Books like Wizard at Large

Meh. Just, meh. Definitely a low point in the series. As with the previous book in the series, there are two story lines going on throughout the entire book. 1) Quester, the wizard thinks that he has found the magic that allows him to turn Abernathy back from the dog form, in which he is stuck, to his natural human form. The catch? It requires Ben to give Abernathy the medallion that makes Ben king of Landover. Surprise, surprise, something goes wrong and Abernathy is transported back to Ben's old world (our world), and in his place appears a bottle. Ben and Willow go back to our world to find Abernathy and get the bottle.2) This bottle holds a Darkling, something of a genie in a bottle. It grants wishes, but it only draws on the wishers flaws. The bottle is stolen and is making its way around Landover, wrecking havoc. Quester is sent to retrieve the bottle.Neither of these story lines are particularly strong, and they simply don't weave well together. Plot #2 feels plodding and gets in the way of the far more interesting, Plot #1. Both plots actually suffer from the way they are weaved together. The flow is broken repeatedly, and not in a "Oh! I want to know what happens next!" sort of way, but in a "Oh! Back to this now?" sort of way. Simply, no good.I also felt as though I'd already read this story. Ben loses medallion. Ben searches for medallion. It's the same basic story as the last book. The last 40 pages or so saves the entire book, however. They really are the most interesting pages because it didn't feel like more of the same. Ben's still a clueless idiot, but at least he's clever from time-to-time in this novel of Landover. Willow is still a sadly underused character. Quester has finally become half competent. Abernathy, well, Abernathy's still a sullen douche - which makes him the most well rounded character of the bunch.