The Wizardry Quested

Wiz #5

by Rick Cook

Preparing to protect a twenty-foot dragon from the wrath of his own wife, Wiz joins forces with his eccentric companions in an adventure filled with Soviet ex-spies, a band of dwarves, zombie dragon riders, and a fluffy pink mechanical rabbit. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Wizards

313 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Rick Cook is a journalist, computer hacker, and fantasy author best known for his "Wiz" series of books. Since his hospitalization in 2000 he has not resumed fiction writing.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Zaphied · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the third book I just found I was reading this to get it over with for the 2018 reading challenge. Reintroducing characters from that novel entry and an Enemy that did not really seem so made this a slog for me. While I couldn't really get into it it did advance the story though I believe this was the last published. However it did add details to the world universe and had more than quite a few genuinely humorous scenes. Every time the Lobster showed up was golden.

[Marianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read Wizardry Compiled, which was a fun merge of tech and fantasy. This book tried to revisit that feel, but the lingo felt forced and badly explained. The flow of the story felt awkward and fragmented.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but it's more of the same: the wizards contacting the non-magical world to get some help from there, while Wiz and others get on a quest.
Some original ideas on presenting the evolutionary programming concepts and using them in the plot.

[John Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for anyone in the software field.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a good deal livelier than the previous one, although there’s more action and outbreaks of the bizarre than genuine plot. At least you get the feeling that things are happening.

The author used up his main ideas in the first three books, and now he needs some new menace for the wizards to cope with. He finds something that will do; it’s quite an interesting idea, but perhaps it could have been better developed.

Not a boring book, but it leaves me rather unsatisfied.

With this series, you could stop reading after the third book without missing much. The fourth and fifth aren’t horrible, but they’re not up to the previous standard.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This last book of the Wiz series is the best of the lot. In some ways it's a retelling of the first book in the series, with many of the same story beats, but it's handled better than the first story.

The comedic and satirical elements are done well, the plot is engaging, the characters are personable and interesting, and the world building is excellent.

The entire series is recommended, especially for anyone with a foot in the technology industries, and particularly anyone who is, or has spent time with, a programmer.

It's regrettable that Rick Cook was unable to write anything further in the series. His talent is missed.

[Kevin Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly the last book in the series but it does go out on a high note.Gaming tropes abound, dungeon crawling with a humorous twist and good characterization.

I did a complete video review of it HERE. And followed it up with an examination of the series as a whole in two parts. Here and for part two Here

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may have been my favorite of the five book series (so far?). Maybe I am just getting used to this fantasy world and it does read like a fantasy computer game being played out, but it is nevertheless amusing and fun, two qualities I thoroughly enjoy while reading.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a logical extension of the fragmented writing that the series became prone to in the later books. The middle act is a series of wacky antics that has almost nothing to do with the story. The conclusion is simply a thud that might as well have been "well, I'm tired of writing. The end."

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. I love the energizer bunny.