LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 048 - Occultist, Galactic Badlands, Party Hard, Varnoth, The Mayor of Noobtown
LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 048 - Occultist, Galactic Badlands, Party Hard, Varnoth, The Mayor of Noobtown
“Hello everyone. Welcome to the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast. I’m Ray. I’ll be reviewing some recent and classic LitRPG Audiobooks for you. I’ll begin with: ”
Galactic Badlands: A LitRPG Space Western (00:22)
Score: 7.0 out of 10
Occultist: Saga Online #1 - A LitRPG series (10:20)
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Party Hard - Pixel Dust, Book 1 (19:01)
Score: 8.2 out of 10
Varnoth - A LitRPG Story (The Black Blade, Book 1) (27:11)
Score: 7.7 out of 10
The Mayor of Noobtown (57:14)
Score: 8.6 out of 10
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Galactic Badlands: A LitRPG Space Western
By: Zachariah Dracoulis
Narrated by: Christopher James Mayer
Series: Galactic Badlands, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
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This is a book that tries a little too hard to be a lot of things, or at least jam a lot of things into it. It is a Litrpg book that is sort of mashed up with cowboys and aliens. To me, some of the best and worst parts of the book is the MC. Chuck is a marine who suddenly finds himself in a new world and dies pretty quickly. Second time around he starts to get things right. I like how readily Chuck acclimates to his new life, he almost never even considers looking back in many ways. But Chuck is pretty plain as leads go, he isn’t great at making decisions, and he goes out of his way to be rude to people or at least stand off from them. IN fact, the other characters end to outshine the MC in every scene.
The book, I don’t know, didn’t feel like it was a harem book at first but it gradually grew into one, and the whole time I kept wondering how the MC got all the babes being the way he was. Chuck never opens up about anything and he has no problem giving others a sort of false or weak hope and in his relationships there are a lot of things that he never really resolves from his actions.
Mayer’s narration was middle of the road stuff. There were parts that he was good and parts I just wanted him to talk a little faster and blow his nose or something. I absolutely hated the music that is added in. The MC even says that it distracted him! I like mariachi, (Insert mariachi pic here), and loved the movie but it just did not fly here. I think it was too loud and came a cross like the El Degüello while it should have been fun. BTW, the El Degüello is he throat cutting song that means no quarter will be given, and is what was played every night all night long outside the Alamo before they were wiped out. While I’m sure it fits the tale it did not please my ears. I really think a manlier tone would have helped.
Overall bits of the book worked and bits didn’t. Truly, giving the MC a different personality would have shifted the gears quite a bit it would have changed the whole dynamic of the story, but he is sort of an anchor to everyone around him. There is a lot of good stuff to this book but the combo of the MC and narration (I think Mayer would be great in another book but is weak here) don’t do the tale real justice.
Final score 7 stars, it is a decent tale and has a ton of potential if the MC has a personality implant in the next book. It does well in the world building and the secondary characters are fun, and the action is excellent.
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Occultist: Saga Online #1
A LitRPG series
By: Oliver Mayes
Narrated by: Adam Sims
Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
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Move it along, nothing to see here. Nothing new. Move along now. That was how this book felt to me. It has several tropes that I get tired of, such as the sick mother, other gamer is a total dick, real world stuff intrudes on the gaming, etc but the book works fairly well. This is one of those novels that I am going to say that I could completely do without the real life drama. For me it completely screws up the flow of the in-game story. I am and shall always be more of a stay in the game kind of guy.
That said the story is fun, it is about a guy who gets duped by another gamer because he steals the guy’s thunder after the player wimps out of a battle that he is supposed to do for podcast. So, jealousy creates a new class when the newbie unclassed player finds a mentor after h is supposed to have been killed in game. The class allows him to summon various creatures, and the effect is used quite well and innovatively.
The action scenes work really well and I enjoyed the progression of Damien and his class throughout the book. He actually proves to be quite adept at constructing battles so that he comes out on top, planning is his forte. Also, the MC is fairly single minded in his pursuit of his goal of getting back at the other player and winning some dough to help poor Aunt May have her operation. Sorry, his mother get the help she needs. One thing that really worked for me was that the love interest was not so much of a love interest. She is older, he is I think 16, and both of them are dead set on getting back at the evil gamer.
