Bugs in the System

By: Pat McNary, Joel Morgan, Kelly Caldwell, B. Jaymes Condon, Connor MacDonald, Nicholas Speer, Allen Huffmeier, Roderick Mitchell Jr

Narrated by: Rick Gregory

Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

"It's a tough universe out there with death-by-giant insect waiting around every corner."

Immerse yourself if these short stories based on the role-playing game, We Hunt Bugs, and experience the tales of shaky alliances, backstabbing comrades, and terrifying monsters.

"It's what we do. We hunt Bugs."

©2017 Kristi King-Morgan (P)2017 Kristi King-Morgan

Sci-fi Short Stories

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

These short stories are based on the RPG “We Hunt Bugs” and would probably be appreciated more by someone who plays the game. Most of the stories are about shooting big bugs in outer space: spiders, centipedes, beetles, etc. The best story was “The Hunter and the Suit” about a famous hunter who is deep in debt. When a debt collector finds him, he can’t seem to shake him. It was a cute story and I would have enjoyed reading more of it.

The narrator did a good job especially considering that these were short stories. It seems to me that it would be more difficult to narrate short stories than a full-length novel. Just like reading them, once you start to get into the story, you have to start a new one.

RPG based story anthology

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

So, I'd never heard of the RPG this book is based on. That being said, I did enjoy the anthology. Though, I wish there was more background to explain the universe for those uneducated in the We Hunt Bugs universe.

No lasting impressions

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who have played the RPG "We hunt bugs" and are familiar with all the characters, backstories and lore surrounding the space bugs, I guess.

This book is a collection of short stories (some as short as 10 mins), all of which involve different and seemingly unrelated characters. Without knowing the backstory of these characters and how they connect to each other, it is quite difficult to enjoy the short stories as a whole. It was like scrolling through YouTube feed of short videos. In my opinion, if the book had an introduction to the world and the bug hunters and the alien bugs' background info before all the stories began, that would've helped.

Has Bugs in the System turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. Once book can't turn me off from an entire genre.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook for free from the author / narrator / publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Broad in stories types, but shallow in the details

"Bugs in the System" is a collection of short stories, set in the world of the "We Hunt Bugs" RPG. It contains seven stories, ranging from just under 10 minutes long to a couple of 30 minutes stories. Each story presents a different collection of characters - some are bug hunters, some a passengers of cruises, some a pilots, some are company men. The stories and the characters are different enough from one another so that they don't all blend together.

While each story itself is (generally) fairly interesting they are all very insular - self contained and narrow is scope. Few, if any, of the stories present background information or world building that draws you into the universe. Coming out of this book I know the "we hunt bugs" universe is a space faring humanity that hunt and kill giant bugs.Why? Not sure (other than cos we can). What has happened to Earth? not sure. Is there any lore around the bugs and where they came from? Dunno. There is nothing in here beyond the small scope of the story being told.

Prior to reading this book I had not heard of the RPG, let alone played it. This is my first foray into this world and because of the self contained narrow scope of the stories it doesn't tempt me to dig further into the world.

Maybe it is better if you know the RPG and the background. Maybe some of the bug types and characters matter then.

I assume narrator Rick Gregory read these at different times and then put them together, because some of them the narration is a little clunky (random pauses mid sentence, at what I assume is end of lines of pages) while others he had really hit is stride and they flow well. He sometimes puts more effort into differentiating characters while some stories they sort of blend together. Never is it hard to follow what is going on and who is talking but sometimes it is exactly easy.

Overall not bad. I enjoyed it for the time it took, but I'm unlikely to go out of my way to revisit the book or revisit the "we hunt bugs" universe.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

D&D in space with bugs

RPG fiction at its best. Let me clarify the 4 star for overall. For the overall I felt that the fact that it is based on a Giant Bug RPG could have used some explanation on the RPG. What kind of bugs? Why? Some background intro for Non players to Kind of prep us for what to expect as well as to maybe get us into playing the game (love RPG's). That being said, the stories
We're well written and well told and enjoyed the stories and will be looking into the RPG on my own time. I highly
Recommend this book. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.