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MagicNet
Schuyler "Skye" King's life is thrown into chaos when he listens to the murder of a friend over the telephone and is hurled into a world ruled by magic where he, a witch, and his friend's doppelganger take on some vicious computer hackers.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 1993
6 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
John DeChancie
55 books109 followersFrom his website:
John DeChancie is the author of over two dozen books, fiction and nonfiction, and has written for periodicals as widely varied as Penthouse and Cult Movies. His novels in the science fiction and fantasy genres have been attracting a wide readership for more than fifteen years, and over a million copies of his books have seen print, many in foreign languages.
John's first work was Starrigger (Berkley/Ace ,1984), followed by Red Limit Freeway (1985) and Paradox Alley (1987), completing the Skyway Trilogy, one of the most imaginative, mind-expanding series in science fiction. Beloved of SF readers around the world, the trilogy has become a cult classic. It is no exaggeration to say that the trilogy has found a place in the hearts of readers along with the works of Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke. Jerry Pournelle, co-author with Larry Niven of the classics The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer, has compared the series to the best of A. E. van Vogt, and better written. The convoluted plot takes the reader on a mind-bending journey to the end of the universe and back.
His humorous fantasy series, beginning with Castle Perilous, became a best seller for Berkley/Ace. William Morrow published MagicNet, which Booklist said was "a welcome sigh of comic relief ... shamelessly droll, literate, and thoroughly entertaining. Magicnet is the fantasy genre's whimsical answer to Neuromancer." He has also written in the horror genre. His short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and in numerous original anthologies, the latest of which is Spell Fantastic. His story collection, Other States of Being, was recently published by Pulpless.com, Inc., an online and print-on-demand publisher.
He currently lives in Los Angeles and is at work writing novels, articles, short stories, and screenplays. His latest book was the short story collection THE LITTLE GRAY BOOK OF ALIEN STORIES published by Borderlands Press. John's most recent short story publication was in the original anthology SPACE CADETS, edited by Mike Resnick and published by LAcon IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention. The book was published in both limited and trade hardback editions. The book is available here . He has just completed a mystery novel and information on this new book (something different from anything he has ever written) is forthcoming. He will also have two new film articles in the second big issue of the new cult film magazine MONDO CULT, also forthcoming.
John DeChancie is the author of over two dozen books, fiction and nonfiction, and has written for periodicals as widely varied as Penthouse and Cult Movies. His novels in the science fiction and fantasy genres have been attracting a wide readership for more than fifteen years, and over a million copies of his books have seen print, many in foreign languages.
John's first work was Starrigger (Berkley/Ace ,1984), followed by Red Limit Freeway (1985) and Paradox Alley (1987), completing the Skyway Trilogy, one of the most imaginative, mind-expanding series in science fiction. Beloved of SF readers around the world, the trilogy has become a cult classic. It is no exaggeration to say that the trilogy has found a place in the hearts of readers along with the works of Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke. Jerry Pournelle, co-author with Larry Niven of the classics The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer, has compared the series to the best of A. E. van Vogt, and better written. The convoluted plot takes the reader on a mind-bending journey to the end of the universe and back.
His humorous fantasy series, beginning with Castle Perilous, became a best seller for Berkley/Ace. William Morrow published MagicNet, which Booklist said was "a welcome sigh of comic relief ... shamelessly droll, literate, and thoroughly entertaining. Magicnet is the fantasy genre's whimsical answer to Neuromancer." He has also written in the horror genre. His short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and in numerous original anthologies, the latest of which is Spell Fantastic. His story collection, Other States of Being, was recently published by Pulpless.com, Inc., an online and print-on-demand publisher.
