Off to Be the Wizard Paperback – March 18, 2014

I purchased this book and read it in less than 24 hours. Not entirely because it's an easy read (though it is) but mostly because I just devoured it, I couldn't put it down. It's been a long time (Harry Potter #5) since I stayed up all night reading a book until it was finished.This book wont break any records, it isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before. It is reminiscent of Caverns & Creatures by Robert Bevan but without the overdone crude humor. It is simple incredibly fun.I learned about this book from listening to the Writing Excuses Podcast which I highly recommend if for no other reason than the plethora of great books they recommend in each episode. If they talk about it on the show you know it's going to be good!Martin, when poking around on his computer "not hacking" comes across a strange file that seems impossibly big despite being a simple text file. Doing what anyone else would do he searches for his name, and finds it. It appears to have the parameters of his very existence boiled down to a few strings of numbers. He tweaks the numbers out of curiosity and discovers that what he does in the code effects him, changing his height, teleporting him, increasing his bank account... naturally that doesn't end well and he decides to flee to medieval Europe to become a wizard when the feds come knocking.What follows is a case of one of the most interesting systems of magic I've enjoyed. I LOVE magic systems, from the twisting of the elemental threads of the One Power in Wheel of Time, to the pushing and pulling off of metal in Mistborn, to the use of the bodily fluids of gods in Shadowfall I love them all, and this one fits right in. The magic has limits, and limitless possibilities to the creative mind.We follow Martin as he learns to use the file to create "magic powers" and live his life as a wizard in medieval Europe, and it is an entertaining journey. The writing is good, its light and it's fun, it never gets too heavy but Scott Meyer shows some great skill in the way he phrases certain things and describes others. I often find myself re-reading a paragraph or a sentence because it just sounds so delicious in my mind. For those reading the kindle edition (highly recommended, the animated art is beautiful) many of his better sentences are underlined due to the frequent highlights by readers.Martin is a likable character, he isn't perfect, he makes mistakes, and we get to see him learn and grow. He has a few embarrassing moments and a few awesome ones in equal measure. He seems like a very average guy, and every choice he makes I could easily see myself making a similar choice.The best way to describe this book is "fun" and it truly is. I don't want to get into any further details because I don't wish to spoil the enjoyment for anyone else. If you're down here reading this reviews, just stop and go get the book, read it for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

A fun book, light but not without some substance.As you'd hope from someone who writes a humourous webcomic, it's genuinely funny, and that's mainly down to the dialogue. They're not just one-liners, though. It's the interactions between characters that are funny, so the jokes tend to run over a couple of dialogue turns. There's also a bit of absurdity here and there.I thought the author could have made more play of the fact that one character is from the 1980s and doesn't get the Simpsons references that everyone else makes. It's a joke that's used, really, only once, though at a later point he does get a pop-culture reference when the protagonist quotes Ghostbusters. The Rule of Three is that something you use three times is funnier.The editing has its rough spots. There are missing words in sentences, and the odd misused word turns up. I'm fairly sure a bolt of cloth is rolled up, and so hanging it from the wall won't give the effect that the author was probably after. We get "prophesy" instead of "prophecy", "capitol" instead of "capital", "staid" instead of "stayed", "anti-chamber" and "Buenos Aries". There are a number of instances of missing opening quotation marks in the dialogue. I've seen much worse, but it does need another good go-over by a proofreader.With the humour bonus, four stars for language.The characters are not that deep, mostly being one instantly-recognizable caricature or another. I did like the fact that most of them have a basic and unquestioned sense of decency, and the villain is villainous in a realistic way, not an over-the-top, puppy-kicking moustache twirler. The protagonist progresses from a somewhat selfish bumbler to something approximating a hero. All in all, four stars (perhaps a touch below four, but I'll round up).The plot falls into several parts. In the early part of the book, the protagonist bumbles around, gets himself into trouble, and has to somehow get out of it, which makes for fast-moving hijinks. Then there's a longish stretch where he learns about what he can now do, kind of an extended training montage, and about halfway through the book we get the main challenge. The rest of the book involves dealing with that challenge. It's a slightly unusual way to structure a plot, but I think, overall, it works. Three and a half, maybe four stars. Even the training montage bit is interesting enough that I didn't grow bored with it, despite the whiff of idiot lecture.Setting I wasn't so happy with. The basic premise is that the protagonist, along with a number of other people over the years, has discovered that the world is a computer simulation by hacking into the file that describes everyone, including him. This means that he effectively gains magic powers. Based on a superficial search for a good time to live in, he heads back to medieval England.The thing is, medieval England is very much a Ren-Faire version, not even slightly authentic. Even people's names are mostly Irish and Scottish rather than English. There's a handwavey attempt to account for the lack of authenticity, but it's really not convincing, and leaves me with the conclusion that the author didn't really care about actual medieval England or want to do any research; he just wanted to use the idea of medieval England. There may be a debt to the Connecticut Yankee, as well.Only three stars for setting, and I'm being a bit generous, because it's tissue-paper thin and torn in a number of places. Overall, though, a four-star book, which had me laughing out loud a number of times.

I absolutely loved this book, both the audible version and the kindle ebook. It has adventure, time travel and a fairly light and easy mood throughout the book. It had quite a few laugh out loud moments. It also didn't have too much inappropriate language. There were a few words here and there, but not in excess. I appreciated that since I started to listen with my 5 year old in the car.I started off by actually reading the kindle book and thinking that I really liked the slight animation of the few pictures it had. I also noticed that it was part of Prime reading and it had also added the audiobook to my audible library. I have been traveling a lot, so I figured I would download and give it a try. At first I wasn't impressed with the voice performance, but as the book progressed, I fell in love. The voice performance is amazing. It is an actual performance, voice acting, more than just someone sitting and reading. I loved all the different voices. It was easy for me, and even my five year old to tell who was who. I have been asking everyone who will listen to me to give it a try, especially if they have prime, since it is or was available to read and listen for free. As soon as I finished the book, I returned it from my Prime reading and promptly purchased all three kindle books AND all three audiobooks. This is something I have never done before. The first book at least, is something I will listen to over and over. Finding books or audiobooks like this, is pretty rare for me.This book would be great for anyone who can read or listen, young and old. My five year old frequently asks to listen to the "Martin" book.Thank you Amazon, publisher, or author for making this available for everyone to give it a try on Prime reading and Kindle unlimited.