The Vexed Generation

Magic 2.0, Book 6

By: Scott Meyer

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the latest rollicking adventure in the Magic 2.0 series, it’s time for the teenagers to show the adults how wizardry really works.

Mattie and Brewster are normal, typical 16-year-old twins who live with their normal, boring parents: Martin and Gwen Banks. Normal and boring, that is, until the day their father's best friend shows up at their house - dressed in what appears to be a bathrobe. 

The next thing Mattie and Brewster know, their parents are frozen like human statues in their living room, the guy in the bathrobe has vanished, and they need to find answers - fast.   

The twins set off on a quest to discover the truth of their parents' lives. Along the way they find secrets, lies, magic, time travel, strange new friends, stranger new enemies, and a really weird dirigible (which, they're told repeatedly, is not a blimp). It is a twisted and bizarre trail that, they hope, will lead them to the man they blame for their parents' peril: 

Phillip.

©2019 Scott Meyer (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Why make it Political?!

I was excited to finish the series I started listening too a long time ago. Every book has been entertaining so far. this one started off well, but got political fast. If I wanted the liberal agenda shoved down my throat I'd watch CNN.

I have most of his audio books.

Uninspired. Write me a story, If I wanted more political pap I would watch news.

Not very good at all

Boring and the voices grew tiresome. Hopefully this series is dead. The first 3 were good but these last 3 are just bad.

Sad death of a one great series

I loved the first three books and quickly bought the others to my disappointment. This one in particular is a mediocre story by a leftist blandly insulting people that don’t agree with his views. I came for a fantasy story, not a whiny tirade about orange man bad. Also, it’s humorous that he insults Ayn Rand being that her books are influential and thought provoking, and his are to kill time while I drive.

It was fine

It was fine, but there is no fear for any of the characters, nothing is ever on the line, and it feels like everyone in the book hates each other. There is little comradery, and it seems that friendship is commonly mistaken as a reason to constantly insult each other throughout the book and it just kinda gets old. Got a bit too political at the end, it was annoying to say the least, I want a good story, if I wanted politics I'd go listen to a podcast.

Meyer brings the series back from the edge

Man am I glad I enjoyed this book. I love the series and this book was make or break for me. This is not the best in the series, but I laughed and was entertained. Meyer quickly addresses the time travel issue that was getting cumbersome and drops the deep morale dilemmas that weighed down the last 2 books, The funniest part was when Meyer toyed with some near 4th wall breaks with nods to the critiques of the 4th book in the series and addressing politics in today's charged climate. While a fun read, fans of the series should be ready for a slightly different feel. The characters we know take a back seat to the twins for the majority of story, but is familiar enough (especially the last few chapters) for fans of the series to feel comfortable.
My only critique of the book is it borrows heavily from the plot of the book 1, just swapping out the protagonist and villain. This book feels like a palette cleanser for author and audience. Meyer seems to purposely not take any chances in this book and fall back to something he knows is going to work, so I had to give the story a 4 out of 5, but if Meyer needed a bit of a crutch to get this series back on track, I'll gladly take it.

TLDR: This book is good, not great. Gives hope the series can return to living up to the first 3 books.

Bad

Just plain bad story writing.

The characters are increasing dumb and one dimensional. Honestly they have unlimited resources and time, yet they have not progressed at anything at all.

The story is forced along a path so badly that it immediately pulls you out of any immersion. There are pointless ineffectual conversation/trips to try and get a one sentence point across. The bad guys are your typical “I want to rule the wold for no real reason” cliche. And the set ups to allow the kids to save the day unimaginative.

The action scenes are boring, slow, and contain far too much talking back and forth. They are so predictable that you can might as well skip right on by.

The author tries to point fun at or maybe acknowledge criticism from previous books, but doesn’t actually try to improve his writing.

Britt is still probably the most evil... or at least horrible person in the series, yet everyone loves her and never calls her out on her BS. She literally uses time travel to steal credit for others coding breakthroughs (it’s okay she credits them on a tiny out of the way plaque while telling people she did it all herself), prop herself up as an all knowing guru, gets herself a government job to waste taxpayer money on her personal whims, use her power to torment those below her, and rewrites her own memory to block out her own failures while pinning the blame on Philip.

Might been an actual good story to finally make her the villain and have some lasting sacrifices after taking her down. Don’t think that will ever happen. I’m sure the next book will have another petty dumb villain beat up the “heroes” till he pulls a cliche villain mistake and is taken down.

This series is just not the same

Seems like the author has lost his way after book 3. This latest installment is really simple and not very funny. The women characters continue to be annoying and the men simpletons. I think I’m done with the series over all.

could have been so good

the not so subtle political digs in the story were a major disappointment. I look to these types of books as an escape. Put a warning label on your rants. i.e. "Please skip the next chapter if you are reading this book strictly for enjoyment" SERIOUSLY!

