Fools Errant

Filidor Vesh is a languid, callow young dandy, "the nephew and sole heir of Dezendah Vesh, ninety-eighth (or possibly ninety-ninth) Archon of those regions of old Earth still inhabited by human beings"; he anticipates a long life of idle pleasure, but a mysterious dwarf spirits him away on a dangerous journey. It quickly becomes apparent that their search for the Archon is an excuse to visit bizarre, fascinating lands. The reader won't mind. The characters are charming and singular, and the journey is packed with pleasures and perils. --Cynthia Ward