Books of Magic, Vol. 2: Second Quarto

This collection begins with Tim trying to find a missing classmate, and ending up taking a side-trip to Faerie. Once that particular issue is resolved, the larger issue of the group pursuing him comes to the fore, along with some issues he's having with learning to control magic. Unlike the previous volume, things seem to jump around a bit, especially in the segments set in Faerie (which may be deliberate, I suppose, but didn't really help). There's also quite a lot of Tim just being a bit dim, perhaps overplaying his youth and immaturity. On the other hand, a new character is introduced who seems potentially interesting, and the parts of the story with Tim's father are good. A segment that takes place inside a magical prison also has some great ideas in it, but, again, is somewhat let down by its plot. (How exactly did they escape? I really have no idea.) It seems that now that the plot is actually moving forward, Howard has less idea of how to handle it... although the cliffhanger ending is at least intriguing.