Customer Reviews

Worldweavers: Spellspam

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What would the world be like if the spam we got in our email could actually cast magical spells upon us? That's the story behind SPELLSPAM, the second book in the WORLDWEAVERS series.

Thea and her friends are in the school library when a fellow student goes running from the room, her skin transparent, showing all the gore beneath it. The poor unsuspecting student opened and read an email stating that you could have the clearest skin you could possibly imagine. This is the start of the email epidemic that Thea has nicknamed spellspam. The name spellspam apparently sticks, even with members of the FBM, Federal Bureau of Magic.

Thea and her friends have discovered the "why" of the spellspam, but it's up to her and her friend Terry to discover the "how" of the spellspams. So it is decided that Thea and Terry are to spend a summer internship at the home of Professor de lose Reyes. The Professor is one of the most knowledgeable in the technological world, and his home is the second hub of the magical Nexus. Terry and Thea suspect that the sender of the spellspam has infiltrated the Internet via his computer access.

At first the professor believes that he can learn nothing from the two children. But as Thea and Terry spend more time in his Elemental house (a house that will do whatever you wish by merely thinking it), they are more certain that the culprit is in their midst. With the help of various members of the household and Thea's family, they take on the quest to solve the mystery of the spellspam.

Ms. Alexander crafts a creative story that keeps the reader engrossed and marveling at the worlds that are created. The story moves quickly and the characters are truly unique.

One piece of advice though. This is the second story in the series, following GIFT OF THE UNMAGE, and to fully understand and appreciate the story, it's best to have read the first book. The story can definitely be followed, but there is a lot that is referenced from past adventures that would be clearer to the reader if they have the background knowledge. Having said that, I quite enjoyed this story and look forward to more adventures with Thea and her unlikely group of heroes.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

An email spam is not only a pain but causing havoc as it's infused with magic. These spellspams are now inflicting the students at Wandless Academy. What starts out as a practical joke, soon gets worse. Thea thought she was the only one with the ability to reach through the computer with magic. Now it's up to her and her friends to find out who's behind the spellspams before they get much worse.

Fans of HP will enjoy this unique world where magic coexists with our world. Thea's abilities to weave dreams is interesting. I enjoyed her conversations with Grandmother Spider. The idea of emails being laced with magic is interesting especially when the author shows some of the effects of these spells. This fast paced story is engaging. I can't wait to see what Thea will do in the sequel.

It's the next year with everyone back at the Wandless Academy. A girl, LaTasha, runs screaming from the Library. To Thea she looked like she had no skin on her face just the muscles. Thea finds the spam email LaTasha read still on the computer screen; guaranteeing clearer skin than you can image. Could there be a spell involved? Here at the Wandless Academy where no one can do magic. And from through the computers where magic can't affect any one... Is Thea going to be the one blamed for all these spellspams since the principle knows what she can do?

This book is an excellent second book. It focuses on the wonderful story more than the setup of the characters and magical world. I felt there were two additional climaxes to the storyline that went with the main story, almost like two bonus short stories added in. The spellspams were fun as the way they were worded made me chuckle and as the story went on I wanted to figure out what the spell would affect before I knew the results of it.

Thea and her friends are curious about what they did with the computers last year, as they are a group on magicless kids in a world full of magic - and last year seemed like magic. They start to investigate more into the unique computer magic. Thea had thought she was the only person that could touch computers in a magical way, but these new spellspams leave her wondering if there is someone else out there like her.

In this book Thea's powers start to grow. It is also very nice to see Thea stand on her own two feet when it comes to her magical abilities. She is starting to get better control of what she can do, when to ask for help, and who to ask. Thea is a young girl starting to grow up. We also take Thea out of her safe zone of the Wandless Academy which opens up a door to more danger. The Alphiri are still a shadow in the back of Thea's mind that could jump out and take her at any time.

I enjoyed the characters in this book as well. Thea's aunt is one of my favorites for the way she talks and her magic. But I enjoyed the way all the characters interact with each other. Alma is great at picking up children's views of happenings around them.

This book is great for Young Readers and Young Adults as there is no gory violence and not sexual content.

A good sequel is hard to do, but this book is better than good. The technology is a little weak, but the plotting and characterization remain very strong. This book continues to explore the price of choice and the value of sacrifice. Again, I was glad to not need to wait for the next book.

Thea is a character with depth who has grown through her adventures in Book I of Worldweavers. Her magical talent of creating virtual worlds that one can actually enter is a creative twist on the virtual realities of today and certainly one I would love to have:) Spellspam carries the evil nature of email spam to greater lengths by introducing magic spam. Think of all those curses at the end of chain letters, all that spam suggesting that one might be bald or in need of enlarging, etc. Now imagine that reading them causes them to happen. Spam viruses really can make you ill. Luckily Thea and her friends are up to taking on the mystery of who and why.

This is a lovely YA Fantasy with a well realized "world", an interesting main character and secondary characters, and a fun plot.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was definitely better than the first one. I won't go into plot detail here. But I will say Thea has grown and matured since the previous book. And while she still isn't fully aware of all of her gifts, she knows how to get the job done with the help of her friends. This book is like the last one, in that it makes you think and keeps you on your toes. I would definitely reccommend it!!!!!

Ugh. Mindless drivel, and a knock-off of Harry Potter combined with a poor imitation of the cyberpunk genre. Not worth the time to read. I threw it away after the first chapter, seriously. If you want to read Harry Potter or Christopher Paolini-type books, stick to those. And if you want cyberpunk, stick to Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and Neal Stephenson. But don't waste your time on this steaming pile of words.