Synopsis:
What if you wrote a magic computer program? What if that magic computer program started summoning monsters?
When twenty-something coder Seven Jones goes back to school at a community college in San Diego, the last thing she wants is to join some stupid club. And the last thing she expects is to walk into an underground magic club. Like, actual wizards and shit.
Seven reluctantly joins the motley crew of magic weirdos and discovers her own power. But she struggles to control it…until she figures out how to channel her magic through an artificially intelligent computer program.
Unfortunately, there is literally nothing Seven’s new friends hate more than AI, and when a student mysteriously turns up dead, blame falls on Seven. Is her “creepy artificial magic” summoning terrifying creatures to hunt students? Or is someone trying to frame her?
With only one person – cute ex-Navy seal Logan – on her side, Seven fights monsters (Dragon? Check. Kraken? Check) while struggling to convince everyone that her AI has nothing to do with them.
But how can she convince her peers when she isn’t totally convinced herself?
Review:
I’m a little conflicted about Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton. There were times while I was reading that I found it interesting and couldn’t put it down. Then there were times that it didn’t make a lot of sense and it seemed riddled with problems. In the end, I had a fun time with it, but…it comes with some strings attached.
Shipton’s latest work is billed as a spicy urban fantasy, and…that’s true. Mostly. There is spice — more than I’m used to, but I didn’t mind. It was presented in a comedic way, adapting to the tone of the book, so it kinda worked for me. While I was reading, I had a few different books, movies, and cartoons that kept springing to mind. If I were to tell someone about it, I think I would say…Dot Slash Magic is a fun fantasy book in the vein of The Magicians by Lev Grossman with a shot of Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with a chaser of Neo in The Matrix.
If that sounds wild but intriguing to you — then this is the book for you.
Our protagonist is Seven Jones (I don’t think it’s ever explained why she goes by Seven, but after a while you get used to it. Her parents manage to convince her to come home and at least take some classes at the local community college, but within a few days she discovers a magic club and her own magical abilities. Her classes at the college merge with her new club and before long she’s somehow created a Computer Artificial Intelligence that she funnels her magical spells through.
In a short amount of time, she proves to be as proficient with magic as others who have dedicated years of their life to it — so of course there are hard feeling with other members of the club. But along with the tension she finds romance as well.
But all isn’t what it seems in more ways than one.
*SPOILERS…nothing specific, but about general tone for the last part of the book*
*
*
*
So I was cruising right along, enjoying myself and then with about 10 percent left to the book…the rug was pulled out from under me. There is a HUGE game changer close to the end and it drastically alters what the book was about, going back almost to page 1. Of course, you have to judge books by all the words between the covers, so I can’t say if Dot Slash Magic would be a better book without the last tenth…but I can certainly see why some readers would be unhappy after putting the book down. I won’t ruin the ending, but it just about shifts the entire genre of the book with what happens at the end. I will say that some of the problems and seeming plot holes I referenced earlier are basically smoothed over by this last act, but I wasn’t sure if it was needed or not.
Even with the last tenth (which again, I’m not sure if I liked or not), I had a great time with Dot Slash Magic and I appreciate the big swings that Liz Shipton took with her latest novel. It’s a fun and fascinating look at fantasy with an eye on the plague of A.I. technology in society and schools.
Thank you to Angry Robot for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Leave a Reply