From Publishers Weekly
SF screenwriter Zicree (The Twilight Zone Companion) teams with Philip K. Dick Award–winner Wilson (The Chronoliths) for the rousing, if overly long, conclusion to his Magic Times fantasy trilogy. Since the Change, which nudged the universe into another dimension thanks to a U.S. government agency's snafu, unpredictable magic has replaced modern technology worldwide. Former New York lawyer Cal Griffin leads a courageous band out West in search of his sister, Tina, while another stalwart member of the group, Herman Goldman, looks forlornly for his lost sweetheart, Magritte. The saga's lawyer-dragon villain, Ely Stern, whose iridescent scales are gaudier than ever, provides the biggest plot surprise. As Cal and company attempt to destroy the evil that caused the Change, the authors effortlessly move the action from New York to Chicago and the old West, where buffalo still roam, a few guns still fire and simulacra of Indians and Calamity Janes lend a helping hand. Some readers may find the heroes' repetitive adventures tiresome, but most will applaud the upbeat message about humanity's survival, if without cell phones or TV. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The conclusion of the trilogy including Magic Time (2001) and Magic Time: Angelfire (2002) is as spectacular as its predecessors. Searching for the Source--that is, the cause of an apocalyptic world disaster--has led Cal Griffin and his many and varied companions on a harrowing journey from Manhattan to Chicago and beyond. This premise isn't new, but Zicree and Wilson lend it exciting freshness, and it proves captivating from page 1 on. Characters are well developed and consistent throughout, and each of the major players brings a unique postapocalyptic talent to the table. Griffin is reluctant yet perfect for the job of leading the strange little band. He doesn't think he has the power to change anything, much less save the world, but a nagging sense of responsibility, fueled by a recurring dream and the absolute belief of his followers, keeps him moving forward. A powerful, intelligent, deeply human, and many times abruptly laugh-out-loud funny wrap-up volume. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

The epic climax of the Magic Time saga finds former lawyer turned visionary leader Cal Griffin continuing his quest across the changed face of America, where machines no longer run and magic holds sway. Accompanied by his loyal band of followers -- fierce warrior Colleen Brooks, expatriate Russian physician Doc Lysenko, and bipolar street wizard Herman "Goldie" Goldman -- Cal follows a trail of clues he hopes will lead him to the Source of the Change that overthrew the world ... and to his abducted sister, Christina, who was transformed into one of the powerful, enigmatic beings known as flares.

Facing the most harrowing challenges of his life, Cal encounters old friends and foes, plus new ones such as Lady Blade of the Oglala Lakota, tracking her Storm-fled husband; the grunter boy Inigo Devine, emissary from a dread region and bearing a frightful secret; Mama Diamond, the elderly Japanese-American stone and bone dealer, who discovers an awesome, dragon-born talent within herself; and Jeff Arcott, Theo Siegel, and Melissa Wade, the triumvirate of brilliant grad students that just might have found the trick to getting everything running again ... but at aterrible cost.

In this gripping tale of families torn apart and seeking reunion, of men and women haunted by past griefs and phantom futures, of unimaginable beauties and magnificent horrors, Cal Griffin and his friends find themselves called to rise above all limits of strength and endurance, armed with little more than forgiveness, compassion, and anunshakable determination to heal the world and one another ... in the depths of the Ghostlands.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Magic Time: Ghostlands, the third and concluding volume of Marc Scott Zicree's Magic Time trilogy, is a post-apocalyptic epic comparable to Stephen King's The Stand. It follows visionary Cal Griffin and his misfit band of followers as they travel across a much-transformed America where machinery no longer runs and the surviving populace are slowly being mutated into nightmarish "post-humans" with terrifying powers.

On a quixotic mission to find his abducted sister and somehow defeat the mysterious Source, a secret government project that inexplicably stopped all technology and for all practical purposes destroyed modern civilization, Griffin is joined on his quest by a group of unlikely protagonists. Colleen Brooks, a mechanic turned warrior; expatriate Russian doctor Viktor Lysenko; bipolar mystic Herman Goldman; and federal agent Larry Shango. All want to defeat the Source for their own personal reasons; but will this army of outcasts be able to destroy a godlike entity that grows stronger by the hour?

With masterful characterization, nonstop action, and a fascinating plot that seamlessly intertwines science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Zicree's Magic Time trilogy (Magic Time, coauthored by Barbara Hambly, and Magic Time: Angelfire, coauthored by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff) should definitely be high up on the reading lists of anyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic classics like Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer and Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"The epic climax of the Magic Time saga finds former lawyer turned visionary leader Cal Griffin continuing his quest across the changed face of America, where machines no longer run and magic holds sway. Accompanied by his loyal band of followers - fierce warrior Colleen Brooks, expatriate Russian physician Doc Lysenko, and bipolar street wizard Herman "Goldie" Goldman - Cal follows a trail of clues he hopes will lead him to the Source of the Change that overthrew the world ... and to his abducted sister, Christina, who was transformed into one of the powerful, enigmatic beings known as flares." "Facing the most harrowing challenges of his life, Cal encounters old friends and foes, plus new ones such as Lady Blade of the Oglala Lakota, tracking her Storm-fled husband; the grunter boy Inigo Devine, emissary from a dread region and bearing a frightful secret; Mama Diamond, the elderly Japanese-American stone and bone dealer, who discovers an awesome, dragon-born talent within herself; and Jeff Arcott, Theo Siegel, and Melissa Wade, the triumvirate of brilliant grad students that just might have found the trick to getting everything running again ... but at a terrible cost." Cal Griffin and his friends find themselves called to rise above all limits of strength and endurance, armed with little more than forgiveness, compassion, and an unshakable determination to heal the world and one another ... in the depths of the Ghostlands.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

SF screenwriter Zicree (The Twilight Zone Companion) teams with Philip K. Dick Award-winner Wilson (The Chronoliths) for the rousing, if overly long, conclusion to his Magic Times fantasy trilogy. Since the Change, which nudged the universe into another dimension thanks to a U.S. government agency's snafu, unpredictable magic has replaced modern technology worldwide. Former New York lawyer Cal Griffin leads a courageous band out West in search of his sister, Tina, while another stalwart member of the group, Herman Goldman, looks forlornly for his lost sweetheart, Magritte. The saga's lawyer-dragon villain, Ely Stern, whose iridescent scales are gaudier than ever, provides the biggest plot surprise. As Cal and company attempt to destroy the evil that caused the Change, the authors effortlessly move the action from New York to Chicago and the old West, where buffalo still roam, a few guns still fire and simulacra of Indians and Calamity Janes lend a helping hand. Some readers may find the heroes' repetitive adventures tiresome, but most will applaud the upbeat message about humanity's survival, if without cell phones or TV. Agent, Chris Lotts at Ralph M. Vicinanza. (Dec. 1) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

When the reign of technology ended, and magic resurfaced, Cal Griffin found his life forever changed. Searching for his sister-who has been transformed into a fairylike, winged creature and taken away by the monstrous being, once human, who caused the world's change-Griffin gathers like-minded companions and treks across America to find her. The conclusion to Zicree's modern fantasy that began with Magic Time (co-written with Barbara Hambly) and continued in Magic Time: Angelfire (co-written with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff) draws the forces of light and darkness into a final confrontation that decides, once and for all, the fate of the world and the future happiness of a family. An apocalyptic fantasy that will appeal to fans of Stephen King's The Stand, it also belongs in libraries that own the preceding volumes. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews