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Rocks Fall. Everyone Dies
Before the dungeons, before the dragons, there is the party...Valeran is bored. Corbett is broke. Andreton and Donald are on the run and Dorian just wants to do what is right. Not the best recipe for a questing group but when you are driven by a prophecy sometimes the mix is decided for you. Action, humour, bad attitudes and a smart, character driven plot are the hallmarks of an Eddie Skelson adventure and he delivers it all in this story of an absurd fantasy world, where Questing Adventurer is a job title as well as a character trait.
- GenresFantasy
295 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 8, 2019
* This is one of the 2019 #SPFBO entries which I am reading as a Judge *
I have to say this cover is one of my all-time favourites for the drama, the dynamism and the big old joke which made me chuckle even before I started the book. The cover sums up the story pretty well in that it's funny and satricial and plays off of what seels in fantasy, but it's also its own entity and I really enjoyed reading this one. I had pretty high hopes too so I am glad that I wasn't disappointed.
The author actually submitted an old version of the book which meant that there were a lot of typos and grammatical errors in the version I read, there has since been editing and more which will no doubt improve the book greatly, but I hope the story remains basically the same as it's a fun one. I am hopeful that I will pick up a revised copy to display on the shelf at some point.
So, this is a book which I actually think would be a fantastic audiobook, and that is because the characters on the page feel lively and filled with energy. I feel like with a good narrator this story would blossom and be pretty hilarious to listen to on your commute!
This is a tale of a band of adventurers, all very different to one another, and somewhat unique from their 'generic' fantasy troupes. Skelson manages to weave a plot which is not at all unfamiliar to a fantasy reader, but he does so through a new method, grumpy Wizards, naive Warriors, giant cow Steppe-Beasts, Prophecy, and more. There are all your usual suspects such as Demons and Rogues and Clerics, and yet they also feel different from the usual as they are often quite self-aware of their roles and stereotypes, and they joke and laugh about these throughout.
I would say that this story is all about characters, although there is a plot to their adventure, finding a gate to go on a Quest, that is really a background to their bickering, hilarity and pessimism or optimism about their journey. I think that the actual plot was pretty average, but the whole thing was brought up by the characters and their jokes which intermix the modern day and fantasy quite nicely.
Overall, I did definitely enjoy reading this and it did not disappoint. I found that the ending was a little rushed for my liking, but I wonder if more may be forthcoming or not. There is certainly a lot of potential with the set up of this narrative and world, and yet I am not sure whether there will be more. 4*s from me (8/10 for #SPFBO).
I have to say this cover is one of my all-time favourites for the drama, the dynamism and the big old joke which made me chuckle even before I started the book. The cover sums up the story pretty well in that it's funny and satricial and plays off of what seels in fantasy, but it's also its own entity and I really enjoyed reading this one. I had pretty high hopes too so I am glad that I wasn't disappointed.
The author actually submitted an old version of the book which meant that there were a lot of typos and grammatical errors in the version I read, there has since been editing and more which will no doubt improve the book greatly, but I hope the story remains basically the same as it's a fun one. I am hopeful that I will pick up a revised copy to display on the shelf at some point.
So, this is a book which I actually think would be a fantastic audiobook, and that is because the characters on the page feel lively and filled with energy. I feel like with a good narrator this story would blossom and be pretty hilarious to listen to on your commute!
This is a tale of a band of adventurers, all very different to one another, and somewhat unique from their 'generic' fantasy troupes. Skelson manages to weave a plot which is not at all unfamiliar to a fantasy reader, but he does so through a new method, grumpy Wizards, naive Warriors, giant cow Steppe-Beasts, Prophecy, and more. There are all your usual suspects such as Demons and Rogues and Clerics, and yet they also feel different from the usual as they are often quite self-aware of their roles and stereotypes, and they joke and laugh about these throughout.
