Off to Be the Wizard

Magic 2.0, Book 1

De: Scott Meyer

Narrado por: Luke Daniels

An io9 Can't Miss Science Fiction and Fantasy title in March 2014.

Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

What could possibly go wrong?

An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything.

©2013 Scott Meyer (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Phil is the best

Tongue in cheek writing - very different than traditional tone and style. Easy to get drawn in after the initial shock and transition from a more traditional style. Great voices by narrator!

Best enjoyed in snack sized chunks

This book is fun! The idea itself is perhaps not the most original, but the twists and details added to it makes it very entertaining. It does slow down a bit in the middle part, and could very well have been trimmed down a bit. The end is fast-paced and brings excitement. It is very much the setup for one or more sequels.

I would recommend enjoying this in smaller chunks over time, rather than binge-listening to it as that could be a bit much..

Imaginative Take on Cliche

This book takes the premise of the Matrix and makes it a comedy. The world is a computer program, and okay that's fine. But what can you do with it? That's where the magic begins. It briefly touches on the underlying existential crisis, and instead pivots more towards humans being human, and what it is to have conflicting philosophies about that existential crisis.

Motives of the characters are a little flat, and you have to have a taste for white male computer nerd stereotypes to stomach the characters at all. The story takes a second to unfold, but is logical and pleasant to listen to. I'll enjoy listening to the rest of the series.

Performance is fantastic. If you can't remember character names (as I can't), the voices are perfectly matched to the person they embody and helps to keep things straight.

A quick, light entertainment

I was a little disappointed that Myers didn't do more with such an interesting premise. But it was decently paced and enjoyable.

Fairly enjoyable, but jarring in parts.

This is a story of a group of people who independently found a way to '/op' themselves on a Minecraft server, but it's real life, and none of them held back in outfitting themselves in the flashiest gear and mods they could come up with. I didn't really like any of them, except for Gwen, who seemed to be the only one with her head screwed on. Throughout the story, I was left thinking "why did they do that?" and "why did they think that was a good idea?"