Magic 2.0: A YA Fantasy Series

A twenty-three-year-old computer hacker illegally enters the computer of a cell phone manufacturer and finds a curious file. It’s huge with five terabytes of plain ASC11 text characters with a boring name—repository1-c.txt. He gives it a look and finds something curious; many of the numbers change constantly. Then he searches the file for his name. Ten minutes later “Martin Kenneth Banks” pops up. The file has all of his vital statistics including his height- 5’11’’.

This raises Martin’s curiosity because even though 5’11’’ is his actual height, for years he has recorded on applications and information forms that he is 6’2’’. So Martin edits the number and saves it. Immediately, his pants are too tight and he is capable, for the first time, to see dust on the top of the medicine cabinet.

Martin does the obvious; he measures himself to discover he has grown three inches. How could that be? So he returns to the file and changes his height to 6’1’’ and then measures himself again. He just shrank an inch.

That evening, lying in bed, Martin ponders his discovery and realizes reality is actually a computer file and that people are subroutines. Now Martin has the means to change reality instantly, just like a wizard.

Martin does what anyone would do who has the power to change his life in a flash. By altering the file’s code he increases his bank account and buys a new car and computer. Unfortunately, Martin’s bank red flags his account and the FBI immediately send agents to talk to the young man.

Thus begins Scott Meyer’s YA fantasy Magic 2.0 Series with book 1, Off to Be the Wizard. As agents surround his home, Martin, fearful of arrest, travels back in time to medieval England where he meets other computer geeks, who, like himself, are from the future and have also found the file.

The plot of Off to Be the Wizard is fast paced, funny, and a delightful read. The characters are fleshed out nicely, each having a distinct voice. One exciting element to the Kindle e-book edition is that it features art and animation that enhances the reading experience. 

Off to Be the Wizard is the first of four books in the Magic 2.0 Series. It’s a fun read and will push your imagination to soar with so many possibilities if only we could find that file, too.

 

Spell or High Water is book 2 in the Magic 2.0 Series by Scott Meyer. As we’ve seen in Off to Be the Wizard,Martin Banks time travels to England during the Middle Ages. There he finds other people like himself who have discovered how to manipulate the file for their own advantage making them appear to the locals as wizards. In Book 1 Martin trains to become a powerful wizard learning the ins and outs of the file by his trainer, Phillip. Phillip teaches him that wizards have rules they must adhere to and when they use their powers in front of the unsuspecting locals, they must present their stunts with showmanship. Finally, Martin learns that if the rules are ignored, a wizard could be punished and sent back to the future to face an angry and confused judicial system.

In Spell or High Water Martin has passed his exams and is now a full wizard. He and Phillip are requested by sorceresses in Atlantis to attend a wizard convention.

In Atlantis, a city built by the sorceress Brit, Phillip and Martin pursue love interests while the life of Brit the Younger is threatened by an unknown source. To add to the plot, an expelled wizard from Off to Be the Wizard tries to regain his powers in the Twenty-first Century so he can return to Jolly old England. His conniving efforts produces interesting and humorous plot twists that kept Pop engaged.

Spell or High Water is like a detective story with enough mystery, magic, and suspense to keep readers intrigued. However, this reviewer thought the first book in the series superior to its sequel, but to those into corny magical humor there are three other books remaining to be read in the Magic 2.0 series: An Unwelcome Quest (book 3), Fight and Flight (book 4), and Out of Spite, Out of Mind (book 5). 

About the Author

Scott Meyer grew up in a small town in Washington State. He began his career in humor by working as a stand-up comedian and radio personality, a highlight of which was participating as the opening act in Weird Al Yankovic’s Running with Scissors tour. Following a long stint touring the United States and Canada, Scott settled down in Orlando, Florida, where he works on his ongoing comic strip, Basic Instructions. Off to be the Wizard is his first novel.

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