I would say that this story is all about characters, although there is a plot to their adventure, finding a gate to go on a Quest, that is really a background to their bickering, hilarity and pessimism or optimism about their journey. I think that the actual plot was pretty average, but the whole thing was brought up by the characters and their jokes which intermix the modern day and fantasy quite nicely.
Overall, I did definitely enjoy reading this and it did not disappoint. I found that the ending was a little rushed for my liking, but I wonder if more may be forthcoming or not. There is certainly a lot of potential with the set up of this narrative and world, and yet I am not sure whether there will be more. 4*s from me (8/10 for #SPFBO).
Read
February 5, 2020I picked this one up because I'm always looking for a comedy, I saw Kitty's positive review for it , so onto the TBR it went. I actually read this quite some time ago and just hadn't written a review for it.
This book is a clever parody of the classic "going on a Quest" storyline. It's kind of like an MMORPG or a dungeons and dragons game without all the pesky stats. I like LitRPG and things in that general arena, but I'm not a huge fan of endless paragraphs of stats. This plays off the classic grouping structure of a dungeon raid. There's a place simply called "The Town" where adventurers meet up to go on a Quest through one of the many Gates located near a mountain. The Gates open up into a multitude of different worlds where brave adventurers can score huge amounts of treasure and wealth if they can make it back alive. Each group has the stereotypical specialized members like a Ranger, Healer, Wizard, Rogue, Warrior, etc. Each of these kinds of characters has a POV as we are introduced to them one by one at the beginning of the book. They start out separately, scattered across the world, and we watch as they all trek towards The Town for various reasons, all wanting to end up going on a Quest. Even though you don't know how exactly they are going to end up in a group together, it's very obvious that they will eventually team-up.
My favorite character hands down was Andreton, the Warrior. He's a giant of a human requiring a specialized cow-mount instead of a horse because he's so large. He names the "cow" Francis and adores her (she's like a bison on steroids, enormous). He's a killing machine, but also sweet to kids and animals. He's not that bright, but he's genuine and loyal. If I had to pick a second favorite it'd be the cranky, old healer who's tired of men coming to him with pox-ridden genitalia expecting him to be able to help. He's 86 and has seen far too many dicks than is reasonable, even for a healer. I wouldn't say these are incredibly in-depth characters that blew me away, but they didn't lack dimension and weren't flat like happens so many times in comedies. They felt like exaggerated real people, enough to make things funny, but not cartoon-like to the point where you forget them after you're done reading - I'll remember Andreton for a long time.
The Gods are real and the Lesser Gods like Loki, Jehovah, and Ganesh love to fuck with humans when they aren't busy fucking with each other. Most people make it a habit to pray to a handful of them just in case they decide to come down and help out. The gods can get super specific as well, like the "God of Interesting Conversation" which reminded me a bit of Pratchett. There are lots of creatures and magical things you'd be familiar with, like Sorcerors, Necromancers, Warlocks, Witches etc, and a few things that are a bit off-beat like Spyra the dimension-hopping Blink Dog. There was a good amount of world-building as far as gods, monsters, types of warriors, guilds and other things of that sort. Much of it was silly, but it was entertaining none the less.
The humor mostly landed for me, there were a few more risky jokes that didn't settle right with me - but overall it didn't sour my experience and I found myself smiling if not laughing through the vast majority of the book. Humor is probably one of the most difficult things to write, so when 90% of the humor lands, I consider that a success.
Kitty cited a lot of errors in her copy that was submitted to SPFBO, I'm not sure if he also submitted that copy to Amazon - but the copy I have (which I bought a while ago) also had a fair bit of spelling and grammar errors. Things like wrong words used, missing or extra commas, extra periods and things like that were found throughout the book. It didn't take away from the enjoyment for me, but it could have used some polishing. My only other complaint about the writing would be a few too many info dumps. Most of the time info dumps drive me up the wall, I can't stand it - but since many of these were done in a humorous way I didn't find myself caring until I hit a few too many in a row that were just a bit too long, even if they were funny.