Frustrating!

This series has been a mixed bag since book 3.
I’m sad the author has taken to interjecting politics into his book, and even though it wasn’t overly done, it’s there enough to definitely stick out.
Also, Martin is the best character, in this volume (again), he takes a backseat. Every scene his character is in is just better. Let’s have another book centered around him. Also more Jimmy and the side characters like Roy, Jeff, etc. That is what made the early books so entertaining!
Luke Daniels legitimately SAVES this series time and again. He is so good that he makes up for the bad characters (the Brit’s) and scenes.

A return to standard

Going into this book I was very skeptical. Being a fan of the series from the release of book three I used to look forward to any new addition to Magic 2.0, this all changed after the last book (Out of spite, out of mind) let me feeling dejected and down which my review details.

This book however is as the title suggests a true return to format and standard of the original books. the humour is amazing with some of the series highlights seen through a new lense of the two new main characters. The main story is mainly the start to get things moving and despite not being very impactful overall, does an excellent job of showcasing the new characters as well as the upgraded characters from past books.

This book has renewed my faith in Scott Meyer and I hope he keeps up to this sort of standard going forward as he previous attempt to shoehorn political and social issues felt missplaced and ruined the experience for me and others I had introduced to the series.

This book is a definite listen/read!

a return to form

I have to be honest I love this series but it's definitely been going downhill over the last few books. However this is a perfect redemption and in my opinion it's the best one yet.

Fun story and a return to a character driven plot rather than the "wibbly wobbly timey wimey" storyline of the last book make this a good enjoyable easy listen.

back on form for book six

after not really enjoying book four (dragons) and then finding the ending of book 5 a disappointment (though I may be in a minority there), this book was excellent. well paced, good mix of genuine stakes with action and mystery, very funny in places and overall not too serious. glad the series is on the up again - really pleased for Scott Mayer

loved it

Loving the direction this series is taking. New characters, learning new things, and the old characters that are so well established are just great. Can't wait to see what's next.

Back on top form! A classic adventure across time

Ok I'll be honest - Off To Be the Wizard had me as a total fan boy from the outset. I keep coming back to it time and time again as it's such an enjoyable and kind-of relatable tale. The Magic 2.0 world of Scott Meyer has crafted fills me with joy. Luke Daniels narration has been nothing short of outstanding and has added layers of depth to the characters. That said, I have really struggled with the two stories prior to this, which was difficult to admit as I keep trying to push people to listen to Off To Be the Wizard. This gave me reason for pause before jumping in to Book 6 here, but I'm glad I did as it was a brilliant return to form. It was both fresh and familiar. It didn't have any of the tedium of 'Out of Spite', and it was compelling. We only get so many hours in our life and I'm glad I spent some of them listening to this, it was very enjoyable so thank you Scott & Luke.

A return to form

I loved this new installment of magic 2.0. great story arc, with a more in depth look at some of the side characters. This has become one of my new favourite books in the series Thankyou keep up the good work.

A rabbit from the top hat

One of the most fascinating thing I've found about this series is how many people seem to like the 3rd book over the 4th. When I've listened to the Unexpected Quest I hated it immensely, mostly because the character I loved from the first two books became caricatures of themselves. When I've read Fight and Flight I was delighted at how masterfully Scott Meyer gave all of his characters the edge they had. Now, after listening to the Vexed Generation I'm glad to say that I liked it a lot, because the characters were the same ones I fell in love with. Luke Daniels' performance was excellent as always. However, the story was very generic. I could tell almost every 'plot twist' from a mile away, the set up and payoff will be obvious to any reader. And even though I love the characters some of them still were portrayed diametrically opposite from the other books in this series. The last thing I want to mention is the overabundance of needless references. It doesn't ruin the story, but becomes a little bit annoying as the book goes on.

Perfect!

Having read and loved all the previous Magic 2.0 books, I was daunted by the trope of "now it's their kids", but _The Vexed Generation_ delivered with all the comedy and excitement of the series. This is a sequel done very well, and Luke Daniels voice perfectly tells Scott Meyer's story in pace and voice acting. Give me more! 10/10 would recommend.

Back to form

I found this story more enjoyable than the last 2 for a couple of reasons. It's more character based with a simple plot. And, it didn't feature Britt too much (she's so annoying). Not as good as the first couple of books but hopefully things are heading out the right direction for the next story.

downhill ride

first book was great. but a downhill ride ever since. can't recommend this book. but a bit better then book 3 and 4