He currently lives in Los Angeles and is at work writing novels, articles, short stories, and screenplays. His latest book was the short story collection THE LITTLE GRAY BOOK OF ALIEN STORIES published by Borderlands Press. John's most recent short story publication was in the original anthology SPACE CADETS, edited by Mike Resnick and published by LAcon IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention. The book was published in both limited and trade hardback editions. The book is available here . He has just completed a mystery novel and information on this new book (something different from anything he has ever written) is forthcoming. He will also have two new film articles in the second big issue of the new cult film magazine MONDO CULT, also forthcoming.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2021
I saw this at a used bookshop, and picked it up for about three bucks, expecting an ironic good time--I mean, just look at that cover! It's practically an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in book form. Sadly, the actual contents don't deliver on that. What we get instead is an ugly mashup of Mage: The Ascension and a mainline Shin Megami Tensei game, seen through the lens of self-awareness that isn't nearly as clever as the author thinks it is. Case in point: that cover? I think it shows up in the book itself.
"There was a paperback on the floor, something with a neologism for a title and a sword-wielding Amazon in a fur bikini on its gaudy cover. I picked it up and began to read. It was awful. Regarding the prose, "purple" was not quite le mot juste. I think the actual color shaded into the ultraviolet, and the dialogue was as pulpy as the cheap stock it was printed on."
That's this book, except the bikini-clad woman on the front doesn't have a sword. And DeChancie's prose is just as purple as what he's deriding. Protip: Just because you acknowledge a flaw with a wink and a nod doesn't mean that flaw doesn't exist.
MagicNet follows Skye King, an English professor who's supposed to be 36, but comes across like he's 63, as he gets caught up in a supernatural web of intrigue whose rules change whenever it's convenient to the "plot." His friend gets killed by a demon, but not before sending Skye a package containing a floppy disk that summons his ghost. So far, this is the sort of cheese I'd signed up for, but it quickly goes moldy.
Skye is a pretentious blowhard, with an astonishing dose of chauvinism thrown in for good measure. When he's not exhausting his thesaurus with endless mental monologues, he's wondering at length about such scholarly subjects as whether or not lesbians really like other women, or whether they just pretend to, to have influence over men. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.
His friend, Grant, is a ghost in a laptop, who can talk to Skye through a "voice module" (except when he arbitrarily doesn't need it anymore). And yet nobody ever seems to bat an eyelash at a guy arguing with his portable computer in 1993.
Jill is a lesbian witch who Skye finds himself pining over with increasing frequency. As of the halfway point in the book, where I stopped reading, I never saw her do anything aside from being the object of Skye's creepy observations. Also, she's best friends with Harlan Ellison. You know, the real-life author, who's actually talented. That was the proverbial last straw for me. Referencing other, better works in your crappy work is always a bad sign (DeChancie also directly rips off a Twilight Zone episode at one point), but this is borderline self-insertion fan fiction.
I'd expected MagicNet to be a silly, overblown romp, full of outdated computers doing things that computers from three decades ago patently couldn't do--I was expecting it to be fun. Instead, it saddles us with the worst, least-relatable and likable narrator I've seen in ages, takes itself way too seriously, and yet paradoxically doesn't even set rules for its own universe. There's nothing enjoyable here, even in an ironic sense.
"There was a paperback on the floor, something with a neologism for a title and a sword-wielding Amazon in a fur bikini on its gaudy cover. I picked it up and began to read. It was awful. Regarding the prose, "purple" was not quite le mot juste. I think the actual color shaded into the ultraviolet, and the dialogue was as pulpy as the cheap stock it was printed on."
That's this book, except the bikini-clad woman on the front doesn't have a sword. And DeChancie's prose is just as purple as what he's deriding. Protip: Just because you acknowledge a flaw with a wink and a nod doesn't mean that flaw doesn't exist.
MagicNet follows Skye King, an English professor who's supposed to be 36, but comes across like he's 63, as he gets caught up in a supernatural web of intrigue whose rules change whenever it's convenient to the "plot." His friend gets killed by a demon, but not before sending Skye a package containing a floppy disk that summons his ghost. So far, this is the sort of cheese I'd signed up for, but it quickly goes moldy.
Skye is a pretentious blowhard, with an astonishing dose of chauvinism thrown in for good measure. When he's not exhausting his thesaurus with endless mental monologues, he's wondering at length about such scholarly subjects as whether or not lesbians really like other women, or whether they just pretend to, to have influence over men. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.
