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Magic 2.0 #4
Fight and Flight
Martin and his friends discovered that their world is computer-generated and that by altering the code, they could alter reality. They traveled back in time to Medieval England to live as wizards. Almost everything they've done since then has, in one way or another, blown up in their faces.
So, of course, they decide to make dragons. It does not go well.
As the wizards struggle to control their creations and protect innocent citizens, they try new things (most of which they don't enjoy), meet new people (most of who are angry at them), and fight epic battles (most of which they lose).
But their biggest challenge may be a young girl who knows that the wizards created the dragons and is determined to make them pay. On her side she has powerful allies, a magical artifact, and a faithful if not particularly helpful dog.
Fight and Flight is a rollicking tale of bravery, wonder, love, revenge, greed, discovery, deception, and animal husbandry.
So, of course, they decide to make dragons. It does not go well.
As the wizards struggle to control their creations and protect innocent citizens, they try new things (most of which they don't enjoy), meet new people (most of who are angry at them), and fight epic battles (most of which they lose).
But their biggest challenge may be a young girl who knows that the wizards created the dragons and is determined to make them pay. On her side she has powerful allies, a magical artifact, and a faithful if not particularly helpful dog.
Fight and Flight is a rollicking tale of bravery, wonder, love, revenge, greed, discovery, deception, and animal husbandry.
352 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 2017
About the author
Scott Meyer
18 books2,559 followersScott Meyer has been a radio DJ, a stand-up comic, a writer for video games, an office manager, and a pretend ghost bellhop.
He is the creator of the comic strip Basic Instructions, and has now written a novel.
He and his wife live in Florida, to be close to their cats.
He is the creator of the comic strip Basic Instructions, and has now written a novel.
He and his wife live in Florida, to be close to their cats.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 497 reviews
June 4, 2017
This one was bad, REALLY bad. The characters kept forgetting the rules of their reality and they all suffered from extreme immature stupidity. The women in this series get more and more annoying in every book. Every woman doesn't have to be a raging man hating and objectifying extremist and every man doesn't have to have the maturity and mental capacity of a second grader! This once great series is going downhill fast. This book is not worth your time or money.
May 20, 2017
I'm a fan of this series, but this book was just plain bad. The plot was shockinhly awful; it read like exposition that went on for way too long, as if the author had literally no ideas left for these characters so he just had them wandering around for a while. The only thing saving this from a one-star review is that Meyer is a legitimately funny writer, and there were at least half a dozen laugh-out-loud funny bits of dialogue. Regrettably, they aren't nearly enough to justify reading this slog of a book.
May 10, 2017
Finally a release date. May 9th
I was at the theater Friday. A guy behind me says "book 4 comes out in 3 days". I turned around and said "off to be the wizard?" Boom, new friend. Lol
Thanks, Scott Meyer
9 likes for a book I haven't reviewed yet? You're all going to feel really stupid when I leave a review something like "This book was crap! I thought it was supposed to be Twilight fanfic!"
The review:
Here there be digitally simulated dragons!
I greatly enjoyed Fight or Flight. This one felt on par with book 3, it was fun with several chuckles.
The narration was perfect of course, Luke Daniels does no wrong.
My only "whaaaaaaat?" moment (no spoilers):
Martin: "say, do kids in England play flag soccer?"
Phillip: "No, we just play what you call soccer. You don't need body armor and a trama specialist on hand to play the full version of our game. That's why we love it"
Has Meyer ever seen a soccer game in person? The major difference between these two sports is that we Americans prefer our violence on the field rather than in the stands.
Now begins the agonizing wait for book 5, but until then we have Run Program to look forward to.
I was at the theater Friday. A guy behind me says "book 4 comes out in 3 days". I turned around and said "off to be the wizard?" Boom, new friend. Lol
Thanks, Scott Meyer
9 likes for a book I haven't reviewed yet? You're all going to feel really stupid when I leave a review something like "This book was crap! I thought it was supposed to be Twilight fanfic!"
