ORC'S OPAL

Fourth in the series, following Chimaera's Copper (p. 616), featuring Kelvin the Roundear's fun-filled family adventures in various magical "frames" as the wizard Mouvar's Prophesy moves toward completion—despite the frothy complications introduced by the contending good and evil characters. Six years have passed; Kelvin's children, Charles and Merlain, are telepathic, while Dragon Horace has grown faster but refuses to acquire human speech. The evil old witch Zady plots to destroy Kelvin and family by secretly bewitching the children during their visit to a Wizard's Convention (in a parallel New York, no less) and so provoking a war with the giant green fishlike Orcs over their Opal, a precious gem that can transport the bearer instantaneously from frame to frame. Guess who comes out on top. A concluding volume is promised for fans who, nothing loath, continue to discover fresh pleasures in Anthony's trite teen-age formulas.