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    Off to Be the Wizard
    Off to Be the Wizard
    Off to Be the Wizard
    Audiobook10 hours

    Off to Be the Wizard

    Written by Scott Meyer

    Narrated by Luke Daniels

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An io9 Can’t Miss Science Fiction and Fantasy title.

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMar 18, 2014
    ISBN9781480578166
    Off to Be the Wizard
    Author

    Scott Meyer

    Scott Meyer has worked as a radio host, a stand-up comedian, an office worker, and a theme-park ride operator. (He held those jobs in the order they’re listed, which is probably the opposite of what you’d expect.) He has written for several video games and created the comic strip Basic Instructions, which ran online and in various alternative weekly papers across the country for nearly a decade. Scott is the author of the Magic 2.0 books and several other novels and comics collections. Scott and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona, to be close to their cats.

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    Reviews for Off to Be the Wizard

    4/5

    671 ratings31 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      had a few good laughs, and definitely worth listening to, great narrator.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      It was an actually quite fun book, well read by the voice artist.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      this book is simply magical. it is a truly winning blend of geeky fun, time travel and great writing

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I listened to this book when I was six and I can’t stop listening
    • 5/5
      A real yeee ha!
      Brillianly narrated
      Perfect for any age group
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed listening to this book, the story is amazing and the narrator did a really good job telling it. I am spellbound and can’t wait to continue with the next book in this series.
    • 5/5
      A very exciting and geeky experience. I loved each and every chapter ?

    • 5/5
      This 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.
    • 4/5
      Cute. Enjoyable and fun. Narrorator was a very good match. The story was hard to follow at 1st. So I highly recommend giving at less 5 chapters.
    • 5/5
      Modern back to the future! Amazing! Can't wait to read more
    • 5/5
      Very cute. Really fun book. Boyfriend and I enjoyed it a lot
    • 4/5
      This was a fun read for the genre of comedy/sci-fi genre. While not always laugh out loud there were several times that I did. The main plot is an interesting take on what if nerds discovered the Matrix. Some of the test and fail moments of the main character Martin were interesting. Sadly once the first quarter of the story is over and a shift in setting takes place, that stuff kind of goes away. It's kind of sad because it really gives you a sense of Martin as a character and his intelligence; and it lends for some really good comedy.

      The middle part of the book, which is still interesting and has some good comedy, really slows down the pace of the story and a lot of the figuring things out by Martin are spoon fed to him. If the middle part was cut in half, it would have really helped the pacing. The final third of the book was kind of expected but there were a few good reveals.

      Overall, this was a fun read and the writing was quite funny. The audio book version had a narrator who added to the level of comedy. While the pacing wasn't always on target, the premise of the book - nerds in the Matrix - made it a lot of fun. I will enjoy picking up the next book in the series and see if the fun can continue. Final Grade - B
    • 2/5
      Audiobook review: The story wasn't particularly unique (Wizardry series, for instance) nor was it particularly well done (characters were flat and not very bright, time travel in the story used for convenience but ignored for conflict). In the end it was the narration that ruined it for me. The male characters were all nerd voices or bad D&D accents. The one female character barely exists and her voice was a painful wispy nonsense. It was hard to get through.
    • 3/5
      I’d give this a C it C . It was okay. No more no less. It took me longer to read than usual because I kept putting it down to do other things. It held my interest at times and bored me at others. In the end, I liked it well enough, I guess. It did have some humorous moments. I may or may not read the next one. Not soon though. I have a huge TBR list I need to get cracking on.
    • 5/5
      Oh my gosh. I loved this book. I loved the humor, the nerd references, the drama, the characters, everything. Although if someone can explain fully how they are all getting crystal clear Internet access in medieval England, that would be super. Aside from that nitpick, Meyer did a really good job at tying up loose plot points and resolving character arcs. A , will probably eventually read again. Double quadruple thanks to my friend Aaron who mentioned the book in the first place and sent me the free sample of the beginning.
    • 4/5
      Nice work with a few hilarious well-timed moments.
    • 5/5
      Hilarious 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.
    • 3/5
      It’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.
    • 3/5
      Amusing 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.
    • 4/5
      I 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.
    • 4/5
      This 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.
    • 5/5
      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!
    • 3/5
      Yeah, 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.
    • 4/5
      It 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.
    • 4/5
      Very imaginative concept and a fun read. To say too much would be to spoil the story.
    • 1/5
      This 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.
    • 4/5
      The 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.
    • 4/5
      A 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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      In 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.