Out of Spite, Out of Mind

Magic 2.0, Book 5

By: Scott Meyer

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

When you discover the world is a computer program, and you figure out that by altering the code you can time travel and perform acts that seem like magic, what can possibly go wrong?

Pretty much everything.

Just ask Brit, who has jumped around in time with such abandon that she has to coexist with multiple versions of herself. Now, Brit the Elder finds that her memories don't match Brit the Younger's. And there's the small matter of a glitch that's making Brit the Elder's body fritz out. Brit the Elder's ex-boyfriend Phillip wants to help her, but he'll have to keep it secret from his current girlfriend, Brit the Younger, who can't stand her future self.

Meanwhile, Martin is trying to protect Phillip from a relentless attacker he somehow hasn't noticed; Gwen is angry because Martin accidentally proposed to her; Gary tries to help the less fortunate, with predictably disastrous results; and an old nemesis might have to be the one to save them all.

In Out of Spite, Out of Mind, our fearless wizards discover the biggest glitch in their world's program may well be themselves.

©2018 Scott Meyer (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

A nonsensically funny story becomes nonsense

By the end of the story, Scott Meyer has taken his goofy and likable cast of characters and reduced them to one-dimensional cardboard cutouts of sheep. He strips them of any sense of depth, uniqueness, or meaning. If you have enjoyed the series for it’s sense of fraternal camaraderie, hijinx, and sophomoric charm set within a world built on an intriguing mystery, stop before this book. He ruined every good thing about the series in the latter half of this disaster. I think he was collecting a paycheck he didn’t fully earn.

This Series has Taken a Horrible Turn...

I'm going to keep this brief... I loved this series so much. I couldn't stop listening to it and told everyone I knew about it. After this last book I completely regret it.

The way Phillip was treated in this book was absolutely disgusting and uncalled for. Everyone was completely ok with Phillip being destroyed over a lie that Brit put in her own head. Why do the other characters support this? Phillip has consistently throughout these books been there for everyone and they just turn their back on him just because. All the build up to find out why Brit and Phillip aren't together in the future and this is what the author chose? Unbelievable.

Also, the not so subtle "Women are amazing and Men are animals" thread of this book was forced and complete garbage. "Women need an excuse to fight and men need an excuse not to fight"? Who the hell thinks like this let alone writes it down and promotes it to others?!

Killed the series for me. Horrible.

Scott, how do you think women are supposed to act?

Seriously, though. Gwen? She's angry until suddenly without context she's not and all Martin does is be honest and forthright with her. The Brits? They're normal until Philip tries his best to save them all and has to keep things from them/her. All be ever did was his very best to help and was forced to lie. The resolution is deeply unfair and unsatisfying on all sides and NOBODY else in the cast calls out Brit for being a bitch or being irrational. Honestly, this would have been a better resolution if Brit had died. The book is a slow, downhill slide into yet another unsatisfying resolution and a little lead in to another story where I'm sure it will be yet another downhill slide into mediocrity. Scott, please. You can do better than this. the first book proved that. your characters have gone from goofy and lovable to increasingly one dimensional and rigid.

Sloppy Sexist Stupid

It doesn't feel like the same author wrote this that wrote the first three books. Everyone acts so out of character and just plain stupid. Brit and Gwen could get away with murder if they just glare at the guys and act superior... which is what they do through the whole book. No one reacts to the horrible way they treat Phillip and to a lesser extent Martin. It's as if they aren't in the same room and completely ignore things that they should absolutely react to. The logic and common sense is also stripped from every character to the point that you want to scream at them. The narration was great as always but this one falls hard with it's story.

Don't read this one.

The title of this book describes Brits motivation and mental status perfectly. Seriously, if you have any love for these characters then do not listen to this book at all. Just pretend there was no foreshadowing problem at the end of the last book, and that all of the characters continue to live their lives the in their goofy but charming way. You'll be much happier.

Brit is a sedistic monster.

The amount of damage she inflicts on others and the univers is amazing. She's good enough to be a Lovecraft monster. Yet she gets away with it all.