His friend, Grant, is a ghost in a laptop, who can talk to Skye through a "voice module" (except when he arbitrarily doesn't need it anymore). And yet nobody ever seems to bat an eyelash at a guy arguing with his portable computer in 1993.
Jill is a lesbian witch who Skye finds himself pining over with increasing frequency. As of the halfway point in the book, where I stopped reading, I never saw her do anything aside from being the object of Skye's creepy observations. Also, she's best friends with Harlan Ellison. You know, the real-life author, who's actually talented. That was the proverbial last straw for me. Referencing other, better works in your crappy work is always a bad sign (DeChancie also directly rips off a Twilight Zone episode at one point), but this is borderline self-insertion fan fiction.
I'd expected MagicNet to be a silly, overblown romp, full of outdated computers doing things that computers from three decades ago patently couldn't do--I was expecting it to be fun. Instead, it saddles us with the worst, least-relatable and likable narrator I've seen in ages, takes itself way too seriously, and yet paradoxically doesn't even set rules for its own universe. There's nothing enjoyable here, even in an ironic sense.
November 9, 2022
I got drawn to this book in a used bookstore because of the cover, and what a mistake that was.
The protagonist is completely insufferable; he's a pretentious English professor in his mid-thirties, and his thoughts on women are deplorable.
He spends the entire story listing after his lesbian companion, who would've been a much more compelling protagonist, and the author even acknowledges this.
He constantly describes her with obvious sexual intent, and at one point, wonders if lesbians are actually attracted to women, or just want power over men. When I read that line, I was very tempted to close the book and throw it at a wall.
But still I trudged on, because, well, the rest of the characters were alright, and the premise of the story was pretty interesting. I wanted to see how the story went, and hey, surely his weird attraction to the lesbian won't amount to anything, right? The story wasn't supposed to be about their relationship, and wouldn't really add much to the story.
Well, unfortunately, it did, in a way. There's an explicit scene where a magically conjured woman has sex with him disguised as a lesbian, claiming she's actually bisexual and into him, and he does nothing to stop her, despite the fact that he's already dating someone. I probably should've stopped reading there and then, as repulsed as I was by the scene, but I was in too deep. I had to see how the story ended.
But instead of a climax to the story, which was confusing and not a whole lot is properly explained, there was just disappointment, in my opinion.
It's really unfortunate, because the premise really did seem compelling, but it was bogged down by the gross treatment of the lesbian and the pretentious jerk of a protagonist who never really understood what was happening, and spent most of the book complaining about his circumstances.
The protagonist is completely insufferable; he's a pretentious English professor in his mid-thirties, and his thoughts on women are deplorable.
He spends the entire story listing after his lesbian companion, who would've been a much more compelling protagonist, and the author even acknowledges this.
He constantly describes her with obvious sexual intent, and at one point, wonders if lesbians are actually attracted to women, or just want power over men. When I read that line, I was very tempted to close the book and throw it at a wall.
But still I trudged on, because, well, the rest of the characters were alright, and the premise of the story was pretty interesting. I wanted to see how the story went, and hey, surely his weird attraction to the lesbian won't amount to anything, right? The story wasn't supposed to be about their relationship, and wouldn't really add much to the story.
Well, unfortunately, it did, in a way. There's an explicit scene where a magically conjured woman has sex with him disguised as a lesbian, claiming she's actually bisexual and into him, and he does nothing to stop her, despite the fact that he's already dating someone. I probably should've stopped reading there and then, as repulsed as I was by the scene, but I was in too deep. I had to see how the story ended.
But instead of a climax to the story, which was confusing and not a whole lot is properly explained, there was just disappointment, in my opinion.
It's really unfortunate, because the premise really did seem compelling, but it was bogged down by the gross treatment of the lesbian and the pretentious jerk of a protagonist who never really understood what was happening, and spent most of the book complaining about his circumstances.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2007
When I was an undergrad at Southern Illinois University, I tried on a few occasions to get involved in the slow-motion version of Usenet called FidoNet. It was like Usenet, but hosted on dial-up BBS systems that I would connect to with my 1200 baud modem and page through. You couldn't fit very much text on a screen and conversations evolved slowly and with much complexity. Eventually I gave up, but not before I extracted two names from that primal sludge: John de Chancie and Charles de Lint. John was a star on the net; people loved his books and he was also an irregular contributor to the discussions. I never saw a post from him, but I was intrigued.
