ONCE IN A BLUE MOON — Joe Vadalma

On Friday the thirteenth in the dead of winter, somewhere in Vamipirevania, Pim, the gypsy girl, chains up her werewolf lover in anticipation of the full moon. When the orb rises blue and later turns to blood, her lover disappears. In addition, the castle of Pim's vampire friend, Count Gorblud, is burned to the ground. Pim consults a gypsy fortune teller and is told to locate her long-lost sibling whom she will know by a dragon-shaped birthmark. She journeys to the Kingdom of Retslu to ask the sorcerer, Mordrake, to use his magical crystal, but becomes lost in his labyrinthine castle. So starts a tale that takes place in Retslu, a fantasy land in the tradition of Oz, Xanth and Diskworld. Some of the many quirky characters include: Mordrake, the sorcerer who wants King Skeemer to stop bugging him about creating the ultimate magical weapon; Doctor Nemesis, an evil scientist who turns the moon blue and forgets to change it back; Black Pawn, the youthful Pawn who worries that his mother will make him marry a haughty noblewoman; the sinister Gnorduc who wipes the mind of the king's father just returned from exile; Hokum, an illusionist pretending to be a real sorcerer; Lord Noise and Clank, a bumbling dragon-fighter and his metal assistant; and many more. In addition, there is a castle whose labyrinth passages trap anyone who enters it, an enormous crystal ball that broadcasts the news of the future, a war fought with wooden soldiers, a magical painting that transports people to the lair of the ferocious red dragon, and other monsters, magic and mayhem. Joe Vadalma's masterpiece is a rollicking tale filled with humor, satire, love and adventure of the type that only comes along once in a Blue Moon.