LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 076 - Noobtown Book 5, Mixed Martial Cultivator, Dungeon Crawler Carl

“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: ”

Noob Game Plus - Noobtown Book 5 (02:08)

Score: 8.6 out of 10

https://amzn.to/3s0r98w

Mixed Martial Cultivator Series Complete Box Set (14:31)

Score: 8.4 out of 10

https://amzn.to/3juuZ5W

Soundbooth Spotlight

Dungeon Crawler Carl (25:40)

Score: 8.6 out of 10

https://amzn.to/37qEtcY

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Noob Game Plus

By: Ryan Rimmel

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain

Series: Noobtown, Book 5

Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins

Book five in the series, and this series is only getting better. I often cite this series in conjunction with Ugland’s Guy series, whereas that series and its companion pieces remain steady, I can’t help but feel that Noobtown improves every time I get a new book. That, by the way, is not a knock on either of the Guy series which I feel are completely amazing, only that Noobtown seems to have no problem hitting new notes and is not afraid to takes risks.

For example, the intrepid mayor Jim, pretty much eschews most of his supporting cast as he ends up remorting in Flacon Crest with a completely new class and few of his old skills. Shart is still trapped in limbo and Badgerlore is leagues away. Jim is pretty much on his own and makes one hell of an escape. Things just get wilder from there. One of the best parts of the series is the reuse of running gags, particularly the fecking pumas and puma checks. The line, “Wait, there are pumas too?” literally made me do a spit take and I wasn’t drinking anything at all. Thankfully, the humor isn’t just limited to that little bit, like when Jim surfs on an unconscious bear he has to keep beaning to keep in unconscious made my ribs hurt. Rimmel makes me jealous of his ability to take a scene and make it utterly kill with just a subtle few words or actions. For instance, the assassin the keeps getting her face messed up and talks with a lisp due to broken teeth was one of the best bits I’ve read in a long time.

One of the things I feared was that with the remort there were going to be too many changes and a new direction for the series. One this book first came out, i.e. pre-audio, I talked to a guy who absolutely hated it due to all the changes. I now question whether he actually read the book at all, since the “changes” were necessary and a part of the overall story for some time. Jim always had to remort. It was inevitable. Some unexpected things is that Jim does do is to get a new new name, Oh Really, you ask? And I say, yes, really. It is a great introspection into his character, and helps show just how shattered he is from the fight with the dark overlord. Additionally, Rimmel breaks the 4th wall, aka Deadpool, no more like She-Hulk, and also takes a moment to pay some homage to his narrator. Personally, I just don’t get how you can have a narrator named John McClain and not have some character say Yippie Ki-ayy or Come out the coast and have a few laughs. When we met the orcs I thought that moment was nigh, but alas! Not.

Speaking of Johnathan McClain, can I just say his contribution to this series cannot be overemphasized or overstated. The man knows how to do a table reading, and his malicious lisping killer was wonderful. I was heartbroken when she got to a dentist “off screen”. Also, the aforementioned, “Wait, there are pumas, too!?!” line was interrobanged with perfection. McClain only elevates, and interjects even more into the humor when he reads his lines. There are damn few narrators who can do what he does.

Overall, the book was a more than pleasant surprise. It was action packed, pulsed with humor, had character growth, and served to move the story ahead in a neat little package. My final score is an easy 8.6 stars. I hated to see this book end.

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Mixed Martial Cultivator Series Complete Box Set

By: Austin Beck

Narrated by: Robert West, Erin Bateman

Length: 22 hrs and 39 mins

Here’s one I held off on for a while. Why? I figured you’d ask me that. Well, if I’m honest I will tell you that the narration done in book one was lacking, and it was so lacking that it stood out and I didn’t want to pull the equivalent of slashing a narrator’s tires, so I opted not to review. That being said, others noticed this as well, and I guess enough people mentioned it that they went back and rerecorded lines with a different narrator. It was a nice save. So let me start there.

The original narration was on a bumpy road, but after a work crew came in, they fixed the problem. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound like someone made new recordings and shoved them into the appropriate spaces. It isn’t choppy or jarring when you listen, and if you hadn’t seen the original names you’d never know the difference.

The pairing works, as I don’t think that West could have pulled off non-fade to black harem scenes that are explicit. It would have come across like someone performing self-gratification, and that would be no Bueno. West and Bateman work well together. My only nit to pick is that while West does a good job telling the story there were points I just didn’t buy the whole I‘m a tough guy portrayal; his voice is genial, mayhaps even affable, but it is not intimidating. I expect MMA people to be hardcore, and he speaks more like Audy Murphy in Destry. Don’t get me wrong, Murphy is a hard core hard to kill happy to put you in the ground kind of guy, but if you see him and hear him you’d never know it, and that is fine in real life, but for audio a voice shapes your mental image of a character, and West didn’t give me the killer inside vibe that I needed. That said, its no attack on him, I just think it was more Beta than it was Alpha.