The review:
Here there be digitally simulated dragons!
I greatly enjoyed Fight or Flight. This one felt on par with book 3, it was fun with several chuckles.
The narration was perfect of course, Luke Daniels does no wrong.
My only "whaaaaaaat?" moment (no spoilers):
Martin: "say, do kids in England play flag soccer?"
Phillip: "No, we just play what you call soccer. You don't need body armor and a trama specialist on hand to play the full version of our game. That's why we love it"
Has Meyer ever seen a soccer game in person? The major difference between these two sports is that we Americans prefer our violence on the field rather than in the stands.
Now begins the agonizing wait for book 5, but until then we have Run Program to look forward to.
May 14, 2017
Executive Summary: I love Dragons. What fantasy fan doesn't? Yet somehow this book wasn't quite as good as some of the others. It's still pretty fun if you enjoy the series though. 3.5 Stars.
Audiobook: Another excellent job by Luke Daniels. He really brings these books to life. For some reason Audible has a 6 month exclusive on the book, but I would have gotten this in audio anyways. If you haven't tried the audio, and don't want to wait until November, this may be a good time to give the audio a try.
Full Review
An Unwelcome Quest is easily my favorite book of the series so far, so I was really itching for a 4th book. Instead Mr. Meyer took a break from the series and did a few other books (Master of Formalities, The Authorities™) instead. They were alright, but what I really wanted was the next book in this series.
So here we are, a 4th book. And it's got Dragons! I enjoyed it, more than his two non-series books, but not quite as much as the other books in the series. Part of why I love this series is how it blends fantasy with computer programming and gaming. While the main premise is based on a coding mistake, most of the focus was on dealing with the problem, and there just felt like less of the computer/gaming stuff than previous volumes.
This book focused more on some non-wizard characters too. Unfortunately I found those characters very annoying. Which is impressive given that many of the Wizards themselves (Martin, Jimmy, Gary) are quite annoying already. It did make for a nice change of pace, but I wish he had focused more on the Bishop and less on Honor.
After reading Assassin's Fate, this was a great book to help me recover from how emotionally draining that was. I do enjoy a nice light/low stakes book. The humor is always great too. I especially love Philip's snark.
Overall, a decent, but not great addition to this fun series. I hope we'll get a 5th book eventually. Maybe one that has some more of the gaming/programming humor that originally pulled me into the series to begin with. Either way I'll be picking it up on release day again.
Audiobook: Another excellent job by Luke Daniels. He really brings these books to life. For some reason Audible has a 6 month exclusive on the book, but I would have gotten this in audio anyways. If you haven't tried the audio, and don't want to wait until November, this may be a good time to give the audio a try.
Full Review
An Unwelcome Quest is easily my favorite book of the series so far, so I was really itching for a 4th book. Instead Mr. Meyer took a break from the series and did a few other books (Master of Formalities, The Authorities™) instead. They were alright, but what I really wanted was the next book in this series.
So here we are, a 4th book. And it's got Dragons! I enjoyed it, more than his two non-series books, but not quite as much as the other books in the series. Part of why I love this series is how it blends fantasy with computer programming and gaming. While the main premise is based on a coding mistake, most of the focus was on dealing with the problem, and there just felt like less of the computer/gaming stuff than previous volumes.
This book focused more on some non-wizard characters too. Unfortunately I found those characters very annoying. Which is impressive given that many of the Wizards themselves (Martin, Jimmy, Gary) are quite annoying already. It did make for a nice change of pace, but I wish he had focused more on the Bishop and less on Honor.
After reading Assassin's Fate, this was a great book to help me recover from how emotionally draining that was. I do enjoy a nice light/low stakes book. The humor is always great too. I especially love Philip's snark.
Overall, a decent, but not great addition to this fun series. I hope we'll get a 5th book eventually. Maybe one that has some more of the gaming/programming humor that originally pulled me into the series to begin with. Either way I'll be picking it up on release day again.
