It's A Living: Volume One

by Stefan M. Nardi, Jacob S. Nardi, A.Z. Anthony

The realm of fantasy is filled with legends of dashing heroes and epic quests. But behind every hero stand hundreds of average denizens that just want to get on with their lives. These are their stories.

This anthology is filled with 14 brilliant and hilarious stories that follow the lives of everyday citizens who just want to do their jobs and live their lives.

Dive in to the mediocrity today and prepare to laugh until you can't breathe.

Genres: Fantasy

612 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2019

About the author

Stefan M. Nardi grew up on a healthy diet of books, books and more books (pretty sure there was some lollies and other junk in there too). He read his first fantasy novel, Deltora Quest when he was 6 years old. Coincidently it was about the same time that his dad sat him in front of the TV and put Star Wars in the VCR. From then on he was hooked, he consumed every fantasy and science fiction novel, television show and movie he could get his hands on. He is now a self-confessed nerd and can be found most days with his eyes glued to a television or wedged firmly in the pages of a book.

After writing many horrible first chapters of various stories which usually ended up in the bin, in 2015, at the ripe old age of 21, he managed to get to the second chapter of (and eventually complete) a story and released his first fantasy serial 'Crossbones'.

He currently lives in Brisbane, Australia with his loving girlfriend (Hi sweetie!) and his wonderful parents and brother. He also now feels like one of those annoying people who talk about themselves in the third person all the time and is going to stop now. He promises.

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag, but overall a really enjoyable anthology!

A really good read, quite a mix of different styles which made it really interesting.

A great idea to see how the other side lives in a fantasy realm! Some of the stories made me laugh, and one had a great twist in that I wasn’t expecting at all!

I would recommend this to anyone who reads fantasy, and I’m looking forward to a Volume 2 😊

[Catherine Fitzsimmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this anthology. The stories themselves were all well written, though personally, I wasn't as fond of the fact that several of the authors seemed to take the idea of "not world-saving heroes" to mean morally ambiguous stars. It's a personal preference, but I read fantasy for escapism; I'm not as interested in reading stories in which bad guys win.

That said, there were several stories I quite enjoyed. A. M. Steiner's contribution was definitely my favourite, though it was closely followed by Brandon Draga's and Maark Abbott's, off the top of my head. All in all, a solid, fun collection.

[A.M. Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A top notch anthology based around an interesting premise: fantasy characters with banal day jobs. Likely to appeal to fans of Terry Pratchett and Piers Anthony, it covers the range of blue collar work from house cleaners and sewer workers through to policemen, tax collectors and librarians. The stories are as varied as the protagonists; humour, horror and exciting adventure all get a good look in. I particularly enjoyed the contributions by Brandon Draga, A.M. Justice and M.J. Christopher, but everything in here's worth a read. Good fun.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fantastic in the mundane

A uniquely fun anthology! Taking the mundane jobs out there and putting them in the world of the fantastic, it created many amusing circumstances of things gone wrong, or right, to those who must simply live with it. After all, even with wizards and elves and such you still need a cleaner for the sewers, a barkeep to pour the drinks, or even a simple mail carrier. These stories ranged from the humour in the banal to the dark stories of the mundane in a fantastical world.

The humourous stories were easy and light and full of such imagination. How can you not laugh at competing baristas, with dragon based drinks? Or sewer cleaners accidentally finding lost relics? These stories were hilarious and yet somehow still relatable. The dark stories made food for thought, or sometimes just a statement of what can be lurking within anyone. They were less my favorite, but that is a personal choice.

For variety and amusement this was a great anthology to pick up. Plenty of authors to read and great introductions all around!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a mixed bag. Some of the stories were 4 stars, some were 2. Also, it needed better editing--there were at least 14 spelling/grammatical errors, although to be fair half of those were in a single story.

The stories on the whole also had a much less light-hearted nature than the cover or the first story seemed to imply.

[Hazel]

I am trying to find a copy of this book. I thought I had purchased it, but I only borrowed it. Anyone with a copy they are willing to sell me, please let me know. Thank you