Cybermancy

Jumped into it after enjoying the first book. Had fun with it all the way through. Another roller coaster ride with a guy who's heart's in the right place, but who has a knack for making enemies by doing the right thing. He really is the poster boy for saying "No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished". The more he helps the more things seem to get out of whack. I think we all can relate to that in some way. Ravirn's character develops more here, as he's trying to fix his past mistake, save a damsel in distress, deal with crazy relatives and come to terms with his new name. And what is the new name "Raven" that Clotho gave him all about? What does it have to do with him, and does he even want to know? Well, probably not, but in Ravirn's world, Fate really is a Bi*ch!

Kelly McCullough continues to rack up big points with his ongoing science/fantasy series starring Ravirn, a child of the Fates from Greek mythology. The first book, WEBMAGE, was an excellent story, introducing a smart-mouthed, quick-thinking, magnet for trouble that reminded me a lot of Roger Zelazny's signature characters. Like Zelazny's Corwin of Amber and Jack of Shadows, Ravirn tells his own story in a first-person narrative that explodes onto the pages and keeps moving along at a brisk pace. Since I'd read the first book, the second book, CYBERMANCY, didn't offer any challenges to lock into the world. I felt like I was stepping back into a gathering of old friends. That's how you know you have excellent characters - when your readers can drop back in and never wonder once who is who. I call these books science/fantasy because McCullough insists on making technology and magic both driving factors of the series. Not only is Ravirn a child of the Fates who's gifted with awesome magical abilities, he's also a computer geek that knows his way around hacks and cracks. As steeped as I am in computer-speak, I was sometime challenged with having to keep up with the amount of information in Ravirn's narrative, but even when I lost the thread of something (I blame my ADHD, not McCullough's writing) it didn't take me long to catch up. Even cooler than that, though, Ravirn turns out to be an emerging chaos god who's about to hang a shingle in the Greek pantheon. That story alone is worth the price of the book. There are lots of stories in the second book of the series, though. Ravirn's friendship with Melchior -- the webgoblin he created, designed, programmed, and eventually gave independence to - is still at the forefront of the adventure. Likewise, Cerice - Ravirn's lady love - returns with a host of new issues as well. Her webgoblin's name is Shara, but she has a tendency to take a human form that looks an awful lot like Mae West, complete with ample charms and double entendre enough to make a sailor blush. At the end of WEBMAGE, Shara inadvertently got trapped in Hell. Hades, that is. Cerice is as dedicated to Shara as Ravirn is to Melchior. So you know that Ravirn has to journey to Hades, risking certain death in the Land of the Dead as he outsmarts Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades. Thankfully, Ravirn has been playing cards with the dog/s for some time, so he knows a thing or two. The story quickly takes shape as Ravirn attempts his feats of derring-do for his lady love. Who might not even love him in the same way he loves her. I really got into all these balls McCullough kept throwing in the air. There's always a new reason to keep turning pages. One of the strongest aspects about the books that I enjoy is the fact that McCullough plays fair with the whole Greek mythology. More to the point, if not for one of the most basic myths, this story would never even have taken place. People who haven't

I didn't expect to enjoy Web Mage since I am not 'into' computers - except the basic need to know stuff. My preferred fantasy is Lackey, Butcher, McCaffery plus but I thoroughly enjoyed both Web Mage and this excellent sequel. I completely agree with previous reviewers who have done a great job of describing the contents of the books. I just wanted to add that both are real page turners. Ravirn / Raven is an engaging hero and the computer / hacker stuff while probably authentic enough to satisfy the cognoscenti doesn't overwhelm the ignorant (like me) or the story line. Other characters are perhaps not quite as well rounded - but that may be the down side of first person narrative. I look forward to more stories!

Necessity created the magical web (mweb) in order to interconnect the infinite worlds of the multiverse as a means to keep chaos under control. Sorcerer Prince Ravirn of the house of Fate was chosen as the web administrator because of his superior hacker skills. However, as is his way, alienates his three great-aunts, the Fates (Clothos, Atropros, and Lachesis). Actually it was Lachesis who exiled her nephew and his best friend webgoblin-laptop Melchior from the family; while Clothos renamed him Raven of chaos. Ravirn's (Don't call me Raven) girlfriend Cerice mourns the death of her webpixie-PDA Shara, who died saving her mistress; life. Making her grief insurmountable and driving Raven crazy is that Shara the PDA contained Cerice's doctorate in Computer Science. Thus her paper is on the other side of the River Styx with no way of retrieving it without trickery. Ravirn has a plan to fool his poker buddy Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld and hack into Lucifer's database to retrieve Shara. Ravirn succeeds, but the outcome proves different than he imagined. Instead of kisses, he finds the mweb is falling apart as if a worm is eating away one byte at a time and Lucifer is madder than hell that someone hacked into his computer. As his great-aunts predicted Ravirn has brought chaos into order and they fear that even worse he plans to fix his mistakes by deleting and rebooting the multiverse. This zany mixing of computer technology with mythology is a cleverly designed satire in which the audience will have a great time following the antics of Ravirn in the mythological information age. The amusing story line spoofs American top secret paranoia as Ravirn hacks into Lucifer's protected database and abducts Shara from the other side while correcting his miscues with greater errors. Readers who appreciate something different will want to read this enjoyable insane sequel to the as much fun and crazy WEBMAGE. Harriet Klausner