The Bookwyrm's Review of 8-Bit Bastards: Level One and Two by Joshua Mason

Author: Joshua Mason

Length: 267 Pages/ 9 hours, 47 Minutes

Release Date: June 6, 2019/ December 17, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: Bebuka Books/ Spectrum Audiobooks (Audio)

Narrator: Michael Norman Johnson

Genre: LitRPG

Rating: 5/5 Stars

For me, LitRPG is very hit or miss genre. Luckily, 8-Bit Bastards is definitely in the hit category. avoiding a lot of the pitfalls I see in a lot of LitRPG, like five pages of stats, harem tacked on that doesn't advance the story and flat characters. It starts with an intriguing premise and runs with it, developing layers as the story proceeds.

PLOT SUMMARY

The story starts with Sean, who is on day 82 of a game and junk food binge, when a knock on his door changes his trajectory in life. Heather, with whom Sean had a three year relationship with long ago, has news that draws Sean out of his self imposed funk. One of their descendants is in trouble, and only Sean and Heather can help. considering they have 700 years experience where they are, it should be no problem, right?

Wait, did I say 700 years? That's right, I did. The story takes place in the digital realm of Afterall, which up until 50 years before the story starts, those with the resources could have their consciousness uploaded to Afterall, leaving mortal life behind forever. Afterall has been closed to new players for 50 years, but the occasional person hacks in, but the results aren't pretty, since they are stuck by the control AI, Bartelby, in the 8-Bit realm, an homage to old 8-bit games. Think the original Zelda or Phantasy Star on Nintendo and Sega. The problem is it slowly drives players crazy, so having Pliny, their descendent stuck there won't work.

After talking to Bartleby, and being given some mental protection from the 8-bit realm, Sean and Heather proceed to put Sean's old adventuring guild, the 8-Bit Bastards, back together to go find Pliny. The problem is, Sean burned his bridges with both other members of the Bastards, Matt and Claudia, centuries ago, and they are still mad at him. Sleeping with a guy's wife and sister will leave a few sore feelings. Sean and Heather do manage to get them to put aside their differences, and they proceed to the 8-Bit realm. 

Once they cross the river into the realm, they discover things aren't exactly as they remember. For one thing, they go from maxed out, multi-class epic level characters all the way down to weaponless, classless level one Sprouts. This means they will have to grind and level up the hard way. Also, they discover Pliny is ahead of them, questing on his own, so they need to do all this while chasing after him. What follows if a fun adventure filled with adventures, mob grinding, player class adding and enough snark and game culture references to choke a shark. All the while, Sean, Claudia, Heather and Mark each notices little things that just seem odd to the realm, and slowly start seeing that all  may not be what it seems, leading to their eventual confrontation with the Boss of the region. Or is it? 

In Level 2, Sean, Mark, Heather and Claudia have defeated their first boss foe, and have to enter the castle looking for Sean and Heather's ancestor. After entering the castle, the group discovers they are trapped within. They also start seeing weird stuff, as the 8 bit realm seems to be acting even more strangely than usual. Searching around the castle library for clues, Mark disappears, and his friends become desperate searching for him. Things start getting a little crazy from here, as they meet and old Teammate, Roger, who is also stuck in the castle. He warns them of a new threat in the castle, and lets them know they aren't nearly leveled up to deal with it. He offers to take them with him to level up, since he is maxed out, and his high level enemies, will shoot their levelling up to extremes. 

Meanwhile, Mark has fallen through a trap door and is wandering tunnels under the castle, where he encounters Pliny, who they have been searching for from the beginning. Things get complicated when they encounter Tevera, the giant snake boss in the castle, who has a much darker and more powerful purpose than the group would imagine. When the group finally reassembles after a series of adventures in the castle, they find out that this encounter in the castle is not random, and that there is a threat to the entire world they never expected, with an unknown enemy pulling the strings.

WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTERS

Since Afterall is a digital world, anything imaginable can be created there. There are of course tons of fantasy elements, but the inhabitants can mix and match elements in any of the realms that aren't the 8-Bit Realm, so you will see anachronisms like Star Wars Endor speeders or a Tron light cycle going into a fantasy realm where they run across wyverns. The 8-Bit realm based on those old games, so its lots of pixilated bright colors and sounds. The NPC's are also true to form, so there's a lot of pre-programmed responses, but there's also some underlying depth as well.

The characters really shine. Sean has an interesting arc, starting out as an apathetic burnout who is looking for some meaning to a life spent wasted, and really going through some character growth. The other Bastards also have some interesting arcs, although Sean's is the most profound, since he was the most fundamentally broken. The secondary characters get some attention, and you feel there is more to them than the basic responses programmed into them. The AI's are especially interesting, although not in a Skynet kind of way. it's funny watching their interactions with the Bastards. there is a lot of humor scattered throughout, with some hilarious running jokes. After you're through reading it, you will never think of cheese cubes or biscuits the same way. There's much more character to the characters than you would expect, and there are some twists and turns along the way.

