What secret lay in the depths of the volcano? How could you survive in the blistering heat? Would you last long enough to discover what was there? Could you learn something that would help in the quest for the love of the beautiful queen? Based on the magic folklore of our own world, the quest of Alodar, the journeyman, takes him from one form of magic to the next, each with its own unique rules and constraints. Each step requiring him to press on. Each one bringing everyone in the universe closer and closer to everlasting enslavement. Written by New York Times Best Selling Author Lyndon Hardy Some of the Amazon reviews for the first edition: A definite must read -- Britt One of the greatest fantasy novels from the 1980s - Judith Great book -- Grooveman I can't say enough good things about this book -- Amazon customer A truly great read -- Jeffery S. Miller This book is flawless and fascinating. I can't wait to read it again -- Amazon customer I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction, and one of the greatest regrets I have is that I never found more than three books written by Lyndon Hardy, an author I still consider an automatic buy. In a way, this man's work defined what I expect from fantasy -- Amazon customer As my bookshelves continue to grow, I can name only a handful of books that I continue to revisit time and time again. Duncan's Magic Casement series. Feist's Riftwar. Moon's Saga of Paksenarrion. And above all, Hardy's Master of the Five Magics. -- Amazon customer From Goodreads To tell you the truth, I wasn't too impressed with the book at first. It really came down to me not liking the main character. Luckily, this changed and as the story unfolded, I found myself liking the protagonist more and more. Given that the book was written almost 40 years ago, the characters at times have a 2-dimensional aspect. But, the character growth really saves it in the long run and overarching theme is solid as a rock. The real strength of this book lies in the magic systems. All five magics work magnificently on their own, but eventually blend together in a pleasing way. This book is immensely important for the magic systems alone. All in all, I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in compelling magic systems and satisfying stories wrapped up in a single book. - Goodreads reviewer From Random House/Del Rey One of the most logical detailing of the laws of magic ever to appear infantasy -- Lester Del Rey As a youth, I liked stories about knights in shining armor rescuing damsels in distress. At that time, there was relatively little fantasy around compared to science fiction, so I read that, too. In comparing the two, I came to realize that in science fiction, once the setting was established, everything that happened followed logically. There were no rabbits pulled out of a hat at the last minute. In fantasy on the other hand, if there was an element of magic, most of the time it was diffuse and not crisply defined. At the last minute, some hiterto undisclosed spell could save the day. Perhaps the encounter with the unknown is an essential element of truly engrossing fantasy, but I, for one, found it a tiny bit dissatisfying. There is fantaistic invention in science fiction,, too, of course, but once postulated, the tales evolved from there. Isassc Asimov, in his classic robot stories, started with the positronic brain and the three laws of robotics, and from this small premise developed a treasure trove of short stories and novels. I decided that I, too, wanted to write a story in which the problems that drove it came from the basic laws of nature. I wanted to write a story such that, when the protagonist got in a jam, the reader realized that he really was in a jam. And I wanted it to be a fantasy, not science fiction. Master of the Five Magics is the result. Lyndon Hardy (1941- ) Author, prankster, grandfather He became interested in fantasy while wandering through the fringes of fandom when he was at Caltech. In addition to reading and writing, he has sporadic bursts of enthusiasm for collecting stamps and playing cards. As of yet, he has not figured out a plot line for a stamp collector who saves the world While at CalTech, in 1960 he organized and led what has been called the best college prank ever pulled - The Rose Bowl Card Stunt Caper. He lives with his wife, Joan, in Torrance, California. Together they have two daughters and four living grandchildren. Lyndon Hardy was born in Los Angeles, and except for a few years spent in Texas while growing up, has lived in California all his life. He received a BS in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1962 and a PhD in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. For 30 years he worked at TRW helping to build ground station software for satellites. After retiring from aerospace, he cofounded a software consulting firm, Alodar Systems, specializing i