September 1, 2017
I should have stopped after the third book.
June 30, 2017
Definitely my least favourite in the series. I felt like I was reading someone's attempt to expand what should have been a short story into something longer. It really seemed like a bunch of busy subplots mashed together to create a weak main plot. I really disliked the new character "Honor", and there's nothing worse than not liking a kid. It might have been better if she was an old lady, but even then I'm not sure that would have been enough to make me like her.
Although I really like Luke Daniels, the accents in this book were somewhat annoying to me.
There's clearly at least one more book planned in the series, and I won't let one bad outing deter me from trying the next, but I really hope it's a lot stronger than this installment.
Although I really like Luke Daniels, the accents in this book were somewhat annoying to me.
There's clearly at least one more book planned in the series, and I won't let one bad outing deter me from trying the next, but I really hope it's a lot stronger than this installment.
May 12, 2017
This whole series is pretty whimsical. This time our group of wizards creates dragons, which doesn't work out too well. We get to see the team pair off to attempt to deal with dragons, which often doesn't too well. The regular people do a little better, and both groups are fun to read about.
As always, Luke Daniels does an excellent narration job.
As always, Luke Daniels does an excellent narration job.
November 23, 2019
Typically if I'm gonna read more in the series, I'll rate a 4 but I didn't really enjoy this book much. There was a lot of stuff that could have been avoided if they talked to each other, making room for other stuff, but instead it was a lot of repetition. It just wasn't very enjoyable. Not awful, just not as good and fun as some of the others. Will read more though and hope this one was just a rare dud.
May 17, 2017
The bulk of Fight and Flight has our beloved cast scattered in pairs: Philip & Martin, Gwen & Britt, Jeff & Roy, and Tyler & Gary—duos whose dynamics are already thoroughly established. Mr Meyer was successful in generating dramatic tension and comedy in An Unwelcome Quest by forging unlikely combinations of characters, so it's unsurprising that the too-familiar pairings he has selected here leave us with a forgettable, color-by-numbers addition to the saga. It's only in the final chapters, when the cast is reünited, that some life comes back into the story.
(For what it's worth, I'd have been much more interested to have been given a version of this book where Mr Meyer had split the cast into the following pairs: Philip & Gwen, Tyler & Britt, Jeff & Martin, and Roy & Gary.)
(For what it's worth, I'd have been much more interested to have been given a version of this book where Mr Meyer had split the cast into the following pairs: Philip & Gwen, Tyler & Britt, Jeff & Martin, and Roy & Gary.)
May 10, 2017
Light and fun, just like the others from the series... I'll keep reading as long as he keeps writing!
June 27, 2017
It had some fun parts but it's not as funny nor as nerdy as the other books. And what's Jimmy up to? Book three did hint on that he was up to something and yet we get nothing in this one. Brit the younger is growing on me by the way.
And always and forever the narration of Luke Daniels for the audio books is amazing. His voices for the different characters are gold for my ears.
And always and forever the narration of Luke Daniels for the audio books is amazing. His voices for the different characters are gold for my ears.
June 12, 2017
I've really enjoyed the flippant, lighthearted nature of this book series...at least until now. This book fails to really advance any of the main characters, has a rather uninteresting main plot line, and has several new truly lame characters. I refer primarily to Honor, who comes off as an annoyingly dense little prat who is so sure of her view of things that it's infuriating. Sure she's a kid, but it feels like this is an excuse used to force you to like her or excuse her actions. All the while what she's doing and how she's written gives you nothing to enjoy.
The story had some fun ideas, but these aren't enough to save what is a slow moving story that really feels like it's a spin off book from the main series.
In the other books, having the guys act like total buffoons only worked because it was balanced with them having moments of insight and intelligence as well. There's none of that here. Pretty much every character does supremely stupid stuff that makes them all look like they've taken two steps back down the I.Q. ladder. Even the girls, who are set up to look much smarter than the guys seem a bit denser in this one as well.
