Homebrew

Metagamer Chronicles, Book 1

By: Xavier P. Hunter

Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

If Gary had known he'd get trapped in an RPG with his real-life stats, he’d have tried harder in gym class.

Gary Burns just wanted to create the greatest RPG campaign of his gaming career. But a freak magical accident sucks him into the very world he created - as himself.

Surrounded by heroes who look and sound like his friends, Gary is forced to play out the story he wrote. Worthless in a fight, Gary must prove himself valuable even if it means feeding the team insider knowledge.

Because he needs to keep his friends close - and himself alive - until he can solve the puzzle he never designed: how to get everyone back home.

Homebrew puts the RPG into litRPG, taking the ever-growing gamelit genre back to its tabletop roots. If you miss the rattle of dice and gaming at a table with your friends, the Metagamer Chronicles are what you've been craving. Fans of Dungeons and Dragons and old TSR novels will love Homebrew.

©2018 Xavier P. Hunter (P)2019 Xavier P. Hunter

I liked it

small issues that really don't detract from the story. kinda caught me off guard at the end.

Tabletop players will get a kick

~Disclaimer: I received a free audiobook copy of this book. I did buy the kindle book to accompany my reading. ~

I really need to share this story with my dungeon master because their most recent game was a horror dnd game where we were trapped and I think they deserve to contemplate being thrown into that horror show. The premise was a huge draw, but I took a bit to actually listen/read because... well... sometimes life is like that.

While I believe that tabletop gamers will derive more enjoyment from this book than general gamelit fans, it still offers a compelling narrative for anyone interested in the genre.

The characters in the story felt true to the spirit of a roleplaying campaign, and the clever jokes about common tropes brought a smile to my face. Although I didn't always agree with the main character's choices, I understood that since he wasn't fully convinced of the reality of his situation, some of his decisions were forgivable. In fact, if I found myself unexpectedly transported into a game I had created, I would probably react in an entertaining way rather than making the most strategic moves.

One aspect that became tiresome and unnecessary was the repetitive inclusion of the character sheet. Instead of providing the entire sheet repeatedly, it would have been more effective to simply highlight the changes. This would have made the narrative flow more smoothly. My other issue was the cliffhanger ending. I fully intend to pick up the next book because I enjoyed the story, but cliffhangers always annoy me. Especially since I felt like the story wrapped up really well prior to the cliffhanger.

Mikael Naramore does an excellent job narrating.

Near perfect

Lit-RPG books have become repetitive. Gamer gets sucked into the game, and basically plays from the inside. What happens when it’s the Game Master that gets pulled in? That’s what Homebrew is about. The GM gets pulled into a world of his own creation, and is forced to play alongside his friends, who while not knowing who he is, are the embodiment of their characters. The humor hits dead on, with plenty of Easter eggs for tabletop gamers. The story contains several rpg tropes, and subverts them, all the while acknowledging them. It’s a very funny, and entertaining book. The narration is excellent. I have no problems there. The only problem I had, and it’s a small one, was with the main character and his character sheet. Every time he checks it, the entire thing is gone through. It gets repetitive very quickly. By the end, even the performer rushes through it. Still, it’s a small gripe about an otherwise excellent book. It does end on a cliffhanger, and I hope to get the next in the series very soon.

In the tradition of first-edition D&D

I am a huge fan of litRPG and have read most of the big names in the genre. I'll be as fair as I can be by saying if you like the style of first or second edition Dungeons & Dragons modules, you will love this book. The writing is polished, the concepts are solid, and the narration is professional.

That being said, this style was not for me. My explanation will be a little technical:

My biggest issues were (1) the chapters seemed like a D&D module - a series of unconnected events; and (2) the story structure was unclear. The emotional depth suffered from the lack of a clear main protagonist who is striving for a goal against a clear opponent with a set of stakes hanging in the balance.

For the reader, the emotional engagement will be like seasons 6-8 of Game of Thrones vs. Seasons 1-5 of Game of Thrones. For those looking for a more complex experience, you won't get it here.


I recommend this book for those who want easy reading with an almost "slice of life" tone. It's also good if you're not looking to remember a ton of details from book to book.

Rolling with Homebrew: A LitRPG Adventure!

Xavier P. Hunter's novel "Homebrew" is a thrilling and humorous adventure that takes readers on a wild ride through a magical world. Narrated by Mikael Naramore, this audiobook brings to life the story of Gary Burns, who finds himself trapped in a RPG game he created. With Hunter's imaginative writing and Naramore's engaging narration, Homebrew is a must-read for any fan of gamelit and tabletop RPGs. Get ready to roll for adventure and join Gary on his quest to solve the ultimate puzzle and get everyone back home.

A fresh take on the genre

As an active Game Master I found this wonderfully entertaining. Might be niche but if you're reading this review this book is probably for you. Can't wait for the second book!

Not bad, but not worth 5 stars

I liked it and will get book 2, but not a 5 star book. It’s good filler while you’re waiting for something else to come out.

loved it, but for the love of God, I shouldn't....

be able to easily memorize character stats. The gamer in me loves the story, the characters, but I can't get over the times that the character sheet was read. if it was read 10% of the amount, I'd consider this a very fun gamelit that if work with any author to animate.

Get out of my head

This book was an interesting take on something that I have thought about all to many times. What if the characters I was designing and pitting against players was real? How could I beat my campaigns knowing what was coming?

Overall a HIGHLY enjoyable read (listen) and a very fun take on a the genre.

Not LITRPG!

If you’re into dice rolling RPG’s then this is probably one for you. I have never been a d&d player but I guess it’s like this story. Story was interesting at best but very distracting with all the dice rolling and character stats.
Narration was very well done and was the best reason to listen to the story.
Overall I would say that it was worth the listen and I might even listen to the next one in the series just to see if the story gets better.

I received this free review audiobook and I am voluntarily leaving this unbiased review.