The pacing was alright, the prose was light and readable which made me turn the pages quickly, but it did take 40% of the book for the characters to start to come together to form the group. I would have tried to find a way to cut 5-10% of the first half of the book to get them together quickly.
Overall, this was a highly entertaining book and with just a little bit of editing and condensing, I may have given five stars instead of four. I do believe there is huge potential in this author to be a phenomenal comic-fantasy writer. With a touch more depth to the characters and tighter plotting, I could see myself giving out 5 stars to future work.
TLDR: D&D/MMORPG parody plotline, a group going on a quest, old school wizards, mysterious type magics, gods are real, entertaining characters, quick and light prose, plenty of humor. For people who enjoyed Kings of the Wyld.
Ratings:
Plot: 12/15
Characters: 12.75/15
World-Building: 12.5/15
Writing: 12/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 12/15
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Final Score: 80.75/100
This book is a clever parody of the classic "going on a Quest" storyline. It's kind of like an MMORPG or a dungeons and dragons game without all the pesky stats. I like LitRPG and things in that general arena, but I'm not a huge fan of endless paragraphs of stats. This plays off the classic grouping structure of a dungeon raid. There's a place simply called "The Town" where adventurers meet up to go on a Quest through one of the many Gates located near a mountain. The Gates open up into a multitude of different worlds where brave adventurers can score huge amounts of treasure and wealth if they can make it back alive. Each group has the stereotypical specialized members like a Ranger, Healer, Wizard, Rogue, Warrior, etc. Each of these kinds of characters has a POV as we are introduced to them one by one at the beginning of the book. They start out separately, scattered across the world, and we watch as they all trek towards The Town for various reasons, all wanting to end up going on a Quest. Even though you don't know how exactly they are going to end up in a group together, it's very obvious that they will eventually team-up.
My favorite character hands down was Andreton, the Warrior. He's a giant of a human requiring a specialized cow-mount instead of a horse because he's so large. He names the "cow" Francis and adores her (she's like a bison on steroids, enormous). He's a killing machine, but also sweet to kids and animals. He's not that bright, but he's genuine and loyal. If I had to pick a second favorite it'd be the cranky, old healer who's tired of men coming to him with pox-ridden genitalia expecting him to be able to help. He's 86 and has seen far too many dicks than is reasonable, even for a healer. I wouldn't say these are incredibly in-depth characters that blew me away, but they didn't lack dimension and weren't flat like happens so many times in comedies. They felt like exaggerated real people, enough to make things funny, but not cartoon-like to the point where you forget them after you're done reading - I'll remember Andreton for a long time.
The Gods are real and the Lesser Gods like Loki, Jehovah, and Ganesh love to fuck with humans when they aren't busy fucking with each other. Most people make it a habit to pray to a handful of them just in case they decide to come down and help out. The gods can get super specific as well, like the "God of Interesting Conversation" which reminded me a bit of Pratchett. There are lots of creatures and magical things you'd be familiar with, like Sorcerors, Necromancers, Warlocks, Witches etc, and a few things that are a bit off-beat like Spyra the dimension-hopping Blink Dog. There was a good amount of world-building as far as gods, monsters, types of warriors, guilds and other things of that sort. Much of it was silly, but it was entertaining none the less.
The humor mostly landed for me, there were a few more risky jokes that didn't settle right with me - but overall it didn't sour my experience and I found myself smiling if not laughing through the vast majority of the book. Humor is probably one of the most difficult things to write, so when 90% of the humor lands, I consider that a success.
Kitty cited a lot of errors in her copy that was submitted to SPFBO, I'm not sure if he also submitted that copy to Amazon - but the copy I have (which I bought a while ago) also had a fair bit of spelling and grammar errors. Things like wrong words used, missing or extra commas, extra periods and things like that were found throughout the book. It didn't take away from the enjoyment for me, but it could have used some polishing. My only other complaint about the writing would be a few too many info dumps. Most of the time info dumps drive me up the wall, I can't stand it - but since many of these were done in a humorous way I didn't find myself caring until I hit a few too many in a row that were just a bit too long, even if they were funny.