Dont Bother

Small spoilers ahead:
Rather than listen to this, just read the last chapter and move on. It's literally the only thing that adds to the plot. Everything else in the story adds nothing and destroys any depth that anyone but Philip had. Outside of a few funny side-stories, the main story is literally just Brit ruining Philip's life because a future version of her did it to her; so, she has to do it because.... idk... no free will? That's it. That's her only reasoning, and everyone aside from Philip seems to accept this as a valid argument. Don't waste your money. Absolutely no development or growth here.

Props to the narrator, though. 10/10

Huge Spoilers after:

Philip listens to Old Brit when she tells him not to tell young Brit about what was going in with Old Brit FOR HER OWN SAFETY. Young Brit (despite believing she will one day be old Brit) decides that it's all Philip's fault for listening to old Brit and he should have ignored Old Brit's warning and told her. She breaks up with him, and to top it off she changes her own memories of the events to believe that Philip cheated on her; so, that way she'll never forgive him.... for trying to protect her(?). That's it. that's the entire plot, and EVERYONE sides with Brit. No one even questions it. Like... come on. What an awful story. How could anyone honestly believe she's in the right. What a completely garbage human being.
Complete letdown. Was really hoping the cliffhanger from Book 4 actually meant something, butttt.... NOPE

Least Favorite of the series so far

I guess maybe this book was written to set up future plots, but it really didn't seem to have much of a point. it didn't seem to me to flow very well or hold my interest nearly as much as the first four books of the series.

A Philip to Remember / A Britt To Forget

**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!**

I adore the Magic 2.0 series - I fell in love with the world, the characters and their adventures through medieval England, Atlantis, and the rest. Luke Daniels is an absolute wizard in bringing these characters to life, and I applaud Scott Meyers for never resting on his laurels, and taking chances with books 3 (fun!), 4 (Honor fail) and 5.

With Out of Spite, Out of Mind, the Phillip//Britt pairing is the main event, representing fatalism vs. free will. And that's interesting! Where it quickly falls apart is 1) how condescending (at best) and spiteful (hence the title???) Britt becomes and 2) how idiotic she behaves. It's the second part that I take issue with Meyer, because Britt was a pretty awesome character until recently.

So, to recap: Britt is two people; younger Britt resents older Britt; elder Britt notices a glitch caused by the two co-existing; elder Britt enlists Phillip to help her solve the problem and keep it a secret from Phillip, lest they destroy everyone/everything; younger Britt finds out and accuses Phillip of cheating on him; not-so-young Britt "saves the day" by fixing elder Britt, but not before encoding fake memories of Phillip cheating on her, thereby preserving the time loop and fulfilling her (elder Britt's) destiny of not being with Phillip.

To my first point, the characters in the book show little to no sympathy toward Phillip, with the main character Martin being unhelpful at best. Britt absolutely brutalizes Phillip, accusing him of cheating (with herself???) and then implanting her future self with false memories to ensure this becomes elder Britt's reality. How horrific. How sadistic.

But the fact that Phillip is posterized by Britt is a quibble compared to point numero dos - Britt's logic is completely faulty. If she allows herself to love Phillip, believing in HIS idea that free will exists (that each person can make decisions independently), and that determinism is false, she completely screws the pooch by essentially acting toward self-sabotage and preserving the timeline (i.e., free will doesn't exist, so I'm just going to do what I was going to do anyway).

Do you see the problem there? The Brit I know is way, way smarter than that. She is essentially acting OUT OF CHARACTER to push this plot forward. Phillip is not collaborating with elder Brit to save elder Brit - he is, at the end of the day, trying desperately to save younger Brit. Younger Brit somehow interprets this to be tantamount to cheating, and then acts to ensure the miserable outcome that is this book, which doesn't really prove her point (that what will be will be) since she ultimately decided the resolution of elder Brit's fate. And decides to cover her tracks by erasing the truth and replacing it with a falsehood about Phillip's infidelity...uhhh, good job Brit!

I can see where this is all going, but it just pains me when characters act of our character in order for the plot to work in certain ways. Gwen is no charmer, either, and I'm puzzled at how little chemistry both couples have with one another. Mr. Meyer - most of us are ride-or-die fans, and we're too invested to give up on these characters. I'm certain that Phillip and to a lesser extent Martin will get their comeuppance (for essentially being good, normal guys), but the fact that I'm expecting this comeuppance against the loves of their lives is really weird, mean-spirited, bizarre, out of character, etc.

