Perry Z has a Magical Destiny.
Born to a Magical Fantasy Princess and a nine-to-five Supervillain in the most superhero riddled city in the world, Perry’s never felt…adequate. He’s got no talent for magic, and not a scrap of superpowers to his name.
When The System boots and unlocks his powers, it forces him to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he’d rather take after his mother…
Maybe there’s a way he can do both…
As of writing this review, I’ve read and finished this banger series.
I know, it’s crazy. A finished series? In this genre? In this economy?!
Macronomicon, you’re the best.
Alrighty, so let’s dig in. Perry is effectively superhero royalty. And also literally alien royalty. His mother (daughter of the Manitian queen after they fled their world) is a powerful mage. His father, a renowned Tinker. Perry has a lot of pressure to perform and follow in their footsteps, which would be so much easier if he could, you know, use spells just like his mother. Dad to the rescue (sort of, no spoilers!) by creating his Magnum Opus, Perry’s System that allows his to grow his stats, pick a Tinker class, and (down the line) pick perks.
The family dynamics are great here, with the two parents acting like people who actually love each other and have kept the spark alive for years. That’s a reoreoccurring strength of the series, with well-developed characters that each have their own personality, goals, and patterns of speech.
Now, its difficult to go into the crafting without spoilers, but it’s fun, inventive, and yes, by book four Perry is completely off the rails in what he can do. Initial plot points focus on Perry trying to establish himself (a Tinker needs a trap-filled lair, right?), and then fighting against small-time competitors and a nemesis, before the overarching plot shows up via The Tide coming in. Think monsters pouring out of the sea for a fortnight at a time and everyone trying to make sure the city walls don’t fall and turn the population into food. On the other side (ie in the inland side), you’ve got a race of sentient machines called Replicators, which were created by, you guessed it, Professor Replica, an Omni-class Tinkerer from decades ago that are now trying to wipe out humanity. Fun!
Minor general plot spoiler below.
So yeah, there are plot arcs about the Replicators too, but honestly I sort of wish that the series went on for another book or two where Perry brought his attention to The Tide itself. I was expecting there to be a massive arc digging into what The Tide is, the monsters and ocean life, and creating a permanent solution, but its treated as just a Thing that is part of life now, when it seemed so obvious to me that The Tide would be the Big Bad the finish the series on.
Still, just because I was hoping for even more books doesn’t mean the resolution with the actual Big Bad wasn’t satisfying and well done. Perry, friends, and family all get their happy end, even though by the end of the books the initial cast (specifically Heather and Hardcase) are relegated to the sidelines due to the massive power discrepancy between them now.
I really enjoyed this take on crafting and how the MC uses his abilities to solve so many different problems, from combat, logistics, farming, governance, transportation, and blackmail. Wish there was more.
