Evan

Smaug Takes A Stroll

Revisado: 05-17-20

The concept immediately sprang to my mind as I read the stories summary. A great calamity of a being, deigning to take time from its precious schedule to grace the lesser races with its presence. I could NOT be happier with the end result. This book came to me as a recommendation in my email, and the summary intrigued me so much that I jumped straight in and snagged it up.

The story itself offers a look at the world through the eyes of a being of absolute authority (in their own mind) as well as the poor unfortunate humans and elves that have to try to survive that fickle creatures whims. A leveling system, reincarnation, a dragons comedic lack of common sense. It all rolls together to create something wonderful. Top marks.

If I have one gripe about this title at all, its in the execution of its editing. I cannot imagine the pain in the tukas it must be to edit 15 plus hours of audio in a cohesive, streamline story, but having said that I cannot personally get past the lapses that occurred with Vainqueur's voice. There were several (more than 4, less than 10) times when his vocal effects were not applied. This would jar me out of the narrative.
Otherwise i greatly enjoyed the performance.

Thank you both Maxime Durand and Jacob Voraces for welcoming us into your world.

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A good start.

Revisado: 03-27-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

This was a different type of title for me. Up to this point I had only been exposed to one other Apocalyptic/Game-lit type title. I wont try comparing the two titles as I don't think its fair to either. I would like to start off by saying that I found the writing to be humorous, if only a bit heavy on the stats and number crunching. There seemed to be mild, light hearted jabs here and there directed at other game-lit titles/series that would pop up every so often and usually incited a chuckle or two. I enjoyed the fact that while the MC was portrayed to be something of the typical college layabout, he wasn't made to be a whiny or entitled man-child. There was very little attempt at instigating a love interest, another appreciated fact as when done poorly, it can ruin a book entirely. There were definitely decisions made by the MC through the story that I wouldn't have agreed with personally as a gamer. Though I suppose there wouldn't be much point in disparaging that fact. Its what draws the mind towards the problem solving and situational awareness aspects of the story. If I had to list just one thing to say as a con for the story... In my personal opinion. It would be the fact that the Main Character's stats were reviewed so often and in full detail. To me it seemed there were several spots where the author would have been better served in expanding on their narrative rather than number crunching.

Mr . Michael Johnson's performance was enjoyable for me for the most part. His pacing was consistent. He managed to differentiate character voices decently well from what I could tell. His delivery on the more humorous lines was good. I 'm really only able to nit pick him in regards to word pronunciation. While that might sound ignorant, stubborn or intolerant. Its a personal pet peeve of mine that I have always had major issues with. With that aside. Well done sir.

To close, I would like to thank Craig Kobayashi and Michael Norman Johnson for sharing this story with the world. I look forward to another installment in the future.

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A Banter-Filled Romp with Shots of Action

Revisado: 12-17-19

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

I found this book to be charming and witty. Its use of both light and dark humor were well balanced and kept a bit of an edgy feel throughout the story. The concepts behind the Banebringers and Bloodbanes were intriguing and left me with many questions as to the hows and why's, which in my opinion is a good thing, these questions help to leave an open avenue for the author to continue the series and and potentially shed light on the subjects.

Eric Bryan Moore gave a wonderful performance in his portrayal of the characters within. He kept his pace even and his sense of presence never wavered that i could hear (IE: his voices for characters never got mixed up). I have no qualms or complaints about his efforts in this production.

My only real gripe with the story was the MC's flip-flopping disposition in regards to the female lead. One moment he is the living embodiment of Casanova and the next he is a fumbling, bumbling teenager with a penchant for opening his mouth one too many times and making that one extra comment that spoils the scene. Though this was likely intentional, it was frustrating for me personally. I yelled at the main character more than a few times...

In the end, I found this to be a great title and I'm personally looking forward to further installments of the Heretic Gods series.

To Carol A Park and Eric Bryan Moore. Thank you both for bringing life to this story and inviting the rest of us to share it.

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A pleasant start to a, hopeful, series.

Revisado: 11-26-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

To begin with, I enjoyed the attitude of the MC early on. His love of his daughter and his attempts to cope with his past tragedies were endearing in my eyes. Though later on it feels like his mid-set becomes erratic... and not in a way that can be easily explained by "current crisis-managment" reactions. The supporting characters were great! I felt like their characters were in this odd balance of typical game AI and Human personality, it almost always made me smirk to listen to their interactions.

To begin with, I wasn't sure that I was a fan of Mr. Bennett's narration style, but over the course of the first half hour of listening, I came around. I enjoyed his tone, cadence and his separation of characters seemed well done to me. Aside from a few pronunciations that I felt were off, I very much enjoyed his performance.

I enjoyed the pretense for this story. Although it has been said in other reviews, its not often that the reader/listener has the chance to visit these types of works and view the story from the darker side. There were plenty of moments in the story that I felt provoked thought, but were sadly left unexplored... though that was likely to keep the story from being overly bogged down in details and minutia. I'm interested to see just what the Author has in store for the next installment.

