The Hour of the Gate - Spellsinger #2 Author: Alan Dean Foster ISBN-13: 9780446341813 ISBN-10: 0446341819 Publication Date: 2/1984 Publisher: Warner Paperback 4.1 x 6.8 inches, 300 pages The elders of Ploastrindu watched in horror as Clothahump, wizard and turtle, spun visions of the coming invasion. Finally the Plated Folk had a magic potent enough to penetrate Zaryt's Teeth and the warmlands, igniting a devastating war between the species. The wizard and his earthly helper, Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, grad student and rock guitarist, must undertake the voyage into enemy territory in search of allies against the evil hordes from beyond. So Jon-Tom, Clothahump, Mudge the Otter, flame-haired Talea and their motley crew set sail on a suicide mission down the treacherous river that winds through the subterranean lair of Massawrath, Mother of Nightmares, across Helldrink though a tunnel of cold flame to the center of the earth. It is a perilous journey few have attempted, and none have ever survived... Now the peace-loving student must become a soldier and crusader, fighting with sword and song. For strumming his otherworldly duar, he is the maker of magic, his music conjuring configurations, transforming Jon Meriweather into the Spellsinger.