NARRATION

The narration is ably handled Michael Norman Johnson. I was unfamiliar with him before this book, but I have to say, he is a great find. He has just the perfect voice for this book, having a humorous snarky quality to his voice. He does an excellent job giving individual life to each of the characters, and his narrative pacing is excellent. He really keeps the listener engaged in the narrative. I think the addition of a little music and various sound effects throughout was well done, adding a fun touch to a fun story. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

After I finished reading Volume One, I was immediately interested in getting into the follow-up, Level Two. After reading book two and listening to the omnibus collection, I discovered the plan is for a much longer arc than expected (Nine!) and am thrilled at the prospect to continue with the series. This is such an engaging story, with such engaging characters, that it immediately shot into my top three Lit RPG titles, alongside James Hunter's Viridian Gate: Cataclysm and J.A. Cipriano's Soulstone: Skeleton Key. I highly recommend it to any fans of the LitRPG or GameLit genre's, and it will even appeal to fans of more traditional fantasy. With two books released so far, you have 500+ pages of fun reading so far, as well as almost 10 hours of audio goodness!



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The Bookwyrm's Review of Witch For Hire by N.E. Conneely

Author: N.E. Conneely

Length: 258 Pages/7 Hours, 14 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: January 11, 2014/ February 11, 2015 (Audio)

Narrator: Jeff Hays

Genre: Urban Fantasy

I was completely blown away by this book. It was a great read! The setting is a twist on our world, where magical types like Witches, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons etc. have been in charge forever, while vanilla humans were kept as slaves until 300 years ago. The current President of the US is a dragon, and is dealing with the idea of reparations to humans, basically a twist on our society. 

The story takes place in Georgia, where the main character, Michelle, is a witch with no clan affiliation, who has a consulting business helping different police departments solve magical crimes. She lives in a boarding house run by Brownies, and is trying to live a normal, busy life. She is contacted by local police to help with a case of Trolls escaped off their preserve, a danger, since Trolls eat people. Making matters worse is a group of humans who are helping them to evade capture, thinking they can be rehabilitated. She deals with other cases as well, all while dealing with office politics, a suddenly confusing personal life, and some personal revelations about her parentage. Will she be able to find the Trolls, and stop whoever is behind it? Read it to find out, it is very much worth the time. 

As far as the narrator, Jeff Hayes just shot into my top ten narrators. I actually thought the main narrative, done in the first person of Michelle, was being voiced by a woman. Instead, it was Jeff Hays, who did multiple female  and male voices in several registers and accents, each voice distinct. Some of the best voice work I've heard in 1000+ audiobooks.


I would recommend this to fans of Simon R. Green's and Mike Resnick's brand of urban fantasy, as well as fans of Patricia Briggs.  I can't wait for the next installment. This is an author to watch!

Rating: 4.5/5

The Bookwyrm's Review of Fantastica: Taerek's Void by M.R. Mathis

Author: M.R. Mathias

Length: 523 pages/ 6 hours, 30 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: July 9, 2017/ July 2, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: Mathias Publishing

Narrator: Will Hahn

Genre: Fantasy/ Coming of Age

As one of the pioneers of the indie fantasy book phenomenon, M.R. Mathias has an incredible body of award winning fantasy. I discovered his writings when I came across his Vanx Malik series, which is a treat for fantasy fans. When I was given the chance to review Fantastica: Taerek's Void, I just had to say yes. After finishing, I'm glad I did, since it's a definite page turner.

PLOT SUMMARY

Braxton is a from a small farming village, looking forward to being able to leave and see the greater world. Not needed to run the family farm, he is going to travel and see the world. When Braxton and his friend Davvy are attacked by a monster on day on the water, they make a discovery that has world shaking consequences. Being attacked by a monster, they manage to defeat it, but find themselves trapped in an underground cave. They discover a bunch of skeletons of adventurers, and Braxton finds a strange book, maps and an amulet he keeps to himself, as well as a purse of ancient gold coins, which he splits with Davvy. After escaping the cave, Braxton and Davvy see the wise man of the village, who tells Braxton he need to travel to the capital, where he can see scholars who can help him decipher the maps and possibly the book. 

Leaving his old life behind, Braxton goes on towards the capital, having a few adventures along the way. Reaching the capital, he ends up seeing the scholars, one of which, a woman named Master Bee, helps him decipher where the maps need him to go, which turns out to be the island of the elves. As he heads that way, he is accosted by some highwaymen, and is saved at the last moment by a female mercenary named Nixy and Braxton's horse, who is just a badass. Joining up with Nixy, Braxton continues on the path towards the elves. However, finds himself being hunted by a bunch of mercenaries, who are after the bounty on Braxton, placed by a necromancer looking to get his hands on the amulet. 

Escaping the bounty hunters, Braxton and Nixy end up on a ship headed to the elven island, and meet a bunch of  dwarves on board. when they get to the island, they discover that the Dwarves are princes of the dwarves, sent to meet with the elves about disturbances on their land. what follows is a counsel between the humans, elves, dwarves and a great wizard, in which they determine an ancient evil is rising again to threaten the world, and the maps, book and amulet are all tied to it, as is an artifact left in the elves keeping that has since been lost.

Braxton is starting to find that the amulet is gifting him with magical abilities, and he has to work at Taerek's Void, the mental state that allows him to use these new found abilities. Joining with his new allies, Braxton embarks on a quest to find the lost artifact, and undertake a voyage that the fate of the world may hinge on. Can Braxton possibly defeat the forces arrayed against him? Only time will tell.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Worldbuilding is a definite strength in this book. M.R. Mathias is known for writing rich, detailed descriptions of both settings and characters, and this is definitely shown here. You get a real feel of being right in the scene. from descriptions of things as small as the sound and look of a flowing river, to something as large as a dying dragon crashing through some trees, you can definitely feel yourself drawn right in to the scenes.

