In a world where magic is like softwareâbehind schedule, over budget and full of bugsâone of the last bespoke magic houses must debug a dangerous demon spell to have any hope of surviving.
The house of Harrold and Harrold have had their business cannibalized by Majick, the occulting system offered by the monopolistic Guild of Magicians. After his fatherâs death, Jack Harrold has taken on the duties of sales agent, but pickings are slim. Until he meets with a stranger who offers him a juicy project, a demon that is almost finishedâit merely has one bug.
If the house can find and fix the bug, they will receive enough to stay afloat. It seems so simple, but when the Harroldâs spellbinders get to work, things arenât as easy as they seemed and quickly get out of hand. More than the fate of their house, the fate of the entire world is at stakeâand only they can save things.
In a world where magic is like softwareâbehind schedule, over budget and full of bugsâone of the last bespoke magic houses must debug a dangerous demon spell to have any hope of surviving.
The house of Harrold and Harrold have had their business cannibalized by Majick, the occulting system offered by the monopolistic Guild of Magicians. After his fatherâs death, Jack Harrold has taken on the duties of sales agent, but pickings are slim. Until he meets with a stranger who offers him a juicy project, a demon that is almost finishedâit merely has one bug.
If the house can find and fix the bug, they will receive enough to stay afloat. It seems so simple, but when the Harroldâs spellbinders get to work, things arenât as easy as they seemed and quickly get out of hand. More than the fate of their house, the fate of the entire world is at stakeâand only they can save things.
What a time to be alive! With memories of the Great War and the Spanish flu fading, even the passage of the Volstead Act can't turn the national mood sober. The stock market seems to reach new heights weekly, and young people have thrown off the dour attitudes of their parents, preferring to be "flappers" and "dandies." Above it all rises the new world of magic. Even if it fails at times to live up to the extravagant promises of its purveyors, modern gemstone magic has placed in the hands of the common man powers that would make the ancient alchemists weep with envy.
Who among us can say what miracles lie ahead?
--from The Baxterâs Grove Times Opinion Pages
There was magic ahead. Jack Harrold could feel its dark power growing with every step.
The directions heâd been given had said nothing of this. In any other circumstance, he told himself, he would simply turn and walk back out the way heâd come. But a rich prospect was a rich prospect, and no less than beggars, young magicians could ill afford to be choosers.
The address was one of the toniest the city had to offer. In any decent world, Jack would already be inside, making his pitch in warmth and comfort. Instead, he had been instructed to go around the back, like a lowly delivery boy. It rankled. More than that, it made his mission more difficult. How did you ask a man to trust you with his business after allowing him to treat you with such calculated disrespect?
If you have to ask for his business, youâve already lost. Jack heard his fatherâs voice. The trick is to make the mark ask you. If you canât do that, boy, youâre no son of mine.
With an effort, Jack banished the painful memory. This was no time to be distracted by painful memories.
He had left nothing to chance in dressing for todayâs meeting. His shirt, tie, waistcoat and gloves were a white of such intensity as to assault the eyes. His top hat, cape, frock coat, trousers and boots were a black so deep it swallowed light. A subtle glamour prevented any dirt or wrinkles from marring the effect.
His hair was black, as were his eyes. The smooth skin of his cheeks shone nearly white, as did the long line of his nose. The only touch of color on his face was the dark red of his lips, which, in context, appeared shockingly carnal.
His cape was bound to his wrists by a charm of attraction so that, as Jack moved his arms in intersecting arcs, it followed in a delicate ballet of flowing silk. With a simple command, he floated his cane between his open palms, deftly levitating it out of the path of the billowing cape. An imperceptible nod sent his top hat summersaulting across one shoulder and down the attached arm, then back up the opposite arm and shoulder before finally resuming its position atop his head. All the while, he maintained a gaze so fierce and self-sure, it could stare down the devil himself.
The sharp click of his boot heels on the cobbled alley echoed off the bricks on either side of him. A damp gloom seemed to seep from the cracks between the bricks. It swallowed up the daylight as well as the sounds of life from the busy street at his back.
A sudden wave of anxiety nearly knocked him off his feet. It was the magic, of courseâa spell of discouragement or some such.