I'm sure some people can find away to get around the shear stupidity that looms over this book, but I just can't manage to do it.
The story had some fun ideas, but these aren't enough to save what is a slow moving story that really feels like it's a spin off book from the main series.
In the other books, having the guys act like total buffoons only worked because it was balanced with them having moments of insight and intelligence as well. There's none of that here. Pretty much every character does supremely stupid stuff that makes them all look like they've taken two steps back down the I.Q. ladder. Even the girls, who are set up to look much smarter than the guys seem a bit denser in this one as well.
I'm sure some people can find away to get around the shear stupidity that looms over this book, but I just can't manage to do it.
July 19, 2017
I loved the first two books of this series, and decided to give this one a go even though I was not a fan of the third. The main conflict seems like something that at it's start felt like something that would just be a catalyst into the real conflict rather than something to center a whole book around. The main characters feel flat, they're less fleshed out with each book. Additional characters are irritating.
June 1, 2017
Yeah, I might be done with this author.
I was happy to see him return to this series after a couple oddball stand alone novels. But this is certainly the weakest of the series. So little happens. It's slow, not very interesting, and only sporadically fun. There's two superb jokes, but that's not going to save the day.
I was happy to see him return to this series after a couple oddball stand alone novels. But this is certainly the weakest of the series. So little happens. It's slow, not very interesting, and only sporadically fun. There's two superb jokes, but that's not going to save the day.
May 19, 2017
Felt like more of a short story than anything, but I love this world, this author and this narrator! Looking forward to more! (P.s. Love the setup at the end!!)
December 1, 2017
Meh? it's ridiculous. I mean. it's meant to be. but I'm just not into how stupid the characters actually are anymore. Gary is unbearable. The jokes about future Brit and younger Brit are ironically getting old. ;) it's not that the book is terrible. it just lacks some direction or over arching story for me to care about. literally nothing REALLY matters when you have the powers that these wizards have, so I don't ever feel a sense of anticipation when reading. which is in itself Ironic, because the ending of the book seems to address this issue by reminding the reader that nobody likes the invincible characters because anything anyone else does is useless in comparison.
spoilers...
I realized about half way through the book that the actual plot was going to be getting back the dragons. that there was nothing else happening. That was extremely disappointing.
I would be willing to read another of this series if it contains a real plot with a serious challenge.
spoilers...
I realized about half way through the book that the actual plot was going to be getting back the dragons. that there was nothing else happening. That was extremely disappointing.
I would be willing to read another of this series if it contains a real plot with a serious challenge.
December 10, 2018
I had read abysmal reviews of this book prior to picking it up and was even told to avoid the book completely. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the series, characters and stories up until this point, so how bad could it really be?
The answer is really bad, like tediously awful, being stuck with Alex Jones at a dinner party bad in that you may be better off skipping it all together. Everything in this story was pointless, mundane, redundant and foolish. I'd give the story one star if I wasn't such a fan of the series so far.
That's all I'm writing about this book so I don't have to waste any more time about it at all. I sincerely hope the next one isn't as awful as this one. I'm going to take some time before I get into that next book to cleanse my mind of this rubbish.
The answer is really bad, like tediously awful, being stuck with Alex Jones at a dinner party bad in that you may be better off skipping it all together. Everything in this story was pointless, mundane, redundant and foolish. I'd give the story one star if I wasn't such a fan of the series so far.
That's all I'm writing about this book so I don't have to waste any more time about it at all. I sincerely hope the next one isn't as awful as this one. I'm going to take some time before I get into that next book to cleanse my mind of this rubbish.
September 17, 2017
This series has to be the best goofiest guilty pleasure audiobook. A bunch of nerdy geeks find the computer code that controls all factors of life as we know it & use this power to go back to the Middle Ages and be 'wizards' to the local populace. Such fun, their nerd fights always leave me laughing, even though in this installment the problems are entirely of their own making!
January 20, 2019
This was hilarious and amazing and I love everyone except Brit the Elder.
