LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 047 - Dan the Warlord, Underworld 3, Oathbreaker, Shadow Sun Survival, World-Tree Online, Hard Magic
LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 047 - Dan the Warlord, Underworld 3, Oathbreaker, Shadow Sun Survival, World-Tree Online, Hard Magic
“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: ”
Dan the Warlord (A Gamelit Harem Fantasy Adventure)
Gold Girls and Glory, Book 4 (00:31)
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Sanctuary - Underworld, Book 3 (11:13)
Score: 8 out of 10
Oathbreaker: An Epic Fantasy LitRPG: Realm Online, Book 1 (20:27)
Score: 7 out of 10
Shadow Sun Survival (28:06)
Score: 8.6 out of 10
Soundbooth Spotlight
World-Tree Online (World-Tree Trilogy Book 1) (40:34)
Score: 7.4 out of 10
Ray’s Pick!
Hard Magic - Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles (55:34)
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Hot fun in the summer sun, oooola!
Hot fun in the Summer time, ooooola!
Dan the Warlord (A Gamelit Harem Fantasy Adventure)
Gold Girls and Glory, Book 4
By: Hondo Jinx
Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau
Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
Pause
Hondo Jinx closes the chapter on this series, and he does it with style. As much as I hate to see the series end I think that he did an amazing job on shutting the doors and turning out the lights. I seriously had a Sam Malone moment when Cheers ended, you could see that Sam was where he was meant to be, and that he loved his bar. Dan, also is happy to be where he is, to be with the people he is with, and satisfied that all is finally right in his world.
Truly, I do not know how Jinx pulled this off. There were a lot of plotlines to be tied up, characters to close out arcs, and battles to be fought before the end of the book and yet he does it all quite deftly. At no point did I wonder where he was headed, what was going on, or why something was done.
Now I did have some issues. There was one spot that seemed rushed or too easily handled and that was the ship battle with the one Duke, who had just spent a good amount of time telling Dan just how hardcore he was, and that he was super deadly, only for that whole meeting to kind of get overshadowed by the fight that later followed. To me it was just a touch too easy and too quick, and was necessitated by Dan’s needing to get back to his home because of other battles that were waiting. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of a struggle is all I’m saying.
The resolution between the red elves and the forest elves was neatly resolved, as was the problem with the monster wives. Truth be told, Jinx pretty much closed accounts on every single character that Dan knew, and that is a rare thing. It is something I appreciated as a reader. I also think that jinx managed to make me pity several characters who eventually died through no fault of their own. All I can say is that Artifacts suck.
The ending also manages to leave the door open for more of Dan’ exploits in the future. I would love to see Jinx follow marvel Comics example at some point in the future and pull a King Conan, where Conan is, duh, King and he runs around training his son Conn to take over for him. (add Conn pic here please). I would love to see Dan the Father King, with Dan taking out his menagerie of half monster, elf, and elemental kids. That would be a blast. I don’t need to see more ladies added to the harem, but getting to see Dan struggle with mostly daughters and a son or two, while maintaining a kingdom could be real fun.
Finally, Adrea parenau steals this finale as only she could. Honestly, I’ve been saying for a loooong time that she is the only person I know that would make me want to boink a hobgoblin just because of the voice she used. Here she revives some old voices and from a crazy old wizard to an old gaming companion of Dan’s. Honestly, if you are going to close out a series, then you couldn’t ask for more than what Andrea gives here. It has all the emotion of the MASH final, minus the feared great flush, the levity of Friends, and the gravitas of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Thankfully, we didn’t get a Newhart surprise at the end. That is all thanks to her incredible vocal work.
Final score? 8.5 stars. This is how you end a series.
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Sanctuary
Underworld, Book 3
By: Apollos Thorne
Narrated by: Graham Halstead
Series: Underworld, Book 3
Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
PAUSE
I have to admit that in my opinion, Sanctuary started a little slow. It seemed like several chapters occurred before an exciting incident occurred, but I have to say that when the book started going it was really cooking. I actually laughed at the punch an imp in the face reference, because that was the one line that really stood out to me in book one, and it was nice to see it boomerang back in a funny way.