About a year ago, I traded in like 10 boxes of books and went home with 15 books in trade. It's the hilarity of the used book store, I think. Anyway, one of the books I found there was MagicNet. I was pretty excited to read it.
I think de Chancie is a capable writer, and his characters were interesting. I found the pacing to be off, though, and his central world-notion or guiding metaphor or whatever incompletely realized. I think that in the end I was a little disappointed, but I'm not sure this book is the best by which to judge his entire corpus. I would be inclined to try out Castle Perilous, but I would not recommend this volume. It wasn't bad, just not great.
About a year ago, I traded in like 10 boxes of books and went home with 15 books in trade. It's the hilarity of the used book store, I think. Anyway, one of the books I found there was MagicNet. I was pretty excited to read it.
I think de Chancie is a capable writer, and his characters were interesting. I found the pacing to be off, though, and his central world-notion or guiding metaphor or whatever incompletely realized. I think that in the end I was a little disappointed, but I'm not sure this book is the best by which to judge his entire corpus. I would be inclined to try out Castle Perilous, but I would not recommend this volume. It wasn't bad, just not great.
September 9, 2012
This is a well written book, and despite having been written in the early 90s and based on computer technology of that era (You run programs by typing their name in at the DOS prompt. There is no mouse to be seen), the story holds up very well.
The main idea in this story is that with the aid of computers to add precision to magic, magicians have created a parallel magical universe. Spells work, and demons can be summoned and can kill people.
Skye King, the viewpoint character, learns this the hard way when a longstanding friend of his dies just that way. But that's only the start of their interaction. Grant, the dead friend, is now a ghost communicating with King through a computer program. King's mission, should he choose to accept it, is to deal with Merlin Jones, wizard, sysop of Magicnet, and occasional sender of demons.
It's a good romp through Los Angeles like you've never seen it before, and my never see it again. Unless you run the right software, of course.
The main idea in this story is that with the aid of computers to add precision to magic, magicians have created a parallel magical universe. Spells work, and demons can be summoned and can kill people.
Skye King, the viewpoint character, learns this the hard way when a longstanding friend of his dies just that way. But that's only the start of their interaction. Grant, the dead friend, is now a ghost communicating with King through a computer program. King's mission, should he choose to accept it, is to deal with Merlin Jones, wizard, sysop of Magicnet, and occasional sender of demons.
It's a good romp through Los Angeles like you've never seen it before, and my never see it again. Unless you run the right software, of course.
March 21, 2017
unrewarding garbage. avoid at all costs.
August 5, 2025
I had fond memories of Castle Perilous and was excited to find this in a used bookstore, but it was so bad it's sullied that childhood recollection.
I understand that times have changed but the negative reviews that gave up halfway didn't make it to the protagonist describing himself as the "helpless but happy" target of what he perceived as implausible female-initiated sexual assault, those readers having given up at his theorizing on whether homosexuality is a mechanism for controlling men... and that's aside from the confusing tangents just complaining about unhoused people and some weird casual racism at the end.
Astoundingly, these are not the book's worst writing sins. The main literary device, that a magic BBS has blurred the lines of reality, is not only never explained-despite inquiry- but doesn't follow the rules of its own universe. Somehow Skye is the only person who has never logged in and doesn't know how to log out yet is experiencing the opt-in effects. The system is global but they have to travel to the "mainframe" to disrupt it. The subjective nature of reality is generally abused rather than explored.
Most strangely, deChancie often acknowledges these flaws in a way that I think was maybe meant to be parodic or flirting with metafiction but just came across as clumsy- our protagonist expresses frustration with expositional hand-waving and toward the end of the book is like, "huh it's weird that I haven't mentioned or thought about my girlfriend this whole time."
