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Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Scott Meyer (Author), Liz Pulido (Artist) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 8,515 ratings
Kindle in Motion
This book can be read on any device, including Kindle E-readers. It may include art, animation, or video features that can be viewed on certain Fire tablets and the free Kindle app for iOS and Android. You can switch features on or off at any time. See more books like this

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.

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  1. Book 1 of 6
    Magic 2.0
  2. Print length
    277 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    47North
  5. Publication date
    March 18, 2014
  6. File size
    217.0 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Meyer grew up in the small town of Sunnyside, Washington. 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.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EF8Z32I
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ 47North (March 18, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 18, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 217.0 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 277 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 8,515 ratings

About the author

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Scott Meyer

Scott Meyer

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After an unsuccessful career in radio, and a middling-successful career as a stand-up comic, Scott Meyer found himself middle aged, working as a ride operator at Walt Disney World.

In his spare time, he produced the successful web comic Basic Instructions. He slowly built a following of fans all over the world, to whom he sold his first self-published novel, Off to Be the Wizard. The book’s success brought him a publishing deal. He has since gone on to write several bestselling novels.

Scott lives in Portugal with his wife and the prettiest two cats on earth.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
8,515 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book entertaining with good comedy that can make them laugh out loud, and appreciate its creative premise and interesting systems of magic. Moreover, the story moves at a quick pace, and customers enjoy the well-written voice of the main character. Additionally, the book features cool references from nerdy pop culture that fans of geekdom will appreciate.

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772 customers mention "Enjoyment"767 positive5 negative

Customers find the book entertaining, with good comedy that can make them laugh out loud.

"...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..." Read more

"...As you'd hope from someone who writes a humourous webcomic, it's genuinely funny, and that's mainly down to the dialogue...." Read more

"I absolutely loved this book, both the audible version and the kindle ebook...." Read more

"...And besides the occasional historical slap in the face, the book was fun, humorous, well paced and above all entertaining...." Read more

394 customers mention "Concept"388 positive6 negative

Customers find the concept of the book interesting and captivating, with one customer noting how it upends the genre in a creative way.

"...For those reading the kindle edition (highly recommended, the animated art is beautiful)..." Read more

"...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..." Read more

"...It has adventure, time travel and a fairly light and easy mood throughout the book. It had quite a few laugh out loud moments...." Read more

"...It's a good take on the old 'time traveler at Camelot' theme, and Scott's plot is nicely paced and entertaining...." Read more

364 customers mention "Story quality"280 positive84 negative

Customers enjoy the story of the book, finding it clever and well-paced, with interesting systems of magic.

"...What follows is a case of one of the most interesting systems of magic I've enjoyed...." Read more

"...The plot falls into several parts...." Read more

"...take on the old 'time traveler at Camelot' theme, and Scott's plot is nicely paced and entertaining...." Read more

"...Seriously. The plot was far more interesting than a computer game, but the characters themselves were barely two-dimensional...." Read more

256 customers mention "Readability"201 positive55 negative

Customers find the book's prose workmanlike and easy to keep reading, with one customer noting the perfect narration in the audiobook version.

"...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..." Read more

"...I loved all the different voices. It was easy for me, and even my five year old to tell who was who...." Read more

"...The characters are fleshed out nicely, each having a distinct voice...." Read more

"...However, as I continued reading I hit the third phase, acceptance on the books own terms...." Read more

177 customers mention "Character development"137 positive40 negative

Customers enjoy the characters in the book, finding them nice and fun, with one customer noting that the main character has a well-written voice.

"...Martin is a likable character, he isn't perfect, he makes mistakes, and we get to see him learn and grow...." Read more

"...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...." Read more

"...The voice performance is amazing. It is an actual performance, voice acting, more than just someone sitting and reading...." Read more

"...more interesting than a computer game, but the characters themselves were barely two-dimensional. What are Martin's ambitions?..." Read more

137 customers mention "Pace"113 positive24 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pace, describing it as a fast read that moves quickly, with one customer noting that the buildup happens fairly quickly.

"...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..." Read more

"A fun book, light but not without some substance...." Read more

"...occasional historical slap in the face, the book was fun, humorous, well paced and above all entertaining...." Read more

"...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...." Read more

65 customers mention "Humor"52 positive13 negative

Customers find the book humorous and lighthearted, with several mentioning they laughed out loud in multiple places.