The characters are definitely fun. Braxton is the everyman who has world shaking events thrust upon him, and steps up to the plate to answer. He swings between confident and naively innocent to the ways of the world. He is an engaging character who you find yourself rooting for. Nixy is a strong character, doing what she feels is right, even at the cost of her own personal gain. While she can be a strong fighter, she is also compassionate for those who fall on hard times. The secondary characters are a mixed bag, but fit well in the story. The villains are in the background, with very little open acting against the characters, with the exceptions of assassins. Its a slow tension builder, and works well with the story. 

NARRATION

The narration is ably handled by Will Hahn. This was the first time I've heard his work, but it definitely wont be the last. A writer in his own right, Will understands the pacing of the story's narration, making sure to move the narrative portions along without monotone or other pacing issues. He has a good range of voices, both male and female, human and other. He uses a variety of tones and accents to differentiate the various characters, all to good effect. He really helps bring the story to life.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The first book in a series can always be a challenge. Will the characters resonate? Does the plot make sense? in the case of Taerek's Void, I can safely say the answer is yes to both. The story is gripping, and will appeal to a wide range of fantasy fans. I can definitely recommend it with no reservations.

Rating: 4.5/5

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The Bookwyrm's Review of The First Fear by M. S. Olney

Author: M. S. Olney

Length: 388 Pages/ 8 hours, 52 minutes (Audio)

Release Date: June 22, 2018/ January 23, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: M. S. Olney

Narrator: Alister Austin

Series: The Empowered Ones, Book One

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Rating: 9.5/10 Stars

This is one of those books I got an early peak at, but was so overbooked I just didn't get a chance to finish it. When the audio book released, I knew I had to give it a listen. Its a good thing I did, because this was a story worth hearing. Taking a lot of the tropes of the last 20 years, the author takes bits of them, mixes them up in a blender, and makes them his own unique thing.

PLOT SUMMARY

In a totalitarian empire, ruled for the last 300 years by the all powerful ruler, known as the Supreme, any dissent is dealt with in a draconian manner. The empire is basically a slave empire, with the vast majority of the population being slaves to the various nobles, who treat the slaves mercilessly to be able to afford the Empress's tribute. Life is cheap, and this is the society Elian was born into. Elian is the son of a serf carpenter, meaning he is free, within limitations. As a small kid, even at 15, he is picked on by the bigger kids of his village. He is often protected from the beatings by his best friend, Lizella. 

After a prank as revenge against the bigger boys goes horribly wrong, Elian and Lizella end up on the run from the Supreme's enforcers when Elian develops powers in the stress dealing with the prank's aftermath, which draws the Supreme's forces after them. Now on the run, Elian and Lizella escape, only to foolishly be captured by slavers. Lizella faces life in a pleasure house, while Elian can look forward to a quick death in the gladiator pits, neither a fate they'd wish on anyone.

While on the road to the slave market, the slave train is attacked by rebels, and Lizella is freed. Escaping with the rebels, she goes with them back to their camp, only to end up on the run again after they are attacked. Elian is still captured, though, and ends up sold to a gladiator troop. He ends up training to be sword fodder, but his emerging powers, based around emotions creating different effects, means he doesn't die as expected. It turns out Elian is a rarity known as an Emergent, which means he can use more than one emotion to create magic effects. as opposed to a gifted, who can only use one emotion.  

This all leads to a great confrontation down the road, as the rebels manage to take the city and the Supreme brings her forces to bear. She sends her head enforcer, the dreaded Hollow known as the First Fear, after Elian, as the Supreme's army attacks the rebel fortifications. This climactic battle leads to revelations about who and what Elian is, as well is who is behind the rebellion and the potential to defeat the Supreme.

CHARACTERS AND WORLDBUILDING

While there is very strong worldbuilding in this book, characters are it's real strength. The main characters are well written, with strengths and flaws, giving them fully formed personalities. Elian and Lizella get the most attention, being the main characters, but even the secondary characters are given fully formed personalities, with their own triumphs, flaws and motivations. The villains fit within the world they are created in, with motivations and actions that fit the narrative.  

The world building is quite intense and detailed. A slave empire, it is a harrowing life for the inhabitants. The magic system , and its rarity, is quite creative. The magic being created through the use of emotion to create specific effects, with varying levels of power depending on the emotional severity, can result in some wildly creative scenes. The struggle against the oppressive system, and the mystery behind it, is also intriguing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is one of those stories that hook you from the outset. Using tropes in a creative way isn't always easy, but the author manages it nicely. Fans of Brandon Sanderson should especially enjoy this story, as will fans of dark, gritty fantasy. It will be interesting to see where the story goes from this point.



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The Bookwyrm's Review of The Jigsaw Blade by Stevie Collier

Author: Stevie Collier

Pages: 381

Publisher: Stevie Collier

Release Date: May 2, 2019

Series: The Bizarre Blades, Book 1

Genre: Fantasy

Having finished Stevie Collier's fantastically creative fantasy book, The Four Territories, I immediately agreed to read and review this one when offered the opportunity. While they both deal with young, coming of age protagonists, set in fantasy worlds, that's pretty much where comparisons end. Set it its own unique world setting, The Jigsaw Blade takes us on a journey that you just don't see too much in fantasy today, where its either unremittingly grim or all bright and sunny. Stevie made the decision to mix many elements into this one, creating a varied tapestry of a fantasy story.