The pacing was alright, the prose was light and readable which made me turn the pages quickly, but it did take 40% of the book for the characters to start to come together to form the group. I would have tried to find a way to cut 5-10% of the first half of the book to get them together quickly.
Overall, this was a highly entertaining book and with just a little bit of editing and condensing, I may have given five stars instead of four. I do believe there is huge potential in this author to be a phenomenal comic-fantasy writer. With a touch more depth to the characters and tighter plotting, I could see myself giving out 5 stars to future work.
TLDR: D&D/MMORPG parody plotline, a group going on a quest, old school wizards, mysterious type magics, gods are real, entertaining characters, quick and light prose, plenty of humor. For people who enjoyed Kings of the Wyld.
Ratings:
Plot: 12/15
Characters: 12.75/15
World-Building: 12.5/15
Writing: 12/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 12/15
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Final Score: 80.75/100
April 26, 2020
Gahhhhhh bring on the sequel! Fun and smart and a great page-turner. Full RTC
August 4, 2020
Despite the pop culture references (it's a pet peeve of mine) I really enjoyed this one. It's fun and witty and disturbingly on point at times. Feels kind of like a piss take of traditional fantasy RPGs more than the genre of fantasy as a whole. But most of all, I came away from it thinking... Dear gods I want to play WoW again! :D
July 23, 2019
I found out about Rocks Fall through SPFBO 2019, and an interview with Corbett (the cranky wizard) convinced me to read. It's an excellent, light-hearted fantasy adventure that fans of D&D and MMORPGs would adore, and make just about everyone with a funny-bone snort at the jokes.
What to Expect
Expect a funny fantasy romp, with many jokes about tropes of the genre. The novel is reminiscent of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, where the different characters - all with their own slightly misanthropic, bloody destructive agendas - are all brought together in a twist of fate to combat evil. We get to follow in their steps as they are first drawn together, then brought together and shaped up as a fighting group.
Everything leads to the obligatory "boss fight" at the end (everything built up and foreshadowed expertly), and opens up for the coming adventure. While not exactly a cliff-hanger (there's an epilogue), the book end on a note that invites more novels to come.
Skelson does an excellent job in both drawing great and engaging characters, while subverting and laughing at common genre tropes. One can't help but identify (if not exactly like) each and every one of the varied cast, as they rise above themselves. One also can't help but laugh loudly at some of the jokes, especially the ones that refer back to the genre.
What I liked
I liked the premise, the humorous tone, and the characters. All are very well executed. Skelson has a deft touch when it comes to building up events, with attention to plotting and foreshadowing that is never heavy handed but is always flowing and keeps the reader immersed in the narrative.
The world-building relies heavily on tropes (I wish there was a bit more to it), but it makes sense within the context of the story and is used for humorous effects.
What to be aware of
The book could have used another round of copy-editing. While it didn't stop me from deeply enjoying the story, if you get an eye-twitch at misplaced punctuation or broken words you might want to check if the book has since been updated.
Summary
If you've ever played D&D (or other fantasy games) - or even if you hadn't and just like good, funny fantasy - this is a book for you.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
What to Expect
Expect a funny fantasy romp, with many jokes about tropes of the genre. The novel is reminiscent of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, where the different characters - all with their own slightly misanthropic, bloody destructive agendas - are all brought together in a twist of fate to combat evil. We get to follow in their steps as they are first drawn together, then brought together and shaped up as a fighting group.
Everything leads to the obligatory "boss fight" at the end (everything built up and foreshadowed expertly), and opens up for the coming adventure. While not exactly a cliff-hanger (there's an epilogue), the book end on a note that invites more novels to come.