Book three takes off with the humans figuring out how to build up their dungeon and farm while they’re at it in order to get more levels before the much vaunted minotaurs show up to destroy them all. Now, this series has vexed me in a number of ways. For example, the number of levels the players/kidnapped gamers can get are incredibly high, as is their attributes. I always have to wonder why a writer makes so much work for themselves because, to me, lower numbers are easier to deal with. Like my pappy always says, Maths is hard.
Anyways, the story does take off, and once it gets going it off like a shot. Elorion and company all manage to snag some neat abilities, for example he really increases the things he can do shapeshifting, while his gal pal literally becomes the wind. The each transform into something beyond human and become deadlier than ever. Personally, I don’t know how Thorne keeps track of all of his character’s powers and abilities because I know I would completely forget something critical and ten a reader would say, well if they’d just used power XYZ they’d have had no problems. The story is pretty compelling and more importantly it is fun. The last battle goes on for a long time and lasts until just about every person on either side is spent.
The real fun will come once they have to face their former succubus mistress, well, the survivors will. That is a build up that I can’t wait to see. The story adds in things like dungeon building to the mix, so that not only are Elorian and Eris leveling themselves and others, but their dungeon as well. In fact there is one complete section that deals with them doing things to further empower their dungeon, so dungeon fans will enjoy this as well. There are times when the story feels rushed, but over all it is well paced. The story definitely left me wanting more.
Graham Halstead once again does an excellent job. I think he has a firm grip on the series and the characters, and I have no complaints about the job that he does here. I find him to be superb and enjoy listening to him.
Final score? A solid 8 stars. While entertaining, I really haven’t seen any new ground covered aside from the small amount of dungeon building. Lots of good fight scenes, but no massive character development. Elorian and Eris seem about the same as they did last book. Add in some growth and the scoe would be a lot higher. Still a very solid 8.
Say Eight!!!
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Oathbreaker: An Epic Fantasy LitRPG
Realm Online, Book 1
By: Stuart Thaman
Narrated by: J. Scott Bennett
Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
Pause
I’ve really thought about this one for a while, and debated back and forth on my thoughts with this book. There were several things that I liked, some that I didn’t, and others that really didn’t thrill me one way or the other.
The first thing I’m getting out of the way is that in spite of what you see on the cover, this is not in any way a harem book. I didn’t think that it was, but I know how people are, you see two women and your mind automatically goes into harem mode. This is not remotely the case, so if you were wondering, now you know.
Secondly, I like the whole sucked into the game via a summoning spell aspect. That was fun, and happens right away so no spoilers, but it set me up for some expectations, and I found the book slowed down right after the big entrance. I mean it slowed down a lot. I think a lot of it was the whole no class not lit stuff for a while, hell just leveling takes like 2/3rds of the book I think. That said I think there are reasons that necessitate the lack of lit elements for awhile so it’s a tough call.
Thirdly, I do like how the MC, Steve, isn’t perfect morally or physically. He’s not a gung ho hero nor is he built like Charles Atlas. He’s more like Charles Alas. So, Steve is not readily likable, although I must say that my son found the cats funny. Of course, he’s just a few bad grades from identifying as a cat lady.
One thing I thought was funny was that even though it isn’t a harem Steve spoke incessantly about how sweetly hot and sassy his ladies were. Still there was no action. I think the biggest issues were that there were times that Steve was a D-bag, and the lit elements didn’t pop up until too late in the story.
J. Scott Bennett narrates, and I have said for the longest time that I think he is one of the bestest narrators out there. He is a fave of mine. He can have real fun with the right story. He does his utmost to keep this tale going but even he couldn’t get it to pick up the pace of the story. He does individualize each character, but again, he can’t make you like a character if their actions put you off. Bennett does a great job and doesn’t let the story spiral like a lesser narrator could have.