The narration by Sims is excellent. He does an incredible job and I enjoyed every second of his work. He absolutely keeps things interesting and on track. Even the real world scenes flow due to how he handles things. I could hear the MC’s desperation and panic.
The bad stuff is just what I said, nothing new here. It is a retread of most LIT series that you will have read, for me this has an Awaken Online feel to it in that the bad guy is someone the MC knows and they have a grand battle to see who wins. The MC even takes on the role of the bad guy in the game, playing with the cultists who are factionally similar to WoW horde division. So, while the MC is likable, has some cool powers, and favors tactics (wait still Awaken) over straight up fighting I couldn’t help but shake the feeling I’d read this before. The big save comes in the form of the narration and the characterization of the MC, and the secondary characters like the summoned imp and the likable non-love interest.
Final score 7.8 stars. It is a good book, that is well paced, and has actual likable characters, but it feels like a retread of familiar tales.
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Party Hard
Pixel Dust, Book 1
By: David Petrie
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
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Party hard lives up to its name. It is about a party of six individuals and their quest to stop the evil machinations of the dark programmer who invented the tech that is used in the game. We get some different style classes with cool names, like a Venom, and some not so exciting names like a Shield. On the other hand I can see where changing up class names could ultimately be confusing. The party consists of a mostly humans, a human animal mix, and a fairy. One of the characters has gender swapped, which leads to some funny moments.
The good thing about the book is the character interactions, the plain old fashioned actions (as in some sweet battle scenes), and the easy friendship and comradery of the team itself. I don’t know if you’ve ever gamed with other people (Stare) but groups aren’t always cohesive and friendly. They bicker and fight and Leroy Jenkins their way into trouble. I’m not saying that other books don’t do the same thing as Party hard, but this is an easy and comfortable feel and isn’t forced or shoehorned in in anyway.
The concept of the game is kinda cool, you play while you’re asleep, so for all you adults out there looking for an excuse to nap this is the perfect game for you. And given that I don’t have any really fun type dreams it would be perfect for me, but teenaged boys might skip this type of game in droves.
The only real downside is the book has something of a slow start. I firmly believe in getting into the action within about three thousand words or less. Ideally, start in-game and then flashback to show how it all started. So I did have some issues with the start up, otherwise I think it wraps up neatly and tells a good tale.
Daniels does his standard amazing job. I find it hilarious how easy it is too say that such a high quality narrator does incredible work in a standard every day manner. I do this with a lot of narrators, Hays, Parsnau, Rennie,Pohdel, Adams, Taylor, etc all pump in more acting with just their voice than most people playing on tv. All I can say is that Daniels does not disappoint and carries the story very well.
Final score, 8.2 stars. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the party characters.
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Varnoth
A LitRPG Story (The Black Blade, Book 1)
By: Lavelle Jackson
Narrated by: Jack Voraces
Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
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Here’s a story that I like to see. A man picks up a litrpg novel and loves it. Then he gets to reviewing it, and then he becomes a writer of the genre. It simply amazes me how many fans of this type of literature end up writing stories about it. Lavelle fits that to a tee, a fan that transcends from reader to writer. And I applaud that.
The story of Varnoth of the Black Blade is pretty simple, and it is one of those stories that I love to hate, the infamous slice of life type books. I have been trying really hard to push past my biases and just enjoy the story and little by little it is working for me. So, the book is about a shadow panther that wakes up tied to a cross. He has no memory of who he is or how he got there. He gets cut down by a Gandalf type and sent on his way. The story then wanders about as Varnoth strives to level up, and learn about himself. He meets several companions along the way as he forges a path to power.
One thing I will say that I appreciated as that no one was safe. Jackson kills characters without hesitation or mercy, and he doesn’t even ease you into it with the knowledge that the death was swift. Secondly, he does not flinch or skimp on the gore. Honestly, to me gore is just another thing and has no effect on me, but I do enjoy graphic depictions as they are more realistic. Eyeballs do fly and intestines do fall. So be warned. The only issue that I had was that the fights never quite seemed like Varnoth had to struggle too much. I would have liked some adversity for the panther, as there was a lot of throat slitting, beheading, and backstabbing going on. He’s kind of a melding of the Terminator and the Professional’s Leon. Stone cold, highly skilled, unstoppable, and relentless. Also, I almost let my kids listen to the book until some of the swearing happened, which technically I was fine with but there was a lot of mention of whores and the sex acts, so I couldn’t let them listen in.
