Out of Spite, Out of Mind

Magic 2.0, Book 5

By: Scott Meyer

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

When you discover the world is a computer program, and you figure out that by altering the code you can time travel and perform acts that seem like magic, what can possibly go wrong?

Pretty much everything.

Just ask Brit, who has jumped around in time with such abandon that she has to coexist with multiple versions of herself. Now, Brit the Elder finds that her memories don't match Brit the Younger's. And there's the small matter of a glitch that's making Brit the Elder's body fritz out. Brit the Elder's ex-boyfriend Phillip wants to help her, but he'll have to keep it secret from his current girlfriend, Brit the Younger, who can't stand her future self.

Meanwhile, Martin is trying to protect Phillip from a relentless attacker he somehow hasn't noticed; Gwen is angry because Martin accidentally proposed to her; Gary tries to help the less fortunate, with predictably disastrous results; and an old nemesis might have to be the one to save them all.

In Out of Spite, Out of Mind, our fearless wizards discover the biggest glitch in their world's program may well be themselves.

©2018 Scott Meyer (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Scott, how do you think women are supposed to act?

Seriously, though. Gwen? She's angry until suddenly without context she's not and all Martin does is be honest and forthright with her. The Brits? They're normal until Philip tries his best to save them all and has to keep things from them/her. All be ever did was his very best to help and was forced to lie. The resolution is deeply unfair and unsatisfying on all sides and NOBODY else in the cast calls out Brit for being a bitch or being irrational. Honestly, this would have been a better resolution if Brit had died. The book is a slow, downhill slide into yet another unsatisfying resolution and a little lead in to another story where I'm sure it will be yet another downhill slide into mediocrity. Scott, please. You can do better than this. the first book proved that. your characters have gone from goofy and lovable to increasingly one dimensional and rigid.

Phillip dude what are you doing?!

Well now we know why that's a thing. It won't be giving anything away for me to say #womanlogic am I right? Lol but no, yeah it's all a effed up choice.

kept me entertained.

unlike most of the series this one left me feeling sad and frankly that is not why I want to spend time in the world of fiction.

Another solid story in the Magic 2.0 series

Scott Meyer takes it away again and throws in kinks and pain points. He closes out hanging issues from previous stories and settles conundrums he left in play.

And this was all brought to Magic 3.0 by Luke Daniels again. He continues to keep these characters alive, plucky, and very expressive in their voices.

Side note: didn't really see the Dune theme being in Martin's choice/forte for themes. But that also brought out an interesting character development, as it shows Martin can do deep political thinking/backstabbing.

This one will be the last for me

Overuse of the same plot mechanic made this book repetitive and tough to listen through. If there is another in the series, i will not be buying it. Narration was good, as always, just lacking in good plot this time.

Please find a way to retcon this story

All Phil did was try to save the love of his life by doing everything the love of his life told him to do. In the end he was falsely accused of cheating and his own girlfriend alters her own brain to make her believe in false memories of him cheating. Not one person tried to help Martin save Phillip or even take Phillip’s side on him not doing anything wrong.
Smart people may do stupid things but people will not sit idly by when friends and loved ones require help.
These are not the same characters I fell in love with. Please fix them. Please?

A Nice Change of Pace from 'Fight and Flight'

After 'Fight and Flight,' I was cautiously hopeful for this book. As always, Luke Daniels' performance is the absolute best part. His dedication to the narration brings the story to life. The story is definitely better than the previous book, with a gripping concept that was powerful enough to end Book 4 with. However, the climax proves to be somewhat weak. Characters from previous books return in interesting ways, and there is decent character development for some characters, while others could use an extra chapter or two.

Meyer seems to be getting better at writing clever and/or interesting twists, as yet again, he ends this book with a cliffhanger. I just hope next time around, he puts a little more effort into the conflict. It's become clear that this is the weakest part of his writing.

If you liked the rest of the series, you'll enjoy this one. Just know that the climax is a little anti-climactic.

this story goes nowhere

Brit caused her own problem and blames everyone else but her self . the story just went around in circles and could have been solved by just not doing anything . holy shit this was pulling theeth having a smart person sit and fuck upher own life and blame every single thing she does on her SO.

Whhaaa?!?

I am such a fan of this series. I loved this book like the others. I actually feel bad for one of the characters, why it’s not a perfect rating. I can’t wait to get the next, I love laughing to the in fighting and geekiness of the gang. Keep it up Scott!

Good fun installment, better than the last one.

A solid book from Meyer, reversing the downward trend of the Magic 2.0 series created by his last title. This one has an engaging plot, character development, and questionable temporal mechanics. I wish we could have seen the larger cast of characters interact more, but overall i'd say this one is worth the casual read.