LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 064 - The Mechanical Crafter, A Touch of Power 3, The Black Blade 2, Noobtown 3
LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 064 - The Mechanical Crafter, A Touch of Power 3, The Black Blade 2, Noobtown 3
“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: ”
The Mechanical Crafter - Book 1 (1:11)
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Sense (A Fantasy LitRPG Saga) A Touch of Power, Book 3 (12:41)
Score: 8 out of 10
Varnoth - A LitRPG Story: The Black Blade Book 2 (19:34)
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Castle of the Noobs - Noobtown, Book 3 (29:45)
Score: 8.3 out of 10
Special comments on Peace Talks: Dresden Files (Book 16) and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (36:28)
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The Mechanical Crafter, Book 1
A LitRPG Series, The Mechanical Crafter Series
By: R.A. Mejia
Narrated by: Jill Smith
Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
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You may have noticed that I have never reviewed any books by RA Mejia on the show before, and if so, you probably thought that I feared the wrath of Ramon if I gave an unfavorable review. Well, its true that I haven’t reviewed any of his books, but its not due to fear. Ramon, up to this point, has always written 1st person present tense. While I am not a huge fan of 1st person POV I have read enough books from that perspective that it isn’t a big deal to me. Heck, I specifically wrote the short story Splat! in the Essence anthology just to prove to myself that I could do it. No, it is the present tense that I can’t do. It pulls me out of the story, and I cannot and have never been able to wrap my head around such a writing style. It is very alien to my brain. So, up till now, I have been respectful and left things be, but Ramon was challenged to write in past tense, and thus mechanical crafter was born.
Full disclosure. This is a sister podcast to the Litrpg Podcast, but I am not bound to any restrictions on what I can say or do. SBT has long said if they do a book I don’t like to call them out on it, and Ramon has never pressured me to comment on any of his audiobooks. Granted, there are some series that I stay away from just because they have too much heat, but that is my decision, no anyone else’s. So, in all honesty this is a complete and unbiased review.
First of all, I absolutely loved the book. I found it to be too short, and wanted more as soon as the book ended. It did not feel like a 10 hour novel. Hell, I was halfway through it and thought I was only a quarter of the way in, that’s how fast it goes and how well it flows. I loved the characters Repair and Greebo, and thought they balanced each other out well.
The only thing that really threw me about the MC picking the metal man as his new race was that he did so knowing that he would not have options for procreation nor eating and drinking. Now I’ve been married over 20 years, so the procreation part for me vanished about 15 years ago. Not everyone lives like that, and the MC didn’t seem to be knocking boots on a weekly basis, so I kinda have to wonder why the no sex ever again wasn’t more of a big deal for him. Personally, I live that, but not so much by choice as it is thrust upon me. For me the real deal breaker is the never eating again. I don’t get much joy in life, but I do relish the moment that I can eat some extra crispy chicken from KFC or some L&B donuts in East Liverpool, the bestus donuts ever made anywhere but in my Home town (PIC), and I am a donut connoisseur. The thought of no sex and no donuts makes me want to cry.
I digress. The story revolves around the Metal Man, Repair, who can craft items and repair himself from items that he breaks down and scans. He and Greebo make a great pair, and even though the story is a slice of life, I was enthralled by the characterizations of the protagonists, and even amazed that Ramon basically created what amounts to an evil gnome, and dear God, I loved the gnome names. Story is highly polished, and strong in the character development and crunch elements. BTW, Repair kind of comes off as a Cyberman from Doctor Who, and in the beginning, since his body was made out of wood all I could envision was the wooden cyberman from the Christmas special starring Matt Smith. (PIC)
In all honesty, I didn’t cotton onto Jill Smith at first. It took me about two chapters to really see her strut her stuff, and the longer I listened the more impressed I became. She does an amazing job, and for her to make me go meh to ‘mazing is incredible. She blindsided me with just how good she is.
Seriously, this is one tight little package of goodness. Again, completely uninfluenced opinion but this is an 8.5 style book. I can only hope that Ramon continues to write in past tense in the future. Wait, does that make sense?
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Sense (A Fantasy LitRPG Saga)
A Touch of Power, Book 3
By: Jay Boyce
Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
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At long last we get a new book from Jay Boyce, and it continues to carry on the tradition of excellence from the previous tales. Now, what I am glad to say is that we do not go half the book waiting for the expedition to the Mesmer lair to take place, which thankfully, occurs fairly early in the book.
This means that we at long last get to see Jade in full out action, and it is a gratifying chapter when she confronts the Mesmer. Now for those of you who don’t know, the Mesmer are a race of evil sapients that sneak into town about once a month and steal random townsfolk whom they feed off of. While they are not described as such, I cannot help but envision the Pokemon Drowsee (PIC), and not Mesmer oddly enough, whenever these creatures are mentioned. The confrontation kind of goes as I expected it, with some things being resolved, and others not so much to a point where you can kind of guess fairly early on what is going to happen either at the end of this book or the start of the next one. Not saying that’s bad, but it is a pretty good telegraph of where the plot is heading.
After that, the story settles back into the routine of Jade siphoning random people and combining her skills. There is a plot line of various other royals visiting the city in order to reestablish trade agreements and size each other up as royals do, so after the fight just expect more of what has come before. If you liked books one and two, then this should be right up your alley, as Jade figures out new styles of magic, and combines skills like a rock star. The only issue I have is that Jade is really OP, as demonstrated during the arena battles, and that the story just sort of scoots by building her up, but not doing much to progress the tale. Again, very much a slice of life, and while it doesn’t quite feel like 14 hours, it doesn’t feel like much less. Kind of a status quo, and as I’ve said if you liked book one and two then you will love this book as well. I would just like to see some more progression story-wise. Character-wise, everything is moving along nicely.
