Ratings3
Average rating3.3
What do you get when a computer geek crosses a wizard? Answer: A very angry wizard - and a computer geek in a lot of trouble. Spells are a lot like computer programs: they're both formulas, recipes for getting things done. And they both can be buggy. The spell that called master hacker 'Wiz' Zumwalt to the world of the Black League was very buggy. The wizard who called him is dead, Wiz is magically in love with a red-headed witch, who despises him, and no one - not the elves, not the dwarves, not even the dragons - can figure out what this computer wiz is good for. Oh, yes. The entire Black League wants Wiz dead - he might be good for something after all - and they'll stop at nothing to get what they want.
Series
5 primary booksWiz is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 1989 with contributions by Rick Cook.
Reviews with the most likes.
In which our reluctant and clumsy hero W. I. Zumwalt is kidnapped and in peril for most of the book, and a team of other programmers is secretly recruited from our world to try to make something more generally useful out of his initial attempts at programming with magic.
This is the second in a series of five novels, and it's the one I like best. Our hero still makes mistakes, but he's becoming gradually more competent. I enjoy the clashes between the cultures of the two worlds, and the new team of programmers introduces a greater variety of characters.
There are two parallel plots going on here: Wiz on his own, trying to survive, and the other programmers trying to adapt to their novel situation. I prefer the latter. Wiz on his own isn't boring; but, once I've read it, I'm not highly motivated to read it again any time soon.