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Codecrafter
Tagg has come to Tilde for one to become a Codecrafter, a sorcerer who can forge her own magic spells. The road isn't an easy one. Tagg must face infinite loops, ornery students, tricky lang-monsters, and the wrath of a powerful queen.
Above all, she will face what it means to be a Codecrafter.
For the words that Tagg is learning aren't just magical. They are computer science.
Codecrafter is set in a world where spells are software, magic is programmed, and one girl must use all of her skills to outwit an enemy bent on her destruction.
Above all, she will face what it means to be a Codecrafter.
For the words that Tagg is learning aren't just magical. They are computer science.
Codecrafter is set in a world where spells are software, magic is programmed, and one girl must use all of her skills to outwit an enemy bent on her destruction.
- GenresYoung Adult
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 11, 2013
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 25, 2013
Codecrafter: Erica Sandbothe
Becoming a sorcerer is one young girl’s primary goal. Entering Tilde where she would take up residence for ten years was supposed to enrich her, help her become a Codecrafter and learn to forge her own magic spells. But, nothing seems to be the way she thought it would be for Tagg our newbie student. As the Lordsdaughter she is often ridiculed, harassed and made to feel unwanted since her father as been deemed a traitor and there are many who are out to not only get him but possibly kill her too. Coming to Tilde she would meet many sorcerers who would provide lessons that would be invaluable to becoming a Codecrafter and keeping her safe. Induction seems interesting as she learned to understand the reasoning behind why dominoes fall and the Pigeon Hole Theory. Learning from the start that she was basically on her own even though she had someone who was supposed to be protecting her, Tagg enter a world of programming, computer science filled with math, spells, technology and reasoning. Imagine even being exposed to Engineering and Math (STEM). Learning how to write her first spell, giving to what the author relates as a Lang-monster who either spits out what you are trying to create or creates a huge mess if you write the wrong code, Tagg feels challenged from the beginning. Finding a small box in front of her door proved dangerous. The end result if her protector did not realize it would have been fatal. Another incident with a key that has no rightful owner that anyone can trace lets Tagg know that she has to be on her guard at all times. Infinite loops, students that are anything but kind or friendly, lang-monsters and a queen named Floria who wants to dethrone her father, Codecrafter is an action packed short novel by a create and talented author named Erica Sandbothe. Girls are the prime focus for this book as Tagg sets the stage for others to enter the world of computer software, spells and learn how magic is literally programmed and prove that one young girl can use her mind, knowledge and skills to beat whomever is trying to destroy her.
Computers have so much to offer and the author takes young teens into the world of magic, spells, reasoning skills and much more to use math, reading and science to explore new worlds. But, Tagg is smart, learns fast and sometimes takes matters into her own hands when she decides to steal the directory of permissions to find out just who tried to kill her. But, when she deletes certain information, replaces the equations what happens sends Tilde into such chaos you have to read it to see what one young girl can do. But, sometimes we go too far and when she realizes that she might have jeopardized Rushingfoam from presenting his thesis because his lang-monster ran away and the information needed went with him, Tagg confesses and sets off a chain of events that will put her in grave danger. Running away from Rushingfoam, escaping Tilde Tagg finds herself in the hands of some soldier’s whose goal is to either rid the world of Tagg or present her to bring her to Floria. Tied and bound she could do nothing to free herself. Finding herself surrounded by partishes, eight to be exact would prevent her from leaving the circle that they created in order to keep her captive. Thinking over many days she finally realized that she had learned something from Rushingfoam that might help set her free. Just how she does this will bring reader’s back to the concept of the Pigeonhole Theory but does it work and is she set free you won’t know unless you read this for yourself. Computer science is amazing and Tagg uses her knowledge of formulas to try and free herself, redeem what she has caused Rushingfoam and hopefully be allowed to stay at Tilde to become a full fledged sorcerer.
In the words of the author herself from an interview:
Codecrafter is the culmination of my exploration of this idea, a fantasy book for children ages 10 and up where the spells are software and magic is programmed. Sorcerers are computer scientists, but more importantly, they are craftsmen and -women. By placing the coding at a more accessible level -- every child dreams of a world where they can make magic -- Codecrafter takes what might be abstract and threatening and places it in a familiar context.”
