Hack, Slash & Burn

Hack, Slash & Burn, Book 1

By: Todd Herzman

Narrated by: Daniel Wisniewski

Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The orc apocalypse has arrived.

In the small village of Berring, Calder runs the Broken Mug tavern. He was a gifted swordsman and would have been a war hero if only his side had won. His injured leg tells him his days of fighting are over.

When a dark portal opens in his village’s main square and orcs stream through it, slaughtering his neighbors and setting everything on fire, it brings with it a second chance.

A soldier of light appears and grants Calder a weapon stone so he can help fight against the forces of darkness.

His leg is healed. His body pulses with superhuman strength. And he’ll do anything to protect his people.

Hack, Slash & Burn is a medieval LitRPG fantasy series with portals to other worlds, different classes, stats, levels, and spells.

©2022 Todd Herzman (P)2023 Podium Audio

pretty good

I liked the book it has an interesting story, but Daniel's overly dramatic narration is always annoying if he would just tone it down. He would be great

Worth the Credit!!!!!

This was a good twist on a LitRPG. The leveling is similar to some obscure RPG's out there but I like the shard system it was refreshing. The MC is flawed but I think the Author has skillfully done this on purpose. The MC is also OP at times but the Author manages to frequently find ways to show you the MC is still venerable and can die just the same as anyone else. Basically if he fights a being lower level than him he crushes them and if he fights someone close to his level it is a good fight with effort and when he faces a being with a greater level he often gets his back broken. (no exaggeration) Which means his friends are very valuable to the story and they are not just side characters taken up space. He is truly a balanced character which a lot of Authors can't seem to get right.

I have over 500 titles in my library and I can't wait to add the rest of this series to that collection. This is a good series it is well written, a little corny and full of adventure and promise. If you are a seasoned listener you will enjoy this book because it is different from the cookie cutter stuff that the genre has been fill with over the last two years.

Tons of action

Good story, I liked Calder’s sidekicks *ahem* party members. Final fight is somewhat unsatisfying, but there can’t be a book 2 if he should logically be killed by someone 5x his level

Action!

Loved it, it checked all my boxes. Looking forward to the next book, good thing is it's already written, just need to wait for the recordings

I liked it

good narrator with a good story...can't wait for the next book in the series

10/10

loved it can't wait for book 2 I think the doom sound track should be playing at the final battle

Good but predictable

Good story with strong characters and little light on world building however narration was good which kept my interest. I’ll buy the next book which I think is a good recommendation.

Fun Surprise

I enjoyed this book. It was a clever surprise that it was a litrpg story since its title did not indicate that. Regardless, the listener will appreciate how well this story is written and narrated. I also like how the writer made all the characters feel well-rounded and worth discovering. In short, this book is well worth the credit.

Hard to review

I honestly don't know how to score this.
It's good and I enjoyed it. However, the are two things that ruin this genre: An MC who is too smart and one who is too stupid. in this case he's not supposed to be a tactical genius so some mistakes are in order... but he makes some really stupid decisions that really ought to get everyone killed but somehow doesn't.

minor spoiler:




Also he wins a fight that should be literally impossible to win - it makes it seem like levels don't matter (or rather: they only matter when it's convenient for the plot).

solid

pretty solid litrpg story. the characters were good and the story progression is decent. i feel like there's some sloggish point but the highlights and the end of the book did a really good job of reeling you back in.

narration was done well, nothing bad to say about it