[NZC]⇒ [PDF] Free MURDER AND MAGIC The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination Lord Darcy Adventures Randall Garrett 9780441545407 Books

MURDER AND MAGIC The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination Lord Darcy Adventures Randall Garrett 9780441545407 Books

Download As PDF : MURDER AND MAGIC The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination Lord Darcy Adventures Randall Garrett 9780441545407 Books

MURDER AND MAGIC The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination Lord Darcy Adventures Randall Garrett 9780441545407 Books

Writing a detective story in a science fiction or fantasy setting can be a hazardous undertaking because there is the temptation for the writer to cheat by having his hero pull out some gadget that will destroy the suspect's alibi by showing everyplace he's been for the last twenty-four hours or casting a magic spell that shows the blood on his hands, literal or not. In order for the mystery writer to play fair with the readers and write a whodunit worth reading, he has to set out the rules and limitations of the advanced technology or magic that his world uses to solve crimes. He need not make the rules explicit in the story, but they have to be there in the background, and they have to be reasonably consistent.

Randall Garrett did an excellent job of combining the mystery and fantasy genres in his Lord Darcy series of stories. Set in an alternate world in which Richard the Lion Hearted managed to survive the accidental crossbow shot that killed in real life. Instead, the near death experience prompted King Richard to settle down from fighting and crusading and seriously try to govern the lands he ruled, resulting in an Angevin Empire that survives into the twentieth century. Richard also patronised scholars and scientists which led to the discovery of the laws of magic. By the time of Garrett's stories, the Angevin Empire of England and France, along with the Americas and other colonies is the leading world power and magic is used in everyday applications, much as science and technology are used in ours. Magicians can cast spells to preserve food, secure homes, communicate over long distances, and help solve crimes.

In this world, Lord Darcy is the Chief Forensic Investigator for the Duke of Normandy. In the course of his duties, Lord Darcy solves crimes and untangles international intrigues, assisted by the forensic sorcerer Sean O' Lochlainn. Despite the fantasy setting, the cases Lord Darcy investigates are mostly the sort that can be found in any mystery story. Magic is not often used to commit the crimes and Sean O'Lochlainn's techniques are rather like the more scientific procedures that might be familiar to a viewer of a show like CSI. Magic is a substitute for science in Lord Darcy's world and a forensic sorcerer can no more solve a crime by magic in that world than a crime scene technician can "magically" solve a crime in our own.

Murder and Magic is Randall Garrett's first collection of Lord Darcy stories. The collection includes four short stories with cases involving a supposed suicide, mistaken identities and blackmail, and a plot by the King of Poland, England-France's chief international rival, to disrupt the Atlantic trade. I found each of the stories to be entertaining and finished the book wanting to read more. I think that anyone who enjoys reading either mysteries or fantasies will find the stories that combine the two genres to be worth reading.


Tags : MURDER AND MAGIC: The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination - Lord Darcy Adventures [Randall Garrett] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. 1st Ace 1981 edition paperback vg++ book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse,Randall Garrett,MURDER AND MAGIC: The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination - Lord Darcy Adventures,Ace Books,0441545408,Science Fiction

MURDER AND MAGIC The Eyes Have It; A Case of Identity; The Muddle of the Woad; A Stretch of the Imagination Lord Darcy Adventures Randall Garrett 9780441545407 Books Reviews

This is a lovely story about how the world be with magic instead of technology. This was written many, many years before harry Potter series came out. It is a fun red.
Detective stories set in a modern 20th Century world of Steam Punk and Scientific Magic where Richard Lion Heart lived to be a good king instead of dying from wounds.
I enjoyed the first few stories in the collection but after a while they began to seem the same. Reason? I think it was the character development (or lack thereof). The main character, Lord Darcy, seemed too Mary Poppins-like (i.e. practically perfect in every way) for my taste. No self doubts, no personal demons, no interest in interpersonal relationships. No passion about much of anything. He had, evidently, a wife and son, but apart from a faint reference to them, they played essentially zero role in the stories. He merely did his job and, through a combination of keen observational skills and talented assistants, he solved murders.

