[Book Review] Battle of the Linguist Mages
The description of this book caught my attention immediately, and a cover blurb from one of my favorite authors? Sign me up!
The book isn't quite what is promised, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that it has so much potential. It's like how Ready Player One reads a lot different in a post Gamer Gate environment.
(Also, to be fair, the description I first read when looking through review copies is different than what is up now.)
Now, don't get me wrong, the premise is phenomenal. I love a good SF that takes seeds of the here and now and goes "what if?" It looks at where VR gaming is now, where streaming and MMOs are now, the balance between real life skills and game controls, and launches into a believable continuation. Then we get a little seasoning of magic and more. It made me laugh and has some neat ideas that it develops.
But writing and tone wise, it feels a lot like Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Armanda (also) by Ernest Cline, or The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak. It doesn't have the obsession with the 80s, but it has the same all-encompassing nerd focus without a lot of actual character depth. The info dumps will either let the reader skim and get the basics of what they need to know or bog the reader down, it'll depend on your reading style, but otherwise the reading is easy and very much on the surface. It might also appeal to fans of K. Eason's books (How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse) in terms of writing style and pacing. I would say comparisons to Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir or Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson are well intentioned but ultimately misleading in terms of narrative voice, story complexity, and overall feel. Rather than a hard, complex SF, we get a glittery light romp. That's perfectly fine, and something I often enjoy, just not exactly what's advertised.
There is a sense of humor and a consistent tongue-in-cheek element that carries through, much of which I found honestly delightful. Acknowledging that the sounds an advanced player sound rather like they are being mauled a mountain lion, section titles like "Sparklepocalypse." There's wit and humor here that will resonate with anyone who spends time in gaming communities.
It has diversity in its characters, but it feels more like metadata tags rather than developed characters. However, I do not think that the issue is because the author is trying to force diversity without really understanding how to write queer folks. The lead is something of a gamer girl stereotype with a few distinguishing quirks, just like Wade, the cis-het protagonist of Ready Player One, is a gamer boy stereotype with a few distinguishing quirks. I wouldn't say the representation is bad, just that it's going to leave some people wanting more.
Overall I'd say the book was a 3/5 for me.
Advance Reader Copy courtesy of Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.
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