Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets, Book 1

By: Eric Ugland

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

He thought he was ready for the apocalypse. Then it happened...

A Secret Service operative and dedicated survivalist, Special Agent Del Roosevelt had a plan for every world-ending scenario and regularly trained for them all.

He was even ready for a date with the hottest woman in his office next Friday. At least he hoped so.

But all that training, all those rations, all that prepping? Useless for the apocalypse that actually played out. Del wakes up half-buried in a giant trash pile, missing his thumbs. And, um, covered in red fur.

He's stuck in a world of fuzzy monsters, senseless violence, and cult-like crusaders. Instead of falling back on known strategy, or making smart decisions based on, I don't know, logic, Del kind of just freaks out. Big time.

He knows he's got to get to the top of the tower he's in to find the wizard who presumably turned him into a living toy. Will the help of an academic rat and an exiled little dinosaur get him there? Doubtful.

But in all his failing, in all his traipsing around as a silly little red doll, Del starts to realize how ridiculous his life as a prepper actually was. After all, what's the point in surviving if you have no one to live for?

Master of Puppets is the first book in an all-new LitRPG adventure by Eric Ugland, bestselling author of The Good Guys series. Strap in for an immersive adventure full of quests, powerful magic, tower climbing, leveling up, wise-cracking landlords, and murderous cookies.

©2024 Eric Ugland (P)2024 Podium Audio

Eric Does Wonderland :-)

Honestly I was not a into this story or performance for the first couple of hours of the book. There was lots of dialogue and the voices seemed kind of annoying and childish but I’m a big fan of Ugland and I kept going. Once he got to the safe place is when it turned for me and I started to enjoy the book. I’m fully onboard now and looking forward to the next book. So if you have a negative reaction to the preview, know that Ugland is an excellent storyteller and he won’t let you down on this world. Just stick with him.

Not litrpg but getting there

Bit of a change from the other series that I’ve consumed so far but still enjoyable. Looking forward to book 2.

Muppets meets Mad Max

Great book can’t wait for 2nd one I’m a big fan of this new universe

Fun Jaunt

Very fun and fast paced story with great narration and unique character development. Looking forward to the next level!

So much filler

The overall idea is good but so far I'm up to chapter 35 out of 80 something and nothing of note has happened. Characters get introduced and then you turn around and they are dead with no development other than they helped the MC get from point A to B. Which is just one trash pile to another. There is so much filler conversations I've noticed myself zoning out and not really missing anything. I'm gonna finish it while I do stuff around the house but I'm just glad I got it on the daily deal.

Pretty good

I listen to and read a large amount of lit rpg books and fantasy. This one is pretty good and definitely worth the time. I am interested in seeing where this goes as it has a lot of room to expand.

Eric Ugland will be a household name w/I our lifetimes

I’ve loved the Good/Bad Guy series as well as that other one that I can’t remember off the top of my head & don’t wanna look it up cuz then I’ll forget to come back here & finish this review.
Ugland understands characters & how to use them to create compelling narratives, & this new series no different. It’s lighthearted but still intense & gripping. A basement is the entirety of the world for many of the characters yet there’s still history, culture & “civilization” to be discovered as you listen.

loved it. good story and funny.

loved it. good story and funny. had not heard of the author before but have listened to several of other books narrated by Nick Podehl before and like the genre. was happy I got this one and am eagerly waiting for the next book in the series to come out.

Some of the best

Occasionally laugh out loud funny and seriously quotable lines. These cookies make me ralph. everything Eric Ugland is great.

Lack of Plot

Ugland tends toward the sanebox-meets-D&D style of authorship. Here there's just... a bit too little plot, a bit too little descriptive imagery (I have no idea what the ground looks like, what the ceiling looks like, etc), a bit too much action (never thought you *could* have too much action... but without those other elements you start to feel empty).

Decent character development, tone, dialogue, etc... though not his best.

Fantastic narration.

If you've never read/listened to the author before I highly recommend you try literally any one of his other works, and you'll get a better overall experience. Though this one is still pretty decent, on the whole.