Spell or High Water

Magic 2.0, Book 2

By: Scott Meyer

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The adventures of an American hacker in Medieval England continue as Martin Banks takes his next step on the journey toward mastering his reality-altering powers and fulfilling his destiny.

A month has passed since Martin helped to defeat the evil programmer Jimmy, and things couldn’t be going better. Except for his love life, that is. Feeling distant and lost, Gwen has journeyed to Atlantis, a tolerant and benevolent kingdom governed by the Sorceresses, and a place known to be a safe haven to all female time-travelers.

Thankfully, Martin and Philip are invited to a summit in Atlantis for all of the leaders of the time-traveler colonies, and now Martin thinks this will be a chance to try again with Gwen. Of course, this is Martin Banks we’re talking about, so murder, mystery, and high intrigue all get in the way of a guy who just wants one more shot to get the girl.

The follow-up to the hilarious Off to Be the Wizard, Scott Meyer’s Spell or High Water proves that no matter what powers you have over time and space, you can’t control rotten luck.

©2014 Scott Meyer (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Great Second Book

Adds to the world and sets up well for a third. The book does a great job of doing what it does, making you think the world might actually just be a computer program.

As good as the first book

The narration was consistent with the first book, same voices and so on, which is one of the first things I look for in a sequel of an audiobook.
It was also just as funny as the first book. I mean, if you have any doubt, Martin’s fourth statue from chapter 3 should settle that. To me at least that was hilarious! Hilarity being defined as something utterly unexpected.

Some of the characters were over-the-top in a funny way (Miller), although others, such as the president, were over the top in a cringing and unpleasant way.

One con in the narration: the voice of Nick changed for almost every scene, as he progressed from probably straight to definitely gay, although the change in voice probably started before Luke Daniels knew that, so I don’t think that was the reason.

Altogether, I would say this is a worthy sequel to the first book, and I am still looking forward to continuing the series.

I hate Roy!!!

I only have one thing to say: I HATE ROY I HATE THAT GUY ERRRGH

good continuation of the original book.

good continuation of the original story. the voices and narration are great as usual. looking forward to the 3rd

Such a fun series, book 2 doesn't disappoint

Book 2 is such a great sequel. A must after reading Off to be the Wizard!

Meyers + Daniels = Comic Genius

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Oh no, here I go again ... Another review where I gush about Luke Daniels' performance.

Normally, I'm a Whispersync junky - Switching between Kindle and Audible daily. But this book, perhaps more than any other in recent memory, was one to be listened to, rather than read. Daniels turns in one his best performances to date, and that's strong praise if you've ever listened to the Iron Druid series.

And while I don't know this for fact, it seems obvious to me that Meyers and Daniels had a high level of collaboration in this recording. I can't see any other way that Daniels could animate Meyers' characters so perfectly, especially Ampyx, where a near perfect Patrick Warburton impression is used.

Any additional comments?

The story was good, bordering on great due to the sheer absurdity of it all. If you liked "Off to be the Wizard', you'll definitely enjoy this sequel.

Phenomenal narration once again with good story

Another hilarious Magic 2.0 book from Scott Meyer and the best narrator ever, Luke Daniels! What a great romp through the nerdy, geeky, ridiculously implausible world of 20th/21st Century computer hackers-come-medieval wizards.

This time round Martin and Philip are in Atlantis, summoned by a mysterious bowl and reunited with Gwen only to discover a strange time-loop double character (conveniently: Britt the Younger and Britt the Elder) that throws the theories of time and timelines out the window and the even more mysterious plot to kill one (or both?) of them! Oh, and Jimmy/Merlin is making his return to Medieval England while the two are away.

Comparing books 1 and 2 of this series, I'd have to say book 1 was perhaps a bit more novel and had all the fun stuff that comes with time travel, computer nerds, and people posing as wizards. The battle at the end was great, the magic spell creations were funny, and the Martin the Apprentice/Philip the Teacher relationship was spot on. The second book may lack a bit of the plot sturdiness, but is possibly a bit funnier (Ampix was hilarious) and the narration is even better (is that even possible?!).

I think the increased role of the two federal agents made the book a solid performance from Meyer, but the attempt at keeping two/three stories going at the same time (1: Atlantis, and then 2.a: Jimmy in the 21st century with the agents followed by 2.b: his return to England) left the murder plot a bit weak. The fact that there were two Britts, the timey-ness around that possibility, and the relationships between Philip/Britt the younger and Martin/Gwen a bit forced. But then again, not really expecting high quality dramatic fiction here, and it did exactly what I hoped for in the end!

Great Follow Up

What did you love best about Spell or High Water?

The narration is as good as you will find anywhere.

What did you like best about this story?

This was a solid continuation of the story from "Off To Be The Wizard", and if you enjoyed that book, this one is equally entertaining.

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

Everything! He nails the personalities of the different characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It will make you laugh regularly, it has just the right amount of humor.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to book #3.

Just as good as the first

Love this just as much as the first one in the series! The characters are great, the story is funny, and I love that this series doesn't fall into the misogyny trap that many authors fall into when including tech in a plotline.

An entertaining story

Creative, well-narrated and zany characters. A great continuation of the first book. Can't wait to read the next one.