By Scott Meyer
Read by Luke Daniels
Reviewed by Gabby
Get Off to be the Wizard here
Off to be the Wizard Overview:
It’s a simple story. Boy finds proof that reality is a computer program. Boy uses program to manipulate time and space. Boy gets in trouble. Boy flees back in time to Medieval England to live as a wizard while he tries to think of a way to fix things. Boy gets in more trouble. Oh, and boy meets girl at some point.
Book Name Audiobook Review:
STORY
The Good:
This audiobook is pretty short, so the story moves quickly. There was always a lot going on with some mind boggling theories thrown into the mix. Some of the time I was a bit confused about how the wizards were able to manipulate the ‘file’ and do the things they did, but it didn’t really matter. I treated it like maths. Accepted that I didn’t understand it and moved on. It was a very original, highly entertaining story. It was also pretty funny. I have several standout funny scenes.
1: Martin has just time travelled back from medieval England to his home. His plan was to pose as a wizard in England so before he left he put on a Draco Malfoy Halloween costume to help him play the part. Even though he’s been in medieval England for a few hours, to his parents it seems as though he just went into his room. They then see him burst out of the room wearing his Draco Malfoy costume and start frantically running around the house looking for cling film. His parents are confused, but they also don’t seem particularly surprised? Bear in mind Martin had just run into the house ‘minutes’ before hand, told them he loved them both and locked himself in his room. He’s also 23 and didn’t live there.
2: Martin is trying to prove to the local medievals that he is in fact, a real wizard. He proves this by theatrically pulling a length of glad wrap out of his sleeves claiming it to be ‘magical see through cloth!’
3: Philip (another ‘wizard’) likens wizarding duels to break dancing. I think I found this amusing because I visualised a bunch of men in wizard robes and hats trying to do back flips and head spins.
There were lots of other funny scenes and lines, I could easily imagine this as a movie, probably with Seth Rogan in it, because every line is meant to make you laugh. The story also had some really interesting concepts thrown in it. The idea of the simulation hypothesis (that we are just a computer program) is explored, parallel universes and time loops both came up in the story as well. Although I found most of these concepts pretty mind boggling, it made the story much more interesting.
The Bad:
I know that this was meant to be a sort of comedy/sci-fi but by trying to make every part of the audiobook amusing, the story fell down in places. Scenes that were meant to be really intense and exciting I can barely remember because they didn’t stand out from the rest of the story at all. They were described in the same sort of light hearted, silly manner which automatically made me not take them seriously, or invest any kind of emotion in them. For example the death of an entire village should have at least been upsetting, but they’d all been turned into hobbit creatures so the shock factor was greatly diminished. I also found the story to be really predictable which is a shame. There were a few surprises here and there, but mostly I could tell how the story would end and what would happen. I really wanted for there to be an awesome twist at the end but nope. It ends exactly the way you think it will.
IDEAS
The Good
I did love the ideas in this story. It was just so original and clever! I do wonder what would have happened if one of the great Sci-Fi authors had thought of this idea. Either we could have gotten this amazing, complicated story with a wonderfully detailed world, or it wouldn’t work at all because they would try and over complicate it. I think the beauty of this story is in its simplicity and light heartedness. I don’t think the ideas would work as well if the author was too serious about it all.
The Bad:
Meyer had the opportunity to explore some really interesting ideas, the audiobook even could have become quite dark à la Lord of the Flies. But he didn’t take it! One guy turned out to be a bad egg, but we suspected that all along and then he was kicked out. (I’m trying to be ambiguous here because I don’t want to give too much away). That was as close to Lord of the Flies as is got. For the most part the wizards just messed around. They didn’t really contribute to society, they didn’t want to change the world. In fact, they all got fat and lazy. This was actually quite a funny consequence when they all had to actually run because they couldn’t fly. Surely the wizards got bored? This was really my main problem with the book. The wizards did literally nothing (except for Jimmy) and if the story hadn’t been so short then I think it would have become quite dull as Meyer attempted to fill out the story with the daily nothings of Phillip and Martin.
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CHARACTERS
The Good:
Phillip was my favourite of this story. He had a lot of character, I also think that Luke Daniels did a fabulous job of his voice, lots of inflection, very sarcastic but also imperious sounding. Phillip was the most interesting because he was hiding something. That made me question whether or not he might be a threat to Martin and the others. He was also very intelligent, writing complicated bits of code and living successfully for a decade in another time. Phillip was witty and an amusing character, but also seemed like a kindly father figure and a good mentor. Overall he was very likeable.
I also thought Jimmy was a good character. I didn’t like him, but he was still a good character. His self confidence and belief in the fact that he was always right reminded me of those annoying 10 year olds who believe they can tell you what you can and can’t do.
Anyway, Jimmy had a complete lack of morals and basically did whatever he wanted in England. I do have to hand it to him though, he did do some constructive stuff. He built a castle. He named it Camelot. He renamed the kings son Arthur and he made a round table. It was a hell of a lot more productive than what the other wizards got up to.
The Bad:
Gwen’s character was flatter than my chest before I turned 15. She only really had two sides. Disdainful and dull. She was so boring, there was absolutely no chemistry between her and Martin. That’s probably why she had to constantly rebuff him. But still, Meyer had to try and force some stupid love side plot. There was absolutely nothing to Gwen, all of her dialogue could have been replaced by a fly buzzing and it would have been more interesting.
Martin was pretty annoying as well. I mean, none of the characters have any real depth to them, but to me Martin mostly seemed like an idiot. His amusing one liners redeemed him slightly in my eyes but he still seems like a bumbling fool.
NARRATOR
The Good:
I’ve never heard Luke Daniels before and was pleasantly surprised. He had great comedic timing and did wonderful voices for all the different characters. I particularly liked his interpretation of Phillip. Daniels pace was good, there were no weird pauses between characters speaking which is always nice and he was also really consistent with his accents. Even if they weren’t all that accurate.
The Bad:
Daniels probably needs to work on his English accents a bit. Phillip was probably the best and there was still a bit of a twang to it. None of the locals had a distinct English accent either. I didn’t like his interpretation of Gwen either, but in saying that, I didn’t like Gwen at all, so I’m probably biased!
I hope you enjoyed our Off to Be the Wizard’ Audiobook Review, come back soon!