„Only“ 4 stars because the beginning was a little slow and chaotic.
„Only“ 4 stars because the beginning was a little slow and chaotic.
April 29, 2024
Another fun adventure.
November 9, 2019
This one kinda dragged honestly - not the most fun plot. Hope the series picks up after this one.
December 31, 2017
It was annoying to have to wait six months for the Audible exclusive version of this book to expire before I could get my hands on the print copy. I'm sure the author had a financial incentive to allow the exclusivity period but I'd much rather read a novel than listen to it. Reading some of the early (primarily audiobook) reviews did not give me great faith in this title, but it turned out to be pretty darned good. I mean, it's more of the same in this series. If you enjoyed the bumbling antics of the wizards in and tongue-in-cheek humor of the first three books, then you'll like this one. And the epilogue has me jonesing for book #5 with no reservations.
March 20, 2020
I really like this series and to be honest this one was a little anticlimactic for me. Wasn't bad just wasn't my favorite.
June 17, 2017
I really do like this series, but I honestly did not care for this book.
What really hooked me on this series was not only the humor, but more the creativity of the characters within their world, all supported by a good storyline.
I will say that I adored the first act of this book, once again bringing around a great sense of creativity and 'fun' so to speak within the world. The humor was great, and we hadn't yet really gotten to the story of the book. I thought of it as a great introduction.
Listening to it on audible however, I quickly realized that this introduction was actually the story for this book. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it did create the pitfall that I always feared this books universe would fall into: invincibility. There lacked a distinct threat to the characters, which left the story feeling weightless, more like a filler.
The biggest issue I had with the story however was that it was a frustrating read. Without spoiling anything, our gang has a problem they need to fix. However the methods in which they going about doing so are so far away from the simplest most direct route. I found myself stating "why don't they just do 'This' or 'That.'" through most of the book. I thought perhaps I missed something though that would have prevented my ideas from occurring for these characters, however the characters themselves often called themselves out on it. Many times this is in hindsight (20/20 I know), but many other times, it is even 'while' they are doing it. At one point Phillip even states "I suppose we could just..." but they don't... For no apparent reason.
It seemed like the characters were forced out of their way in an attempt to make the story more entertaining, but the result for me just ended up being frustrating.
The humor began great, and had a few moments where it got back on track, but the majority of the book felt more like slapstick humor. Again, not a bad thing necessarily, but it was a bit out of style for what I've enjoyed in this series. The biggest issue I had with the humor in this book was the repetitiveness. The Scottish for example. The joke behind the Scottish warriors was gratuitously overused to the point that I actually dreaded returning to that part of the storyline whenever the chapters took a turn towards them. Funny, but overused.
The ending I felt was very good for the tone of what the book ended up being about. However, its revelation just seemed late. I think I would have enjoyed the book far more if I had an idea of this point of this story earlier.
We do have another cliff hanger, which like the last few books seems very interesting, but I worry based on this trend that we may never actually see the fruits of these hangers.
I love the characters, and I love the world. I'm excited to see what Mr. Meyer has next, I just had a hard time enjoying this one.
What really hooked me on this series was not only the humor, but more the creativity of the characters within their world, all supported by a good storyline.
I will say that I adored the first act of this book, once again bringing around a great sense of creativity and 'fun' so to speak within the world. The humor was great, and we hadn't yet really gotten to the story of the book. I thought of it as a great introduction.
Listening to it on audible however, I quickly realized that this introduction was actually the story for this book. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it did create the pitfall that I always feared this books universe would fall into: invincibility. There lacked a distinct threat to the characters, which left the story feeling weightless, more like a filler.
The biggest issue I had with the story however was that it was a frustrating read. Without spoiling anything, our gang has a problem they need to fix. However the methods in which they going about doing so are so far away from the simplest most direct route. I found myself stating "why don't they just do 'This' or 'That.'" through most of the book. I thought perhaps I missed something though that would have prevented my ideas from occurring for these characters, however the characters themselves often called themselves out on it. Many times this is in hindsight (20/20 I know), but many other times, it is even 'while' they are doing it. At one point Phillip even states "I suppose we could just..." but they don't... For no apparent reason.
