The River of Dancing Gods

the long version

I read this book when I was just a whipper snapper and I loved it! It's one of those old fantasy tales where the hero and heroine pass thru a portal on a dark stretch of Texas highway from the mundane into a world of faerie and magic. One cool twist in this tale involves the transformation both experience. The troubles they've survived in their old lives informs the paths their new lives follow. Both are trying to escape the pain they've created in their own lives. There are a lot of cool characters and the ocean metaphor they use as a path between the two worlds is pretty cool. One thing I always remember is the wizard Throckmorton P. Ruddygore sitting in his library eating a big old pastry and chilling by the fire. I always said to myself: I'm gonna be that dude soemday. Excepting the magic part, I suppose I am. Sweet.