Critical Failures

Caverns and Creatures, Book 1

By: Robert Bevan

Narrated by: Jonathan Sleep

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Tim and his friends find out the hard way that you shouldn't question the game master, and you shouldn't make fun of his cape.

One minute, they're drinking away the dreariness of their lives, escaping into a fantasy game and laughing their asses off. The next minute, they're in a horse-drawn cart surrounded by soldiers pointing crossbows at them.

Tim now has the voice and physique of a prepubescent girl. Dave finds that while he lost a foot or two in height, he somehow acquired a suit of armor and a badass beard. Julian's ears have grown ridiculously long and pointy. And Cooper... well Cooper has gotten himself a set of tusks, a pair of clawed hands, and a bad case of the shits. He also finds that he's carrying a bag with a human head in it - a head that he had chopped off when they were still just playing a game.

Shit just got real, and if they want to survive, these four friends are going to have to tap into some baser instincts they didn't even know existed in their fast-food and pizza delivery world.

It's fight, flight, or try to convince the people who are trying to kill them that they don't really exist.

©2012 Robert Bevan (P)2014 Robert Bevan

Very Entertaining

I thought this book was very entertaining. Shakespeare it was not, but there was a nice coherent story with good character development. This will obviously appeal to people who have played games like D&D. I mean it references character sheets, charisma, random encounters, and rolling a 1, so there you go. It is not a 'gritty' book. There is much joking and bumbling along with the action. It goes pretty much how you would expect it to go if a bunch of casual gamers had to actually become their characters. Some of the content was kinda stereotypical, but I still think it was handled in a funny way. I enjoyed it. If you like gaming and don't take yourself too seriously, I think you will enjoy it too.

The narrator was awesome. He did great with the different voices and characters and their expression.

AMAZING!!! COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!!!!

Where does Critical Failures rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The best book so far and the narrator bring the story to life!!!!!

What other book might you compare Critical Failures to and why?

none this is one of a kind and its amazing!!

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Sleep – was your favorite?

Cooper he makes me laugh

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!!! AND I DID!!!!!!!

Any additional comments?

GET THIS BOOK!!!! hopefully they do books 2 and 3 with the same narrator

Really Funny if you are a Nerd who played RPGs

Where does Critical Failures rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10

What was one of the most memorable moments of Critical Failures?

I was listening to the book while working on the bench in the lab and I had to laugh out loud. People thought I am crazy and I actually had to stop listening for a while to get myself under control. The characters are carbon copies of my old RPG group from 20 years ago. I would tell you why but I don't want to spoil the moment.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Sleep’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Incredible range of voices that are never annoying

F-ing awesome and hilarious

I'm a big role player fan, and this brings the reality an fantasy together beautifully. I've wondered what would happen if you dropped real players into their characters and thus is an amazing answer. And a great beginning to a series. And the voice acting and narration makes it all more believable.

You should probably be a guy, or open minded.

I personally find this book (and the series) quite a bit of fun and well narrated for the most part. I can't help but think though that the whole series is slightly misogynistic (this comes out a lot more in the second book). It's not that it's just written with toilet humor, which admittedly is funny and well done but the only female characters are essentially props for objectification. It's not blatantly done, and it's not done as a pivotal plot point, and maybe it's just me... but I can't help feeling like it's there. So I guess my advice is if classic style comic books or 1950's sci-fi doesn't bother you (or you are generally not one to get bothered easily over things that may not actually be intended) this series is fun and full of juvenile humor that will actually make you laugh out loud. Otherwise, probably best to find something else.

The first book is decent, avoid the rest

I had some fun listening to this, and seeing references that any D&D fan can enjoy. However the author should have stopped after this first book. The second one in the series goes on with even more of the toilet humor and themes you have already had the pleasure of from this book, without the interesting aspect of character progression and self-reflection.

For fans of role-playing and fantasy, with a tolerance for lowbrow jokes mixed with a decent story, I can recommend this first book (which works fine as a stand-alone), but avoid the rest.

a delightful surprise.

I purchased this book as part of a sale because it sounded reasonably entertaining. it turns out that it is hilarious. just recognize that you have to enjoy following a bunch of slackers using slacker language and profanity in an adventure that defies rational thought. This is a comedy. It is fun.

Super Nerd Fun

The narrator did an excellent job with the character voices which made it easier to visualize. the story seemed to go.vy quickly but perhaps it's because I was so enamoured with it.

Fun and Fast and just might make you Laugh

Would you listen to Critical Failures again? Why?

I probably will. I read the novel a few years ago, and downloaded the audiobook when I discovered it was available.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cooper, of course. He is kind of the linchpin that the story revolves around, and the humor as well. It took me a short bit to get used to his voice, as it reminded me of the voice of Fat Albert in the 1970s cartoon.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the next release in the series.

Funny as hell!

I'm a long time d&d fan and this shit had me crackinup the whole time. laughed my balls off!