Thank you for taking some chances, and taking us to some unexplored territory, but please hide the puppet strings a bit better when having the characters do what they need to do in service of the entire story. Characters by their nature are in service to the story, but maybe the story should be in service to them, as well (ooh! story/determinism vs. character/free will!)

Why do I keep torturing myself?

I said after the last book I likely wouldn't pick up the next and yet here I am. Well luckily Audible has a great return policy, your the tops Audible.
As others have already said the character (characters) Brit & Brit & Brit & Brit are the worst to have a story centered around.
First off I want to say who are these people to each other? Because it sure seems like they are FAR from Phil's friends. I mean all they do is cut him off and then side with #### mc'#### Face which if you were part of the story and were listening to anything that happened (spoiler alert) you would basically be going along with allowing your buddies girlfriend to mess with her memory to make her think Phil cheated on her all because he was helping another version of her WHOM IF you were paying attention you would have realized caused everything to happen and none of it including Phil helping another version of her would have happened at all had she not meddled in the first place.
If that was my friend and I was paying attention I would first say Brit is no longer allowed around me or any of my friends and I'd certainly remind everyone Brit knows so as to remind her by proxy that Phil never actually cheated and another version of her psychopath self caused a ton of problems, cloned a bunch of herself to solve them and then jacked up her own memories because once again shes a psychopath. The reason I am giving the story a bad rating is because all of that ranting is pretty much how just about any normal person would feel / react which makes the whole situation and story completely 100% unbelievable. Hey I like time traveler fantasy and all that but thats the part of the story I want to be fiction, not how seemingly, supposedly normal people react to fairly common situations.

Better than 4 not as good as 1,2 or 3.

SoI love these books - just going to say that first. They are all great in there own ways.

For me books 1 and 2 were really well done and book 3 was a smart way to incorporate new/old people in to the mix, book 4 was the odd one out but book 5 does tie in to it.

The entire book just felt very angry and shouty, they are all friends but just constantly shout at each other like they hate each other. Im starting to get sick of gwen and her constantly beating martin up (so to speak), i dont really get what he sees in her!

The Brits stuff got even more silly and complicated and found myself thinking when is this going to end. Some parts of the stroy just felt they were there for the sake of being there and did feel like they dragged on.

Having said all that, the last 5/6 chapters were funny and a bit more mystic as per the first books and i really enjoyed that, i am excited for the next set of books based on the end, but i did see the plot twist coming. (still a good twist)

There are some really laugh out loud parts of the story and some really silly parts that make it a magic 2.0 book. I think the references to more modern day stuff got a little out of in some places but thats no biggie! As per usual Luke does a fantastic job with the story telling and plays the parts very well, he is 50% of the reasons for coming back.

Scott did a great job on make another fun adventure to the series and i am still very much a fan and eager to listen to the next one.

For me this was very much make or break based on the last book, and currently i feel like its a make.. but just.

My advice is, if you have a credit and you like the series it wont feel like a waste of a credit. its still fun and part of the series, its anther silly adventure that gets out of hand and thats great. Like what i said about the last book, not sure i would pay full price to listen to this.

Not great

Like others books 1-3 are excellent. 4 was a bit odd and this one just seemed to lose your faith in the characters. The fun and camaraderie are gone, it feels like a teenage angst book which I believe misses his audience of slightly geeky 40’s types :-) the storyline is tying its self in knots and creating paradox’s that don’t really help the story.
Female characters seem to become more stereotypical than ever without being funny.
luke Daniels is great as usual.
Personally I feel like the story line needs a CTRL ALT DELETE

Mostly good but infuriating at points

I liked the set-up and mystery in this and enjoyed most of the book, even having sympathy at one point for Brit the elder when she expresses distaste at the way she deels she has to act (up until then she always seemed to me unlikeable and unpleasant).

Then the end came.

Firstly it felt like a dissapointing cop-out and so much less interesting than it could have been and it undermined everything leading up to it.

Secondly (and for me the worst thing in the book), Brit makes a truly horrible and manipulative decision/action which almost all the other characters accept without pointing out how wrong it is, or calling her to account. It makes zero sense to me and I find the whole thing so infuriating, not only because it is terribly unjust to a good person, but because it makes me think less of almost all the other characters.