Final Score? 7 stars, its pacing was too slow and it lacked some much needed litrpg aspects earlier in the story. Still, there is world building that does go on and will probably make the next book run a little smoother.
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Shadow Sun Survival
By: Dave Willmarth
Narrated by: Will M. Watt, Jeff Hays, Andrea Parsneau, Annie Ellicott
Series: Shadow Sun, Book 1
Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
PAUSE
Someone needs to chain Dave Willmarth up and make him write post apocalyptic books all day long. Clearly the impetus of making oodles of money isn’t enough to spur him on or we’d be on Dark Elf 5 and Shadow Sun 7 by now.
The point is that Shadow Sun was not what I was expecting. To be frank, I had thought that it was going to be a story about a boy and his bear wandering through a decimated landscape, sort of like Grizzly Adams meets Slash Maraud (Show those pics here please). FYI Slash is a DC comics mini-series about aliens who take over the earth and slowly wipe out humanity as they convert earth via terraforming into a world not unlike their own. It is a series that was not well loved and did not become a cult classic that was secretly beloved years later, but I LOVED it.
No, what Master Willmarth has done is taken a concept of aliens taking over Earth and putting a new slant on it in which they literally steal earth. Earth is physically moved and given new ground rules for how life is going to be. The MC is a young fella, but he has a good head on his shoulders, and does the best he can whenever he finds himself in a bad situation. His attitude makes him become the leader of a group of refugees who have survived a giant monster attack; which sort of snowballs into bigger leadership roles later.
One thing I will say about Dave is that he isn’t afraid to kill people, which keeps you alert every time a crisis comes up. I will also say that I appreciate the way that A-holes are dealt with. It may not always be quick, but you just know that the jerk is going to get it in the end. As an example, if there is some guy that abused kids, and he was walking through the rain forest in one of Willmarth’s books, then he would most likely get slowly crushed and eaten by an anaconda. Jerk that shoot their mouths off tend to get shot in the mouth, you get the point. DW suffers no fools lightly, and under his pen they pay.
The story is utterly engrossing and sucks you in immediately, the leveling process, the process of converting currency into Klacks (alien dough) works well, and gaining abilities is pretty slick. I think I only had one moment of WTF and it involved a certain train wreck, but hey, ya gotta have something to take down void terrors and the like I suppose. I just enjoy WillMarth’s style and prose, but overall his characterizations are just on point. They feel genuine and real.
Damn, I have to say that Will Watt does an amazing job on this book. Yes, he is joined by not only Jeff hays and Annie Ellicot, but also Andrea parsnaue!!!! Yeah. As impressed as I am I almost feel bad for poor Will, because they brought in all their big guns, plus a ringer from next door to ensure the success of this book in its audible form. If I were him I would feel like I wasn’t trusted to carry a book this big! Ya know wat? He handles this book like he wrote it. I was incredibly impressed with his American accents,as I do believe that the computer helper is his own natural voice. Jeff, Annie, and Andrea really do have supporting roles, here but they all go for the Oscar too. Seriously, the sound, vocal talent, and effects were completely flawless. I applaud Will on his first outing, and give Kudos to the rest of them for keeping things so real and gritty.
My final score? Well, Dave inspired me to go out and get a pet bear myself, I call him cuddles (Add in my pic of the bear). He’s a good bear, yes he is! Back on track, The story was not what I was expecting, and I give props to DW for emulating the Grizzly Adams rescue and then turning it on its head. It was well paced, filled with action, good characters, and some “gods” from the past who sort of fluctuate between being honorable and then not so much. I don’t believe there was a slow moment in the book. Or me this is 8.6 stars all the way, from writing to narration it impressed.