PLOT SUMMARY

Finn Featherstone, just a regular skinny teen from the city of Shimoshimo, son of a local artist, is a huge fan of the Champions, wielders of the Bizarre Blades, magical blades that are hidden around the world, and highly sought after for the powers they bestow, which are wildly varied depending on the blade. Living in a caste system of which he is the highest rung of peasant, called sprouts, signified by his green hair (as opposed to red haired sparks, or heaven forbid, a brown haired Spud). This means he's treated as slightly higher than street trash by the Highborn, the ruling class, and he is not living in a shanty waiting to be eaten by a dinosaur, which is a real threat.

Walking home after running an errand for his father, Finn passes the Flying Cage of Doom, where criminals are executed by being locked in a cage with Pteradons to be eaten alive. Noting a child fall into the cage, Finn, tries to fetch the kid out, only to fall in the cage himself. As Finn is about to be eaten, he is rescued by Bryce Smolder, next in line for a Bizarre Blade and a real hero.

This rescue comes just in time for Finn to be drafted into the Prince's army, as word has come about a new Blade that is supposedly in the wild. After a series of misadventures on the trail with the army, Finn inadvertently ends up with the Blade, before he passes out from the situation he finds himself in. When Finn awakens, he discovers the world is quite what he thought it was.

Finn finds himself having been rescued from almost certain death by The Society of the Champions of Arbitration, who collect what Blades they can, and try and keep the other Blade wielders from getting out of hand. Not having any previous training, and incensing the other potential champions, The Leader of the Champions assigns Silver to whip Finn into shape. Silvers idea of this is to abandon Finn in the woods to die, giving him the task of somehow climbing a cliff face to retrieve a flag.

Instead of dying, Finn surprisingly adapts, getting stronger and bonding with his blade more. This is a good thing, since after months of strengthening and training himself, he heads back to the village with Silver after he recovers the flag, only to discover that bandits searching for Finn's Blade have captured the villagers. Silver makes a surprising move, coming out of hiding to offer himself up to free some of the prisoners, who will supposedly go and look for Finn.

Instead, the released prisoners, Silver's other apprentice Jade, as well as the village's eccentric healer, Ariel, join with Finn to find another Blade that will help them defeat the bandits. What follows is a hilariously improbable series of adventures, which include fighting more dinosaurs, meeting Jades surprisingly important family, and finding out about Ariel's past. The trio has a chance to get another Blade to fight the bandits with, all for the measly price of killing a huge carnivorous Dinosaur terror!

Well, this of course goes interestingly, and leads to the final confrontation with the bandits, including their leader, who has a Bizarre Blade that nullifies other Blades. Finn also finds that his father is in the custody of his City's Prince, and now must decide how to save his father without giving up his blade to the Prince. Can the rumor of the location of the fabled Golden Blade be found to help them? Only time will tell.

CHARACTERS AND WORLDBUILDING

Like Stevie's other Series, the Four Territories, characters drive the story. While there are wild story elements like the Bizarre Blades and dinosaurs, it is the characters that make this story go. Finn starts off a weak, naive and ineffectual, and has a slow growth to something resembling competence. While I like Finn, he does stay a bit more whiny throughout than I would have preferred. That being said, he still has an interesting character arc. The various secondary characters also get some attention, especially Jade and Ariel, who get fleshed out as their back stories are revealed. The villains are a bit two dimensional, but not enough so that it really detracts. There are bigger villains are on the horizon, which are mentioned in this story, The world building is interesting, mixing a sprawling city state fantasy realm with wild areas with dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are even in the cities to a certain extent, both domesticated and wild. Its an interesting dynamic in a book that has magic swords and a feudal fantasy setting, and something interesting to look forward to in later installments.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I had this book recommended to me by another author, comparing it to Nicholas Eames's Kings of the Wyld in both humor and quality. High praise from them. While in my opinion it is a bit short of that lofty perch, it is, nevertheless, an excellent fantasy story, told with passion and humor, and brings an interesting world and characters into readers minds. I highly recommend it, and will be reviewing the rest of the series down the road.

RATING: 4.5/5

The Bookwyrm's Review of Agent G: Assassin by CT Phipps

Author: CT Phipps

Length: 207 Pages

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Release Date: January 7, 2019

Genre: Spy thriller/Cyberpunk

Having been a big fan of so many of CT Phipps other series, when I heard he was writing a sci-fi spy thriller, I was excited. The finished product, featuring a cyborg assassin in a clandestine group, was just fantastic. The second book continued the trend, filling in holes in the main characters life and back story, and setting up the third, which, with the events of the second book, take a radically different turn, going straight out of clandestine and right into dystopian cyberpunk. While it may seem a strange juxtaposition, it was carefully set up with the events of the first two books.


PLOT SUMMARY

When the super volcano in Yellowstone erupts, the world is thrown into disarray with the resulting climatic, societal and economic chaos. After a massive die-off of the worlds populations, society is just getting back under something resembling control. The governments are massively weakened, while the multinational corporations are massively powerful, basically using the governments as puppets. Many people live in arcologies, trading in freedom for the illusion of security. Case also released all the Black Technology that had been kept from the world through the AI known as Delphi, resulting in even more societal changes, as the advanced tech made whole industries obsolete.