Enter Tilde and meet the lang-monsters, watch them eat the instructions that the sorcerers write and see how their spells are returned. But make sure you have a huge bucket and some sponges if you happen to mess up or write the code the wrong way. Tagg learns how to use the information she is taught to make things happen. When she casts her first spell and it works you will get up and applaud and wish that you could make the same words come out of your staff. This book teaches young children and teens what happens when you work hard, take pride in your tasks and completing them, do not expect special treatment, always asking questions to find out why despite the fact that her father wanted her to always accept what is and what she was told, Tagg is a definite positive role model. Critical thinking is an important skill that all children need to learn not only in reading but in math and other areas too. During each lesson she is encouraged to ask how what she is learning can be applied to other things and how it will help her in the future. Why? Is a vital question that we all must ask in order to learn more. What can I do with this information and where will it lead me? This book is quite interesting and I do hope the author will continue with Tagg’s story and her journey to becoming a true sorcerer with the help of her sponsor and protector Melga and the support she hopes of her father Dread Lord Morthigern. Hopefully more young girls will aspire to be like Tagg, want to learn more about computer programming and hopefully it will open new doors for them.
Programmers know to write code that works but how many know how to “craft great code- that is code that is easily understood. The purpose of this short novella is to encourage young people to explore the world of code craft, which teaches programmers how to write great code.
Meet Tagg the sorcerers and all of the lang-monsters living in Tilde and join her on her journey. This is a definite must read for all kids.
Fran Lewis : Reviewer
Becoming a sorcerer is one young girl’s primary goal. Entering Tilde where she would take up residence for ten years was supposed to enrich her, help her become a Codecrafter and learn to forge her own magic spells. But, nothing seems to be the way she thought it would be for Tagg our newbie student. As the Lordsdaughter she is often ridiculed, harassed and made to feel unwanted since her father as been deemed a traitor and there are many who are out to not only get him but possibly kill her too. Coming to Tilde she would meet many sorcerers who would provide lessons that would be invaluable to becoming a Codecrafter and keeping her safe. Induction seems interesting as she learned to understand the reasoning behind why dominoes fall and the Pigeon Hole Theory. Learning from the start that she was basically on her own even though she had someone who was supposed to be protecting her, Tagg enter a world of programming, computer science filled with math, spells, technology and reasoning. Imagine even being exposed to Engineering and Math (STEM). Learning how to write her first spell, giving to what the author relates as a Lang-monster who either spits out what you are trying to create or creates a huge mess if you write the wrong code, Tagg feels challenged from the beginning. Finding a small box in front of her door proved dangerous. The end result if her protector did not realize it would have been fatal. Another incident with a key that has no rightful owner that anyone can trace lets Tagg know that she has to be on her guard at all times. Infinite loops, students that are anything but kind or friendly, lang-monsters and a queen named Floria who wants to dethrone her father, Codecrafter is an action packed short novel by a create and talented author named Erica Sandbothe. Girls are the prime focus for this book as Tagg sets the stage for others to enter the world of computer software, spells and learn how magic is literally programmed and prove that one young girl can use her mind, knowledge and skills to beat whomever is trying to destroy her.
Computers have so much to offer and the author takes young teens into the world of magic, spells, reasoning skills and much more to use math, reading and science to explore new worlds. But, Tagg is smart, learns fast and sometimes takes matters into her own hands when she decides to steal the directory of permissions to find out just who tried to kill her. But, when she deletes certain information, replaces the equations what happens sends Tilde into such chaos you have to read it to see what one young girl can do. But, sometimes we go too far and when she realizes that she might have jeopardized Rushingfoam from presenting his thesis because his lang-monster ran away and the information needed went with him, Tagg confesses and sets off a chain of events that will put her in grave danger. Running away from Rushingfoam, escaping Tilde Tagg finds herself in the hands of some soldier’s whose goal is to either rid the world of Tagg or present her to bring her to Floria. Tied and bound she could do nothing to free herself. Finding herself surrounded by partishes, eight to be exact would prevent her from leaving the circle that they created in order to keep her captive. Thinking over many days she finally realized that she had learned something from Rushingfoam that might help set her free. Just how she does this will bring reader’s back to the concept of the Pigeonhole Theory but does it work and is she set free you won’t know unless you read this for yourself. Computer science is amazing and Tagg uses her knowledge of formulas to try and free herself, redeem what she has caused Rushingfoam and hopefully be allowed to stay at Tilde to become a full fledged sorcerer.
In the words of the author herself from an interview:
Codecrafter is the culmination of my exploration of this idea, a fantasy book for children ages 10 and up where the spells are software and magic is programmed. Sorcerers are computer scientists, but more importantly, they are craftsmen and -women. By placing the coding at a more accessible level -- every child dreams of a world where they can make magic -- Codecrafter takes what might be abstract and threatening and places it in a familiar context.”