Skelson does an excellent job in both drawing great and engaging characters, while subverting and laughing at common genre tropes. One can't help but identify (if not exactly like) each and every one of the varied cast, as they rise above themselves. One also can't help but laugh loudly at some of the jokes, especially the ones that refer back to the genre.
What I liked
I liked the premise, the humorous tone, and the characters. All are very well executed. Skelson has a deft touch when it comes to building up events, with attention to plotting and foreshadowing that is never heavy handed but is always flowing and keeps the reader immersed in the narrative.
The world-building relies heavily on tropes (I wish there was a bit more to it), but it makes sense within the context of the story and is used for humorous effects.
What to be aware of
The book could have used another round of copy-editing. While it didn't stop me from deeply enjoying the story, if you get an eye-twitch at misplaced punctuation or broken words you might want to check if the book has since been updated.
Summary
If you've ever played D&D (or other fantasy games) - or even if you hadn't and just like good, funny fantasy - this is a book for you.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
July 10, 2019
He's not lying, there really wasn't a dragon in this book.
Fun read for anyone that enjoys D&D or WOW or other questing games. It was very much like, if questing was a thing, *a desperate thing* but a thing none the less. The characters had well developed personalities, and everyone dies. Kidding, no spoilers here. :p
Fun read for anyone that enjoys D&D or WOW or other questing games. It was very much like, if questing was a thing, *a desperate thing* but a thing none the less. The characters had well developed personalities, and everyone dies. Kidding, no spoilers here. :p
August 27, 2019
August 2019
I'm so glad I gave this another try. The first time I tried reading this story, I was too caught up in the grammatical errors, that I couldn't concentrate on the story. However, I kept it on my kindle in case I wanted to give it another try. Which was a great idea. This time around, I loved it! I loved it enough to read the whole thing in one day, because I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed the humor most of all, as well as the characters. If you like D&D stories, then I'd highly recommend picking this up.
July 2019
DNF at 20%. I liked that this book make fun of everything, including all the characters, and the tropes. Unfortunately, it needs a substantial editing overhaul; there were so many grammatical errors that I just couldn't continue reading the story.
I'm so glad I gave this another try. The first time I tried reading this story, I was too caught up in the grammatical errors, that I couldn't concentrate on the story. However, I kept it on my kindle in case I wanted to give it another try. Which was a great idea. This time around, I loved it! I loved it enough to read the whole thing in one day, because I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed the humor most of all, as well as the characters. If you like D&D stories, then I'd highly recommend picking this up.
July 2019
DNF at 20%. I liked that this book make fun of everything, including all the characters, and the tropes. Unfortunately, it needs a substantial editing overhaul; there were so many grammatical errors that I just couldn't continue reading the story.
February 7, 2020
Fun and entertaining
D and d satire and fantasy parody. Witty dialogue with charming and memorable characters. For fans of Kings of the Wyld
D and d satire and fantasy parody. Witty dialogue with charming and memorable characters. For fans of Kings of the Wyld
October 17, 2022
3.5 stars
I have mixed feelings toward this book, but I really enjoyed it and had a good time with it. Some parts are simply brilliant! But for the first half of the book, I wasn't completely sold on it, in theory, it was pretty bright, but it seemed like it was trying too hard (but it could have been me, I was in one of those moods in which you are just dissatisfied in general so... maybe it was me), but then you reach the halfway point, things start to happens quite fast and I had a blast out of it. It is funny. It is brilliant. And we have also a cow!!! Sort of!
I have mixed feelings toward this book, but I really enjoyed it and had a good time with it. Some parts are simply brilliant! But for the first half of the book, I wasn't completely sold on it, in theory, it was pretty bright, but it seemed like it was trying too hard (but it could have been me, I was in one of those moods in which you are just dissatisfied in general so... maybe it was me), but then you reach the halfway point, things start to happens quite fast and I had a blast out of it. It is funny. It is brilliant. And we have also a cow!!! Sort of!
