Backyard Goblins

By: Virgil Knightley

Narrated by: Jonathan Waters, Mandy McCullough

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Be careful. They bite.

One day I was enjoying my early retirement out in the countryside, taking comfort in the simplicity of my off grid lifestyle. Hunting and gardening provided the bulk of my own food, and I slept and did my work from inside my converted shipping container mini-home. It could get a bit lonely at times—but it gave me the space I needed to get away from the city...and my past.

But when a trio of cute goblins emerged from a silver portal that appeared out of nowhere on my property...things got a bit more complicated all of a sudden. Also, I soon discovered they bite and scratch: mostly each other, but sometimes me.

Still, I made a commitment to care for them. I also discovered that I can travel freely back to their world and slay monsters to gain strength and enhance each of the women I'm now responsible for in unusual ways. It's all pretty exciting—but what is my childhood friend Susie going to say when she finds out about this strange arrangement? Knowing her, probably something weird.

©2023 Virgil Knightley (P)2023 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Fun and highly enjoyable while going surprisingly dark

I greatly enjoyed this. As the title says, it was a lot of fun, very enjoyable, while still perfectly capable of going surprisingly dark sometimes. The voice actors are fantastic as well. I can’t Wait for the next one. Just hope it won’t be too long.

good play on mental fortitudes. but didn't like the ending.

was an interesting read. a mix of survivors guit, savior complex, obsession, primitive archetypes (breeder/caregiver, warrior, wiseperson) and cultural clashing with a nice hint of paranoia and profiling.

the last interaction with the antagonist was a bit... stupid. I know he's an grizzled old man but he made a massive error in judgement. he already profiled a mental instability case and approached them head on putting them in to a panic. his years of work with police and homeland would've had him approach the stable minded first through a phone call and an arranged meeting as he already determined it a high accuracy that the situation wasn't an outwardly or imminent danger.

as for the psychological trauma situation at the end, I see the reason but as above seemed a bit forced and needless in a way. the trauma problems was switched between charachters but was so late in the book that it's just a thing now without substance. while the epi seems to just be kind of a funny offhand cliffnote sendoff.

Part of the fast food barbarian universe

part of the fast food barbarian universe, Hoping for a book 2 from both of them someday

superb

An excellent mix of modern and fantasy elements and I hope there are more books to come

Another fun little slice of life story

Cute and crazy women is the bread and butter of Virgil Knightley and this book is no exception. It's unclear if this is one and done or it's going to be a series. Perhaps it depends on sales figures but it's written with room for more while feeling self-contained enough to not leaving readers upset if this is it.

I felt that the antagonist and his motivations were a bit contrived and ridiculous but maybe that's intentional. I also felt that there were some glaring problems with how the antagonist was resolved so to speak. Arguably it doesn't matter as much as the romance and comedy is the center stage for this book, not the plot.

The characters are fun, the characters are crazy and the MC has a surprisingly dark backstory for a book like this. A bit bold but I don't mind and it works to setup a plausible reason for him to live out in the woods.

The narrators did a good job. Occasionally it could be difficult to understand the goblins as they don't have regular speech patterns which would be easier to understand in text so I don't think I can fault Mandy for that.

Good first book

I liked the story. I have no idea of what direction the story will go. All the lead characters seem to be unhinged and inconsistent so I will just wait and se instead of predicting. Bring on the second

the fact that there was very relatable reactions, smart reactions.

I loved the adventure/leveling up aspect, it was done in a game like concept but weirdly realistic, I could picture a leveling system feeling and looking like that in a dream. I do hope there's more books ahead, I would love to see the evolution of this family and what new powers and upgrades could be had. by the way to the writer, the fun scenes? top notch, keep that up too.

Pretty good. I hope it continues.

It was a pretty interesting story. For the most part, I enjoyed it. Susie could have been written to be a little bit more grounded or crazy. Her being more "normal" but curious would have been a better choice for me, personally, or she could have been a bit more obsessive. As she stands, I feel like she just blends in as a fourth goblin of sorts. My other issue was that the ending was pretty sloppy. I won't spoil it, but it felt like it was a point in the story where the author wasn't quite sure how they wanted it to go. So, rather than leave it open for a sequel or make the book longer, it was abruptly stopped. The last chapter just felt like a fever dream.
The author is clearly talented and knows how to write this genre of fiction. Honestly, the book checked most of my boxes, but if he continues this story as a series, I hope he further refines things and fully commits to the work.

Good for the most part.

Overall I would give it a 4/5 stars. Most of the story was good, my only issue was how the ending was played out. Without giving spoilers I felt ending kinda abruptly closed a potential ark for future books and was kinda wavy feeling. Up then down then sudden up then down. It felt kinda rushed imo. Still I'm interested to see how it will play out if/when the next book comes out.

enjoyable book

an enjoyable book if you enjoy goblin girls, living off the grid, and a enjoyable story, you will love this book it keeps you entertained