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Soundbooth Spotlight
World-Tree Online
World-Tree Trilogy, Book 1
By: E. A. Hooper
Narrated by: Justin Thomas James, Jeff Hays, Laurie Catherine Winkel
Series: World-Tree Trilogy, Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
Pause
Ok, so I’m going to commit some blasphemy here and I think a lot of it comes from all the hype that hit the book before I’d gotten to give it a listen. It’s a lot like being told how amazing a movie is by everyone you know and when you finally get to see it, it does not meet your expectations.
So, here’s the gist of the story. An old man who is mourning the loss of his wife finally breaks down and joins one of his long time buddies in the VR world. The man, Vincent, is a long time gamer and is looking for something that will help him take his mind off of the upcoming anniversary of her death, or birthday, I don’t remember and it really isn’t relevant. He enters the game and decides that he’s not going to party like he’s 20, as his buddy, Jim, is doing but he’s actually going to play the game. Low and behold, the game has a time dilation that allows you to play for super long periods of time in your head, while in actuality only an hour passes in the real world.
So of course, a glitch occurs that ends up making it so that everyone in the game will exist without being able to leave for over 300 years. Closer to 400, but hey. A moderator loses his mind, and decides that he likes the way Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini ran their countries and decides that he wants to do the same thing in the game world. He does some really creepy stuff and I’m honestly stunned that the book didn’t become waaaay darker than it did. That’s the compacted version. Vinnie and pals band together to fight the evil moderator. Do they win, fail, or continue on to the next book? Not ganna say, cause spoilers.
Now, I’m not saying that the book isn’t good, only that it was not what I had expected. Although there were a few things that sort of set me back a bit. So. I’m going to get all the negative stuff out of the way first. First off one thing that I did not appreciate were the time jumps. Granted, when you have characters who are stuck in a game for hundreds of years I can understand that you want to show some passage of time, but having them level up in the off time was annoying and it sort of robbed the readers of seeing what they did to get to that point. For example, one of the book’s blurbs talks about how Vin exploits a cheat. We get to see him figure it out, and then start to work on it, but then time passes and he is at 99% of the way finished with figuring it out. Granted, you do get to see him finalize his project, but a huge number of years have passed. Secondly, the simple acquisition of a new spell or skill seems to take forever. I realize that time dialation occurs, but there is no way I’m going to spend thirty years of my life trying to figure out a spell or other skill, when other games pretty much let you add stuff as you level. Leveling becomes impossibly difficult, too. There is one part where the party spends decades on some dead monster inhabited world just so they can become stronger. I don’t think that is even remotely realistic, even if you are under a threat of perma death. And that brings me to the real issue I had, in so far as the time they were trapped in the game really only had relevance to the first book. Crazy mod takes over, so no one can escape thus there is a need for the trapped in the game trope. But the trapped part is so long. Even if Hooper had just made it a hundred years it would have been so much more palatable. It would still have been horrifying, by just cutting away decades and making them single years. The horrors committed by the crazy mod would still be horrible. Oh, and a side note or two. Why would you play a game to forget about the emotional day that you are trying to avoid, when once you leave your memories are compressed and feel like a dream? Also, how much trouble can you get in for doing things in a game? Again, at the beginning of the book the mods are hunting bad guys, some of whom are known to have raped other players. Did they get jail time in real life for what they did? I know they got permabanned, but it is a very pertinent question because things transpire that will make some of the book wonky if that isn’t addressed later.
Ok, now onto the good stuff. The characters were developed and well fleshed out, and their teamwork flowed. The bad guy was admirably whiny and annoying to a point that he was utterly irritating and you hated him easily. There was an unusual game system that worked well, and it was pretty cool to see it in us. The fact that you could craft new spells was a great concept, even if I don’t understand why known spells weren’t easy to use. The fights were fun and well written. My favorite part is that the book isn’t stretched out into a needles trilogy in regards to the main villain Lucas. His arc is completed, and so there is now an opening for more changes to come in the series. The book has a lot of positive things going for it such as. . .