September 14, 2020
Genre: High Fantasy
If you like ......, you will like this: dungeons and dragons type narratives, pop culture references, dry and wicked humour
🎀My one line synopsis (this might be misleading) 🎀 : 7 characters. 1 quest. What could possibly go wrong?
🏆Overall rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I F*CKING adored this. I needed a picked me up book. As I have all of 2020, but this weekend was borderline impossible and I genuinely think this book made me smile for the first time in days. Its just great.
✨ What really worked ✨:
This book is mostly about character work and specifically, it inverts majority of the traditional stereotypes. I think the Wizard was my favourite. He is such a grouch (Heads up, I am deliberately not giving you his name) but his humour is so on point. He is highly offensive, but at every turn Daisy is like... none of that! Its great. Also the Fighter's name is Daisy. I sh*t you not.
Also Francis. I will so no more but... Francis.
🤔 What needed some work 🤔:
Nothing. I refuse to complain about anything from this book.
If you like ......, you will like this: dungeons and dragons type narratives, pop culture references, dry and wicked humour
🎀My one line synopsis (this might be misleading) 🎀 : 7 characters. 1 quest. What could possibly go wrong?
🏆Overall rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I F*CKING adored this. I needed a picked me up book. As I have all of 2020, but this weekend was borderline impossible and I genuinely think this book made me smile for the first time in days. Its just great.
✨ What really worked ✨:
This book is mostly about character work and specifically, it inverts majority of the traditional stereotypes. I think the Wizard was my favourite. He is such a grouch (Heads up, I am deliberately not giving you his name) but his humour is so on point. He is highly offensive, but at every turn Daisy is like... none of that! Its great. Also the Fighter's name is Daisy. I sh*t you not.
Also Francis. I will so no more but... Francis.
🤔 What needed some work 🤔:
Nothing. I refuse to complain about anything from this book.
October 20, 2019
Refreshing Questing
Very original take on questing. Instead of the one chapter meet up, the author slowly introduced you to each member of the party, showed you their weakness and skills and showed how it would mesh when brought into a fellowship. Nicely done with a nice dose of action at the end to entice the reader for book two.
Very original take on questing. Instead of the one chapter meet up, the author slowly introduced you to each member of the party, showed you their weakness and skills and showed how it would mesh when brought into a fellowship. Nicely done with a nice dose of action at the end to entice the reader for book two.
Read
July 29, 2019DNF @ 20%. It was quite funny but there were just too many errors that kept taking me out of the story.
May 3, 2025
This is the first book that I’ve listened to it and read it at the same time. This book was recommended to me by a manager at work who said that it would be worth listening to because the audio book is so much better than just reading it and boy he didn’t disappoint. I found myself laughing out loud at the banter and the speech of the characters. Due to the narrator of the book. My boyfriend who has gaming next to me turning asking what was funny. I genuinely think that anyone who doesn’t like reading should read this book.
This is a parody of fantasy and it was quite an entertaining read compared to high fantasy. Don’t get me wrong some fantasy books can have a sense of humour but this was just dripping with it. It has a mix of fantasy names but then it has normal names in it as well and the gods names that are used are highly amusing.
For anyone who likes D&D this is well worth a listen and a read. Cause it will most definitely scratch an itch especially if you want something a little lighthearted which let’s face with the state of the world at the moment. We need something like this, something which doesn’t take itself too seriously but there is definitely a love of fantasy that’s laced throughout the book.
It has all the qualities that we love in a fantasy novel, a quest, a ragtag group of people that set out on said quest. But then there’s a betrayal as well. So yeah give this book a read or a listen or do both like I did and I promise you. You won’t be disappointed.
This is a parody of fantasy and it was quite an entertaining read compared to high fantasy. Don’t get me wrong some fantasy books can have a sense of humour but this was just dripping with it. It has a mix of fantasy names but then it has normal names in it as well and the gods names that are used are highly amusing.
