EREC REX

The young quester with dragon’s eyes undertakes Tasks Three and Four of the Twelve with which he’s been charged in this third episode, and learns a little more about his true family to boot. Struggling as much with his own doubt and anger as with a previously met set of dangerous but uncommonly stupid adversaries, Erec makes a familiar yet winning protagonist whose character continues to mature as he faces both tough decisions and an array of life-threatening challenges. Kingsley compensates for a tendency to trot in omniscient helpers by keeping her tongue firmly in cheek; along the way Erec has a conversation with the three anything-but-solemn Fates (“We were so expecting you”), for instance, and though he can receive his quests by sticking his arm into the fetid but mystical “Al’s Well,” which looks remarkably like a toilet, anyone else who tries pulls out something else. The author cuts no slack for readers unfamiliar with the previous volumes, but her tale continues to tumble along briskly and will please fans of the less earnest fantasists. (Fantasy. 11-13)