Of Mice and Magic is the first volume of a projected series by noted fantasy writer David Farland. For those who don't follow the genre, Farland is the author of the Runelord series, published by Tor. He has also been involved in the Star Wars franchise, among other endeavors.

So how exactly does one write a fantasy series for a Mormon audience, and, at the same time, appeal to a larger reading public? One way is to deal with moral and ethical, and indeed religious, issues, without being overtly religious, and certainly not being overtly Mormon. Farland accomplished just this.

The lead character is Benjamin Ravenspell. His parents are an odd lot -- his mother hates housework, his father puts up with the mess, the roaches, yuck! -- and Ben is stuck in the middle of it all. He had a best friend named Christian, but Christian no longer lives in the neighborhood. So Ben wants a pet, an idea resisted by his parents. He finally cajoles them into going to the Garden of Eden pet store, and there Ben spots a mouse, and they make an immediate connection. The parents agree to get the mouse for Ben as a pet.

At the same time, the family is babysitting a rather large reptile for a neighbor, a reptile who is very hungry. So when Ben and the mouse arrive home, dad insists that Ben feed the mouse to the pet. But Ben resists. Finally he must give in to his father's demand. As he's lowering the mouse into the cage, Ben suddenly feels himself shrinking, until he is transformed into a mouse!

Turns out the mouse is named Amber. Does Amber have the ability to change Ben into a rodent? Her pet store buddies hinted at some magic power, but at the time she didn't understand what it was all about. And she can talk to other mice, and other animals, for that matter. Ben and Amber begin a mousey relationship that leads to some pretty incredible adventures.

All along, a malevolent bat named Nightwing is anxious to kidnap Ben, as he believes that Amber's magical powers (she did, after all, turn Ben into a mouse) are derived from Ben, and if he can just do away with Amber, he can use Ben's powers for his own evil aims.

Meanwhile, another spirit, but this one benevolent, is making plans to rescue Ben and Amber from the evil Nightwing. Named Rufus Flycatcher, and embodied in a lovely frog, he must enlist the help of Lady Blackpool, "a Ferocious Furball of Felonious Intent, and the Scariest Sorceress of the Seven Swamps." (p. 87) But the good Lady may be turned toward good purposes when offered the proper obeisance. On the outside she's cranky and mean, but on the inside she's really pretty good. It is up to the Lady to rescue Amber and Ben.

As the story progresses, Farland introduces a bevy of insects, crawling creatures and other icky things that are not identifiable. Spiders, voles, bats and cats populate this seriocomic novel, with strong themes of love, loyalty and courage infusing the often hilarious escapades of its protagonist. But we must not confuse Ben with, say, Dr. Doolittle. In order to help his new friends, denizens of the woods, he must become one of them, and in so doing, suffers what they suffer and enters fully into their lives. I wonder if Farland designed this to be a Christ-like theme. If so, it's very clever.

The book is not, as hinted at above, explicitly Mormon. In fact, I found only one reference to Mormon culture -- a brief reference to the video "My Time on Earth." The casual reader could easily skip by that and never wonder what it was all about. But perhaps it was a tip of the hat to the author's intention in this story arc -- Nightwing as a type of Lucifer, Ben as a type of Christ, offering their plans for the redemption of the world -- Nightwing by coercion, Ben by working out his own salvation with fear and trembling. Of course, I can't know what was in the author's mind; there seems to be plenty of room for speculation.

Each chapter begins with a brief quote from a notable character -- here you find Shakespeare, Nightwing and Rufus Flycatcher, among others, sharing their wisdom. For my money, however, you can't beat Rufus' advice. Chapter 17 opens with this little gem: "Wake up to the miracles all around you. We grow old only when we lose our sense of wonder." Amen.

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Jeff Needle
October 1, 2005