For anyone who likes D&D this is well worth a listen and a read. Cause it will most definitely scratch an itch especially if you want something a little lighthearted which let’s face with the state of the world at the moment. We need something like this, something which doesn’t take itself too seriously but there is definitely a love of fantasy that’s laced throughout the book.
It has all the qualities that we love in a fantasy novel, a quest, a ragtag group of people that set out on said quest. But then there’s a betrayal as well. So yeah give this book a read or a listen or do both like I did and I promise you. You won’t be disappointed.
August 30, 2024
Audible edition review
This book was enjoyable even though some of the jokes missed the mark for me. There was a decently large cast of about a dozen characters to keep track of and, in that regard, it would have been helpful if Donald and Dorian had names that were a little bit more different; I struggled to remember who was the ranger and who was the rogue at some points.
The pacing was a little bit weird too since the beginning, middle and end while being evenly spread in hindsight still felt like a large beginning to a series of books rather than a standalone novel. That being said the book has a fairly satisfying ending.
The setting is good and the world is both consistent and makes sense in context. The characters themselves are decently written even if the book didn't have enough time to explore them all in depth. You can feel their different personalities throughout though.
The narration was great and breathed life into the various characters and their story. The footnotes and asides were also handled as well as they can be by a narrator.
Overall I would recommend this to any fantasy fans.
This book was enjoyable even though some of the jokes missed the mark for me. There was a decently large cast of about a dozen characters to keep track of and, in that regard, it would have been helpful if Donald and Dorian had names that were a little bit more different; I struggled to remember who was the ranger and who was the rogue at some points.
The pacing was a little bit weird too since the beginning, middle and end while being evenly spread in hindsight still felt like a large beginning to a series of books rather than a standalone novel. That being said the book has a fairly satisfying ending.
The setting is good and the world is both consistent and makes sense in context. The characters themselves are decently written even if the book didn't have enough time to explore them all in depth. You can feel their different personalities throughout though.
The narration was great and breathed life into the various characters and their story. The footnotes and asides were also handled as well as they can be by a narrator.
Overall I would recommend this to any fantasy fans.
April 6, 2025
Story - A group of oddballs team up with a huge cow named Francis to stop a prophecy. Plans flop, Corbett makes funny comments that poke at the story and the narrator is fantastic.
Cons - There are too many characters—seven main ones plus more—which makes it tricky to keep up during fights and overall the characters lack depth.
Pros - It’s still super fun! It’s a goofy, messy love letter to D&D, not serious but a blast.
The characters it focuses on more are better fleshed out and shine.
It is very funny...
4.2/5
Cons - There are too many characters—seven main ones plus more—which makes it tricky to keep up during fights and overall the characters lack depth.
Pros - It’s still super fun! It’s a goofy, messy love letter to D&D, not serious but a blast.
The characters it focuses on more are better fleshed out and shine.
It is very funny...
4.2/5
February 26, 2020
This is a 1-star review. That is more stars than it is worth.
The author is in dire need of a copyeditor and needs to retake 8th grade English/grammar.
It read less than a dozen pages before I was consumed with the urge to hurl this book across the room, Dorothy Parker style. Sadly, it was an electronic copy.
The author is in dire need of a copyeditor and needs to retake 8th grade English/grammar.
It read less than a dozen pages before I was consumed with the urge to hurl this book across the room, Dorothy Parker style. Sadly, it was an electronic copy.
March 27, 2021
Dnf 9%
The writing is solid and funny, especially the first chapter. But shifting characters so many times tired me until I gave up during the ranger chapters. There was no sense of stakes or hook to pull me forward.
The writing is solid and funny, especially the first chapter. But shifting characters so many times tired me until I gave up during the ranger chapters. There was no sense of stakes or hook to pull me forward.
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