DeChancie seems to have gotten lost or bored, didn't know how to dig himself out, and ultimately resorts to a gun and unreliable narrator to put the thing out of its misery in the final fifteen pages.
I think (hope) if you were to ask him, he would say he was trying to satirize all of the worst of pulp fiction by maximizing its flaws- but the problem is that just results in a book that's simultaneously very bad and also condescending.
It's strange to log into Goodreads just to review a work that's been out of print for decades, but it so thoroughly shook my esteem for the author that I felt compelled.
Two stars only because the non-xenophobic anachronisms provided their own form of enjoyment- lots of "there's no phone nearby" and "I wish we had a map" (at least until, in one of those too-clumsy narrative glitches, one is suddenly on hand); and because I did enjoy my childhood experience of taking breaks from sci-fi/fantasy to look up new words... even if here somewhat shoehorned in.
I understand that times have changed but the negative reviews that gave up halfway didn't make it to the protagonist describing himself as the "helpless but happy" target of what he perceived as implausible female-initiated sexual assault, those readers having given up at his theorizing on whether homosexuality is a mechanism for controlling men... and that's aside from the confusing tangents just complaining about unhoused people and some weird casual racism at the end.
Astoundingly, these are not the book's worst writing sins. The main literary device, that a magic BBS has blurred the lines of reality, is not only never explained-despite inquiry- but doesn't follow the rules of its own universe. Somehow Skye is the only person who has never logged in and doesn't know how to log out yet is experiencing the opt-in effects. The system is global but they have to travel to the "mainframe" to disrupt it. The subjective nature of reality is generally abused rather than explored.
Most strangely, deChancie often acknowledges these flaws in a way that I think was maybe meant to be parodic or flirting with metafiction but just came across as clumsy- our protagonist expresses frustration with expositional hand-waving and toward the end of the book is like, "huh it's weird that I haven't mentioned or thought about my girlfriend this whole time."
DeChancie seems to have gotten lost or bored, didn't know how to dig himself out, and ultimately resorts to a gun and unreliable narrator to put the thing out of its misery in the final fifteen pages.
I think (hope) if you were to ask him, he would say he was trying to satirize all of the worst of pulp fiction by maximizing its flaws- but the problem is that just results in a book that's simultaneously very bad and also condescending.
It's strange to log into Goodreads just to review a work that's been out of print for decades, but it so thoroughly shook my esteem for the author that I felt compelled.
Two stars only because the non-xenophobic anachronisms provided their own form of enjoyment- lots of "there's no phone nearby" and "I wish we had a map" (at least until, in one of those too-clumsy narrative glitches, one is suddenly on hand); and because I did enjoy my childhood experience of taking breaks from sci-fi/fantasy to look up new words... even if here somewhat shoehorned in.
April 10, 2020
Not to bad - worth the read
So - as you can surmise from the title, this is a book about magic and the network. This takes place pre the internet but it does use bbs concepts. All in all it was OK, there was some sex but not too in your face, the main character was mostly along for the ride, but that's OK sometimes. This wouldn't be dechancie's best work, but if you like his style you will like this at least as well as the newer castle books. If you have read the castle books or the trucker books start there and then come back here.
I don't regret buying this a bit.
So - as you can surmise from the title, this is a book about magic and the network. This takes place pre the internet but it does use bbs concepts. All in all it was OK, there was some sex but not too in your face, the main character was mostly along for the ride, but that's OK sometimes. This wouldn't be dechancie's best work, but if you like his style you will like this at least as well as the newer castle books. If you have read the castle books or the trucker books start there and then come back here.
I don't regret buying this a bit.
July 24, 2012
If I can remember a book ten or twenty years later, that means it made an impact on me---especially if I only got to read it once. Though the "real world" is pretty average and realistic, the Magicnet is just crazy...but in a cool way. I want to read this book again so that I can get a solid review down for it.
May 10, 2012
Forgot that I had read this one before and not enjoyed it. Good premise, but it quickly dissolves into a hot mess.
didnotfinish
May 31, 2013Lost interest near the end and have zero interest in going back. The characters didn't wow me and the plot seemed too mutable.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews