An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer (Magic 2.0 #3)

An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 #3) by Scott Meyer sees us return to the medieval world of wizard geeks who use their computer smarts to bend reality to their wishes by use of the file. But not all is well, for Todd has gained access once again to a computer, and revenge is in his mind…

From the publisher:

Ever since Martin Banks and his fellow computer geeks discovered that reality is just a computer program to be happily hacked, they’ve been jaunting back and forth through time, posing as medieval wizards and having the epic adventures that other nerds can only dream of having. But even in their wildest fantasies, they never expected to end up at the mercy of the former apprentice whom they sent to prison for gross misuse of magic and all-around evil behavior.
Who knew that the vengeful Todd would escape, then conjure a computer game packed with wolves, wenches, wastelands, and assorted harrowing hazards—and trap his hapless former friends inside it? Stripped of their magic powers, the would-be wizards must brave terrifying dangers, technical glitches, and one another’s company if they want to see medieval England—and their favorite sci-fi movies on VHS—ever again. Can our heroes survive this magical mystery torture? Or will it only lead them and their pointy hats into more peril?

After Spell or High Water things have settled down for our group of wizards, with Martin and Gwen’s relationship plodding along happily, and Phillip and Brit the Younger also getting it on. Of course, things cannot be allowed to continue with no disruption, so in steps Todd who transports those responsible for his exile – Phillip, Jimmy, Gary, Tyler, and Jeff – into a sub-programme of his own making, and sends them on a perilous and life-threatening quest to save themselves.

Not to let this stand, Martin, Gwen, Roy, and Brit the Younger plan to mount a rescue, with Brit the Elder giving some pointers to our hapless heroes. Once they discover what has happened to their friends – that they’re stuck somewhere with no way out, and no powers to help themselves – they make the daring leap into the sub-programme with all the intentions of keeping their powers and saving the day. Unfortunately they aren’t quite as lucky as that…

Let’s get this out there straight away – if you’ve not read the previous novels in the Magic 2.0 series, Off To Be The Wizard (review) and Spell or High Water, then you really should do before tackling this one. Not only are they hugely enjoyable novels in their own right, they bring you up to speed with events that take place here. An Unwelcome Quest is definitely not a stand-alone novel in this sense due to the culmination of plot threads that have been laced through the first two books. That being said, Meyer does a good enough job of relating past events that you could read this fresh – not that I’d recommend doing so.

An Unwelcome Quest takes our protagonists – yes, even Jimmy – and puts them in a situation where they can no longer rely on their powers to manipulate the file to their own uses. It makes them mortal, and sends them, as the title suggests, on a quest created by the evil Todd. Muahahahaha! Ahem. Anyway, que the inevitable pop culture references to a multitude of role playing games, plenty of bad programming, and a poorly thought-out quest story by Todd, and you’ve got an adventure that really does keep the pages turning and the action flowing. And, of course, the quips keep coming.

The relationships between the main quest characters (Phillip, Jimmy, Gary, Tyler, and Jeff) is, perhaps, a high point of An Unwelcome Quest. The constant back-and-forth arguing, distrust of Jimmy, and general air of nonchalance despite their predicament makes this group as a whole entirely entertaining to read. The second group of Martin, Gwen, Roy, and Brit the Younger also has its fair share of interesting, and highly entertaining, moments. Roy, a man’s man, has his views of women and the way he talks to them challenged constantly early on, and seeing his progression throughout the novel is a definite plus point.

An Unwelcome Quest is an easy book to recommend as it’s a quick read, full of action and entertainment, and has some proper laugh-out-loud moments. However, as I said before, you really should start from the first book and enjoy this series as a whole. Hopefully this won’t be the last we’ll see of the Leadchurch Wizards (the ending certainly leaves plenty of room for more stories), but as it stands I can completely and utterly recommend these books. Great stuff.

Publisher: http://www.apub.com/imprint-detail?imprint=5
Author: http://basicinstructions.net
February 2015, 432 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9781477821404
Review copy received from the publisher