The Heroic Villain

By: Charles Dean

Narrated by: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott, Justin Thomas James, Anneliese Rennie

Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Although he was once the promising young CEO of a successful corporation, Lucas abandoned everything he knew and retreated from both the real world and his demanding life following a horrific accident. In order to cope with tragic loss, he began spending his time in virtual reality, lazing about in the sun, and living a carefree life.

When he learns that his escapist paradise is being threatened and is about to disappear, however, Lucas is once again forced to take action and do what he does best: take charge. With newfound purpose, Lucas desperately begins making plans that will not only save the world that he has come to love but also propel him back into the spotlight once again - only this time as the villain.

In this GameLit LitRPG adventure, Lucas overthrows local lords, assumes command of the evil Imperium’s forces, and begins designing a dungeon that no player would ever want to miss out on. As he struggles to evolve his monsters and create an entourage of minions in order to become the greatest villain ever, however, Lucas realizes that things aren’t going to be as easy as they initially seemed.

Dave Willmarth, writer of the Greystone Chronicles: "A great start to a new series from a master storyteller! The MC being more of an anti-hero is a new twist for Charles, and I’m really enjoying it!"

This book is brought to you from the author of the Litrpg series War Aeternus, The Bathrobe Knight and Merchant of Tiqpa.

©2019 Charles Dean (P)2019 Charles Dean

Fantastic

Going to start off with some honesty not related to the book. Books about people playing games don't usually do it for me I prefer transported or trapped books and stuff with perma-death otherwise the stakes just don't feel high enough if the main character can just go back to their life, so the description of this book put me off and just didn't do it for me. I know it would be good because it's by Charles Dean so it went onto my to-read list just not to the top. That was a mistake. The author managed do something most in the genre don't he found a new type of stakes to raise the emotional stakes of the main character. While the main character isn't based on the average man, nor the every man, and he starts out a little unrelatable as his story and background progress pieces began to fall into place that make you feel for him, you relate to him on an emotional level instead of a situational or status based level, not just him but for the supporting characters as well. The book is written in a way that it makes you want to tune in soon not just to know what happens to the story but what becomes of the characters and more about their past. It's a very high drama high action story with hints and hopes of romance but not harem. The characters are delightful and entertaining even the ones who may or may not be important. The games unique quirks, questing system, and leveling are well thought out and the story as a whole is well done. To top it off the audio book version is narrated by the good people over at Sound Booth Theater who could even turn C-Span into a masterpiece performance. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually liked this better than one of the authors other works War Aeternus which is up there in the top slots of my list. I highly recommend this book and the only thing I wish was different was when I chose to read it, I should have done it sooner.

Excellent!

I have read a lot of this genre and this is one of the best.

It was a fun book I enjoyed it a lot.

great story bad audio

many parts of the book are difficult to understand. the spider the music was not helping as well as parts that were simply too quiet. it did alot to make a good book mediocre.

What's next?

Sign me up. Great story with well developed characters. Clear character growth and plot progression. I am a fan of Charles Dean and I believe this book is the culmination of everything he has learned from writing his previous books.

I can still feel the sense that he likes Harem's but always teeters it on the edge. Or maybe he just likes having a lot of women surround the main character. Either way I think he has improved how he expresses this.

He leaves us with an open ending where it could possibly progress further but also just as easily finish. Personally, I hope he continues. I look forward to whatever comes next.

Cheers!

Worthe the credit

The story was good. Hays and the crew was superb and the music was extraordinary. it is worth using a credit

Amazing

I am loving Soundbooth Theater productions. between the multiple and talented narrators, sound effects that aren't so loud it drowns out the narrators, and the entertaining story I am wishing more books are done by them.



If you are a fan of litrpg's then get this book. I refuse to add details and risk spoilers. if you enjoy the genre you will not be dissapointed in this book.

Awesomeness

Extremely interactive and great game mechanics. Very enjoyable. Looking forward to book 2. A must read for fans of LitRPG.

good start

lucas the main mc in this book is offered a chance to become a villian in the game an finds out he has nothing better to do an decides to do it. i must say the author does a great job in this book with some humor an getting interesting group of people to help out lucas even a guy he pks to start out his villians nick is a fun person in this group with bonnie an the princess that lucas kidnaps an finds out she wants to be a villian with him an part of his plan forget the nagas name but she is the shy one of the group as they help lucas set up his dudgeon it starts out slow as you get to find out how lucas was in the game befor a villian a lazy rich guy that drank wine an eat cheese with negative levels thus the reason why he was called negative. an his negative levels he finds out is like a cheat he gains levels faster an more points to put toward attributes

Worth Every Penny!

Let me preface this review by starting with this: I'm not a huge fan of Lit-rpg stories that focus so much on the actual game portion.
That being said, this author most certainly knows what they were doing and did it right. The story was interesting from start to finish, interesting characters, an interesting plot, and even the switching between real life and in game scenes was done exceptionally well. On top of all that, the actual audio production of the story was probably the best I've ever seen, and I've been consuming audio books for years. Whether you buy this with credits or pay for the book itself, I still say it's worth every penny and if the second volume were available on audible I'd have bought it the very second I finished this one. If you like fantasy in any format, I would be willing to bet you would love this book.

loved it

kept me enthralled the entire time love bonnie and the I'm about to do evil whit music