Wizard's Bane
Ratings12
Average rating3.2
Q: How does a shanghaied computer geek conquer all the forces of Darkness and win the love of the most beautiful witch in the world? A: By transforming himself from a demon programmer into a programmer of demons! It all began when the wizards of the White League were under attack by their opponents of the Black League and one of their most powerful members cast a spell to bring forth a mighty wizard to aid their cause. What the spell delivered was master hacker Walter "Wiz" Zumwalt. The wizard who cast the spell was dead and nobody¾ not the elves, not the dwarves, not even the dragons¾could figure out what the shanghaied computer nerd was good for. But spells are a lot like computer programs, and, in spite of the Wiz's unprepossessing appearance, he was going to defeat the all-powerful Black League, win the love of a beautiful red-haired witch, and prove that when it comes to spells and sorcery, nobody but nobody can beat a Silicon Valley computer geek! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Series
Series
5 primary books#1 in Wiz
Wiz is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 1989 with contributions by Rick Cook.
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Good enough for a quick distraction but rough at times. The first half is a long, generic chase scene, and there's a story within a story that doesn't contribute anything at all to the larger narrative. At around 55-60% through it gets interesting and the whole point for Wiz being there finally starts to get some action. Even in the last half there are some asides to the main action that do nothing to advance the story and just took me out of it. I might check out the sequel, but only because it's part of the Baen Free Library.
This book and its sequels are based on the idea of applying computer programming skills to magic, a rather unlikely notion that I don't think I've come across elsewhere. As fiction, it makes a competent, entertaining, and likeable fantasy novel, and the basic idea is developed quite ingeniously. The characters tend to fall into predictable types, but they're varied and good enough for this kind of novel.
I give it only three stars because, although I like it, I don't seem to reread it frequently. The author was keen to avoid the sort of improbable hero who cuts irresistibly through all problems and opponents; he gives us a much more realistic clumsy hero who's a talented programmer but blunders at everything else he does. This is commendable in principle, but I find it a bit irritating in practice.
You'll best appreciate this book if you have some programming experience. If not, you should be able to follow and enjoy the story anyway, but some of the details will go over your head.
Bear in mind that the book dates from 1989 and the author presumably acquired his own programming experience somewhat earlier, so his programming references are bit dated; although some aspects of programming probably don't change much.
Conceptually this one showed a lot of promise. The idea is pretty different from anything I have read in the past. However, it was a let down In execution. The premise did not hold together in the explanation of fusion between machine code and magic. In the end a very average teen fantasy