It seemed like the characters were forced out of their way in an attempt to make the story more entertaining, but the result for me just ended up being frustrating.
The humor began great, and had a few moments where it got back on track, but the majority of the book felt more like slapstick humor. Again, not a bad thing necessarily, but it was a bit out of style for what I've enjoyed in this series. The biggest issue I had with the humor in this book was the repetitiveness. The Scottish for example. The joke behind the Scottish warriors was gratuitously overused to the point that I actually dreaded returning to that part of the storyline whenever the chapters took a turn towards them. Funny, but overused.
The ending I felt was very good for the tone of what the book ended up being about. However, its revelation just seemed late. I think I would have enjoyed the book far more if I had an idea of this point of this story earlier.
We do have another cliff hanger, which like the last few books seems very interesting, but I worry based on this trend that we may never actually see the fruits of these hangers.
I love the characters, and I love the world. I'm excited to see what Mr. Meyer has next, I just had a hard time enjoying this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2017
Well it was a good read and a must read if you’ve enjoyed this universe so far. However the plot seems weaker than in the other books, which is a shame. It could have been better, if it was boiled down to a novella and not a book.
This book feels like a ‘filler’ with a lot of information that will be explained in the books to come - and I kept waiting for the REAL plot to begin - realizing quite late that what I thought was the intro was actually the entire plot.
The jokes are not weak though. Scott is still funny as hell, if you are fan of that kind of humor.
10/10 for the cliffhanger! Can’t wait to read the next book in line.
This book feels like a ‘filler’ with a lot of information that will be explained in the books to come - and I kept waiting for the REAL plot to begin - realizing quite late that what I thought was the intro was actually the entire plot.
The jokes are not weak though. Scott is still funny as hell, if you are fan of that kind of humor.
10/10 for the cliffhanger! Can’t wait to read the next book in line.
June 2, 2017
It felt more like an overly long short story setting up the next book rather than something to stand on its own. The plot is simplistic and as with the last book long sections showing the same events from a different point of view only they feel like padding out a short book rather than making a joke.
That's kind of the problem all over really, the scene goes too long to be funny anymore but it just goes on and on.
Bits of it are funny but there's so little story and what little there is might as well have someone tell everyone to go home mid sentence it's so abrupt.
That's kind of the problem all over really, the scene goes too long to be funny anymore but it just goes on and on.
Bits of it are funny but there's so little story and what little there is might as well have someone tell everyone to go home mid sentence it's so abrupt.
June 4, 2017
I don't know, it felt like this one went on about an hour too long. On the one hand, it was refreshing to see the characters truly fallible, but at some point it became more like a comedy of errors (and not as well as the bard wrote it). But it was enjoyable enough and was a necessary light read (as in, necessary because it was a good distraction).
July 8, 2019
Worst of the series
I’ve enjoyed the previous series, but this was tedium in written form. I finished out of pure stubbornness. The plot dragged like no book I’ve ever read.
I’ve enjoyed the previous series, but this was tedium in written form. I finished out of pure stubbornness. The plot dragged like no book I’ve ever read.
July 29, 2018
What a gargantuan letdown this book has been. The first book was clever, witty and incredibly funny. The second and third were somewhat less of those things but still had plot enough to drive it somewhere entertaining.
This book however feels like the opening chapter to what should be a good book but never quite gets to the point. We are meant to believe that people smart enough to manipulate computer text to become what are essentially Gods are this incompetent? This annoying? This flipping dimwitted?
