The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
Cover artist	Stephen Hickman
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Baen
Publication date	1993

The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump (Baen, 1993) is a novel by Harry Turtledove. It has certain alternate history elements, but is primarily a fantasy work depicting a world where magic works and the various deities of the world's religions are real.

While some people may worship a particular deity, the overwhelming attitude toward them is pragamtic, as deities are a concrete and real part of the environment, whether or not they are worshipped. Each region has its own deities, and urban planning which does not take the local deities into consideration could end with disaster, just like planning which ignores other major ecological factors. (Exactly that very nearly happens at the book's climax.)

Unlike the majority of fictional worlds where magic works, where the setting tends to be Arachaic or Medieval, this one is set in a recognizable present-day United States (specifically Los Angeles), with many present-day technologies and insitutions having a magical equivalent (for example, the equivalent of the CIA is staffed by actual, literal spooks). The book also employs many of the conventions of the hard-boiled detective novel, transposed to this setting.

The Toxic Spell Dump of the title, which plays a key role in the plot, refers to magic spells having toxic side-effects, like industrial processes in OTL, and needing to have a special dump where these effects would not harm the environment.