Magicnet

DeChancie's latest is a fantasy overlaid with a thin veneer of science fiction, its plot based on a bizarre blend of computer communication and sorcery. With the precision and speed of computers, the invocation of magic spells has become easier and more effective. Certain sorcerous hackers have developed MagicNet, a sort of online cyberspace network where magic works, demons roam and the ambitious wizard Lloyd Merlin Jones schemes to consolidate his growing control. Smart-alecky English professor Schuyler King receives a disturbing phone call and a mysterious package from his odd friend Grant Barrington, who soon thereafter meets a bloody and untimely end. The package contains software that conjures Grant's ghost, who directs Schuyler in a confrontation with Merlin Jones. DeChancie ( Castle Kidnapped ) adopts a lighthearted tone laced with sarcastic wit, which makes his rather absurd premise almost palatable; but the plot veers too quickly into random action, spinning its wheels aimlessly before tying up the ends in a perfunctory climactic scene. This is an entertaining bit of fluff, an afternoon's diversion, but no more. (Dec.)