A couple of jerks wake me up at the crack of noon. Seems my klepto uncle stole an ancient deck of Tarot cards from a high-powered wizard, and too many losers want to ruin my day to get them back.The cards are cool, so I check them out, but my magic-happy cousin, Sabrina, tells me I’m not supposed to touch them. Oops. Too late. Now the damn cards are tuned to me, and if someone else wants to use … wants to use them, I have to die. Why couldn’t she have led with that information?
Magic was never my scene, but my dad is one of the most powerful wizards in the world, so I’ve got unrealized potential if I ever bother to apply myself. I’d rather power nap, but with wizards, gunslingers, and cannibalistic shark dudes coming at me, that’s not gonna happen.
They say I’m a half-assed wizard, but if I don’t play my cards right, I’m gonna get my whole ass killed.
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Quite the page-turner and full of witty fun!
The Half-Assed Wizard (Book 1) by Gary Jonas and narrated by Joe Hempel turned out to be way more entertaining than I expected. Recommend if you like smart-ass characters and magic. 4 ½ stars for story, 5 stars for narration.
What’s it about? Brett lives at his parents house and lacks any kind of ambition other than to play with his band and even that’s questionable. His father is one of the top magicians in the world, while Brett wants nothing to do with magic or his father. His cousin, Sabrina, is also skilled at magic, in the family business, and helps to ground Brett. One of his band mates is a vampire. Brett ends up getting himself into a life and death situation with a deck of Tarot cards. The magical objects (Hendrix guitar) and bad guys (the shark men) add a certain amusement to the story. My favorite was the carpet, Mangani, that eats people. The only problem I had is it’s difficult to connect to Brett because he’s so much of a spoiled turd at times, but his situation changes towards the end and the potential for him to redeem himself in current and future installments is a possibility. We also learn a little of why he is the way he is as the book progresses and this could serve as a lesson as to not judge because we never know what’s going on behind the scenes.
The narrator, Joe Hempel, was amazing. He nailed the MC perfectly- he had me laughing several times. Definitely a great fit for this story.
“After give or six whiskeys, I was spiraling downward, but thought I was profound and had the secret of the universe ready to spill from my lips.”
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“You’re not going to hook up with anyone, Brett. You have an appointment, and your father and cousin are counting on you.” (Michael)
I started laughing. “They’re f*cked.” (Brett) This scene, Joe had me laughing with the way he said this, if you listen to any part of the book, make sure it’s this scene.
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“I had two choices. I could be perfect, which was never going to happen. Or I could stop trying.”
Overall, I highly recommend, especially if you prefer a little magic with your snark. I will listen to the second book asap if it becomes available as an audiobook.
Parental guidance/trigger warnings: drinking alcohol, smoking a joint, sex talk, father is abusive (mention of past physical abuse and the father and MC get in a fight in the book where the father physically hurts the MC, verbally abusive), death (via multiple ways, usually magical). Language used: fx20, sx50, hellx30, and possibly more I’m missing.
*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!
The Half-Assed Wizard: Book 1
Written by: Gary Jonas
Narrated by: Joe Hempel
I requested this audible book and the review is voluntary.
I have read almost all of Gary Jonas books and love them all so much so when I saw this I jumped for it. I have the eBook of this book but just haven’t read it yet. I would love to ‘hear’ it. I was lucky to be chosen. This book do not disappoint. It was full of the Jonas humor, adventure, and crazy situations that Jonas characters seem to get into. Fun and exciting is the words I would describe this book. I am always glad to read his book and want to kick myself for waiting to read this.
The narrator did an awesome job so I am glad that I waited in that way. I have listened to this narrator before and he always adds so much to a story. He takes a great story and makes it “POP”. Great job!!!
I actually saw a comparison to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books – that’s a discredit to The Dresden Files. To be a main-character slacker is fine, but he wasn’t even a particularly clever, snarky, slacker… I liked the beginning but everything rather quickly fell into the land of the trope/stereotype and that’s when it lost me.