Trying to remember an old book

[Starhammer]

I'm trying to find a book I read 10 or 15 years ago.

I don't remember many details, but here's what I've got. I believe the book was about some teenagers who either shifted from a "normal reality" to a magic infused one, or found their existing reality to actually have magic in it. Over the course of their story they (or at least one of them) encountered (perhaps sought out) a giant pre-historic shark. The Shark was something of an elder god or titan. It taught the youth something important about evil or the purpose of evil or something to that extent. The shark wasn't a really big part of the story, just a significant secondary or tertiary character, but it's the only thing I remember well.

Anyone know what this is from?

[Starhammer]

It occurs to me there is a second book I'm also looking for.

It's at least 17 years old (probably more). Though the setting was medieval fantasy, I don't recall if it actually had any sorcery in it. The protagonist was a (?)middle-aged veteran/mercenary who was coerced into helping defend a city from an attacking army. The city being defended was located in a valley or pass, and had numerous tiers or walls, where the city repeatedly expanded over time. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Elven city from The Elfstones of Shannara, or Gondor from Return of the King, except in different geography. A reletively minor detail that really stuck out for me was when the protagonist explained to another soldier the wisdom of distributing fresh oranges to the troops, which were not so much for their nutrition as to smear the juice on their hands to improve the grip of their weapon and upon their foreheads to help prevent sweat from dripping into their eyes during combat.

As a side note, I have found that the slightest smear of juice from a fresh-cut orange on my thumb does improve traction with my trackball, helping to lead my armies to victory in many games.

I also recall that the cover of the book, ironicly enough, was a vibrant orange hue.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Starhammer

It occurs to me there is a second book I'm also looking for.

It's at least 17 years old (probably more). Though the setting was medieval fantasy, I don't recall if it actually had any sorcery in it. The protagonist was a (?)middle-aged veteran/mercenary who was coerced into helping defend a city from an attacking army. The city being defended was located in a valley or pass, and had numerous tiers or walls, where the city repeatedly expanded over time. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Elven city from The Elfstones of Shannara, or Gondor from Return of the King, except in different geography. A reletively minor detail that really stuck out for me was when the protagonist explained to another soldier the wisdom of distributing fresh oranges to the troops, which were not so much for their nutrition as to smear the juice on their hands to improve the grip of their weapon and upon their foreheads to help prevent sweat from dripping into their eyes during combat.

As a side note, I have found that the slightest smear of juice from a fresh-cut orange on my thumb does improve traction with my trackball, helping to lead my armies to victory in many games.

I also recall that the cover of the book, ironicly enough, was a vibrant orange hue.

I think this one is Legend, by David Gemmell.

[Starhammer]

Thank you. The second book is definitely Legend. Heh, for a couple years now I've been working on picking up new series on Amazon as I can afford it, and hadn't gotten around to Gemmell yet, though I'm always reading good reviews about it. Who knew I'd already read it... For some reason every time I'd see "Legend by David Gemmell" instead of actually looking more deeply into it my mind always made the subconcious leap to the move Legend.

Now that I know better, I must move that up in priority to purchase.

Amazon is cool too. Since they have the book in electronic format, I was able to search the book for "oranges", and it gave me all the pages where it mentioned oranges in the book, allowing me to find the exact conversation (though obviously in better detail) that I remembered

[Anumati]

Hm, I thought I replied to this before but the reply is not showing. I hope I'm not running afoul of some antispam tactic or something. Ah well if there end up being two replies, be assured I meant only one.

I think the first book you are looking for may be one of Diane Duane's Young Wizards books. Deep Wizardry to be specific. Deep Wizardry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Starhammer]

Found it!!!

The book is "Deep Wizardry" by Diane Duane, sequel to "So You Want To Be A Wizard".

Now I must wait till I get paid on the 1st then give more money to Amazon and get new copies