Guild: A LitRPG Novella

Monsters, Maces and Magic, Book 3

De: Terry W. Ervin II

Narrado por: Jonathan Waters

You can’t hide in an RPG forever.

Eighteen years ago, Tom, a barber college student, got trapped in the Monsters, Maces and Magic game world as Josiah the thief.

The first two adventures saw all of Tom’s party members, also trapped within the game world, perish within the fetid depths of the Dark Heart Swamp. His subsequent stint adventuring with NPCs proved short lived. He preferred survival.

Over time, Tom became Josiah, adopting a life blending in with the game world’s NPCs. He gave up advancing as a thief, trained as a lay healer, and works as a barber, cutting hair, pulling teeth, lancing boils, and functioning as a low-level operative within the local thieves’ guild.

But life, even one lived as a faux NPC, can get interesting. Such happens when a young half-goblin thief named Gurk shows up in Josiah’s shop, looking for information. Little did the pair know that the unobtrusive barber shop would become a focal point in a brewing guild war.

©2018 Terry W. Ervin II (P)2018 Gryphonwood Press

A good book for LitRPG fans

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. I feel a little lost, but I think it's a good book over all. I'll definitely check out the first two in the series.

Enjoyable.

This is a brief novella. The premise was interesting enough to keep reading and the novella gives an incling into what to expect from the author. The book contains a magic based system along with hit points for strength... it reads like the old adventure quest stories l used to read and enjoy.... This was an interesting introduction to the genre...as such l heartily recommend this novella.

Nice audiobook

Not my typical genre but very enjoyable! Character & story development are pretty good as it's the narration. Definitely worth a listen!

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

He's Done It Before?

That's all I could think about throughout this whole book, is how ticked off I was to find out that that stupid game moderator had trapped people as characters in this insane world before. I wanted to scream at Tom/Josiah to wake up and realize that the main characters from the previous two books aren't NPC's at all. I wanted them to join together so that they could all get the hell out of this world. Even though they cross paths in this book it doesn't seem to occur to either party that the other might be their ticket out of here. Aghh. I want to know what happens next.

Fantastic

This was a great Litrpg title. The author did a fantastic job bringing the characters and world to life. The Narrator was spot on when it came to each individual character and kept me involved the whole time. The biggest telling point is that I had to go back and pick up the first two books just to follow the whole story. I received a free copy of this audio in return for an unbiased review.

A Fun Addition to the Series, wish it was Longer!

Guild is an enjoyable side-story set in the Monsters, Maces, and Magic world. The main protagonist this time is Tom / Josias, another player from the 'real world', who was transported into the fantasy realm almost twenty years earlier. Having lost his entire party not long after they'd arrived, he's given up on adventuring and runs a barbershop within Three Hills City, while also working as a low-level contact within the Thieves Guild. This novella does see our heroes from the previous works return, albeit this time as supporting characters. An interesting perspective from Josias comes from his assumption that, given how the members of the party talk, they are PCs or 'player characters', meaning someone in the real world is controlling them, like one would in a gaming session. This leads to the question of whether Josias is simply trapped within a game, or if it is alternate universe, like our main-story protagonists reckon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella, though like some readers, I really wish it had been longer. Josias, the former thief / retired adventurer, is a fascinating character, who I hope turns up again in future volumes. The ending did feel a bit abrupt, though it is a credit to the story that I did not wish for it to end. I view this as a bit of a 'world building' tale, used to add depth to side characters within the larger narrative, as well as the world they live in. Given Tom / Josias' perspective as someone who was transported from the real world (who has no idea if there may be others) and has lived within this realm for nearly two decades, we are left with a lot of open-ended questions that leave the reader longing to read more.

As expected, Jonathan Waters' narration fails to disappoint. It is for this reason that I am continuing with the audiobook versions of this series. I look forward to Book Four!

good short listen

A good short book. Despite having not having read the previous books in this series I was easily able to follow along and enjoy the story, no doubt it would have been even better had I read the prior books. Realistic well fleshed out characters that you can relate to. The mc wasnt op, invincible and didnt fall into any of the common trope which was great.The author did a fantastic job bringing the characters and world to life. I wish it had been longer as it was deeply enjoyable. I look forward to reading more from this author. Good prose, good flow of the story, great world building with no info dumps.
Narrator was great. Good pacing, a good voice, good vocal range, clear and concise enunciation.

A decent novella if you are into DnD!

So, I got this from the narrator for an honest review. This is my first LitRPG and I found the characters to be interesting but the litrpg stuff to be really off-putting, especially with the discussion of "This knife gives me +2 to my dex." type stuff. I feel there is definitely a place in the world for this type of novelization, but it definitely kept taking me out of the action and out of the story as I forgot it over and over due to the characterization. The main character is injured because he loses his "saving throw", I just do not feel that the mechanics of the dungeons and dragons really work for someone who is not really used to it.

However, if you love DnD? This is a great novella. I really loved the main character, I wanted to know more about him. This Novella was the perfect length and the narrator gave a great performance.

LitRPG Novella

This is the third book in the Monsters, Maces and Magic series, I read it as a standalone and had no trouble following the story, it's a brand new setting and main character. It's the story of Josiah the thief, formally Tom in the real world, who has been stuck in the game world for the last 18 years. Josiah watched all his old player friends die, one by one, and now he tries to stay under the radar and works as barber/healer for the local thieves guild. When the story begins, he meets a half-goblin thief in his barber shop looking for information.

The gaming part of this book was very light, there are references to D&D terms but no detailed gameplay or rolls. It really reads like a fantasy with a few game references, which I enjoyed. The book was very descriptive and put me right in the scene, and the action scenes were very detailed. The narration was really well done, in a grandiose style that really fit the style of the book. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.