The collection wasn't all bad, however. I thought the writing was more than competent. I found the background interesting and fun an alternate reality where royalty governed a fairly modern (albeit w/ somewhat Victorian social conventions) society. And of course the addition of magic, licensed practitioners thereof, etc. also caught my attention.

So I felt mixed about this one. As always, your mileage may vary.
Very well written. I started reading it as a way of taking a break from the military history rut I was in at the time. Good flow to the stories, characters were well developed. The right mix of mystery/who-done-it and sci-fi fantasy. Started it on a Friday evening and finished it Saturday evening. I already got Book 2.
Story is fine. Not a great printing, though. Some typos, formatting issues, etc. Most annoying was the way random bits of the text were italicized for no apparent reason. It was as though someone had scanned the original into a text reader, but didn’t proofread it before printing. Readable, but distracting.
I love this series, the alternate universe with King Richard the Lionheart living is great. You could pick up almost any of the books and still understand what is going on. The negative, is he repeats information as if this was the only book you read of the series. Love this alternate version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson but with a magical twist.
It was okay. He created an interesting world where the definitions of science and religion are intertwined with magic. However the crimes and resolutions were pretty rote. The magic wasn't all that interesting and was described in a fairly clinical way. If you're into forensics, you might like this, as he basically replaced modern forensics with magical forensics, and made it a book. The characters were essentially Sherlock and Watson, with new names, in a different time period.
Writing a detective story in a science fiction or fantasy setting can be a hazardous undertaking because there is the temptation for the writer to cheat by having his hero pull out some gadget that will destroy the suspect's alibi by showing everyplace he's been for the last twenty-four hours or casting a magic spell that shows the blood on his hands, literal or not. In order for the mystery writer to play fair with the readers and write a whodunit worth reading, he has to set out the rules and limitations of the advanced technology or magic that his world uses to solve crimes. He need not make the rules explicit in the story, but they have to be there in the background, and they have to be reasonably consistent.

Randall Garrett did an excellent job of combining the mystery and fantasy genres in his Lord Darcy series of stories. Set in an alternate world in which Richard the Lion Hearted managed to survive the accidental crossbow shot that killed in real life. Instead, the near death experience prompted King Richard to settle down from fighting and crusading and seriously try to govern the lands he ruled, resulting in an Angevin Empire that survives into the twentieth century. Richard also patronised scholars and scientists which led to the discovery of the laws of magic. By the time of Garrett's stories, the Angevin Empire of England and France, along with the Americas and other colonies is the leading world power and magic is used in everyday applications, much as science and technology are used in ours. Magicians can cast spells to preserve food, secure homes, communicate over long distances, and help solve crimes.

In this world, Lord Darcy is the Chief Forensic Investigator for the Duke of Normandy. In the course of his duties, Lord Darcy solves crimes and untangles international intrigues, assisted by the forensic sorcerer Sean O' Lochlainn. Despite the fantasy setting, the cases Lord Darcy investigates are mostly the sort that can be found in any mystery story. Magic is not often used to commit the crimes and Sean O'Lochlainn's techniques are rather like the more scientific procedures that might be familiar to a viewer of a show like CSI. Magic is a substitute for science in Lord Darcy's world and a forensic sorcerer can no more solve a crime by magic in that world than a crime scene technician can "magically" solve a crime in our own.

Murder and Magic is Randall Garrett's first collection of Lord Darcy stories. The collection includes four short stories with cases involving a supposed suicide, mistaken identities and blackmail, and a plot by the King of Poland, England-France's chief international rival, to disrupt the Atlantic trade. I found each of the stories to be entertaining and finished the book wanting to read more. I think that anyone who enjoys reading either mysteries or fantasies will find the stories that combine the two genres to be worth reading.