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WebMage (Webmage #1)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 989 ratings · 92 reviews

Ravirn is not your average computer geek. A child of the Fates—literally—he’s a hacker extraordinaire who can zero in on the fatal flaw in any program. Now that twenty-first-century magic has gone digital that makes him a very talented sorcerer. But a world of problems is about to be downloaded on Ravirn—who’s just trying to pass his college midterms.

Great Aunt Atropos, on...more

Mass Market Paperback, 310 pages

Published August 25th 2006 by Ace Books (first published July 25th 2006)

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May 23, 2013 Carly marked it as currently-paused

Shelves: uf-gotta-catch-em-all, urban-fantasy, muf

Okay, this book has disrupted my gym time for long enough. The good part: for the past month, I've been reading scientific papers to avoid reading this book. The bad part: I've been procrastinating about going to the gym to avoid both.
No more.
I'm pausing this book--not necessarily DNF'ing: I've made it about 80% through and that's just too far to give up. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just not for me.

However, if you like Fated or Something from the Nightside, this may very well be a good f...more

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Jan 09, 2009 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: If you like Rob Thurman's books, check this one out.

Shelves: fantasy, 2009

This book reminded me a bit of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman (Nightlife: Cal Leandros, Book 1, Moonshine: Cal Leandros, Book 2, Madhouse: Cal Leandros, Book 3, Deathwish). Which, since I love that series, pretty much guaranteed that I was going to like this one. :)

Fascinating book with an incredible basis. The second book, Cybermancy, is on my to-buy list for my next purchase.

If you like Rob Thurman's books, check this one out.

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Dec 25, 2008 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Cathy by: Penguin list

Shelves: cyberpunk, mythology, fantasy, magic-users, science-fiction

Terrific. Great premise - the Greek gods are still around. When computers were developed the Fates began using them to do their work. One of their grandchildren, Ravirn, is asked to debug a program for Atropos that will remove free will from humans. He doesn't want to do it, adventures ensue. Looking forward to reading the next 2 in the series that are already published. Books 4 and 5 have been contracted, according to the author's website.

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Aug 05, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a fantasy of Greek gods, and magic combined with computer coding. It starts a little roughly but the author hits his stride fairly quickly. I enjoyed the story but I'd recommend it only for the college-aged since part of the story takes place on a college campus and most of the thinking of the main characters seem limited to the desires of college students. (I suppose that makes sense since the main characters ARE college students!) The book also deals with guns, but not too much. I...more

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May 27, 2011 Forrest rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cbriii

WebMage is book-candy. It reads fast and lacks substance. But it is a fun read and sometimes you need to pull your brain back from the heady concepts in the more serious book entries on your list. The sad part is that the concept is really awesome and in the hands of a better writer, it could have been a great series of books.

The premise of WebMage is that the Greek pantheon is real and has been running things behind the scenes for eternity. While the gods themselves don’t make any appearances...more WebMage is book-candy. It reads fast and lacks substance. But it is a fun read and sometimes you need to pull your brain back from the heady concepts in the more serious book entries on your list. The sad part is that the concept is really awesome and in the hands of a better writer, it could have been a great series of books.

The premise of WebMage is that the Greek pantheon is real and has been running things behind the scenes for eternity. While the gods themselves don’t make any appearances in the book, the more primal concepts from Greek mythology, the Fates, the Furies, Discord and Chaos, are all present and accounted for. Like Roger Zelazny’s Amber, reality in WebMage consists of a sequence of worlds, called Decision Loci, ranging from most ordered to most chaotic. At either end of the spectrum are the Fates and Eris, goddess of Discord. Except they haven’t been sitting on their thumbs for three millennia. They’ve been busy updating the world to run on computer code. And their children have become hacker/sorcerers of the World’s OS.

It’s a really cool idea! The Fates are depicted as being master programmers, who still keep up their old jobs of creating, measuring and cutting the strings of fate for all humanity. Ravirn, a many times great grandson of Lachesis, is kind of the black sheep of his family, exiled to a somewhat remote DecLocus for repeatedly failing out of school. But he’s still a top-notch hacker who the Fates call on when their code fails.