. . .The amazing work by the SBT team. I have said for a long time that LCW and JTJ are the Bonnie and Clyde of SBT. The go together like peas and carrots. Ugh, I hate peas and carrots, how about Ice Cream and Sprinkles? Much better. Justin and Laurie carry this book and probably made it more than it would have been just reading it. Jeff plays Vin’s pal Jim and has a ball with the womanizing alcoholic. Probably more fun than he should have. As always, SBTprovides a kick ass quality to the story they tell.
Final Score? 7.4 stars. Yeah, I had a lot of issues with the way the time dilation played out, the difficulty of creating spells, and the leveling between time jumps in general. The fights were great and well written, but jumping over a lot of levels and learning made me feel like I lost something that should have been there.
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Ray’s Pick!
Hard Magic
Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles
By: Larry Correia
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
Series: Grimnoir Chronicles, Book 1
Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
Pause
I have long been a fan of Larry Correia. His Monster Hunters International is pure brilliance, and his Tom Stranger series is utterly hilarious. I actually considered reviewing MHI first, but Hard Magic has a lit feel to it, with people becoming stronger as the series goes on.
Hard Magic takes place in a noirish 1930’s setting, you practically see everything in black and white, and is meant to feel like one of those old Sam Spade flicks or Orson Wells the Third Man. Only in this version, Harry Lyme would have superpowers. The premise of the book is straight forward, people are being born with super powers, some to a greater degree than others. The book is scattered full of actual historical people as well as cast of created for the screen type heroes. The two main characters are Jake and Faye. Faye is a traveler, meaning she can teleport, and Jake is a Heavy, meaning he can control gravity. Every power that you can imagine exists and is given a name and a ranking. Sort of like the X-men, but only cooler.
The story revolves around an ex-con war hero, Jake, and how he is pretty much drug into events that spiral out of control pretty fast. Events that affect the whole world. There are secret societies, government conspiracies, evil machinations from Japan, and numerous other things that somehow tie together in a brilliant mash up of pulpy goodness. Faye vies with Hienrich as my favorite character in the series even though Jake makes a great leading man. Think of how great Kitt Harrington was in Game of Thrones as Jon Snow but Dinklage was the only one to ever win an Emmy. You can have a great lead, but the supporting players will steal the show everytime.
The book is crammed full of action, and when I say action I’m talking Wolverine vs the Hulk, both of whom have rabies, are on crank, and just found out their grandmother’s had been evicted from their homes for not paying back taxes. In other words full of sound and fury and signifying a whole lotta wreckage. The amazing thing is that even with all the chases, fights, deaths, and magic (Oh, I want to tell you why there is magic but don’t want to spoil the fun) the characters all undergo some growth arc. Plus, not everyone lives. Characters die, and it gets to you as if they were real. The writing is simply spectacular. The series really stands out as a whole, but book one is where it all starts.
Speaking of magic, I have to say on of the brightest spots for me is the narration done by Bronson Pinchot. I would never have thought that Cousin Balky was so talented. Seriously, he reads this as if he were in contention for an Oscar or a Grammy. He does male and female voices, inflects with more emotion than Christian Bale when someone interrupts his shot. He brings the Knights of the Grimnoir alive, fills every action scene with a pulse pounding rhythm, and makes you not only believe a man can fly, but they can teleport, walk through walls, shoot fire, and kill with a touch.
Hands down for me this is Correia’s best series. I love MHI and the incredible Forgotten Warrior saga, but Hard Magic just resonates with incredible characters and intense action, as well as heroic moments and sacrifices that carry more depth and meaning than anything Tolstoy has written lately. Again, no score, this is just my way of alerting you to an incredible series that is close to Urban fantasy/alt history but is so much more than that. The combination of the writing and narration is on par with any book I’ve read regardless of who narrates. Jeff Hays is hardcore, but Pinchot LIVES this series.
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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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