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John Bellairs: The face in the frost (2000, Olmstead Press) 4 stars

The Face in the Frost is a fantasy classic, defying categorization with its richly imaginative …

Review of 'The face in the frost' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A short read, but interesting. An original take on magic from the perspective of a wizard; when he is attacked by illusions the descriptions are truly wild and menacing. This wizard is no Gandalf or Merlin, but instead muddles through his magic. The force of will seems to be stronger than pure intelligence in this story.

A bit anachronistic for being set in another world (described in the first paragraphs of the book); it is clear that one or both wizards have visited Earth but with no indication of how or when. When the references happened, they were jarring.