Enter Tilde and meet the lang-monsters, watch them eat the instructions that the sorcerers write and see how their spells are returned. But make sure you have a huge bucket and some sponges if you happen to mess up or write the code the wrong way. Tagg learns how to use the information she is taught to make things happen. When she casts her first spell and it works you will get up and applaud and wish that you could make the same words come out of your staff. This book teaches young children and teens what happens when you work hard, take pride in your tasks and completing them, do not expect special treatment, always asking questions to find out why despite the fact that her father wanted her to always accept what is and what she was told, Tagg is a definite positive role model. Critical thinking is an important skill that all children need to learn not only in reading but in math and other areas too. During each lesson she is encouraged to ask how what she is learning can be applied to other things and how it will help her in the future. Why? Is a vital question that we all must ask in order to learn more. What can I do with this information and where will it lead me? This book is quite interesting and I do hope the author will continue with Tagg’s story and her journey to becoming a true sorcerer with the help of her sponsor and protector Melga and the support she hopes of her father Dread Lord Morthigern. Hopefully more young girls will aspire to be like Tagg, want to learn more about computer programming and hopefully it will open new doors for them.
Programmers know to write code that works but how many know how to “craft great code- that is code that is easily understood. The purpose of this short novella is to encourage young people to explore the world of code craft, which teaches programmers how to write great code.
Meet Tagg the sorcerers and all of the lang-monsters living in Tilde and join her on her journey. This is a definite must read for all kids.
Fran Lewis : Reviewer
June 25, 2015
This review was originally done per a request and can be found here: Book in the Bag
As many of you readers know we here at Book in the Bag do get requests from authors to read and review their books. If you are familiar with how we operate we do not promise to give good reviews only honest ones, thus I will dictate that I have received nothing more than a few e-mails and a copy of her first book Codecrafter from Erica.
To start off, the book is about a young girl named Tagglinde (Tagg for short) who is going to a school to learn how to be a sorceress. He spell work however is not your typical mystical fare but rather based in code and programming. She receives a magical stick that has a memory drive that she has to remember to defrag and her spells have to be written in proper code for them to come out and be usable. If you are familiar with any sort of coding you can see a lot of the connections between what she does in the book to actual coding, if not in a lot of ways everything is still very odd and mystical. I am not overly familiar with coding but I do know enough to be familiar with what was being talked about on some levels (most of what I have done has been BBC coding and very basic code to set up a web page back in the day).
Still, if you know about coding or you don’t the story is still and enjoyable read and is very well fitted for middle grade ages as Erica claims the book to be. The story was interesting and I wasn’t sitting there wondering when will this book end or regretting to volunteer to read the book. I only have one major complaint about the book which sometimes can be a good complaint and that is that the book wasn’t long enough. There were times where I would have loved a bit more pacing and a deeper exploration of certain things but all the same I enjoyed the read.
Aside from the book being a quick read of only 135 pages (perfect for the age range she is aiming for), my only remaining recommendation for future copies of the book if possible is to have a map or two in the front of the book showing the lands of the world of Codecrafter and maybe even a map of the school grounds where the gardens and school building are in Tilde. Of course, these things aren’t necessary but I know I probably would have flipped to the map if there was one at some point just to get a feel for where Tagg was when she was traveling about.
Overall, the book was a good read and not only that it taught some great mathematical concepts as well because computer science is related to that ever dreaded subject for many- math. Odds and probability are something that tends to go over people’s heads. I had fun with it, because I’m your all around geek not only enjoying a good read but also loving a good mathematical problem as well. There was actually a point where I stopped reading the book to figure out the answer to the question before I read the answer (please note I was just waking up from sleep at that point).
In the end I would give this book a 4 page rating saying that it is a good read and age appropriate for middle grades. I know I’m looking forward to the next book in the series which I’m told Erica is currently working on! Additionally I am looking forward to the growth and expansion of her website to include the yet to come teaching materials because I can see the educational value of the book as well having formally been in the field of education myself!
As many of you readers know we here at Book in the Bag do get requests from authors to read and review their books. If you are familiar with how we operate we do not promise to give good reviews only honest ones, thus I will dictate that I have received nothing more than a few e-mails and a copy of her first book Codecrafter from Erica.
To start off, the book is about a young girl named Tagglinde (Tagg for short) who is going to a school to learn how to be a sorceress. He spell work however is not your typical mystical fare but rather based in code and programming. She receives a magical stick that has a memory drive that she has to remember to defrag and her spells have to be written in proper code for them to come out and be usable. If you are familiar with any sort of coding you can see a lot of the connections between what she does in the book to actual coding, if not in a lot of ways everything is still very odd and mystical. I am not overly familiar with coding but I do know enough to be familiar with what was being talked about on some levels (most of what I have done has been BBC coding and very basic code to set up a web page back in the day).