Ten years into this new paradigm is where we find Case, formerly Agent G, assassin for the International Relief Society. He is now chief security executive of The Atlas Corporation, the worlds premier security company. Working with Lucita and Agent S, former lovers and assassins themselves, Atlas tries to mitigate the worst excesses, while also turning a massive profit. When another former lover, Claire, involved with an advocacy group, H.O.P.E, which has a radical violent element, gets involved in a mission to find the mythical Black Dossier, which is supposed to have the deepest dark secrets of all the corporations and their executives, from every dirty deal made to what depravity the executives engage in, Case as to make some decisions where his loyalties lie.

Case and Claire begin their hunt for the Dossier, which is complicated when Marissa, Case's former lover/handler/enemy, gets involved in the chase, as well as Case's Society nemesis, Agent A,  the best of the Letter cyborg assassins. Their involvement complicates things a great deal, as the Dossier contains in information about medical Nanotech, which is of particular interest to Agent A. So interested in it, in fact, that he will kill anyone in his way to get it.  This all leads to a wild series of events, as Case must face some painful parts of his past as he tries to keep millions more people from being harmed by information contained on the Dossier, and Case and Claire must work to keep their worst nightmare coming true, killing millions in the process, resulting in a climactic final showdown.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Like all CT Phipps books, the Agent G series is all about the characters first. We have seen G, now called Case, go from a remorseless (well, mostly) cyborg assassin to a person who cares about more than just where the next contract is coming from, that is willing to make sacrifices for those he loves. His evolution as a person is one of the key selling points of the series. The secondary characters are also given lots of attention as far as building them into believable characters, especially with the huge changes the world has gone through. The introduction of Agent A was a bit unexpected, but he paid off in the story. Marissa and Claire Had especially wide arcs, and their character development survives a lot of turbulence, both of which the readers can really appreciate.

The world which Case helped create with his release of Black Technology is the amalgamation of every cyberpunk world. Corporate oligarchs run the world through weak puppet governments, while the poor have either died off, or are forced to live in archologies where they surrender freedom for a feeling of security. The only alternative is live a hardscrabble life in the slums where life comes cheap.  While the world building doesn't reinvent the wheel, it does show a deep knowledge of and appreciation of the genre, without being so outside recognizable that non cyberpunk fans cant get into the story. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Any time a series make a huge change in plot line, it can result in a a disjointed story. Fortunately, that's not what happened here. The shift to a cyberpunk future creates more storytelling opportunities, and I have the suspicion CT Phipps will take full advantage of them. I can whole heartedly recommend this story to a wide variety of fans.

Rating: 10/10 Stars

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The Bookwyrm's Review of Larry Correia's Monster Hunter International

Author: Larry Correia

Length: 726 Pages/ 24 Hours (Audio)

Publisher: Baen Books

Release Date: August 1st, 2009

Narrator: Oliver Wyman

Series: Monster Hunter International, Book 1

Genre: Urban fantasy

This has been one of those reviews that has been a long time coming. I first read this book years ago, but at the time, I was kind of the average reader and didn't take the time to do book reviews. since then, I have come around 180 degrees, trying to get reviews in of everything I read and listen to. I just did a relisten to this one, which was my introduction to Larry Correia and his wild imagination, and decided it was about time to review what for me is one of my favorite urban fantasy series. On that note, lets get this started.

PLOT SUMMARY

Owen Zastava Pitt is just your typical office drone, (well, maybe not typical, since he's built like an NFL offensive lineman) working as an accountant in a cubical farm in a corporate accounting office. Unfortunately for him, he has the worst boss in the world. By worst, I mean, he turns out to be a werewolf that decides Owen will make a tasty snack at work one night. His boss is in for a surprise, though, since Owen, while an accountant, is also the son of a Special Forces soldier, and has trained his whole life to deal with crazy situations. Owen ends up badly hurt while dealing with his out of control boss by all means at his disposal in a crazy fight scene.

Waking up in the hospital five days later, in pain and massively scarred, Owen finds two federal officers, Agent Meyers and Franks, in his hospital room, who tell him what he fought was a werewolf, and telling him if he was infected, they will put him down. While they wait for the test results, another man, named Earl Harbinger comes to see him, and leaves his card, telling him after he gets out of the hospital, give him a call. When the test comes back negative, the feds leave, with an admonition to not talk about what really happened. This is Owen's first run in with the US Monster Control Bureau, who's main job is to keep the greater population unaware of the supernatural. 

The meeting with Earl in the hospital leads to Owen being offered a job with Monster Hunter International, or MHI, the premier monster hunting company in the world. Moving to Alabama to MHI's headquarters, Owen joins the latest class of potential hunters, all of whom were recruited after encountering some sort of supernatural baddy. Owen's upbringing helps with the training, as he is familiar with all the weapons, and he goes through the grind of learning how to kill monsters that are stronger, faster and more ruthless than humans. 

