Spell or High Water (Magic 2.0, Book 2)

• Author: Scott Meyer
• Performed by Luke Daniels
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Audible Release Date: June 2014
• Category: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
• 

The adventures of an American hacker in Medieval England continue as Martin Banks takes his next step on the journey toward mastering his reality-altering powers and fulfilling his destiny.

A month has passed since Martin helped to defeat the evil programmer Jimmy, and things couldn’t be going better. Except for his love life, that is. Feeling distant and lost, Gwen has journeyed to Atlantis, a tolerant and benevolent kingdom governed by the Sorceresses, and a place known to be a safe haven to all female time-travelers.

Following on from Off To Be The Wizard, this second book in the series takes our protagonists away from their home turf in Leadchurch, Medieval England, to Atlantis in a few hundred years BC,  for a summit of time travellers on the use of magic powers. Very clear and detailed descriptions of Atlantis and the premise was fascinating. The city was created as a refuge and sanctuary for female time travellers as women were not treated well in most historical times. And a very intricate time travelling story line is centred around Brit the Elder and Brit the Younger from Atlantis.

The story carries on seamlessly, Martin is still rather naive and Philip is his usual testy and caustic self. Martin sees this visit to Atlantis as an opportunity to further his cause with Gwen but Martin’s luck in that department has not improved.

Anything in the world of wizards is possible and probable though, and strange and wonderful events occur with regularity. Really good and humorous interaction and drama between the characters. 

The two interwoven storylines, the time travellers in Atlantis and the events unfolding in the ‘real world.’ Agents Miller and Murphy from the US Treasury Department play a big part in the real world scenario and add to the comedic impact of a very enjoyable narrative.

As with the first book, I love the humour and there were lots of laugh out loud moments and witty banter and, as always, Luke Daniels gives his own inimitable and distinctive performance, differentiating between, and individualizing, each character.

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Scott Meyer grew up in the small town of Sunnyside, Washington. He began his career in humor by working as a standup 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. Spell or High Water is his second novel.