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djdimond's review
5.0
Wow, I've gotta say, I really loved this book! As a lifelong gamer this story was incredibly appealing and touched on a ton of different tropes. The fourth wall breaking was well done, and added a lot of hilarity to the story. Bert is a lovable protagonist who the reader will definitely root for, the story is engaging, and definitely worth a read!
improbablebanana's review
5.0
I liked this book. It was a light, easy read. It had lots of puns and plays on words which I found very funny.
It's the story of a 'critter' (a special Goblin) that's ignored in his world and an adventure that ends up with him being A Dark Lord. (Hopefully this isn't considered a spoiler as it's the title!)
That should pretty much set your expectations!
It's the story of a 'critter' (a special Goblin) that's ignored in his world and an adventure that ends up with him being A Dark Lord. (Hopefully this isn't considered a spoiler as it's the title!)
That should pretty much set your expectations!
faileskye's review
3.0
I recommend this book to anyone that thinks it sounds good and doesn’t want a book that heavily plays into the videogame/DnD elements.
This is a cute little book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it also doesn’t fully commit to anything in particular. The story follows the titular Bert as he rises from a lowly goblin to become the Dark Lord. The role of Dark Lord, however is just basically an item called a trope that determines your abilities. This ‘trope’ system is the game aspect of the book, and it’s a bit like card based RPG adventures you might play on a Thursday night with a few buddies.
This is all really just a setup for what happens throughout as opposed to being the focus of the story like other books where it’s all about gaining levels and abilities. It really is just a nice story of a cute little goblin making friends and using clever ideas to stop the big bad evil player character.
This is a cute little book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it also doesn’t fully commit to anything in particular. The story follows the titular Bert as he rises from a lowly goblin to become the Dark Lord. The role of Dark Lord, however is just basically an item called a trope that determines your abilities. This ‘trope’ system is the game aspect of the book, and it’s a bit like card based RPG adventures you might play on a Thursday night with a few buddies.
This is all really just a setup for what happens throughout as opposed to being the focus of the story like other books where it’s all about gaining levels and abilities. It really is just a nice story of a cute little goblin making friends and using clever ideas to stop the big bad evil player character.
jwillis81's review
4.0
I'm a big fan of Chris' books, so I was excited to see his take on a new genre. I'm not too terribly familiar with the new LitRPG/GameLit genres, but I have read Robert Bevan's "Critical Failures" so I feel like I have a good sense of what Chris was going for in this book. As with Critical Failures, I found the humor to be a little juvenile for my tastes, and I'm still trying to figure out how important the "gaming" aspects of the story are to this genre... but it was an otherwise very enjoyable read. Bert is a great character and there were some truly excellent and surprising narrative developments and character moments that are a hallmark of Chris' work.
readerxxx's review
3.0
It was ok. Got too cutesy for me. I can see where it might appeal to a younger crowd of Weird Al Yankovitch fans but it wasn't for me.
baronessekat's review
5.0
What an absolute hysterical hoot! This is a story that takes itself seriously by NOT taking itself seriously. Poking fun at pop culture, geek culture and gamer culture, I just could not stop laughing throughout the entire thing.
In an unnamed MMORPG, Bert is a 1 hit-point goblin. So low he's considered by the game to be a critter rather than a monster or any kind of threat to anything or anyone. He's at the bottom of goblin rankings and he dreams of being a Warg Rider. But see... Bert's smart - for a goblin. Rather than looking for garbage like other goblins, he has paid attention to players and seen that they take the bits of metal as loot and exchange that metal for stuff. So he starts following players around and looting for metal so he can go buy himself a Warg and become a Warg Rider.
Along the way, he follows a group of players as they tackle a dungeon and while they are busy battling the Boss monster of the dungeon, he goes and loots it. But along with the money, he takes a gem that turns out to be what gives the holder of the gem the power and rank of the Boss monster. Suddenly he finds himself in a role he was not created for, and in need of help from players to make his world safe.
If you play any kind of RPG (tabletop or online) this book is for you. I was totally the target audience. And James Gillies reading of it just made it even more spectacularly entertaining.
In an unnamed MMORPG, Bert is a 1 hit-point goblin. So low he's considered by the game to be a critter rather than a monster or any kind of threat to anything or anyone. He's at the bottom of goblin rankings and he dreams of being a Warg Rider. But see... Bert's smart - for a goblin. Rather than looking for garbage like other goblins, he has paid attention to players and seen that they take the bits of metal as loot and exchange that metal for stuff. So he starts following players around and looting for metal so he can go buy himself a Warg and become a Warg Rider.
Along the way, he follows a group of players as they tackle a dungeon and while they are busy battling the Boss monster of the dungeon, he goes and loots it. But along with the money, he takes a gem that turns out to be what gives the holder of the gem the power and rank of the Boss monster. Suddenly he finds himself in a role he was not created for, and in need of help from players to make his world safe.
If you play any kind of RPG (tabletop or online) this book is for you. I was totally the target audience. And James Gillies reading of it just made it even more spectacularly entertaining.
eol's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75