Webmage

This book is a treat, and I'm looking forward to a sequel! I have read Kelly McCullough's short fiction, and was looking forward to seeing his novel. WebMage did not disappoint! The action is constant, the characters are real and accessible. This book kept me up nights - for all the right reasons. As for the problems some readers had with the book: I know nothing about coding except that it's based on zeros and ones. That didn't stop me from enjoying WebMage. Also, I have loved reading Zelazney for years, but found the Amber novels too scattered. I like WebMage better.

Magic has kept up with the times, changing as the world does. So of course magic has gone digital. The three Fates are sisters. Lachesis is the absolute dictator of the Fate family. She measures each life thread. Clotho is the spinner of destiny. She decides the destiny of each. Atropos is the cutter of threads. When her shears cut a thread, the life depending upon it dies, cut off from life. Prince Ravirn, of the House of Lachesis, is a junior in Classics and Computer Science and his college midterms are looming in the near future. As a child of a Fate, descended from Lachesis's blood line, he is far from your average computer whiz. He is a wizard at hacking viruses and programs. He can zero in on any flaw and manipulate it to his desires. That talent is what causes Great Aunt Atropos to summon him. Atropos is out to crush free will of mankind. To do this she has spelled a digital virus called Puppeteer. She needs Ravirn to debug the program before she downloads it into the Fate Core. The Fate Core is the place where the destiny of every living thing is laid out. From inside you can rewrite that destiny. However, Ravirn is all for free will. He not only refuses to debug the spell, but actively opposes her. By Ravirn's side is Melchior "Mel", his webgoblin/familiar. Mel can shapeshift into a sleek lap top or into a blue goblin form. Also with him is Cerice, a sexy sorceress who happens to also be a mean programmer. With Cerice is her webgoblin/familiar, Shara. Problem is that no matter how Cerice feels about Ravirn, there are times she must wonder if Ravirn is working with dysfunctional motherboard for a brain. Lastly, there is the webgoblin underground. But to go against all three Fates, as well as the Furies and other relatives is difficult, to say the least. Ravirn's destiny is now uncertain and it may take all the power of Orion to stop Puppeteer. ***** It has finally happened. Someone has crossed the genres of sci-fi and fantasy to create a magical world that has modern (futuristic) computer hackers. Since I love to play online RPGs and mess around with computers (never mind how), reading this novel was a MUST! I am happy to say that I am in no way disappointed. Author Kelly McCullough has taken characters out from the darkness of mythology and brought them into the light of the modern digital age. Deciding to use a child of the Fates is not unique; however, this magical/digitalized twist is. Out-freaking-standing! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I picked this book on a Saturday, began it on Sunday, and was finished by Wednesday. I just could not put this book down. The concept while not completely original, I personally feel this is the best job ever done with a combination of magic and technology. I reccomend this book to anyone that has been searching for and advancement of magic in literary works.

In the twenty-first century, magic has gone digital with spells being coded on the Mweb and familiars being computers that turn into trolls and goblins. Instead of using the more dangerous chaos energy to cast a spell, powerful sorcerers program their magic leaving it to hackers like Ravirn to find and remove the bugs so that they work properly. Ravirn is a college student who is studying to refine his skills for his family's use. His kin is descended from the Three Fates and he is a demideity who never ages. When his Great-Aunt Atropos asks for his help on a spell that would replace the chaos of free will with order he refuses. She puts a spell on him that insures no one believes anything he says when he talks about his aunt's endeavor; still he plans to stop the powerful Atropos with his only allies being his cousin with an nth degree of separation Cerice, his familiar Melchior the beautiful computer webgoblin and a didcarded webtroll. Ravirn and company have no chance against his relative, one of the Three Fates but he will die trying because free will means that much to him. Fans who enjoy the fantasy The Warlock In Spite of Himself and its myriad spin-offs will thoroughly appreciate the madcap and whimsical WEBMAGE. The combination of computer technology with magic spells makes for a whimsical tale of action, adventure, and romance. Ravirn is a charming hero; an idealist fighting for what he believes is worth battling for inside a comedic quirky fantasy. Kelly McCullough shows great promise as a fantasy writer and the audience will hope there is a sequel for this spellbinding book. Harriet Klausner

Dramatis Personae: Ravirn, a.k.a. Ravi Lacher: A young graduate student in systems engineering, also an increasingly accomplished hacker, also a near-immortal descendant of Lachesis (see below). Melchior: Ravirn's wizarding "familiar", a webgoblin who alternates between looking like a small, bald, blue man, and a blue laptop computer; possesses a mastery of sarcasm, and a powerful sense of loyalty. Cerice: A beautiful computer programmer, sorceress, and near-immortal descendant of Clotho (see below). Cerice and Ravirn are long-time friends, distant cousins, and possibly more. Shara: Cerice's voluptuous, flirtatious purple webgoblin, who sometimes converts seductively into a purple laptop computer. Ahllan: An ugly, fierce-looking, but caring and grandmotherly webtroll, who might just be the key to Ravirn's survival. Clotho: The Aspect of Fate who spins the threads of life out of the very essence of Chaos. Also, an ancestor of Cerice. Lachesis: An Aspect of Fate, who measures and weaves the threads of life. Also, an ancestor of Ravirn. Atropos: An Aspect of Fate, who cuts the threads of life, thereby signaling and/or causing death. Magaera, Tisiphone, and Aleto: Collectively known as "The Furies", these three children of the Goddess Necessity, are the "heavies" or punishers of the Immortals. Eris: The beautiful, unpredictable, naughty Goddess of Discord, who is not all bad (or all good). Fictive scenario: In this fictive universe, magic, science, and mythology are all equally powerful and equally true. Magic, as exercised by the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, is now modernized, and exercised through computer and Internet codes. Spells are hummed or whistled lines of codes, and run through the "mweb" or magical counterpart of the world-wide web. Plot: Ravirn is studying systems engineering at the University of Minnesota, but his true love is hacking, just to prove that no one's security systems are unbreachable, and to shoot down any computer virus he might encounter. Amongst his many excursions in the world of cybermagic, he finds that: Atropos has decided that free will causes too much disorder in Humanity and has decided to eliminate it. Ravirn, being quite the free spirit, decides to challenge the powerful Atropos; he finds a back door into the "Fate Core" or mainframe of the power used by the Fates, and promptly finds a major virus, planted by Eris, the Goddess of Discord. In a way, Ravirn wants Eris to defeat Atropos, but he is also loyal to his family, and is not powerful enough to openly challenge Atropos and/or Eris, but he also wants neither the excessive order sought by Atropos, nor the chaos so loved by Eris. What to do, what to do? If my summary sounds strange, confusing, and bizarre, that's because this novel, a debut by Kelly McCullough, is all of those things. It is also just plain fun to read! The characters are strange but credible and interesting, the writing is very fast-paced, and the cyber