Book 9 of the Castle Perilous humorous fantasy series which I missed on its release several years ago after a gap of over 20 years since the last one. The castle is of the magical variety and has portals to other worlds. Guests come and go from these worlds but if they stay long enough usually pick up some magical ability. Gene is one-such guest who has yet to manifest any of that but makes up for it by being a more than proficient fighter. He’s got ants in his pants though and is desperate to try his hand at being a pirate. He’s been unable to find a world which would accommodate his desires though so exhorts one of the more capable sorceresses amongst the regular guests to try and invoke one from a picture. The spell is a success but things don’t quite go as planned when mayhem erupts at the castle leaving Gene and Linda trapped in the pirate world.

Going back to an old series can either be risky or can breathe a new life into it. Unfortunately this is the former variety. The first couple of books in the series seemed to give a fresh take on portal fantasy with a few laughs and a sense of adventure along the way. This just seems to be an author returning to a semi-popular title and churning out the same material once again. It’s not a terrible book as it’s at least on a par with the later books in the series but just offers nothing new. All the old regular characters resurface so if you have a hankering to spend more time with them but don’t want to pick up the old stuff then by all means give this a go. Just don’t expect any added bells or whistles. ( )