawks.