What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Elegy Beach
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED: SF book, airstream/RV park, magic spells as subroutines [s]
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Dec 09, 2014 09:44AM
I read this book in the last 5 years and I can't remember the title. It was a science fiction or fantasy book. The protagonist sold spells out of a silver airstream (in an RV park I think). He and his friend discovered a way to 'shortcut' magic by making pre-packaged spells that worked like computer subroutines. They made a business out of selling these little magic gizmos. I know it's not much to go on but I don't remember the names or plot points as much as the setup and the fact that I liked it. I was going to see if the author had written anything else and I realized I didn't know the name of the author or the book. Now I can't get it out of my head. :D Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Not sure all the details fit, but the spells working like computer subroutines was done in the "Wizardry" series by Rick Cook.Wizard's Bane is the first one.
Wow... No, it's not that one (the one i'm talking about is on this Earth, more contemporary)... but the books you mention look cool to me. So thanks! I'll check them out.
Here's a list (from Tvtropes) of magic-as-technology stories http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php... which is probably the category where magic subroutines would fit. Maybe Jack Chalker's "Dancing Gods" books?
cool. thx. (and yeah, i love jack chalker's stuff) this book wasn't actually technology though, i just thought of it as subroutines cause i used to do computer programming. it was an author i'd never heard of (not sure if it was a first time offer or not). i know it's not a lot to go on but it's stuck in my head. :D
Bentley wrote: "cool. thx. (and yeah, i love jack chalker's stuff) this book wasn't actually technology though, i just thought of it as subroutines cause i used to do computer programming. it was an author i'd ne..."The trope page covers stories where magic is used like it's technology which might fit your book's magic subroutines even if it's not the Chalker.
Actually, you're looking for Steven R. Boyett's, _Elegy Beach_. It's a loose sequel to his very first novel, which if you're a stickler for consistency will drive you mad - as he moves forward the date of the apocalypse between books, so the apocalypse was in like 1980 in one book, but one generation after ipods in this book. I mean, WTF!? author. Just say it's set in an adjacent alternative world, or something. :PBut, both are great reads. However, if you're looking to get his first book, pick the revised, revised version - it has all the forewords and afterwords, and all the additional text (rewrites) and corrections.
Thanks for moving this to the Solved folder.It would be awesome if you re-title the subject line with "SOLVED: (your subject line, unedited)" so that when your thread comes up on a search, people can easily know that there's an answer to this question, without having to read through the whole thread.
Thanks for the tip! It showed up as solved for me but I didn't think about adding the SOLVED in front of it. Such a cool group! :)