Which is where the problems start. Ravirn is an egregious example of a Mary Sue with a heavy dosing of Black Hole Sue syndrome (Tvtropes.org for more on Mary Sue). Everything that happens in the multiverse of WebMage seems to directly involve him. He’s a nobody youngster in a family of demigods who nevertheless, fixed programs the gods couldn’t get to work, evaded the Furies for the better part of the book, went toe to toe with at least three goddesses and came out of it all with nothing more painful than a coat of emo-paint. Admittedly, there’s a sense throughout the entire book that he’s nothing but a chess piece in some great game between Chaos and Order, but he doesn’t help matters by being so incredibly stupid about the whole thing.

Aunt Atropos, at the beginning of the book, establishes that her relationship with Ravirn is going to be one of Stick and Bigger Stick. Before the book even starts, he’s been slapped with Cassandra’s Curse which literally prevents anyone from believing him when he’s talking about his Aunt. And then everyone seems to forget that mage/coders have these handy little living familiars/laptops that are very capable of speech and could have explained things just fine if anyone had thought to ask them.

The story, also like Zelazny’s Amber, is narrated first person style by Ravirn, but this only serves to emphasize how incredibly moronic he is. About halfway through the book, he realizes that his WebGoblin might be sentient, and spends the rest of the book whining about how unnatural if feels to end his spell execute lines with “Please.” McCullough has also burdened him with a personality trait of describing spells in detail every time they’re cast, even if it’s the twelfth DecLocus transfer we’ve seen. This chapter. This also extends to the weird spell casting system, which involves saying a line of code sort of like a command prompt/Run line, then having either the programmer or his/her WebGoblin whistle the actual spell. At no point is this explained in any sort of detail, except that the whistling is code and all the bigwigs can code in Hex, by being able to whistle in harmony with themselves. WHAT?!

There are some redeeming features. Melchior, Ravirn’s WebGoblin is occasionally witty and justifiably mocks his master at every opportunity. Their relationship has clearly been exported from the Dresden Files (Harry and Bob) but it still plays well.

Cerice is a semi-interesting love interest (incest notwithstanding) with an attitude and a decent head on her shoulders. I think she would have made a much better protagonist than her cousin, but Ravirn’s Black Hole Sue syndrome dictates that she’s going to be relegated to doe-eyed hanger on. The concept is brilliant and if it weren’t handled with such a hammy fist, it would be a pleasure to explore this fascinating merger of myth and code.

It is undeniably fun to beat up on these little novels. McCullough’s written four more of them, and I’ll probably pick them up on the off chance that he gets a little better with experience. And because it’s nice to have candy every once in a while. (less)

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Feb 26, 2011 Ratkin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I feel awfully torn about this book. It revives the whole magic-combined-with-computers idea, and does it pretty well. I particularly enjoyed the laptops that convert to familiars and assist in the magic/hacking. If the story had just worked that one idea I might have enjoyed it a lot more. Unfortunately there was another whole piece of the backstory: the Greek Gods are still around and running things. In my opinion, clutter ensued. I kept going through to the end, but at times it was a struggle...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Emilly Orr rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: speculative-fiction

Ravirn is your average hacking genius in college: he doesn't get on well with his dormmate, his grades keep dipping, his computer talks back to him, and his grandmother is threatening to send him to a monastery so he can finish his schooling under a vow of silence.

There's only one small problem--Ravirn's grandmother is Lachesis, the Fate who measures the cords of life.

Webmage is the story of the children of the Titans, or at least one child in particular, as he makes his way through the sometim...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Corey Frampton rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was not something that I typically would have picked up. It was a strange mix of modern sci-fi and fantasy.

However, that said - this was an awesome book.

It takes a little while to get used to the lexicon when they're talking about magic, even if you're familiar with computers, it's a little bit of an adjustment.

Once that adjustment is made, however, the book is quite a lot of fun.

The main character, Ravirn, is a hacker and a mage. In a lot of senses, this can be the same thing, but...more

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Jun 21, 2009 Shane rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Abigail Greshik

Recommended to Shane by: Jake Barnard

Shelves: 2009-books-read

This book gets 5 stars for originality. The story itself is spectacular. The writing is somewhat lacking, however. Or, perhaps, the better way to say that would be to say that the editing was lacking. In several places throughout the book, I found spots where letters were omitted and also, in several places, where entire words were omitted. I don't think it's asking for much to ask that publishers do more than run the book through spellcheck before printing them. That's what they have assistant...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Lissibith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, novel

f2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 on the strength of the last 20% or so of the tale.

