The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

eBook, 369 pages

English language

Published Dec. 1, 1993 by Baen.

ISBN:: 978-0-671-72196-1

(1 review)

In an alternate America that runs on magic, a potential environmental disaster plunges an overworked bureaucrat into a deadly conspiracy of evil gods and darkest sorcery David Fisher pushes paper for the EPA in a world that's a lot like ours . . . only different. In this California-and throughout the alternate United States-all gods are real, science doesn't exist, and magic rules everything, running imp-driven computers and creating anxiety-inducing bumper-to-bumper flying-carpet rush hours. Unfortunately, unchecked magic use can leave dangerous residues, creating hours of mind-numbing deskwork for David and his fellow bureaucrats at the Environmental Perfection Agency. Now a leakage at a toxic spell dump in Angels City is about to complicate David's life in ways he never imagined, unleashing vampires, werewolves, and soulless babies. Even the actual spooks at the CIA concerned. But looking too closely into what might be more than just an accident could have David …

In an alternate America that runs on magic, a potential environmental disaster plunges an overworked bureaucrat into a deadly conspiracy of evil gods and darkest sorcery David Fisher pushes paper for the EPA in a world that's a lot like ours . . . only different. In this California-and throughout the alternate United States-all gods are real, science doesn't exist, and magic rules everything, running imp-driven computers and creating anxiety-inducing bumper-to-bumper flying-carpet rush hours. Unfortunately, unchecked magic use can leave dangerous residues, creating hours of mind-numbing deskwork for David and his fellow bureaucrats at the Environmental Perfection Agency. Now a leakage at a toxic spell dump in Angels City is about to complicate David's life in ways he never imagined, unleashing vampires, werewolves, and soulless babies. Even the actual spooks at the CIA concerned. But looking too closely into what might be more than just an accident could have David stepping on the toes of some very nasty deities indeed, imperiling his future on the Other Side . . . and on this one, as well. When it comes to creating alternate histories-and worlds-no one does it better than the great Harry Turtledove. The multiple-award-winning master of the fantastic carries readers on a droll thrill ride through a richly detailed, ingeniously imagined fantasy reality where the impossible is mundane-and absolutely anything can happen.

2 editions

Blind_Mapmaker reviewed The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump by Harry Turtledove

Review of 'The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

4.5 An unconventional Turtledove novel in that there are no perspective shifts and no attempt to explain the whole timeline's history. It's quite close in world-building and tone to Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos / Operation Luna, the latter of which it apparently inspired. There's more of a focus on religious ritual instead of just magical traditions, but overall they feel quite similar down to the magic carpet rides. What's pure Turtledove though are the puns and more generally the lovingly crafted terminology of everything.

The cast is ethnically and religiously diverse and despite the whole focus on religion people don't generally seem to be bigots. Of course, nobody is gay in an early nineties mainstream novel. The plot develops rather slowly until the last fifth of the book, but that adds to the charm of reading about an "ordinary public servant" working for the Environmental Perfection Agency. There are a …

4.5 An unconventional Turtledove novel in that there are no perspective shifts and no attempt to explain the whole timeline's history. It's quite close in world-building and tone to Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos / Operation Luna, the latter of which it apparently inspired. There's more of a focus on religious ritual instead of just magical traditions, but overall they feel quite similar down to the magic carpet rides. What's pure Turtledove though are the puns and more generally the lovingly crafted terminology of everything.

The cast is ethnically and religiously diverse and despite the whole focus on religion people don't generally seem to be bigots. Of course, nobody is gay in an early nineties mainstream novel. The plot develops rather slowly until the last fifth of the book, but that adds to the charm of reading about an "ordinary public servant" working for the Environmental Perfection Agency. There are a couple of iffy edges about the villains and a conversation about native rights and European hegemony that - while not especially bad - do not sit completely right nowadays. But that's the only negative I see.

Overall a very enjoyable romp through an alternate universe with magical mass-production, but problems very similar to our own. The ending is quite good too. And there's a nice case of subtle but converging Chekov's Guns.