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| Out of Spite, Out of Mind |
Even in a series where everything that can go wrong will go wrong, this is the one where the crap really hits the fan. Brit the Elder notices a glitch in the code that is making her memories go out of sync with Brit the Younger. Then her physical form starts glitching, too. Phillip teams up with her to try to solve the problem while trying to keep it a secret from Younger Brit who hates her older self. In the meantime, Martin and Gwen hit a rough patch when he almost, but not quite proposes. Then he gets distracted by a mysterious figure who is attacking Phillip. Everyone’s favorite bad guy resurfaces as do the agents tasked with investigating the wizards in the present day. Oh, and there’s a bit with Gary attracting minions.
I wish I could say that the whole is better than the sum of its parts, but this is the weakest book in the series. It had a high bar to meet since this is an incredibly fun and inventive series, but it doesn’t quite make it. The individual stuff is funny or at least entertaining, but it never coalesces into a whole. The stuff with Brit felt forced and the present day bits fizzled out without going anywhere.
This felt like a transitional book – something needed to get us from one place to another, but lacking the oomph to stand on its own. I am always happy to revisit this world and these characters and Luke Daniels is a talented narrator, but this one isn’t quite on par with the rest of the series.
Five stars by the skin of its teeth.