As they near the end of training, several newbies are tasked to help with a mission MHI's main team has to go on, since they are shorthanded.  Proceeding to a ship off the coast of Georgia, which a French hunter team has disappeared on, The MHI team inserts onto the ship, and all hell breaks loose. After a grueling battle, in which they are all almost killed multiple times, they discover that something evil was being transported on the ship, guarded by seven master vampires, something that is supposed to be impossible, since master vamps are loners.

What follows is a crazy race against time, as Owen is having visions of what the evil entity is, and he is being helped by the ghost of a hunter killed years ago in an attempt to control an ancient artifact. This includes dealing with a former MHI hunter who almost destroyed the world to get information about where this is all happening. Unfortunately, MHI isn't the only ones looking for him, and that ends up with Owen and his team on the run from the Feds as well. This leads to a confrontation with an unexpected menace, a master vampire with a close tie to MHI, and more clues to what is afoot. 

After some more twists and turns, betrayals and missteps, MHI is facing down the end of the world as the big baddy fully reveals himself, and they must try and stop him before he brings an end to time itself, all while releasing eldritch horrors from the void that would give Lovecraft nightmares. Racing the clock, they face down the evil ones in a climactic battle that threatens the survival of the world if they fail (or at the very least, the threat of the Feds nuking Alabama). Owen and company must face down a threat from before history or all is lost. The finale was as breathtaking as any ending you're likely to read.

CHARACTERS AND WORLDBUILDING

While there is some strong worldbuilding throughout the book, the characters are where this book really shines. Owen Pitt is and excellent, well rounded character. For all his exceptional natural abilities, he still struggles with his flaws and failures, with self doubt. He comes across as a real person, stuck in extraordinary circumstances. The secondary characters are also get a lot of attention. From Owen's fellow hunters like Tripp Jones and Holly Newcastle, both survivors of monster attacks, to Julie Shackleford and Earl Harbinger, born into monster hunting, they are given a surprising amount of character growth and backstory. They too are also allowed to have successes and failures too, just like real people. Its a change of pace from the usual flawless monster hunting tropes. Even the villains have realistic, within the story, motivations, and their actions are consistent within those. not your usual mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash villains.

The dialogue is crisp, with humor and serious intermixed throughout. The banter feels like the kind you'd get in a Alpha personality environment, with a lot of cutting humor throughout. the worldbuilding felt very realistic, with the hunters and government agents acting in believable ways throughout, especially considering the adversarial  relationship they have. 

I have seen a few complaints that the book is "gun porn". I am assuming the author's very detailed descriptions of the various weapons, of which there are a lot, used throughout is what they are referring to. The old adage of "write what you know" is probably in place here, since the author is a lifelong firearms user, and has actually been a gun seller. This results in lots of detailed descriptions of various firearms and even their many accessories, and the proper application in various shooting situations, which as an Army veteran doesn't bother me in the slightest, and just increases the realism. 

NARRATION

This was the first book I had ever heard Oliver Wyman narrate, but it was certainly not the last. He has great voice, and has an amazing talent for creating various characters using various pitches, accents and cadences. He is as adept at voicing an old polish ghost as he is voicing a young southern female American hunter or an ancient master vampire. his narrative pacing is some of the best I have ever heard, and that is with over 1000 audiobooks listened to. He is a reason to buy an audiobook version of a book.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have to say that I was not familiar with Larry Correia when I first got the book. This was my first experience with his writing, and I was very happy with the level of detail and effort that went into creating realistic characters dealing with fantastic situations. I can happily recommend this series to anyone looking for an action packed urban fantasy with great characters and plotting. Try it out in any format, you won't be disappointed.

RATING: 5/5 

Kindle version

Audible version

The Bookwyrm's Review of Darkmage by M.L. Spencer

Author: M.L. Spencer

Length: 521 Pages/ 18 Hours, 26 minutes (Audio)

Publisher:  Stoneguard Publications

Release Date: January 6, 2016/ September 18, 2018

Narrator: Simon Wright

Series: The Rhenwars Saga, book 1

Genre: Grimdark fantasy

After reading the opening book in this series, Darkstorm, I was curious where the author would take it, considering that ending. Well, she took it a thousand years after the events of Darkstorm, and started a whole new cast of characters, with references and the history since mixed in, all to great effect.

The time has come for Darien Lauchlin, son of the Prime Warden of Aerysius, basically the head of the mage guild, to be invested as a mage. This is accomplished by an elderly mage passing along their power, which kills them in the process. After the transfer, someone unexpected betrays the entire mage guild, and the kingdoms at large, by opening the Well of Tears, releasing the forces of the God of Chaos upon the world. This includes the eight demons of legend, powerful mages of a previous era that were sent to the underworld as they attempted to open the Well themselves. Escaping as the mage's tower is destroyed, Darien watches the city fall to ruin as he escapes. Being helped by an aged mage to escape, he also gains that mages power, making him the most powerful mage walking around, much more powerful than a human is supposed to be. 

Escaping to the border of the Darklands, Darien must convince the commander of the border defenses to retreat away to a more defensible position now that the mages, who were defense only magic anyway, are now gone, and the defenses will be facing magic they can no longer defend against. While there, Darien meets Kyel Archer, an undiscovered magic sensitive who he takes on as an apprentice. With the help of a priestess of the God of Death, Darien and Kyel hatch a plan to defeat the forces of chaos and close the Well. Splitting up to marshal the various armed kingdom forces, Kyel is sent to gather up one kingdoms forces and have them gather at a place of magic power, while Darien goes to another for the same task.

