Book Review: Off To Be The Wizard
2016-01-08
In Off To Be The Wizard author Scott Meyer tells the story of Martin, a regular guy living a regular life who discovers a hidden file on the Internet that controls the entire world. A simple edit to the file can teleport Martin to new locations, send him back in time, or even fill his bank account. This last one gets Martin in a little bit of hot water with the authorities so he decides that the obvious solution is to go back to medieval England and become a wizard. Little does Martin know that not only is he not the first person to find this file but he's also not the only one to think it might be a good idea to go back in time in order to use the files powers to be the next Merlin. Martin soon meets a wide variety of colorful characters who ultimately need to team up to defeat a Rouge wizard who is using the file to violate the natural order of things.
Despite the very far-fetched plot line, I found Off To Be The Wizard to be a very entertaining read. The story is fast paced with just enough action and humor to keep you turning pages. The humor in the book leans heavily on geek culture and the book is clearly geared towards readers who are self-described "geeks." Meyer uses a lot of computer vernacular when describing how the wizards interact with the file that may be a turn-off to anyone who isn't very computer literate.
On the character front, Off To Be The Wizard is really dominated by the the wizards themselves and their interactions with each other. There is really only one or two scenes in which the wizards have any lengthy interaction with the common folk of medieval England. This doesn't really pose a problem since much of the story revolves around Martin coming to grips with his new found power and the community of wizards he is trying to become a part of. I'm interested to see if Meyer takes the story in a different direction in the second book of the series.
Off To Be The Wizard is not without its flaws. As I mentioned before, the plot line is very far-fetched. There is only a brief discussion of the implications of time-travel. The changes that the characters make in the past have no effect on their future. However, they really don't get into how the changes will impact some other future. Meyer is hoping you don't spend too much time thinking about the paradoxes that his world produces. There is also the matter of how all these wizards end up going back to the exact same time in history. This is discussed briefly but seems like another area where the author is just hoping you suspend your disbelief.
In conclusion, if you are a self-described geek who enjoys computers, time travel paradoxes, and fantasy then I think you're going to enjoy the first novel in Scott Meyer's Wizard 2.0 series. If you find any of these things boring you may want to stay away.
3.5/5 stars
Buy Off To Be The Wizard from Amazon