Why You'll Love This
A murder mystery set in Atlantis, run by time-traveling sorceresses, solved by a hapless hacker who still can't get a date — Meyer somehow makes all of that work.
- Great if you want: comedic fantasy with a whodunit spine and geeky heart
- The experience: breezy and fast — the kind of book that disappears in a weekend
- The writing: Meyer's humor is dry and precise — jokes land through timing, not volume
- Skip if: you haven't read book one — the setup matters here
About This Book
Martin Banks is back, and this time the stakes are both larger and more personal. Whisked off to Atlantis—a utopian enclave governed by powerful Sorceresses and serving as a refuge for female time-travelers—Martin is juggling a diplomatic summit among colony leaders, a murder mystery that threatens to unravel the whole gathering, and a romantic situation that refuses to cooperate with his best intentions. Scott Meyer understands that the funniest comedies are built on genuine emotional stakes, and Spell or High Water earns its laughs precisely because Martin's fumbling actually matters.
What makes this second installment rewarding as a reading experience is Meyer's knack for pairing sharp comic timing with surprisingly tidy plotting. The jokes land because they grow out of character rather than interrupting the story, and the mystery at the novel's center holds together with more structural care than the light tone might suggest. Meyer writes dialogue that moves fast without feeling rushed, and his world-building keeps expanding in ways that feel logical rather than convenient. Readers who loved the first book will find this one hits a more confident stride.