This all ends up leading to a dramatic confrontation with the forces of the kingdoms against the forces of the Darklands and their chaos masters. Darien must choose whether to break his peace vow, making him a pariah. Also, the plan to close the Well involves the ultimate sacrifice, with the whole world on the line. The ending is such a twist, you can't possibly see it coming, but in the best way possible.

Like it's predecessor Darkstorm, Darkmage is primarily a character driven story, Its the story of people who have to make decisions that have world shaking consequences, which will affect them most of all. Is your oath and honor worth thousands of lives? Is the sacrifice your father made not enough example? Darien struggles with all of this, as do so many of the other characters. The Oath of Peace hangs over the proceedings, and Darien has to contend with it throughout. Darien is a complex, fully drawn out character. the secondary characters are given good development as well, especially Kyel. The villains are mostly in the background, working behind the scenes, although the initiator of the entire conflict does get a bit of poetic justice. The world building s top notch, the plotting is fast paced, action packed and emotional, and the twist ending really cemented how good this book was.

The narration by Simon Wright was definitely a high point. His voice sounds quite a bit like Kit Harrington, so it sounds like Jon Snow is reading to you, which is kind of cool if you ask me. Excellent voice work for the various characters, and he has excellent pacing.  I can't recommend it enough, in whatever format you choose.

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Future of Supervillainy by C.T. Phipps

Author: C.T. Phipps

Length: TBD

Release Date: TBD

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Series: Supervillainy, Book 6

As a huge fan of the Supervillainy series, I was really excited to hear that C.T. Phipps was writing a new volume in the series. When I was given the chance to read an early access copy of The Future of Supervillainy, my inner nerd went into overdrive. Not sure where the series would go after Tournament of Supervillainy, I was pleasantly surprised with the direction it went. 

After defeating Entropicus in the Tournament of Eternity, Gary and crew returned to Falconcrest City, to bask in their well earned spoils from the tournament. Living at the Warren Mansion, family home of the Nightwalker, Gary and his family are continuing their life of crime, such as it is. When government agents show up to arrest Gary, threatening his family in the process, Gary decisively and permanently, for the agents at least, ends that threat. Gary then meets John Booth and Mercury, the protagonists from the author's Cthulhu Armageddon series, and finds out the Society of Superheroes has been captured by Tom Terror and P.H.A.N.T.O.M.. When he finds out they were in a previously unknown realm at the center of the Earth, nothing will stop Gary and his crew from going to rescue them.

Arriving in the hidden world, Gary finds that Tom Terror and his minions have taken over a large swath of it, and are trying to take over the last free area. Gary also discovers the underground sun is Ultranian in nature, and the source of all the supers on earth. What follows is a thrill a minute battle though a world Indiana Jones and Jules Verne wouldn't want to try, With dinosaurs, villains and Nazi's, err, P.H.A.N.T.O.M goons trying to stop them at every turn, the final face off has a bunch of twists and turns, including some people from Gary's life he never expected to see again. It also turns out Gary isn't the only one with an Eternity Stone, and this means a shift in the balance of power that may have effects much greater than Gary expected, and he will be changed in so many ways by the end.

This has a really cool adventure story vibe to it, part Indian Jones meets Jules Verne, part Savage Land comics. Gary is his usual wisecracking, self deprecating, stubborn self. You might be  able to complain about character growth, but who wants Gary to grow or get introspective? That would ruin half the fun at least. The rest of the cast of rogues is its usual fun, crazy best. Cindy, aka Red Riding Hood, is still one of my favorite characters. She will literally say anything, and is definitely fun and shocking at every turn. The villain, Tom Terror, is one of his best, being a combo of The Red Skull and Lex Luthor. He comes across with grandiose menace like no other villain in the Garyverse, and he is a legitimate threat at all times to anyone who gets in his way. The new setting of the inner world is very Verneesque, but with touches only C.T. Phipps could come up with. All told, this is one of my favorite entries in what is one of my favorite series. I cant recommend it highly enough when its published.

Rating: 5/5

The Bookwyrm's Review of Soda Pop Soldier by Nick Cole

Author: Nick Cole

Length: 367 Pages/ 12 Hours, 27 Minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Nick Cole/ Podium Publishing (Audio)

Release Date: January 14, 2019/ November 6, 2018 (Audio)

Narrator: Guy Williams

Series: Soda Pop Soldier, Book 1

Genre: GameLit/Cyberpunk

I was a big fan of Nick Cole from his previous work on books like The Red King, but it wasn't until the kerfuffle about this book's predecessor, CTRL-ALT Revolt!, that I became aware of this book. A shame, really, because I missed out on some damn fine writing until now.

Set in the same universe as Revolt, just years later, we meet the protagonist, PerfectQuestion, professional gamer for ColaCorp, doing battle in WarWorld, the biggest MMO in the world, as ColaCorp's online soldiers battle WonderSoft's virtual troopers in a winner takes all battle for prime advertising space in New York, all in a game that has similarities to the Vietnam war and the setting for the movie Aliens. Unfortunately for PerfectQuestion, ColaCorp has suffered one defeat after another lately, being rolled back from previous gains and facing imminent defeat. In the dystopian corporate controlled world he lives in, losing his job will mean hard times, since jobs are hard to come by, and he'll be tainted by failure.