My biggest issue came from the narration. I am not, it seems, a huge fan of Jack Voraces. I’m just huge. Wait. Wait. OK, Voraces really dropped the ball in several areas. First of all he has an inhuman lead character. Give that shadow panther a voice that matches it. Also, he is inconsistent because in the beginning of the book Varnoth learns Herbalism, with a hard H, and gathers Herbs, with a hard H, but when the panther man goes to a shop called Herb’s Herbs the latter part becomes erbs, losing the H sound entirely and then stays that way. It is also hard to follow him with his accent as Inventory becomes inventory and a composite became compazit. I really did not get one well with him at all. He at least tries to put in an effort and make it fun.
My final score? I have thought about this a lot. My issues with Voraces are nit picky for the most part, although I stand my ground when I say that an inhuman MC needs an inhuman voice, I can overlook a lot of that stuff as accent, but I do require consistency. Herbs Herbs. Still as funny as the other way if you say it right. So, final score 7.7 has some wonky parts but the gore, fighting and Varnoth’s dedication to doing the right thing overcomes.
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The Mayor of Noobtown
By: Ryan Rimmel
Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
Series: Noobtown, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
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This is a rare gem. It is one of those books that is funny from start to finish, is serious, and tells a complete story while managing to leave the door open for more. Technically, the book could have ended right where it does and I would have said great book, wish there was more, but cool. That’s not true, I would have written Rimmel and begged for more.
In truth, I originally thought this was a harem book called Mayor of Boobtown, but was sadly disappointed to learn that I was wrong. I thought it was part of the classic boobtown series (INSERT Pic here). Ok, bad joke, but I have to say that I loved the concept of Noobtown from start to finish. It begins with a man getting run over by a truck and waking up somewhere else. He’s being character built by some mysterious voices and while their attention is turned he begins to explore the “character center” looking for class options. He soon discovers that the voices are demons who want to erase his memories and send him off to fight a dark lord. From there havoc ensues and the MC and one of the demons become bound together beginning the start of a horrible friendship.
As I said, the book is filled with humor, both situational and banter types and ninety percent of the jokes stick he landing. Probably the best and longest gag is that of the MC’s name, Jim. It harkens back to the Monty Python Joke There be those that Call Me Tim, but adds to the silly name in a fantasy world bit. The MC comes off as over powered, but this isn’t a video game MMORPG, even if the world he is in has those elements. His abilities stem from his time spent in the character creation center and are pretty cool. So, Jim can have and level any class in the game from thief to swordsman, mage to sage it doesn’t matter he can be it and gain the skills and abilities for each class he has. Downside is that he has to actually acquire the class via normal means, he can’t just announce that he’s going to be a wizard. He’d have to do some schooling, for example. This allows him to achieve some neat feats that would normally be impossible. The only time I thought Rimmel stretched probability was during the time that Jim was setting traps for a rescue. He set a ton of traps in a very small window of opportunity.
John McClain narrates, (Insert McClane reading pic please) and I am so glad to see he stopped doing film franchises. What? Wong McClain? Sorry. Actually, while the guy is new to my ears, he has narrated just under 100 novels, and it shows. He has incredible comedic timing, he also gets the way to tell a joke, or more importantly describe a humorous situation. He does an amazing job, and this is another guy I telling you all to look out for.
Final score. 8.6 stars. I had a lot of fun with this, was sad it ended so quickly and can’t wait for the next book.
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Thanks oh so very much for watching everyone, I do appreciate you taking to the time to watch or listen to the show. If you want to support us, you can like the LitRPG Podcast facebook page or the YouTube Page, or just share and like the video. I’m going to ask for more suggestions for the Is it LIT segment, I’ve got a good one for next time, but will always need ideas. Please leave comments or suggestions in the comments below, and feel free to tell me whatever you like. I enjoy the feedback.
For LitRPG Audiobook Podcast, I’m Ray. Keep listening!!!
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