Samara continues to do a great job narrating, and I have to hand it to her because Boyce doesn’t believe in focusing on just a few characters. This is a cast of hundreds. Hundreds. And she juggles them all well, admittedly, I cannot readily identify who is speaking just from a voice, but that is because there are so many secondary characters to keep track of, not because of a lack of vocal talent on her end.
Final score 8 stars. A taste of battle was nice, but it really didn’t satiate my need. I wanted more, and after it was over we fell back into the same routine. Good writing, interesting characters, excellent game concepts, but it needed a real shot in the arm to keep it at the same level of excellence.
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Varnoth
A LitRPG Story: The Black Blade, Book 2
By: Lavelle Jackson
Narrated by: Jack Voraces
Series: A LitRPG Story: The Black Blade, Book 2
Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
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The black blade is back, and so is the panther man known as Varnoth. Jackson continues his tale of the crucified kitten. In this book, the cat man gains a couple of allies; one of whom absolutely overshadows him at every turn, the bard known as John the son of Ray. John is a badass that literally steals every scene he is in, and while I am mostly kidding he is a pretty cool character. The other addition is a pyromancer. For me, it was their addition that pumped up the story.
Now, Jackson is unabashed in his use of an overpowered MC. I think he just likes to see characters rip swathes of damage across the landscape like the Hulk used to do in the 70’s and early 80’s at Marvel. I do think he needs to tone down his MC to make there be more of a struggle, as I never really wonder if Varnoth is going to get hurt or have unforeseen repercussions from his actions. I’d like a touch more direction and some struggle on the cat man’s side.
I can say that from book one the dialogue is improved but still needs fleshed out more. Again, it kind of reads like a comic with villainous dialogue being espoused from vile people, and pretty pious stuff from the heroes. But then, I know that Jackson sort of talks that way, as he often says BAH! to me.
Jackson also opts for the goriest deaths that he can, and makes me think his writing style is more Splatterpunk than anything else. I’m a horror and gorehound, but he writes scenes that makes Kill Bill’s battle at the House of Blue Leaves seem like a Saturday morning kids show. I really liked the Hammertar aspect, and it is an original weapon that has its own style.
My biggest issues are that the story tends to roam from quest to quest or place to place, even a slice of life needs a bit more of a direction. Secondly, it is the Black Hat vs White Hat characters that are 100% good or 100% evil. We need some middle ground characters to make the story have more depth.
The book does pick up where one left off, and has humorous moments and Jackson’s writing does noticeably improve. If you are a fan of Book one then I have no doubt that you will enjoy book two, as it is more of what came before. Just no more Herb’s herbs styled jokes, that’s all I ask.
I’ve been racking my brain for a while, trying to figure out who Voraces voice reminds me of, and it was only after I went home to my parent’s house for my son’s graduation party (Grad PIC) Way to go boodja! And spending hours as my mother watched a Deep Space Nine marathon that I realized that he sounds an awful lot like Dr. Julian Bashir (PIC). They must come from the same region, because their cadence and patterns of speaking are the same. Now, when I listen to him all I can envision is Dr. Bashir telling me a story. On that note, if you are a fan of Voraces then you’ll be satisfied with his performance. Again, I wish he put a little effort in to make Varnoth sound non-human. I know he can do it, and do it well from what I have heard him do on Vainqueur the Dragon (PIC).
Final score: I’m going to go 7.8 stars, there is clear improvement, and it does not deviate in tone or taste from book one. I think Jackson improves more in T&B, so you can see him getting better as he goes.
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Castle of the Noobs
Noobtown, Book 3
By: Ryan Rimmel
Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
Series: Noobtown, Book 3
Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
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What can I say about Ryan Rimmel ‘s Noob town that I haven’t said before. The series is excellent, it is funny, witty, sarcastic, and snarky, and has a very punchy pro style that I really appreciate.
The characters are fun and enjoyable and I think that the badger, Badgerlore is probably my favorite animal sidekick of all time. He's just fantastic. He’s a psycho animal and it’s perfect for Rimmel’s crazy style of humor. He is simultaneously gross, nasty, and sweet.
The story picks up right after book 2 and leaves the hero, the mayor, having to figure out a way to increase a trade route and simultaneously discover a dungeon rather a castle in order to extend his influence and power in the area all the while taking in more refugees by the day.
Rimmel is hilarious and the book captivates and does not feel like it is a long, long book. It comes across as easily readable and can be done very quickly; and is most enjoyed by being read in large swaths. I think I read this whole thing into sittings I did not have a break in between I had a very busy day and I was lucky enough to be able to get through the whole thing practically all at once. I don’t think you’ll have a problem either I think you won’t want to leave. I think you want to continue reading the story as it goes along and no matter what he continues to set up the next book. The only issue I had was how the MC, the mayor, didn’t see what was happening to him a lot of times but then again I suppose he’s meant to be clueless and it comes across pretty well in this book but it’s still funny it’s still entertaining and it was a joy to listen to.
Jonathan McClain does another outstanding job on the book. I loved his narration and I think he is a wonderful storyteller and has a great ear for comedy.
Overall I love the story I love to tail I love the characters and I can’t wait for more the book as it is 8.3 I could go higher but I can’t go lower
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For LitRPG Audiobook Podcast, I’m Ray. Keep listening!!!
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