With his career possibly about to come crashing down, his personal life in shambles as his girlfriend is acting as though she is about to leave, and his game play bonuses leaving him well short of the rent, PerfectQuestion takes the rent money and bets big on himself, buying into an illegal fantasy MMO which can lead to big money and expensive prizes. It could also lead to jail if he is caught. Booting the game up, he finds himself playing a one handed samurai on a quest to find his sword. He begins to suspect something is up with the game, as outside forces put a hit on his character, and forces in real life turn his life into a deadly game of cat and mouse. He has to remain alive in game and in the real world, all while trying to come up with a way to keep ColaCorp from crashing and burning, leaving him nowhere to go. This leads to the breakneck finale, which will leave the reader breathless with anticipation all the way to the end, which has a satisfying, completely action packed conclusion.

Being one of the early entries into the GameLit genre, with a smothering of Cyberpunk, Soda Pop Soldier avoids a lot of the pitfalls that more recent additions to the genre suffer from. There are absolutely no harem elements to scare away female readers, and the main character, PerfectQuestion, is not a stat obsessed ubernerd living in mom's basement, but a guy who treats the game like what it is, his job. The secondary characters, almost all of whom are seen just in the various games, are surprisingly fleshed out, and some interesting backstory elements come out as well. The villain is a bit generic in motivations, but is cleverly integrated into the story, and he has an interesting resolution in the story. The world building, both in game and IRL is top notch, and the reader really gets a feel for being in the thick of the action. The game play elements are also fairly unique in today's overabundance of virtual reality interfaces in GameLit, instead going old school gaming and using keyboard and mouse. You still feel fully immersed in the game world, which is a testimony to the writing skill of the author. The military action all has a genuine feel to it, and I suspect the authors military background came into play in keeping the feel real to life. All in all, I would definitely rate this in my top 5 GameLit/LitRPG titles, and recommend it without reservation.

Guy Williams, who's work I was familiar with from several other titles, does a fantastic job bringing this world to life. He uses a variety of tones, accents and pacing to give each character a life of their own. His narrative pacing is solid as well, never getting either monotonous or speed reading. If you are a fan of audio books, this is definitely a version I can recommend heartily.

Rating: 5/5

The Bookwyrm's Review of Over a God's Dead Body by Joel Spriggs

Author: Joel Spriggs

Length: 312 Pages/ 8 hours, 40 minutes (Audio)

Release Date: June 9, 2018/ January 17, 2019

Narrator:  Daniel Vuillaume

Genre: Urban fantasy

With the trend of urban fantasy diversifying from the wizard PI trope, Over a God's Dead Body takes it even further. With a mixture of humor, various mythological pantheons and magic, it is a true treat for any fan of the genre.

When the male gym professor at Baldur College is caught in a compromising position on the 50 yard line of the college football field with a creature that shouldn't exist, in this case a young sasquatch, things at the college just start to go haywire. Soon after, Esme, one of the college's IT techs, discovers the college has a department of paranormal studies. Asking her twin brother Jake, the schools librarian, about it, she finds he doesn't know anything about it either. This is the start of the crazy twists this story takes, as the twins find out exactly what the school is all about.

Meanwhile, we meet Loki, Norse god of mischief,  who it turns out has been working for Seth, the Egyptian god of chaos, for centuries, ever since he freed Loki from his imprisonment. Loki has acted as his "problem solver", and it turns out, he is not as big a jerk as the myths make him out to be. It also turns out, he has an unusual connection to Esme and Jake, and that connection will have long term effects for them all. That's because Seth is after something that will allow him world domination (at least he thinks so) and he thinks its at Baldur College, and he has sent Loki to locate it.

  What follows is one of the craziest, most hilarious set of events I have ever read. I mean, spit coffee through your nose laughing moments throughout. From magic flying brooms, zombie ducks, a dwarf punk drummer, a giant purple dinosaur and magically controlled wasps to the Voodoo soccer mom looking to get some payback on Kyle, the laughs never cease. Oh my lord,  Kyle. What an amazingly funny character, who so much coincidence swirls around, and who's backstory, as it is revealed, is both horrifying an brilliantly funny. So much of the story spins around Kyle, even in subtle ways, that just end hilariously. This all leads up to a fateful confrontation with the various power groups at the college, which could have tragic consequences for the rest of the world, which is much more important to the multiverse than you'd expect.  

As a huge fan of comedic fantasy, this was a real treat. The characters, especially Loki, Esme, Jake and Kyle, are really engaging, and their character arcs are a lot of fun, especially as more secrets are revealed. The secondary characters are given a lot to work with as well, and the villain, such as he is, has a realistic rationale behind his actions. The setting and worldbuilding are really well done, with Baldur College and the surrounding town being well thought out and brought to life. Definitely not the usual grimy Chicago, New York or LA setting. All in all, its a very satisfying mashup of urban fantasy with ancient mythology, one I'd recommend you check out for yourself.

As far as audiobook narration, Daniel Vuillaume handles those duties admirably. I had never heard his work before, but I must say I was impressed. He really brought the characters to life. His use of tone, pitch, accent and speech pacing was excellent, really differentiating the various characters. His Kyle voice had me laughing throughout, as did his voices for the Loa and various other gods. Just excellent work I'd highly recommend.