Thank you to Mr. Thaman and Mr. Bennet, I appreciate the opportunity to explore the world you created for us.

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Compelling. A thought provoking title.

Revisado: 11-09-19

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

There was A-LOT going on in this story. Well defined characters seeking out their personal ambitions with single minded aplomb. A world saturated with descriptive narrative that seems to beckon you forward into its lore. Some characters face struggles that lead to victory and completion... Others face trials and tribulations that lead to the loss of everything they hold dear. The story is given voice by a man that seemingly lends the entirety of his being into the telling. Honestly, Nigel Peever, EXCELLENT performance. I will be looking into other potential titles this man has narrated.

I have two gripes for this title. Only two. Number 1: Why is the soundtrack so overpowering?? A lesser narrator would have been strongly suppressed in some parts of the book. Number 2 is more in my own inability to understand the way the minds of certain characters work as they face certain events in the book. Their choices were surprising, their thought processes unexpected. It made me stop and ask "WHAT? WHY?!"... Oddly enough though, it drew me further into the narrative rather than disconnecting me from the story.

Should you find yourself in the mood for a good "Earthy" fantasy tale, I would highly recommend "Dark Oak".

Nigel Peever, Thank you sir for the life you breathed into your reading.
Jacob Sannox, Thank you for sharing your world with us. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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A Pleasant Experience, A Great Beginning.

Revisado: 10-29-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

With that said, I did not go into listening to this title with grand expectations. The description had piqued my interest and I was looking forward to finding something new within the "game-lit" genre. I can honestly say that I found the story to be charming and witty. I loved the concept, though I definitely felt the whole "invincible anime protagonist" vibe early on in the story. I took a great liking to the gnomish and dwarven characters and personally enjoyed them much more than there co-stars.

The area in which i felt this book fell short was in its narration. Mr. Konkle's performance, while clean and professional, felt entirely too clinical... sterile even. His inflection very rarely changed and most character voices, not including the aforementioned dwarf and gnome variants, were in my opinion nearly identical in pitch, tone and cadence... It made some parts of the story very difficult to follow.

All in all, I do look forward to seeing what may come in the future from this author, though I may decide to go the route of the written word as opposed to the spoken... At least if the pattern thus far seems to continue.

Thank you Ember Lane for the opportunity to explore your world. I truly enjoyed the experience.

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An unexpected, but most welcome surprise.

Revisado: 05-25-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

With that said. This was something I was not expecting at all. To begin with I thought that the narrators tone was a bit too dark but within moments it proved to be most fitting.

I really enjoyed the interplay between characters, the snark and sass meters were going haywire throughout the story.

It had humor, action, a dash of paranoia and a sprinkle of magic. No brain splitting romantic interests for the MC. And a decent story progression that had MOST of my questions answered by the time the story came to its end. I have no gripes other than personal grievances over certain words pronunciation.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I personally can’t wait to see what else the Author has up their sleeves. Kudos to the Narrator for giving the story its personality. 4 stars across the board

Give this a try. You won’t be sorry.

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Enjoyable and Frustrating

Revisado: 04-28-19

Much of my review contains opinions that have been shared by previous reviewers of the book and/or series as a whole. Currently I am making my way through book 8 and can say without a doubt that I have enjoyed the series thoroughly thus far despite a few negatives. With that being said, I will try to be brief with my pros and cons.

Con: The author has a consistent habit of using words repeatedly throughout any given paragraph or even sentence.
Repetition also occurs en-mass when he's relating information pertaining to quest, skill, class, status, level up and combat notifications as well as a persistent need to reiterate information regarding the "sciences" of the series and the plans that the protagonist makes and implements. This is extremely vexing and more than once has completely removed me from the story. One should never feel like they could hit the skip ahead button 4 times and not miss anything....

Pro: I found the concept behind this series to be excellent, with a likable cast of characters that each gets at least a moment in the limelight rather than keeping laser focused on the MC. Though it seems a bit like a cheat, the Main Character is gifted with a unique and curious set of abilities that I at least have not seem utilized in the LitRPG's I've enjoyed so far. I personally think that Dave and his companions are developing well and I am looking forward to the future releases.

The narrator (in my opinion) initially does a good job of making distinguishable voices for the characters he's reading... though that seems to start to slacken a bit as the series progresses, at one point Dave, Suzy, Lucy, Kim and Duane all sounded like the same voice. Aside from this I enjoyed his performance, Patience is indeed a virtue, if Mr. Morris was Patient enough to read all those dozens of pages of repeated system info messages, the least I could do was enjoy his efforts.

In closing: This is a book/series I would recommend to those who have already immersed themselves in the LitRPG genre, as the stats and system messages could be very overwhelming to the non-indoctrinated. Does this title/series stack up to some of my personal favorites such as The Land, The Feedback Loop, Super Sales on Super Heroes and The Unbound Deathlord? Not particularly, but they are enjoyable non the less. Enter in with an open mind... and a bit of patience. Take what you can from the Author and Narrators good intentions. Your time will not have been wasted.

Happy Listening

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