Let me start by saying I think the problem here must be me, and not the book. Many people recced this book to me, among them three with similar tastes to my own whose recommendations I tend to look forward to eagerly, because even when I don't love them, I certainly enjoy them. With three strong recs from people whose tastes match my own, how could this go wrong?

And then I got the book, and was even more excited. The p...more f2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 on the strength of the last 20% or so of the tale.

Let me start by saying I think the problem here must be me, and not the book. Many people recced this book to me, among them three with similar tastes to my own whose recommendations I tend to look forward to eagerly, because even when I don't love them, I certainly enjoy them. With three strong recs from people whose tastes match my own, how could this go wrong?

And then I got the book, and was even more excited. The premise seemed amazing - classic characters, magic in the form of computers and internet, massive multi-reality adventures, and in a sense, courtly intrigue. What's not to love?

Well, to be blunt, the characters. I had to force myself through the first 2/3 of this book because the characters don't really do anything for me. They don't really emote, they don't seem to really develop, and it was just really hard to connect with especially our hero without applying my own thoughts on the character in place of the subtleties I never got from the narrative.

Ravirn loves to hack. We know this because he tells us and he does it a lot. He loves Cerice. We know this because he tells us, pretty much. He likes to be snarky with people who have power over him. And hasn't yet died how? He doesn't tell us that. He felt like the blank version of the somewhat bad boy with a heart of gold we see in so many things, and he didn't start getting unique until the last 20% or so.

The plot did move along apace, but a lot of the tension came from the threat to our hero, or from his pursuit by others who I get the feeling we're expected to know and understand personalities for coming into the book. I caught myself wondering a few times if I hadn't maybe just missed a book somewhere that would have explored all these relationships.

(view spoiler)

It does pick up toward the end and I probably will pick up the next book, but I found this volume to be an unfortunate disappointment.(less)

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Feb 14, 2012 Hobart rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

I wanted to like this...I really, really did--the concept is great, I've just read Kelly McCullough's Broken Blade and thought that was a lot of fun. But...I just couldn't "get" the magic system--I sort of understand it, but not enough to get everything from the book I should. And I absolutely know that could be a problem with me, not McCullough. But I don't think it's my problem, I think he could've done a far better job explaining it all.

That said, I liked the characters, I liked the plot, and...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Kerry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2006, 7, fantasy

A solid and interesting story that doesn't quite manage to lift itself above that.

The idea of the Fates as computer programmers is nicely done, but I found the whole book kind of dry, in that all the ingredients were there, but that extra something that would draw me right into the characters was missing.

Ravirn was interesting, but all cleverness without the emotional range that would have made him real. Cerise was little more that a plot point where should could have been a solid and real chara...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Kelly Maybedog Hawkins rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-modern-fantasy, what-sci-fi-fantasy-crossover, what-male-protagonist

A good first novel, with reasonable sounding tech even 6-7 years after it was written. The characters are strong and interesting, although the main character isn't always that bright considering what a good hacker he's supposed to be. I absolutely adored his familiar and the vegetarian troll. The three Furies were also fabulous in a frightening way.

The action never stops and the hero is constantly being injured so severely he's often incapacitated but I love that so it worked for me. He has goo...more A good first novel, with reasonable sounding tech even 6-7 years after it was written. The characters are strong and interesting, although the main character isn't always that bright considering what a good hacker he's supposed to be. I absolutely adored his familiar and the vegetarian troll. The three Furies were also fabulous in a frightening way.

The action never stops and the hero is constantly being injured so severely he's often incapacitated but I love that so it worked for me. He has good supportive friends and the good folks are full of snarkiness and sarcasm. Best of all, Ravirn learns from his mistakes and he grows during the course of the novel which earns major points from me.

Something felt a little off about the story, though, mostly in the first half but I'm attributing it to first book awkwardness. I think the love interest stuff was too much, too soon and too fast as well but she was every bit his equal. The only possible sexism is that two female characters talk about sex constantly. It this is in a Greek pantheon and that fits right in. The women are very strong and intelligent, both good and bad and complex. Their world is t as. Lack and white as most UF which is good because Greek mythology wasn't either. I like the focus on the Fates and the Furies, rather than the traditional gods as well and I like how clear it is that these are the goddesses that really have the power over the life and death of everyone including each other.