I found Brit (the elder) hard to take in book 2, and felt then it was weird that other characters were not judging her appalling behaviour but this book manages to take it up a notch. To be honest I have never understood how Brit the younger (who mostly seemed fine) could suddenly become someone who is so horrible, nor why anyone likes her when she does.

Despite enjoying most of the book I'm not sure if I can listen to any future magic 2.0 books as the end of this one made me so infuriated. In a way I wish I hadn't listened to this one, though mostly I just wish it had a different ending.

can't wait for the next book!!!

Brilliant as usual, these books always leave you eager for the next in the series, the narrator is superb and the voices of each character are always distinctly different from each other.

The End of a Great Series

EDIT: Wow this review is bitter, I was clearly unhappy with it. I'm happy to report that on Book 6, the Vexed Generation, Scott Meyer managed to progress the story from this book, without ignoring what had happened, and it worked out quite well. I was initially worried that he had lost his edge - but the series did return back to 1-3 charm with the 6th book!

This might be a little spoiler-y, I'll try to minimise it as much as possible.

Not as weak story-wise as the 4th, but the worst novel of the bunch. Why?

A genuinely interesting logic hole was created at the end of the 4th, allowing for some truly interesting character developing and perhaps a chance to learn more about the mysterious program. No. Slammed shut with a really uninspired "you can't change what's going to happen!" approach. Which is fair enough, but out of the many, many times that showed up in the book, only one of those had a reasoning other than "it happened in the future, so we have to!" which is quite honestly the weakest way that the author could have done it.

You're telling me that nobody even considered not doing it, even when Philip, as established in previous books, would've insisted they didn't and would've told them to "SHUT UP" if they mentioned it?

The Brit sequence was massively overdone, way too complicated and full of the same ridiculousness as previously mentioned. I was hoping for it to end about halfway through. The author has managed to take one of the most interesting characters, completely dilute what made them interesting through repetition to the point where it's honestly just tedious and annoying, and then give a daft justification for a super-cruel act which just results in the reader REALLY disliking that character.

The point of this book seems just to make you dislike certain characters in order to drive drama that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The previous 4 books established that the characters were smart (in their own way) and makes you able to expect what they'd say. This one throws that all out of the window with the "you can't change it!" and forces everyone to make really stupid decisions. Again, without justification.

There are some good laughs in here, like all the books, but they're so overshadowed by, just, well, the actual story itself.

The narrator, Luke Daniels, did a fantastic performance as always. Consistent (mostly) over five audiobooks, great voices and a lot of character. Great job.

Unsatisfying. (The ending is practically a Deus Ex Machina for crying out loud.) Unfun. There were so many options open to this series for more fun romps like 1-3, (4 was a bit dumb, quite filler-y, but it at least fit the core idea) but instead the author is more interested in writing a not-even-geeky-anymore reality show focused on the hollow corpses of the characters we've grown to love. I very much doubt that Meyer will be able to fix the damage done to this series with the next book.

Another great installment

How brilliant this book is!! It really takes the time travel aspect of this series to extremes and manages to have some great story lines, humour, romance and 'tragedy'.

I'm only gutted that I've now got to wait for the next one as I'm all caught up now.

Out of the park.

I have really enjoyed getting to spend more time with these brilliant and well developed characters. This particular story is somewhat bittersweet but incredibly fun.

A Return to Form

I was a huge fan of the first three in the series and have listened to them several times. However, the fourth was a little bit of a let down and I was genuinely worried that might put pay to any more that might be in the pipeline. Thankfully, the fifth instalment seems to have breathed new life back into things. Funny, quirky, nerdy and a great performance from Luke Daniels. What more do you want?

Good.. But

Enjoyed it but not as much as the earlier one.
Still fun though but 😁

I had high hopes

I really liked the first three books in this series, I laughed, I thought and I enjoyed. But this one...

I think Scott Meyers is running out of ideas, like Daniels was brilliant as always and the quality of the sound is audible’s high standard but the plot...without giving anything away, could have been a lot more, it was pointless. Unfortunately this is not dissimilar to book 4 on level of “where is the story?”.

Seriously, if you liked books 1,2,3. Stop there.