The Silent Tower (1987) and The Silicon Mage (1988) make up one story; you don’t want to get caught without the second half. They have been published together as “Darkmage” and they are also known as the Windrose Chronicles. The great thing about them is not that the evil wizard is trying to implement his brain in CP/M, but that to do this, he’s invented a computer that makes electricity by draining joy out of the world. Two worlds, actually, our world and the world of Ferryth, a fantasy world just at the beginning of an Industrial Revolution.
The thing Hambly is flat out awesome at is worldbuilding. Her worlds always feel absolutely real and solid with every detail thought through and meshing with every other detail, without slowing the story down in the least. She integrates magic and technology and social attitudes to magic so seamlessly that the way things work feels like information you’ve always had. I first read these books when they came out, waiting breathlessly for the second one, and I have re-read them regularly ever since with continuing pleasure.
[Read more: mild spoilers]