I don't like the virtual reality way of looking at programming. I guess the idea is to make it fit with magic when he actual enters the code with bis mind and sees it like he would see something in physical reality but I think it's a cop out to make it easier to explain things. A good programmer doesn't need a visual image to code. At one point the Ravern is looking at the graphic representation of code onscreen and, referring to a gateway, says, "It looked something like a subway tunnel..."

The other big problem I had was that the gods had all taken to the whole computing thing to the point that monastics worshiped Turing. They were all excellent programmers and all the old magic like spells and ley lines had all been converted to computer code. Faerie rings were no longer used because they were too dangerous. I just didn't buy that a technology that's considerably less than a century old immediately and thoroughly supplants magic that has been using the same methods for millennia. I think this would have worked a little better if there were another explanation such as that in one of the realities computer science had been around for 100's of years already or that time passed faster in faerie or that something horrific had happened that made the old ways very dangerous. I just needed something to make it more believable.

But I did enjoy it and will read the next one. After all, one of my very favorite series, Downside Ghosts, is based on an even more ridiculous premise. Once you accept the premise, the rest is brilliant. Maybe that will be the case as this series progresses. At the very least, it is a fresh idea in a genre full of same old same old. (less)

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Nov 08, 2011 Elspeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

I started this book in July then set it down to read Ghost Story. I picked it back up today and it was perfect for the mood I am in...sarcastic.
Fun read, I cant wait for the next one to show up in the mail!

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Feb 04, 2012 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one took me a little while to get into and I almost gave up at a couple of points early on. I think it was partially because the book just dove right into this new milieu without much setup and it was a little odd. I was wanting to enjoy this as it combined some interesting choices - fantasy/magic with computers in a modern-day setting.

However, about half-way through the book, I finally settled in and started to enjoy it. It turns out to be a decent read - and, once the plot is finally esta...more

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Jul 31, 2010 Todd Macy rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a wonderful mix of mythological, technological and contemporary elements.

The author creates a main character, Ravirn, who is an easily likeable "bad boy." There were some times during the story where I was confused as to how Ravirn got hurt so badly soon after showing superhuman strength and/or dexterity but these times were few and easily forgotten due to Mr. McCullough's innate storytelling ability.

Weaving the idea of "yesterday's magic is today's science" together with characters straig...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Angela Delgado rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the cleverest and most enthralling fantasy series to come out recently. I loved the blending of magic, technology and Greek mythology.

Ravirn, the hero, is a very dynamic character; a smart-alec hacker whose talent with coding spells is the only thing keeping him from getting into even more trouble than he already does. I really enjoy stories that include something about the mechanics of spell-casting, and this definitely delivered on that score. I also liked the quick-fire back-an...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Shane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, fantasy

A pleasant, mildly campy little novel that details the exploits of Ravirn, the grandson of one of the three Fates. Much of the lore and setting in the novel is taken from Greek mythology. The plot features a system of magic use that is described, and thought of by the characters, in a computer-hacking paradigm, which was very interesting. The language and phrasing stayed relatively serious with but occasionally some silly descriptions turned up where the author seemed to try too hard to make it...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Gary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Gary by: Terra

Shelves: borrowed-from-terra, urbanfantasy

An intriguingly different approach to urban fantasy that mixes a lot more fantasy into the urban instead of the other way around. Mixes geek with Greek.

Geek: the main character is a hacker who belongs to a long line of hackers and computer developers from way back. Way, WAY back.

Greek: because his great-to-the-nth-grandmother is Lachesis. You know, the second incarnation of the goddess(es) of Fate. The one that measures the threads of mortal lives. That Lachesis.

Ravirn has stumbled onto a dastar...more

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May 15, 2008 Bearded_Brewer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

This is a story that takes place in modern times and assumes that all of greek mythology is true. Then it tries to find a way to mix that mythology with an internet/web based magic system. The rules of said magic system are never fully explained, and I'm not sure the author ever mapped them out for himself, which is fine if it is possible to figure it out in context. Maybe I'm not that quick, who knows.
All in all it was an interesting read, and I wouldn't tell anyone not to read it. However, It...more

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Mar 04, 2008 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: urban fantasy fans, computer geeks, mythology buffs