The longer I read the angrier I became at the characters, do not even get me started on the new character of Honour, who I would gladly punch in the face, small child or not. I despise Gary also. (Not you though Tyler, you are my saving grace in this trashfire of a book)
Will I be reading the rest? Yes, but I'll be going in to the next book expecting to be won back over, to once again enjoy the characters and I will be holding out hope that Gary dies. Maybe bring back some actual stakes wherein I believe the characters aren't immortal and have a real danger to contend with. Yes I know not all plots need to have mortal danger, but if you're going to have immortal characters then at least make the plot-line better than "there's this thing we did, it doesn't really matter, but we are going to bicker about it while we fix it anyway, also we are going to point out how badly we are handling it the entire time"
I need a biscuit to cheer me up again. Never been so disappointed with an author before. Sad.
This book however feels like the opening chapter to what should be a good book but never quite gets to the point. We are meant to believe that people smart enough to manipulate computer text to become what are essentially Gods are this incompetent? This annoying? This flipping dimwitted?
The longer I read the angrier I became at the characters, do not even get me started on the new character of Honour, who I would gladly punch in the face, small child or not. I despise Gary also. (Not you though Tyler, you are my saving grace in this trashfire of a book)
Will I be reading the rest? Yes, but I'll be going in to the next book expecting to be won back over, to once again enjoy the characters and I will be holding out hope that Gary dies. Maybe bring back some actual stakes wherein I believe the characters aren't immortal and have a real danger to contend with. Yes I know not all plots need to have mortal danger, but if you're going to have immortal characters then at least make the plot-line better than "there's this thing we did, it doesn't really matter, but we are going to bicker about it while we fix it anyway, also we are going to point out how badly we are handling it the entire time"
I need a biscuit to cheer me up again. Never been so disappointed with an author before. Sad.
August 31, 2017
Good overall, though definitely not as much fun as the first in the series. I didn't laugh out loud nearly as much, but it held up in terms of the series feel and continuity.
In this book we're well into the "wizards'" life in medieval England, so you'd think they'd have things down by now. Unfortunately, for them not for us, they don't. The dragons were a horrible idea, the way they tried to deal with it was a horrible idea, their relations with the locals have been horrible... you get the idea. A comedy of errors ensues.
But it's not that comedic. A lot of the old jokes aren't that funny anymore, the geek references were a bit too forced (and random), and the interpersonal interactions were ruined by splitting all the characters into small groups. I also wondered why all the set up from the last book (with Jimmy's escape) wasn't even referenced other than a passing comment by Phil in the explanation of why dragons were created.
The final incident with the locals had potential - lots of fun having the mad teenager taking on the wizards with the help of the Bastards street gang. It gave those characters a bit more depth and made for a new element of interaction with the locals, but then the ending really left everything hanging and feeling somewhat pointless.
The saving grace, as always, was the narrator. Luke Daniels is amazing. I loved his four Scotsmen routine (though one guy definitely sounded Irish) and his over the top accents are hilarious. Great as always!
Overall it was a good continuation of the series, but I probably won't listen to it again.
In this book we're well into the "wizards'" life in medieval England, so you'd think they'd have things down by now. Unfortunately, for them not for us, they don't. The dragons were a horrible idea, the way they tried to deal with it was a horrible idea, their relations with the locals have been horrible... you get the idea. A comedy of errors ensues.
But it's not that comedic. A lot of the old jokes aren't that funny anymore, the geek references were a bit too forced (and random), and the interpersonal interactions were ruined by splitting all the characters into small groups. I also wondered why all the set up from the last book (with Jimmy's escape) wasn't even referenced other than a passing comment by Phil in the explanation of why dragons were created.
The final incident with the locals had potential - lots of fun having the mad teenager taking on the wizards with the help of the Bastards street gang. It gave those characters a bit more depth and made for a new element of interaction with the locals, but then the ending really left everything hanging and feeling somewhat pointless.
The saving grace, as always, was the narrator. Luke Daniels is amazing. I loved his four Scotsmen routine (though one guy definitely sounded Irish) and his over the top accents are hilarious. Great as always!
Overall it was a good continuation of the series, but I probably won't listen to it again.
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