Black Rain

An Isekai Harem LitRPG Adventure

By: Roland Carlsson

Narrated by: Erin Bateman

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The black rain is coming. After a millennium of slumber, the old gods have awakened.

Lucas Wheelhouse, intrepid archeologist, is hurled into a world completely unlike his own. Monsters roam the streets, and divine powers fall into mortal hands. Lucas will have to seize this power if he hopes to ascend to the celestial throne. From steamy jungles to barren deserts, he'll traverse the length and breadth of a dimension beyond our understanding.

Building his family alongside his skills, he might just have a chance at overcoming the mad gods' game. But if he fails, the black rain will come, washing away humanity and extinguishing all hope.

©2022 Roland Carlsson (P)2022 Royal Guard Publishing

Enjoyed

Enjoyed good amount of action adventure and romance good balance between all not carried away with trying to get to graphic with the romance

Talk about being pleasantly surprised!

When you start a new series, even one by a reliable author, there is always a little uncertainty. Will this live up to the last book or last series? Will the narrator be right for the tone of the story? Will the narrator do the characters justice? In this case, YES! The story was really good and easy to follow. Erin does a good job narrating (I like her better when she is just the female voice though) and gives all the female characters life. She struggles with some of the male voices but overall, this was a good listen. I really liked the author's version of a game world. This is a solid choice.

Loved the story!

Loved the story and the premise, enjoyed each character and how MC and crew developed. Looking forward to the next installment!

Fun story: lots of humor and terrific narration

Black Rain by Roland Carlsson, narrated by Erin Bateman, is 5* of hilarious fun with terrific narration!

I swear (often), Erin Bateman gets more entertaining to listen to with every book she narrates. While there are plenty of monsters to battle on their mission to save the earth, this is a very lighthearted book with lots and lots of humor. Just a few examples: a “mischief monkey” steals Lucy the now-foxgirl’s top; Lucy offers 1 gold coin and 3 dirty dishrags for a battle ax; and, perhaps my favorite, the MC describes his expertise with a weapon, noting that unfortunately, a poorly communicated cross country event put an end to his IM javelin throwing team at college. Oh, and….no, you’ll need to read/listen to the book for more!

The plot is pretty straightforward: 40ish professor and his hot 23yo redheaded grad student are transported to a realm where they must ascend nine levels to prevent the earth from being destroyed by “black rain”. She likes his transformed rippling muscles, and he likes her new fluffy foxgirl tail. Along the way, they meet lots of interesting characters, some of whom are happy to join our MCs with some fun relaxation techniques.

The book ends as they complete level 3, so I assume this is the first of three books for Black Rain. I look forward to the sequels!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Receiving a review copy did not influence my rating or my review.

Weirdly addictive

A greath smooth listen as expected from Erin Bateman. Roland carlson is a new author who has been creating great new content. I especially love the snarky systyem messages that contrast greatly with the scenes.

Another great book

Great book, a few funny parts.
Pixies, dwarfs, fox girls, and flying war pigs what else could you want in a story.
Erin always brings life into stories.

wasn't worth buying.

I don't like to be overly critical as I know this Is someone passion. BUT. it was ok at best. the characters were not unique and most of the voices sounded the same, save the accent. The main character spent most of the time running from everything and getting his ass kicked, then telling his girls the they need to stay back as HE will protect them. they save his ass a lot. I might give one of his newer books a try.

Bit of a change, not bad

Not my favorite from this author. I like the premise but the story is a a little basic. It’s more lighthearted. If there was a juvenile section for this genre, this book would fit in there. Reminds me a little of juvenile fiction in the level of character development and attention to detail. As other reviewers have said the next book in series is better I will give the next one a shot.

Great Beginning

Great beginning to what I hope will be a great story. I thought this was a really interesting take on the “Isekai” genre. I think this story has a lot of room to grow.

The narrator did a great job with the characters and really helped bring the story to life.

Couldn't finish

It was just so boring to listen to. It was not for lack of action, it was the way it was presented. It sounded like a young adult fiction trying to be more, and the narrator was not doing it any favors.