Recommended to Kim by: I think it was reviewed on Maria V. Snyder's blog

This book, the first in a series, introduces an apparently new genre: urban science fantasy. Ravi Latcher is a college student (at the U of M! Like me!) and expert hacker (and there the resemblance ends); he also happens to be Ravirn, the many-times-great grandson of Lachesis, one of the three fates. In Ravirn's world, spells are cast in code, webgoblins shift into laptop computers, and the Greek gods. . .well, they're just about as arbitrary and petty as mythology tells us they should be: "At t...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Tankerbay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not a bad read overall. I would put this much more into the Fantasy genre than Science Fiction, though. While there's a lot of computer jargon, there's not much actual science behind it. However, the take on the Greek Pantheon and it's conversion to modern times is a very nice idea and has some room for exploration. The story is very fast and action-oriented, in the vein of Butcher or Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series, something that seems to be becoming more common. It's a fun read, and I'll try...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Betazed rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you could imagine The Matrix applied to the premise of Greek Mythology instead of a modern metropolis, then you begin to realize what the book is like. The magic system is not described well but it's more than sufficient to get that spells are programmed like computer software and there are other forms of magic that are considered "classical" or "anachronistic" that should be clear to most.

The shifts between different worlds and realities are remarkably easy to follow and the story is absolut...more

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May 11, 2011 Doris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Greek gods control the multiverse through a magically run computer network! I enjoyed the book, but it had a major flaw - after centuries of magic use, these "people" can't figure out a way to work major magic without shedding of blood.

Our anti-Hero descends from the Fates, and is a demi-god of sorts himself. This intro to the new world promises a good adventure, and delivered it - with a twist - when adventure's road sends him on the road to Hades.

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Feb 17, 2013 Den rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

When people ask me for recommendations on what books to read, this is the first one I recommend.

First one. Every time. Without exception.

I found this book in the store and was intrigued by the name (and admittedly, the cover) and fell into a world that qualifies for its own genre. I cannot think of a fantasy nut or a sci-fi fan that will not enjoy this or the four books that follow it.

Read it. Just read it.

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Sep 07, 2011 Siew Ee rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am very sure you have not read a fantasy book where the characters weave spells in the form of computer instructions, through goblins/trolls etc that double up as laptops. Yup! this book gives you that. It took me a while to marry the two totally unrelated concepts - Greek mythology and IT. However, that aside, the storyline is credible, quite interesting and it's action all the way. The main character, Ravirn, seems to have a knack for inviting trouble, simply by virtue of the fact that he is...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Christy Stewart rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, fantasy, romance, paranormal-romance, books-i-own, fiction, speculative-fiction, contemporary, paranormal, campy, reviewed

It is a great idea for a story but for heavens sakes...It doesnt follow the plot at all. Its like, "Here is the plot, I'm going to go miles from it and think about my feelings constantly." And for the life of me, I dont know why the author needs to tell you what everyone is wearing in detail. How about this, I'll assume everyone has clothes on until I'm told differently.

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Aug 03, 2012 Tasula rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book updates magic and old gods with computers- so laptops turn into webgoblins, and the Goddess of Discord is an expert programmer. It has a Dresdenish or Kevin Hearne's Hounded feeling- our hero is always in trouble but trying to to the right thing, so he has a lot of friends and allies to help with the large number of enemies after his head. Very engaging.

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Jan 10, 2013 Scribal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ravirn is sophisticated and ironic and amusing without being tedious. And the take on classical mythology is original and deftly handled. Not terribly deep and a little juvenile, but fun even for adults. If this series wasn't handled with humor and flair it would be stupid. But it is! So Yay!

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Mar 27, 2009 Jakob Barnard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2009

I actually really enjoyed this book. The mix of hacker mentality combined with the Greek mythos was something that I found oddly entertaining from the start and just pulled me along till I finished it.

I would recommend this book to anyone as it is a fun read with a snarky sense of humor.

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Quotes from Webmage

“I may not have any power over it at the moment, but at some point that must change. I can be very patient. I am the end of all things, nephew mine. I shall be the last. When birth has ended, I wil cut Clotho's cord, and she will be no more. The time will come when every last thread has been measured, and I will snip Lachesis from the great weave. In the end only Death and I will remain. Then I will cut his thread, and it will be me alone. With my last strength I will close the shears on my own life. I am the end of everything, including you.” — 10 people liked it

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