Should he regard the fact the prospect hadnât bothered to disable it an act of further disrespect? Or was this, rather, meant to be a test of his abilities?
He decided it was wisest to treat it as such. Not breaking stride, he shot his left shirt cuff. A thick silver bracelet encircled his wrist. The glyphs engraved into its surface were glowing and warm to the touch.
Jack pressed a combination of glyphs with his thumb and index finger. He looked around him, but the gloom seemed, if anything, to have grown thicker. He pressed a different combination, with the same result. The glyphs were noticeably warmer beneath his fingers, their glow the only light reaching his eyes.
Jack increased his pace, extending his bracelet-clad wrist before him like a torch. His breath was the only sound reaching his ears, as the gloom swallowed up everything else, including his footsteps. The darkness was near-absolute, even as his wrist felt like it was encircled by fire.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally arrived at a short stoop beneath a darkened doorway, but before he could take climb the first step, the earth at his feet split open like a rotten fruit, releasing a cloud of fiery gas. Its stench was beyond anything he had ever knownâa choking miasma of death and decay.
Screams of utter and total damnation seemed to emanate from the very depths of hell itself as a howling demon burst through the hole gaping before him. âWho dares disturb my slumber?!â roared the demon, scouring the area with flaming eyes before settling on Jackâs quaking form. âSpeak, wretched mortal! Speak or prepare to suffer my eternal wrath!â
Buffeted by the fiery gas, Jack fell to his knees. He opened his mouth to plead for his life, but for once, no words came.
âWho dares disturb my slumber?!â roared the demon. âFor the final time, identify yourself!â
Jack covered his eyes and prepared to die.
âIdentify yourself or prepare to suffer my eternal... my eternal... my eternal...â The demon sputtered, then stuttered, then froze as a final slurred squawk escaped its quivering mouth.
From between his fingers, Jack watched the demon disappear into a cloud of blue smoke, along with the darkness, the foul hole in the earth, the screams of total and utter damnation, and, most mercifully of all, the choking stench.
A ghostly finger appeared in midair and inscribed a flurry of white letters on the cloudâs surface. A problem has been detected, and Majick has been shut down to prevent damage to your conjuring system. If this is the first time youâve seen this Error Cloud, restart your system. If this cloud appears again, check to make sure any new spell or incantation is properly invoked. If this is a new Majick installation, ask your local Guild representative for any Majick updates you might need.
As the pounding in his chest began to subside, Jack became aware that he was sprawled in the dirt of the alley floor. For a long moment, he stared slack-jawed at the blue cloud hanging above him. The next thing he knew, he was on his feet, cursing and batting at the cloud like a long-limbed toddler in full tantrum.
Open Sorcery is a book based on the premise of Magic operating like coding in a modern world setting. It executes this premise excellently, both from the feel of how the spells are crafted arduous over a period of days or weeks, to how the magic system as a whole was implemented into and affects the world. The use of magic to artificially enhance physical appearance and attractiveness, or to advertise products, and thus necessitating magic to counter these effects (among a variety of other uses throughout the story) is both interesting and tangible to me.
The narrative itself well paced and fun, with a healthy sprinkling of humor from a collection of likable characters. The chapter to chapter conflicts are well varied and the core question of 'what is going on here' that provides the core of the narrative is interesting.
The characters themselves are decently complex, with the main ones being given distinctly human conflicts and motivations that help build empathy as well as sell the world. These motivations/experiences vary across the spectrum, capable of being fun (like a young man trying to flirt with a pair of girls) to more serious and depressing (a woman that a characters loves choosing his brother over him.) Theres other instances of this, but that last one is the largest and with the most effort devoted to it.
I found the ending weak, though, with revelation of what actually happening being rather pedantic for as interesting as the build up was. The climatic battle was also weak, with a significant portion of it being regulated to 'they fought with epic magic' before ultimately boiling down to a duel while the rest watched. The duel itself is fine, but lacks the depth and creativity displayed throughout the rest of the book, being just an exchange of spells/power without any additional layers or mind games (which is relevant since the magic of the world if often referred to as being primarily illusionary.)