Audiobook Review: The Herald by Shawn McGee

The future of Earth depends on unwanted misfits.

Argrenn and his wife were saved from Earth's destruction by the Vrelth and transported to Geoe, a world run with gaming rules. They need to get a message out to other human planets but the Vrelth turned Geoe into a war zone.

The only protection they have is their new friends and the rules of the game – none of which they know.

Either they learn to play the game or Earth is doomed.

GENRE: LitRPG

PURCHASE LINKS: Audible | Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Discovered after the great battles for the planes, ex-assault marines found Shawn lying on top of a dead succubus. The marines fed Shawn from the river Styx during the aftermath and cared for him as they would any weapon. By the time Shawn hit puberty, he had gained enough power to outwit the guardians of the lower outer planes and escape to the prime material.

Now, while focusing upon the destruction of evil, he pens tales of fantasy to help others escape their particular lower plane.

His greatest skill is that his publisher relies upon him for IT skills and he can write an unedited biography on his book sites.

Before we begin... what is LitRPG?

LitRPG, short for literary role playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels. In LitRPG, games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story, and visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience. This distinguishes the genre from novels that tie in with a game; books that are actual games, such as the choose-your-own-adventure type of publication; or games that are literarily described. Typically, the main character in a LitRPG novel is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it.

(Thank you, Wikipedia.)

I'm adding this because while I've heard of the genre, I didn't really know what it entailed until I started this book.

Review

Okay, this book was super fun! I grew up with and still have a soft spot for the early Playstation RPGs (Lunar, Suikoden, to name a few favorites), and this novel took me right back to those times. While I started this without really knowing what LitRPG was about, Shawn McGee wrote the book in such a way that it was easy to grasp the peculiarities of the genre, and I quickly got drawn into the adventure. Great storytelling there!

The characters were also human and relatable and just incredibly fun to adventure with, which I think is very important in RPGs. I especially liked the fact that we have an older married couple for leads, and they're not like, at the brink of divorce or cheating on each other with another party member or having any sort of drama along those lines. They're wholesome, which is rare but something I'm happy to see more of. The rest of the main party are good people just doing their best to get through life, too. (The villains and the bullies, of course, are another story.)

Kudos as well to the narrator, Cameron Ontkean, who had such vocal range and variety, and was overall just pleasing to listen to.

Looking forward to book 2, The Regnant, and I'll definitely do the audiobook again!

This book was an entrant to the 2023 Book Bloggers' Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) and while it didn't get past the first round, I still think this has a solid story and is an excellent introduction to the LitRPG genre.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️