Still, if you know about coding or you don’t the story is still and enjoyable read and is very well fitted for middle grade ages as Erica claims the book to be. The story was interesting and I wasn’t sitting there wondering when will this book end or regretting to volunteer to read the book. I only have one major complaint about the book which sometimes can be a good complaint and that is that the book wasn’t long enough. There were times where I would have loved a bit more pacing and a deeper exploration of certain things but all the same I enjoyed the read.
Aside from the book being a quick read of only 135 pages (perfect for the age range she is aiming for), my only remaining recommendation for future copies of the book if possible is to have a map or two in the front of the book showing the lands of the world of Codecrafter and maybe even a map of the school grounds where the gardens and school building are in Tilde. Of course, these things aren’t necessary but I know I probably would have flipped to the map if there was one at some point just to get a feel for where Tagg was when she was traveling about.
Overall, the book was a good read and not only that it taught some great mathematical concepts as well because computer science is related to that ever dreaded subject for many- math. Odds and probability are something that tends to go over people’s heads. I had fun with it, because I’m your all around geek not only enjoying a good read but also loving a good mathematical problem as well. There was actually a point where I stopped reading the book to figure out the answer to the question before I read the answer (please note I was just waking up from sleep at that point).
In the end I would give this book a 4 page rating saying that it is a good read and age appropriate for middle grades. I know I’m looking forward to the next book in the series which I’m told Erica is currently working on! Additionally I am looking forward to the growth and expansion of her website to include the yet to come teaching materials because I can see the educational value of the book as well having formally been in the field of education myself!
August 8, 2013
This was an interesting read - it uses the unconventional comp-sci-as-magic (but a difficult, logical, intellectual, rule-governed sorcerer's magic) analogy very effectively, and its concept is strong! I loved the idea as soon as I heard about it - the fantasy narrative is a wonderful introduction to the world of compsci, especially for people like me (forever-humanities-major) who would not have been drawn to the subject otherwise. I could easily see this book sparking an interest in kids - especially girls - in computer science. As a creative garnering of interest in its subject, it works very well! It's narrative and characters, however, were unfortunately lacking - as a protagonist, Tagg was shallow, haughty, and one-dimensional, showing little character development (except in her ability to problem-solve). Her attitude towards other characters (who spoke a jumble of awkwardly worded attempted peasant-dialect) only changed when their treatment of her became better, and her inner dialogue was cliche-ridden. The overall plot was too hastily resolved and deus-ex-machina-ish, and ideas germinating throughout the story (questions of her father's character? Melga's backstory?) were left unresolved. I think I would have liked this better reading it at 10 than I do post-college - which is actually okay, since that seems to be the target audience. If it brings more girls into comp sci (and it would have, for a younger me), it is to be applauded. But as a YA work standing on literary merit it would need more development to be a contender. This novella codecrafts excellently. Its wordcraft needs some work.
July 25, 2013
Tagg is a lordsdaughter who goes to Tilde to learn to become a sorcerer. She thought she would be completely safe in Tilde but quickly realizes that it's going to be much more difficult than she originally thought. Maybe she shouldn't have even come to Tilde. Her father is deemed a traitor by the queen so she is made fun of, teased, and there are people out to get her, maybe even kill her. She must worry about her safety and the safety of her father. She has a mentor who doesn't really treat her that great but she still does everything she can to learn spells and condecrafting to become a great sorcerer. Tagg is challenged to overcome her enemies with the little she has learned. But her will is very strong and she's not giving up without a fight.
This is a great story for kids and I'm sure my stepson is going to enjoy it so I'm excited to hear his thoughts on it. This book takes you into a world full of magic based on math and programming, sorcerers, and unusual creatures/monsters. I really liked Tagg. She was a sharp girl who learned quickly and she wasn't afraid to take matters into her own hands if need be. I really enjoyed this one and I'm sure your kids will love it whether they are boys or girls. Check it out!
This is a great story for kids and I'm sure my stepson is going to enjoy it so I'm excited to hear his thoughts on it. This book takes you into a world full of magic based on math and programming, sorcerers, and unusual creatures/monsters. I really liked Tagg. She was a sharp girl who learned quickly and she wasn't afraid to take matters into her own hands if need be. I really enjoyed this one and I'm sure your kids will love it whether they are boys or girls. Check it out!
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August 19, 2013Good idea; uneven characterization and world-building.
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