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Off to Be the Wizard
Written by Scott Meyer
Narrated by Luke Daniels
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Start ListeningDescription
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.
Book Actions
Start ListeningBook Information
Off to Be the Wizard
Written by Scott Meyer
Narrated by Luke Daniels
Description
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.
About the author
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Reviews
This book was so much fun to read! It was recommended to me by a gamer/ DND friend. I'm reading the whole series now!
Rating: 5This was "lite" and funny and pretty original. I did it on audio which made it more fun because the narrator was great. At first I thought it was kind of boring, but the characters really grew on me after a while. The structure was kind of unique. It seemed like at about the 75% mark it could have ended, but that made you realized there really wasn't any "tension" up to that point most of it had just been exploratory. Then, cue minor key music and you start worrying. Phillip was my favorite character. His constant quips about how much he hated Jimmy were the best.
Rating: 4Amusing story, but with several problems that really detracted from the fun for me. I'll keep this vague and no spoilers beyond the first couple chapters (and I'll keep things vague anyway).First, a fundamental flaw with the premise, when the entire concept hinges on changing a file and the protagonist soon goes where he has no possible cell connection, wifi, etc., absolutely no way to affect the file. He discovers others who are also making edits with no possible way of doing so. A major complication that affects time travel stories is simply hand-waved away.Second, the people making the changes are at least average intelligence, and probably above. Yet, they continually make the most stupid and obvious mistakes as the easiest way to progress the story. A bit more work to show they were acting reasonably but still thwarted would have made the whole thing less frustrating for the reader. This is THEIR environment; I shouldn't be constantly waiting for them to realize something obvious.Third, the premise is fascinating but wasn't fully explored (presumably to leave plenty of room for sequels), and the main characters haven't even followed a few of the implications very far, although they've had plenty of time to do so.Versions: The voice acting on the audio version was good. The illustrations in the animated print version were adequate (only about half contained animation), although perhaps carrying through the 8-bit style of the cover would have been more amusing.Some fun to be had, but a great premise undermined by a disappointing execution.
Rating: 3It reminds me of "Go quest, Young Man," quite enjoyable. A nice adventure story, a good character voice, a little bit of a tired storyline, but it went places I didn't expect, so it was fun and worth the time.
Rating: 4Very imaginative concept and a fun read. To say too much would be to spoil the story.
Rating: 4The audio version of this book is a favorite long trip book for the entire family, which includes more than our fair share of computer geeks and fantasy lovers. Myers has a twisted sense of humor that will keep you smiling and quoting favor lines long after you finish the book.
Rating: 4In this sci-fi book, these guys find this file, the master file, that controls how we live. They figured out that they could change how tall they were, where they were, when they were, and how much money they had. Martin, the main character, starts experimenting with changing his life. He has a great time until the police notice that he suddenly has an increase in money and started to pursue him. To escape he has to travel to medieval England and pretend to be a wizard. There, he meets another wizard and he learns about the process to become a wizard. He completes and passes all of the trials put before him and becomes a wizard. He becomes friends with a local wizard, Phillip. When Jimmy, a bad wizard, accidently destroys and kills an entire town, Phillip and Martin fight him and send him away to another time and place. In the end, Martin decides it is only right to go home and sort things out with the police.My favorite part was when they fought with Jimmy (aka Merlin. It was exciting! It was especially funny when they sent him back in time. Overall, I liked this book.
Rating: 4A silly setup but moves quickly so that it doesn't matter. Has fun with the world that's built, not deep but the characters are well done.
Rating: 4Everything about you, including the world you live in and the laws of nature, are all part of a vast computer simulation. And when Martin Banks, amateur hacker, gets his hands on the source code for his own life, it sets off a mad dash adventure that leads him to embrace his lifelong dream - to go back in time and set himself up as a Medieval Sorcerer. But his plans to dominate history don't work out quite the way he'd expected. After all, Martin isn't exactly the first geek to ever dream of how great he could be in another era, and it turns out, he wasn't the first to find the code, either.
An enjoyable read, well constructed and fun. True geeks will enjoy the inside jokes and cultural references that only a child of sci-fi era can appreciate. Or maybe even, tolerate.
The story moved well, but a bit transparently. I found that there wasn't much in the assortment of twists and turns that came as a surprise to me. In the end, I like a bit more depth under my fiction, but if you're looking for a cotton candy romp through one geek's Merlin fantasy, this is your ticket.
Rating: 3An enjoyable read, well constructed and fun. True geeks will enjoy the inside jokes and cultural references that only a child of sci-fi era can appreciate. Or maybe even, tolerate.
The story moved well, but a bit transparently. I found that there wasn't much in the assortment of twists and turns that came as a surprise to me. In the end, I like a bit more depth under my fiction, but if you're looking for a cotton candy romp through one geek's Merlin fantasy, this is your ticket.
Entertaining concept once you set aside the practical implications. Seems to be the first in a series-- will be interested to see how it goes.
Rating: 4this book is simply magical. it is a truly winning blend of geeky fun, time travel and great writing
Rating: 5It was an actually quite fun book, well read by the voice artist.
Rating: 5had a few good laughs, and definitely worth listening to, great narrator.
Rating: 4This book is so witty and funny. I enjoyed this one so much and can’t wait to dive into the other works by this author.
Rating: 5Hilarious fun! The pop culture references and sarcastic humor were a delight to read. Meyer's writing style reminds me of Christopher Moore. The illustrations included were a nice touch too.
Rating: 5
Very cute. Really fun book. Boyfriend and I enjoyed it a lot
Rating: 5I liked this rather improbable flight of fantasy enough to put the next book in the series on my audible wishlist. I think my favorite part was Luke Daniels' narration. Enough geek references to make me snerk.
Rating: 4It’s a solid C. The main character lacks a “Save the Cat” moment, so he’s not very sympathetic. And women won’t find anything for themselves here. The only female in the book is the person the main character is trying to ask out. She’s a prize to be won. Also there’s no plot, no bad guy, no goal (either inner or outer) besides “learn a thing”. So it’s a little like Disney’s The Sword in the Stone in that way. But at least in that movie, Merlin was grooming Arthur to be king. Here, the wizards’ objective is to live easy bachelor lives, geek wish fulfillment, and to conjure burritos whenever they want.After that, you’d think I’d give it a low rating. But despite its flaws, I realized, halfway through, that I still wanted to know how it ended. This is what I wanted Wizard’s Bane to be–a computer programmer in medieval times using programming to do magic.This is a book for people who like comic strips, not characters. It’s light-hearted, fun, and humorous. But keep in mind that means the plot is going to be held by shoestrings. So don’t come in with expectations of Harry Potter.Also, the cover is bupkiss. There’s no video games here.
Rating: 3This has such a good nerdy premise and one of my favorite readers. Sadly, the story doesn't live up to either. Most of the way through the book and Martin is still the same sniveling brat. There seems to be a magical crisis coming up which all of the self absorbed wizards are oblivious to, but I just don't care.
Rating: 1Yeah, no. Great concept, and it ended OK, but I skimmed most of it - it was so detailed (read: slog), and the hero was such an idiot, that I was bored out of my skull after the first couple chapters. When he jumped back in time, I started skimming. I read a couple scenes in the middle - his salutation and "trials" - then read all of the end, after Gwen found the village. I was almost interested enough to go find where Gwen showed up, but not quite. I think he's setting up for a series, but I won't be reading it.
Rating: 3