Steve doesn't know who he is.
Or who he was.
He doesn't know anything, actually.
Not even where he is.
Other than a vast open field of dirt.
All Steve knows is that he's apparently supposed to build a farm. At least that's his only workable assumption. Given the number of farm-tools left to him. That and the massive number of sacks full of seeds.
Unfortunately, this isn't even the strangest part of this new life.
Hidden inside the farm tools, Steve finds messages. Messages that appear in floating windows in front of him.
Messages from his past self, telling him that he'd already failed once.
But he has no idea what he actually failed at. Or how he can succeed this time.
Beyond all this, and unfortunately for Steve, the world just underwent a radical change. A change that's going to have Steve fighting the undead, bandits, nature, and even himself. All while the world falls down around him.
And the only weapon he has is an axe.
Warning and minor spoiler: This novel contains graphic violence, undefined relationships/harem, unconventional opinions/beliefs, and a hero who is as tactful as a dog at a cat show. Listen at your own risk.
This story is an adult fantasy novel.
My Opinion: 438 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Review Written by Ray Johnson of the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast and is for the audiobook version of this story
Remnant
By: Randi Darren
Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau
Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
Here is another fun tale by Randi Darren, coughs Arand, and it is not exactly what you expect from him. The book starts off as a bit of a mystery as the MC, Steve, awakes with barely any memory of his past, which he discovers via a message left by “Past” Steve who traded his memories for some rather awesome and powerful gear. Farming gear to be certain, with the message to build himself a nice little farm and if possible a village.
It isn’t long before Steve finds himself embroiled in a mess of forbidden love, love with non-humans, which only grows until he earns the title of Zookeeper, and no this isn’t a tale of beastiality but rather of half human half other ladies like naids, nagas, etc. Thankfully, the combo of Steve’s incredible strength and gear make him a force that is not to be trifled with and he just goes about his business trying to accumulate wives and territory while fighting a zombie invasion and staving off territory disputes with his neighbors.
The story basically follows this route, Steve builds his farm while slowly accumulating women as he fights either soldiers or zombies. So you get some construction/town building in addition to the harem building, and can I just say that this is some of the fastest harem growth I have ever seen in a novel! He goes from none to like ten before the book finishes up. Mind you, he didn’t actually sleep with all of them in the book, there were some that he kind of set aside for later I suppose.
The world is interesting, in which it has game like rules and pop ups, magic gear that is soul bound, and allows for the acquisition of various titles. It also has a mystery of what created and or guides the strange creeping mist that makes the dead walk or materialize out of thin air. Also, why is his watering can so powerful that it can affect the zombies in the way that it does? Why is he so strong? What events did he fail at so badly that it caused him to reset his life? The book leaves a lot of questions to be answered in the following books, but it doesn’t make you feel like you missed out on something. It is rather smartly orchestrated and artfully told so that you simply enjoy the story.
As for the naughty business the book is full of it, and Master Darren is pretty descriptive. It is fairly well fleshed out, and very visual. The scenes fill the screen in your theater of the mind, so if you are looking for some grown up sassy time you won’t be disappointed.
Turning to the narration aspect what can I say? We are talking Andi P! And she can make her voice go from sexy to sultry in 2 seconds flat. So far, the only thing I don’t think I’ve heard her do is a screaming O but I’m sure that’ll happen some day. Andrea is a top notch voice actress, she has voices for characters, and voices for the cousins of those characters, as well as their neighbors. She would kill voicing cartoons and mature animated movies, she has serious range. She plays these ladies, and Steve, so well that you genuinely believe that she experiences the emotions that they do. You can never go wrong listening to Andrea.
I found this to be 8.4 stars, great story and amazing narration by Andrea. My only grievance was the quick way that the Mayoral sisters took to Steve. I think that they might have been just a little resentful for how he coerced them into joining him. Other than that this book was practically flawless.
Score: 8.4 out of 10