Noble Farmer

Noressia, Book 1

By: A.W. Sheffield

Narrated by: TJ Clark

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

An average child born with genius siblings, will be cast from the inner circle, tagged as black and left for the wolves.

The Advanced Learning Online World (ALOW), have been running strongly for over a decade. Curing genetic and acquired diseases, restoring anatomy and organs. All the while, the patient mentally plays within the fantasy world under a medically induced coma.

James C. Corwell assumes his treatment as the left side of his body undergoes restoration due to a military accident. Just in time for Campaign! Where dungeon, raid, invasion, and scenario all merge into three months of conquest, mayhem, and debauchery.

Never an avid gamer, this loner must navigate his way through a world set upon role-play and politics. Can he do what has eluded him since birth, and make something of himself? To further add insult to injury, his brother purchases the Nobleman Package as a practical joke.

James, aka Hedge Lord Jaeger Persik, turns to the past 28 years of life experience, and unfamiliar creatures for help.

Will this black sheep finally become part of a flock, with his uncommon way of thinking and his ability to adapt? Or will frustration and ignorance reign?

Warning: This book contains scenes of graphic adult situations, language, and non-traditional relationship structures.

©2019 AW Sheffield (P)2019 AW Sheffield

I'm blown away. So entertaining. So funny!

This is now one of my all time favorite books in the LitRPG Genre. It's got a great story, character progression and setup, but doesn't take itself too seriously or beat you over the head with character stats too much. I have to say hands down, this has to be one of the funniest books I've read in awhile. I've embarrassed myself more than once while bursting out laughing in public places. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Fun book!

Very fun book! Like all new series, took me a minute to settle in, but with solid narration and a good story, I ended up listening to the whole book in one sitting.

Loser MC

I am so regretting spending money on this. The MC is such a weak loser. He lets himself just go along with whatever others tell him to do and just gets used left and right. For someone who has been through so much shit in life, he never learns anything. He had so many options and leverage, but just relegates himself to being a tool.

It is so hard to listen to. I keep waiting for him to do something redeeming out get some revenge, but nothing. Just more torture to listen to.

engaging and builds up well

I really enjoyed the book and finished it in 2 to 3 days. the story starts a bit slow but picks up half way and a lot of important characters get introduced in the second half. a bit more time to build their character arc would be great in the second book.

the narrator really makes it enjoyable and easy to understand the change in context. a subtle change in tone to separate real world from the virtual would also be great to make it easy to understand although it is so rare that it may not be necessary.

the lead character is really likable and I am glad it did not turn out to be a story of 1 person who can do it all. him relying on others for help makes it very refreshing.

Could've been better.

I don't think having the MC dumped on so heavily in the the first half added anything really, sure it sort of explains how he learns things, but it just wasn't enjoyable.
The second half was way better but still had some problems.
The only reason I stayed to the end was the narrator TJ Clark.

Good first book

Full disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning of the book was a bunch of computer logs, which was boring and made me wonder if this book was going to be a bad listen, but then it ended and the story began. The protagonist was involved in an accident that left him disabled. However, he was able to get into a game to heal, while your body heals, you play the game. But you have to have money, luck, or both to get into the game. While in the game, the player can pay money to play different packages that add to the story. The protagonist's account was configured to have a low noble's package, which unbeknownst to the protagonist, was paid for by his brother.

*SPOILERS BELOW*
The protagonist decides to be a farmer and goes about setting the stage for his farm and farmland. However, before his farm is stable, he is kidnapped and sold as a slave. He then goes through several negative experiences before freeing himself and going back to being a farmer. It seems like he was kidnapped too early, like there should have been a better reason for him to be kidnapped.
Once he is back on his farm, he discovers he can talk to the land and that each plot of land on his farm has personality, likes, and dislikes. When making the plot of land happy, the produce grows faster and the quality is much better. But while he was away, a natural disaster struck the other farms. Thanks to the partners the protagonist has, the farm's business has taken off and his farm is the most profitable in his kingdom.
Due to the power and fame his farm has garnered, the protagonist is pulled into politics. Which results in him going to the land of the elves and obtaining a wife. The wife was put under a spell, that made her essentially into a robot slave, as the father forced her to marry the protagonist. When the wife comes out of the spell, the wife chooses to stay with the protagonist. Its not clear why or when she falls in love with the protagonist, but she does and the relationship is cute. The protagonist also falls in love with the wife. I would have liked more fleshing out of the falling in love.
The daughter would normally be angry at the father, but she was raised as a nobleman's daughter and was expecting an arranged marriage. Seems to not mesh well if the wife is supposed to be strong and independent.
One problem I have is that in the end, the protagonist is elevated way above his station. Like his rank just sky rockets, which seemed silly to me.
Another concern I have is that the protagonist is supposed to be a farmer, he doesn't farm a lot. His partner and staff do the majority of the planting, tending, and harvesting of the crops. The protagonists just appears to converse with the land to get their desires met and then disappears for long bouts of time.
*END OF SPOILERS*

Overall, this book was interesting to listen to and flowed well, aside from the continuous stream of negative events during a part of the book for the protagonist. There wasn't any large plot holes, which I really dislike.

The narrator made the book more interesting and added depth.

Good but forgettable story

There wasnt anything in particular with the book that stood out as bad to me. It was a perfectly fine story that unfortunately didn't feel like it knew where it's focus should be.

There are parts of it that I couldn't really tell you what happened. The most interesting parts were glossed over (his settlement and land owning) to focus on other crisis that really have nothing to do with the premise of the book.

Will I listen the next one? Probably, but mostly to see if the focus returns to the parts I enjoyed.

Amazing LitRPG Noble Fun

An amazing start to the series, I can not wait for more. This is a great adventure LitPRG and the Narration was a perfect fit. I could not put it down. Just had to keep listening.


Note this title was provided free for review, however, the thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Lite Although Humorous LitRPG

I found this to be a very lite LitRPG in terms of emphasizing things like stats. It was also a bit rough for awhile at first as I found it took some time for the MC to become likable even with his back story as he takes awhile to lighten up but overall I found the different arcs, humor, and changes in direction of the story to be a very enjoyable experience. As remarked in other reviews it does have some pretty funny moments and in my case there were multiple moments when I almost burst out laughing in the middle of a break at work. TJ Clark also does a wonderful job narrating and I am looking forward to future installments of this series.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Far surpassed expectations

It does not take long for this story to hook you in. MC is not overpowered. A very captivating journey of a guy that life hasn't been kind towards; with definite moments of hilarity. The next installment can't come soon enough.