Harold Shea (fictional series)

Harold Shea was a name given to a series of stories by L. Sprague deCamp, Fletcher Pratt, and in some cases Christopher Stasheff. They are also known as the "Enchanter" series, the "Incomplete Enchanter series" after the first collection of them, or the "Complete Enchanter" series. In these stories Psychologist Harold Shea travels to various parallel worlds where ancient myths and legends are reality. The method Shea uses is called "the Mathematics of Magic" and there is considerable humor drawn both from the culture shock of his encounters and from the reality that usually he doesn't understand this math well enough to be able to predict which myths he's going to face when he arrives where he is going. For example, in the first story, "The Roaring Trumpet," he is going to the world of Irish Mythology. Instead he ends up in a Norse world.

Related Topics:
L. Sprague deCamp - Fletcher Pratt - Christopher Stasheff - Irish Mythology - Norse

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The original publication of the first three Pratt and DeCamp collaborations ("Roaring Trumpet," "Mathematics of Magic," and The Castle of Iron) appeared in Unknown Magazine during its brief run. The stories collected in Wall of Serpents appeared in Beyond Fantasy Magazine and Fantasy Magazine a few years later. Sir Harold and the Gnome King originally appeared as a chapbook, the stories with Stasheff as regular trade books.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~