"...It has adventure, time travel and a fairly light and easy mood throughout the book. It had quite a few laugh out loud moments...." Read more

"...In general the story was super unique and odd and made us laugh out loud SO MANY TIMES. It was just so odd...." Read more

"...And while I do love a good poop joke, many of the jokes in the book just failed to land with me...." Read more

"...Which is hilarious. Often laugh-out-loud hilarious, most often smile-worthy...." Read more

42 customers mention "Nerdiness"42 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's nerdiness, particularly its cool references to pop culture and geeky content that fans of general geekdom will enjoy.

"...that attempt to mimic that unique blend of offbeat humor, geeky reference, and deep social and philosophical commentary...." Read more

"...This is a book about a young computer nerd who pokes around as a grey hat hacker on his free time and stumbles across a massive secret: a file which..." Read more

"...It is a smart, fast-paced, well-written adventure story...." Read more

"...the book filled with a very enjoyable brand of wry humor - and a more sophisticated, subtler type of humor than usually appears in the comic, in my..." Read more

Aloha
5 out of 5 stars
Aloha
Fun. Simple. Good times. Two thumbs
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Dylan F.
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fun and enjoyable adventure!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    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!
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Mike Reeves-McMillan
    4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the setting issues, this is funny
    Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    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.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • sxcfs
    5.0 out of 5 stars Adventure, comedy, light and entertaining.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    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.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Alexander
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mein Erstes Kindle in Motion Buch
    Reviewed in Germany on January 9, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Dieses Buch ist mein Erstes Kindle in Motion Buch und eines der ersten verfügbaren überhaupt, daher möchte ich hier zuerst darauf eingehen: Bei Kindle in Motion gibt es einige Illustrationen im Buch, die wie der Name schon sagt , animiert sind. Diese kann man nur bei der digitalen Betrachtung (z.B auf einem Tablet) genießen. Die Bebilderung ist gut getroffen und passt sich gut in die Story ein ohne zu stören. Es ist ein nettes Extra einen weiteren Vorteil hat man aber nicht.

    Weit mehr habe ich bei diesem Buch durch die spannende Story genossen mittels Whispersync zwischen lesen und Hörbuch um zu schalten. Dadurch kann man nahezu ohne Verzögerung auf das Hörbuch bei Audible umsteigen wenn man augen und Hände frei haben muss.

    Die Story des Buches ist absurd komisch und gut gelungen. Als Nerd fragt man sich was man selbst in so einer situation machen Würde wenn man die Realität mithilfe einer Computer-Datei manipulieren könnte. Ins mittelalterliche England zu reisen um ein Zauberer zu werden wäre mir zwar nicht in den sinn gekommen ist aber in dem buch inherent logisch erklärt. Auch besitzen die Charaktäre mehr tiefgang als man zuerst erwaten könnte.

    Fazit:
    Das Buch ist super geschrieben – 5 Sterne. Preislich ist es selbst zusammen mit dem Audible buch sehr Portmonee freundlich – ebenfalls 5 sterne. Und die Umsetzung für Tablet, Kindle und Audible sind perfekt gelungen. Danke Amazon für das tolle Buch!
    Ich freue mich schon auf die weiteren Bücher – Band zwei habe ich mir gleich im Anschluss geholt – ohne Kindle in motion, das ist aber bestenfalls eine Spielerei.
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  • Cliente Kindle
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good enough
    Reviewed in Brazil on September 23, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    7/10 good world building and all of that. But no real plot to the story. Unusual book tho i recommend.
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  • Paulina
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great
    Reviewed in Mexico on March 23, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    The hiistory is fabolous, I really recomend it for all IT people! It it's so descriptive, imaginative and fantasious, I love it
    Report
  • maltafrog
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining
    Reviewed in Spain on November 16, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Totally over the top, but that is exactly what makes this book so good. Definitely not a literary jewel, but if you just want to have a good, entertaining moment, then I recommend it highly
    Report
  • Infusette
    5.0 out of 5 stars Funny creative
    Reviewed in France on December 9, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Nice idea, nice senario, read it straits in a few hours, wanting to know how things will turn for martin now and then
    Report

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