The book itself focuses more on John LeBrock’s fighting than his fffff….., um lovemaking. There is a harem here, and I must tell you that it is not fade to black and it is extremely explicit, so don’t listen to this by yourself. Just think of nuns, baseball, and sick three-legged dogs. LeBrock, a carry over homage from Weird Science perhaps?, is a badgrass mofo who can knock out teeth as well as he knocks boots.

The trilogy places more emphasis on the fighting aspects than it does the lovemaking, which kind of appropriately gets in the backseat while the MC kicks butt and doesn’t worry enough to take names. Having read some other stuff by Mr. Beck I knew going in that the story was going to be about an OP MC. He likes tough guys and monster girls, and so Beck made sure to OP LeBrock and put in plenty of monster tail. This is my biggest issue, I know what Beck likes, and would like to see him step back from having a lead be unbeatable.

Some highlights for me was the fact that LeBrock and his opponents could beat the hell out of one another, and then for all intents and purposes, go have a beer together. This is real. I have been there myself and it had such a ring of truth that it made me consider that Beck is aware that a fight is just a fight, and people can walk away and be friends afterwards.

The narration works, and there is plenty of blood spilled. The fights are fast and frantic, and the lovemaking detailed. The fact that I expected an overpowered MC tempered my expectations, and I just sat down for the ride. Kind of like being on the Log Jammer at Kennywood Park. Wet, dirty, and a tad dangerous. I didn’t come in expecting War and Peace, I came in expecting Roadhouse to meet with Playboy Afterdark, or maybe Penthouse in the afternoon. Either way, I think the book succeeded in doing what it set out to do, and earned a solid 8.3 stars.

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Dungeon Crawler Carl

By: Matt Dinniman

Narrated by: Jeff Hays

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 1

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

All right, I have to say that Matt Dinniman is just twisted and perverse enough that I might start worshipping him from afar. First, he gave me Popper, and then let me slog through the guts and testicles of a giant Kaiju with him, and now he gives me Dungeon Crawler Carl. I hope that he never goes to therapy, no matter how much he needs it. Stay off your meds, Matt. Stay off your meds.

I joke, but not really. Very few writers will come up with something that I use in real life every day, and yet he gave me a phrase that allows me to swear, which I adore doing, and simultaneously make the phrase fairly innocuous. I swear a lot, and on days when I don’t my kids will ask me if I feel OK. I have now adapted, Goddammit, Donut!” into my everyday vocabulary so that even if I’m mad it seems like I’m just kidding. If it wasn’t for the blasphemy even my wife would be ok with it.

All that aside, DCC is a masterpiece. It is witty, funny, and dark at times. I can say without reservation that I never once envisioned that I would be following a series whose main hero earned the title of crazy cat lady, and is a man running around in his boxers bereft of a weapon accompanied by one of those ugly arsed cats with a smooshed in face that goes by the abbreviated name of Princess Donut. I hate those cats, but, Goddamn it Donut, I love you.

Dinniman tells the tale of a dungeon crawl that takes place after the Earth gets apocalypsed by its rightful owners in the pursuit of producing an interstellar reality show that centers on the survivors of Earth being whittled down rapidly as they struggle to survive a descending dungeon, or an inverted tower, if you will. The question isn’t will you survive, but how low can you go before being killed or making a deal. Carl, aint having none of that. He likes to tell it like it is, and could care less about consequences, while Donut thrives on public adoration, likes and shares, in ways only a show cat could.

While the book is little more than a standard Tower Climb, but upside down, it somehow is refreshing and feels unique even though its not, and that is Dinniman’s power. He takes an old idea, treats it like Gallagher does Watermelons, and whips out some crazy stuff that makes your ears spin. That’s for the audio, if you read it I reckon your eyes would spin. Dunno, I only audio.

Speaking of audio, I have to tell you, and you know its coming, Jeff Hays is my favorite narrator, and while he is always at the top of his game he somehow ups it for this book. Up until this point my favorite character Jeff has ever done has been Boxy Morningwood, of the Everybody Loves Large Chests series, but I have to say that is a singular character; Jeff tells this tale in Carl’s voice, and he is hilarious. The portrayal sounds like Patrick Warbarton, Aka Puddy from Seinfeld or Joe from Family Guy only without the deep bass of the man. He has the cadence, the patter, and the timing down to a tee, and it utterly fits this story. It is an incomparable performance, and I think one of the best in Jeff’s career.

This book is worth a second and third listen, and I find it to be one of the freshest stories I have come across in a long time, and that fact is stunning when you consider the other stuff Dinniman has written.

This book is unquestionably an 8.6 stars.

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Thanks oh so very much for watching everyone, I do appreciate you taking 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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