New Jersey writer Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with six novels, and three collections of stories. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and is the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of eBooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on fiction writing, self-publishing and book marketing.

Quense has a sense of humor well modulated with a keen sense of the classics and the result of this shotgun marriage results in some of the funniest sci-fi fantasy novels before the public today. It takes a fine writer to incorporate well-known figures, from life, literature or from the stage (another form of life!) and create a story that has a presence all its own. Quense satisfies on all levels: he creates places (like Gundarland – ‘an unusual planet. Populated by numerous races such as humans, dwarfs, elves, halflings, trolls and yuks, racial tensions ran high in the more conservative areas’) and makes them into intricately important yet funny tales

This is Book 4 of his Gundarland Stories and the author’s keen wit enables him to create characters that are both clever and imaginative, obvious as the opening to this novel reveals: ‘Jerado, King of Gant, entered his throne room and surveyed the officers assembled there. The five generals with a few staff officers representing each kingdom he had conquered. They sat at a table facing the throne. Jerado was a dwelf, a detested combination of an elf mother and a dwarf father. He inherited all the bad qualities of both races and none of the good ones. He was shorter than most elves but taller than all dwarfs. He was stockier that the elves but thinner than most dwarfs. Jerado had reddish-bland hair and a scraggly beard and brown eyes. He was forty–five and had been forty-five for the lat six years thanks to an anti-aging spell he used monthly.’

A brief overview of the plot is inviting – ‘The evil wizard Jerado traps King Bohan in a cave. A sleep spell enables the King to survive and when he finally gets free, he discovers the wizard is still alive and ruling the country. Determined to get revenge, Bohan starts a long journey to find Jerado. Along the way, Bohan survives obstacles and is appalled at the living conditions of folks as a result of the cruel laws enacted by Jerado and his family.’

Quense owns a large share of the trademark on fantasy novels, and in this series he embraces time travel, revenge, an eye on political/government corruption and more in creating a memorable escape to another time and place. For a terrific escape to ‘elsewhere,’ dive in! Recommended. ( )