Spellsinger Series by Alan Dean Foster

Among sentient animals and humans, hardheaded and hard-shelled wizard Clothahump searches across dimensions for a wizard to defeat looming armies of Plated Folk. Jonathan-Thomas Meriweather, part-time wannabe rock guitarist and janitor, makes magic to his well-worn rock repertoire on his duar instrument. While lyrics may be righteous, the magic is too often something else.

Spellsinger Jon-Tom follows bespectacled turtle wizard Clothahump for allies against invading insect Plated Folk with new magic - and way home to our world. Crew is his crush Flor, 5' otter Mudge, red-hair Talea, big bat Pog, gambler Caz, dragon Falameezar. Froggy Bribbens guides them in split river under mountain but no farther to arachnid Weavers or mythical Ironcloud.

Clothahump, the wizard, is dying. All that can save him are rare medicinal powers to be found across the Glittergeist Ocean, past distant Snarken, Jon-Tom, the Spellsinger, sets out on the most perilous pilgrimage of his still-young career, armed with only his music-making duar and a reluctant Mudge, the otter, as his guide... moreClothahump, the wizard, is dying. All that can save him are rare medicinal powers to be found across the Glittergeist Ocean, past distant Snarken, Jon-Tom, the Spellsinger, sets out on the most perilous pilgrimage of his still-young career, armed with only his music-making duar and a reluctant Mudge, the otter, as his guide. Along the way he conjures up Roseroar, Amazonian tiger, rescues Jalwar, the ferret, and together they free Folly, the beauty, from bondage! Spellsinger and his motley crew press on, confronting a forest of Fungoid Frankensteins on the Muddletop Moors, a parrot pirate on the high seas, cannibal fairies in the enchanted canyon, and the evil wizard of Malderpot who poses the greatest challenge of all! less

"Tropical, friendly, and largely uninhabited" was how Clothahump the wizard had described the swamps of the south. But the warring colonies of tough-talking prairie dogs, to the magical mime-vines, to a mammoth mountain of living muck and a hidden colony of dreaded Plated Folk, Jon-Tom the Spellsinger and his otter comrade Mudge find their journey southward full of strong spells and deadly foes... more"Tropical, friendly, and largely uninhabited" was how Clothahump the wizard had described the swamps of the south. But the warring colonies of tough-talking prairie dogs, to the magical mime-vines, to a mammoth mountain of living muck and a hidden colony of dreaded Plated Folk, Jon-Tom the Spellsinger and his otter comrade Mudge find their journey southward full of strong spells and deadly foes. Should they ever reach the city of Quasequa, their mission is to unmask the mysterious new magician, Marcus the Ineluctable. But Marcus' forces seem unlimited, his hunger for power insatiable, and his influence over his followers total. Is the spellsinging magic of Jon-Tom enough to save Quasequa-and all of the wizard's world? less

There goes the neighborhood! Nobody wants to be around when a freak of supernature called a Perambulator enters the world, bringing with it some really weird shifts in the fabric of existence...like suddenly turning Jon-Tom into a giant blue crab, or Mudge the Otter into a nasty disease... But the mad Perambulator is there to stay, unless the wizard Clothahump can muster all his power and boot it into the next dimension... moreThere goes the neighborhood! Nobody wants to be around when a freak of supernature called a Perambulator enters the world, bringing with it some really weird shifts in the fabric of existence...like suddenly turning Jon-Tom into a giant blue crab, or Mudge the Otter into a nasty disease... But the mad Perambulator is there to stay, unless the wizard Clothahump can muster all his power and boot it into the next dimension. So, despite the bumblings of Sorbl the drunken owl and the fitful runes of a koala amateur wizard, Jon-Tom, Mudge, and Clothahump make their way ever deeper into the realms where Chaos perambulates...to find a deadly foe that only the combined forces of illogic can hope to defeat.... less

In the talking-animal world of Foster's Spellsinger series, the songs of transplanted rock musician Jon-Tom make a powerful if often misdirected magic. The quests he undertakes for his wizardly mentor send him to distant countries, where he meets whimsical creatures speaking in outlandish accents. With more memorable and dramatic adventures behind him, Jon-Tom is off this time on the fantasy equivalent of a trip to the repair shop... moreIn the talking-animal world of Foster's Spellsinger series, the songs of transplanted rock musician Jon-Tom make a powerful if often misdirected magic. The quests he undertakes for his wizardly mentor send him to distant countries, where he meets whimsical creatures speaking in outlandish accents. With more memorable and dramatic adventures behind him, Jon-Tom is off this time on the fantasy equivalent of a trip to the repair shop. The breaking of his magical duar is the occasion for encounters with pirates, cannibals, talkative porpoises, a flying horse who's scared of heights and the lovely, level-headed otter Weegee, who becomes the love of Jon-Tom's irascible companion Mudge. Though always amiable, this novel sounds more and more like an impromptu bedtime story that has been extended beyond the teller's powers of invention. less

Foster resumes his Spellsinger saga: Much to Clothahump the Wizard's distress, ex-hippie Jon-Tom and otherworldly Talea's son Buncan wants to be a questing hero, but not a spellsinger. Instead, he forms a band with Mudge's kids, otters Nocter and Squill, one that creates a wild, unpredictable magic - based on rap!Then an anteater arrives with rumours about a dangerous legend... moreFoster resumes his Spellsinger saga: Much to Clothahump the Wizard's distress, ex-hippie Jon-Tom and otherworldly Talea's son Buncan wants to be a questing hero, but not a spellsinger. Instead, he forms a band with Mudge's kids, otters Nocter and Squill, one that creates a wild, unpredictable magic - based on rap!Then an anteater arrives with rumours about a dangerous legend. Soon the young rappers, aided by a drunk rhino, are off on an odyssey to a fortress where evil sorcerers threaten the world. And where only the unknown power of Buncan's beat can stop the hordes of hideous hybrids. less

The Spellsinger is back in a brand-new non-stop adventure. To avoid boredom, Spellsinger Jon-Tom and his faithful otter companion, Mudge, embark on a quest that seems to have no end. They rescue a gaggle of spoiled princesses, wage war on a guerrilla gorilla, and escape from a mocking maelstrom before getting on the wrong side of an evil alien band.