Books › Spell or High Water
Spell or High Water
431 pages
A delightfully geeky romp where reality is just a computer program waiting to be hacked, and saving the day requires more tech support than actual heroism.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting down for a tabletop RPG session with your funniest, nerdiest friends. It is a breezy, brisk adventure that leans heavily into the inherent absurdity of treating reality like a buggy software program. The mood is relentlessly cheerful and mildly chaotic, driven by a wry, self-aware narrative voice that delights in pop culture riffs and the awkward charm of its bumbling protagonists. The prose is conversational and dialogue-heavy, prioritizing quick banter and situational comedy over dense world-building. It is a perfect comfort read for anyone who has ever felt like an imposter in their own life, offering a lighthearted escape where the biggest threats can usually be solved with a clever workaround and a healthy dose of dumb luck.
- Mood
- playful
- breezy
- mildly chaotic
- cheerful
- Tone
- wry
- geeky
- lighthearted
- self-aware
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- imposter syndrome · romantic fumbling · absurdity of bureaucracy · unintended consequences · finding your tribe
- The writing
- Conversational, punchy, and heavily reliant on witty dialogue and pop-culture-infused observational humor.
- The arc
- Moves from awkward romantic longing to chaotic problem-solving, culminating in a satisfying, if messy, triumph of the underdogs.
- Who it's for
- Geeks, programmers, and fans of lighthearted sci-fi/fantasy who love a bumbling but well-meaning protagonist and plenty of pop culture riffs.
Content notes
- mild fantasy violence
- cringe comedy
About the book
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.
Thankfully, Martin and Philip are invited to a summit in Atlantis for all of the leaders of the time-traveler colonies, and now Martin thinks this will be a chance to try again with Gwen. Of course, this is Martin Banks we’re talking about, so murder, mystery, and high intrigue all get in the way of a guy who just wants one more shot to get the girl.
The follow-up to the hilarious Off to Be the Wizard, Scott Meyer’s Spell or High Water proves that no matter what powers you have over time and space, you can’t control rotten luck.
Description from Open Library.
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