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The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump


HE'S NO HERO

David Fisher, an EPA (Environmental Perfection Agency) bureaucrat, was not the stuff of which heroes are made. At least he hoped not. All he wanted was a good life with a good wife, and a chance to do his bit for society reviewing magical impact statements (like the one that assesses the effect on local non-life resulting from the introduction of leprechauns into Southern California, for example) and ensuring that various manufacturers of magical devices did not intentionally or otherwise foul the environment with the sorcerous by-products of their trade. Indeed it would be hard to imagine a more regular and down to earth soul than that of David Fisher of the EPA. No hero he!

Then one day David received a call from Washington to investigate a certain Toxic Spell Dump, and suddenly he is up to his neck in skullduggery and magic most foul. Some ancient deity, it seems, is attempting to reopen for business in the L.A. Basin, complete with human sacrifice (open up their hearts and let the sun shine in!) and the destruction of Western Civilization. All that stands in the way is David Fisher-and he's no hero.

Until he has to be.

Cover Art by Stephen Hickman


ORDER Paperback
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, December 1993

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Typeset by Windhaven Press, Auburn, N.H.
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-671-72196-1
ISBN-10: 0-671-72196-8

Copyright© 1993 by Harry Turtledove

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

At a panel on magic and technology at the 1991 World Fantasy Convention in Tuscon, Alexandra Honigsberg remarked that any means of manipulating the environment, whether through technology or magic, brought a price. That led me to make a crack about toxic spell dumps, which led me to scrawl the phrase down on my pocket program, which led to this book. Thanks, Alexandra.

Thanks to Poul and Karen Anderson, who were in the audience at that panel, for liking the crack and encouraging the book.

Thanks to Jim Brunet for the spellchecker, to Susan Shwartz for sylph abuse, and to John Johnston III for St. Florian.

Somewhere close to half the other strange things in the book come from Laura—thanks to her, too, as always and for the usual excellent reasons.

The rest is my fault.

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