Rating  - Would You like some Magick Beans?
I've been reading material of this type since the age of 15. That was a long time and many belt sizes ago...last century really. Now, at the tender age of 52, and having looked at Tactical Magick by Seth, a couple of more times to make sure, I would highly suggest this book for anyone who is going on the path. You won't learn how to defend yourself from anything, but you will learn something. It's very cute and fun to read. Seth does not set out to impress anyone with his knowledge. Which is a good thing. He does a wonderful job of sharing a gag...it's so wonderful, one feels as though you are conversing over coffee and doughnuts, or perhaps pizza and beer, but with a master prankster. The approach is refreshing compared to what others have done in the past. There is nothing stuffy or overblown. And, dare I say this, it has a youthful tone and feel to it. It suggets how to protect yourself with junk and stuff. It also tells you how to hit back with junk and stuff if you have to. It's just junk and stuff in the final analysis, but fun junk and stuff. My only complaint is that the size of the print is taxing to the eyes of the fifty something set...even with new reading glasses I had to use my magnifiers. Oh yes, now that I've had time to peruse and experiment....I can truthfully say, that while the book is cute and entertaining, that's all it is in the long run. Those of you on the path will be entertained....and that's all.
Nothing in it really works.
Gilbert Sarabia
Rating  - Somewhere in between...
This book is a quick and occassionally interesting read from someone who is trying to put principles of Chaos Magick into practice on an everyday level. I read the other reviews on this page and was curious about the descrepancies. Now, having read the book, I can see where they came from. With all Magick, it's a continuum and hopefully authors choosing to write on the subject are adding to that continuum. At times, Tactical Magick offers new insights, although it often lingers in terrain better covered by the authors included in books such as Disinformation's "Book of Lies". I can certainly see where someone might be disappointed if they thought the book was by the Center for Tactical Magic when it's not, but you can't blame the book for that. At the same time, there is territory covered in Tactical Magick that is not at odds with the CTM and adds to the conversation (movement?) regarding magick, tactics, and daily life. Like many books on the Occult, you have to dig a little to find the nuggets that work for you. A little more treatment of tactics and magical innovation would have really helped push this book further. But all in all, not a bad foray into everyday magical practices.
Rating - An excellent book
I knew right away when I started reading this book that it was going to be good. But by the time I finished the book I realized it was really an excellent book. The occasional flash of humor by the author (especially the Mathers-Crowley bit) helped to illustrate the points he wanted to make, namely that sometimes to do magic, you have to think outside the box.
I also particularly liked the focus on magical technology. I definitely intend to experiment with the ideas this book offers. If you want to read something creative, which has a few unconventional ideas, check out this book.
Rating - Literary Harbringer
Tactical Magick is a book about magick in the real world. There is little talk of complex ceremonies to acheive gnosis or pseudo-intellectual theories about magick & quantum mechanics. This book is about efficiency and results, and is very much a book about magick in the physical world. It really is a book about street magick. This is the first Seth book that is truly for both beginners and adepts. It begins with a bang and keeps that intensity going through the entire volume.
It is possible that some readers may find the spells and ideas in Tactical Magick, and other Seth books for that matter, to be daunting. The author presents magick in a way that is much more physically tangible than most other traditions, and as a result this can insult or incur the wrath of those practitioners incapable or unwilling.
There is another review on this page that accuses the author of stealing the ideas of others and being delusional and naieve. Let me assure other readers that this is simply not true. I have been studying the craft for a long time, and there is an unfortunate tendency amongst practitioners to assume that an idea, especially a magical one, is the sole invention of the first person to publish a book on the subject. No one has a copyright on reality, and if magick works a certain way, others will discover this truth in addition to the "greats" who published first. That is how science works, that is also how magick works. The ideas presented in Tactical Magick are similar to those of others like Crowley and Phil Hine, but that does not mean that the author is ripping anyone off. A caveman cannot patent Fire, and Crowley can't patent Magick.
Now I understand that there are many readers out there, I was one of them at first, who weren't quite comfortable with Seth's writing style. It is full of style, flair, and a creative edge that seems to really bugger more orthodox practitioners. So what if the author makes up cool names for his spells? That doesn't make his books fiction, it just makes them more interesting and fun to read.
The world of magick is much larger than the works of Peter Carrol, Phil Hine, and Aleister Crowley. This author, and several others, like Julian Vayne, David Cunningham, and Taylor Ellwood, are the NEW generation.
Wake up and evolve.
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