Morgana

Everybody Loves Large Chests, Book 4

By: Neven Iliev

Narrated by: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott

Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

The citizens of Azurvale are starting to feel the pressure. War with the Empire to the south is imminent, and there's talk of the city's adventurers being drafted into the campaign. Though this conflict seems inevitable and promises to be horrific, the common folk can do little but act like there's nothing wrong. Rather than lose sleep over something so wildly out of their control, they instead worry about tiny, personal, inconsequential issues. Things like, "Will the butcher have fresh steak today?" and, "Should I get those new boots now, or wait and see if they go on sale?"

However, though they try to maintain some modicum of normalcy, the people of Azurvale have yet to find out that their capital is already under threat. Not by some warmongering nation, but by a certain individual that has come to them seeking asylum, knowledge, profit, and power through any means necessary. As this newcomer burrows into the city's underbelly like a voracious tick, it cares not for the people it hurts along the way. Indeed, any soul unfortunate enough to cross paths with Boxxy T. Morningwood seems doomed to have their life ruined in one way or another. Often through no fault of their own.

Whether it's an ancient being, a skilled assassin, a godlike archer, or a fresh-faced recruit, none shall be spared from the whims of chaos.

Content warning: Profanity, gore, violence, explicit adult content.

The Soundbooth Theater Team for this production:

• Jeff Hays - narration, sound design
• Annie Ellicott - Keira, Rowana, the Dryads, and the rest of the new female cast  
• Dalton Lynne - editing and proofing
• Ahmed Mahmoud - editing, music, sound design, and mastering

©2019 Neven Iliev (P)2019 Neven Iliev

I cried

Fantastic story and narration!!!

Boxy is back, and up to new tricks! Having made it into the elven lands, boxy and crew need to lay low, find trainers, and level up. Can they suppress their greed, bloodlust, and outrageous quirks enough to meet their goals?

If you have enjoyed this series so far then you will definitely love this book as well!!!

I absolutely loved the song Boxy composed!
(it was so beautiful it made me cry)

I can't wait for the next book to come out!!!!

A great, if flawed, entry.

This being my first written review for the series, allow me to say this. It is every bit as entertaining and powerful an entry as the last three. However it feels as though some things have been pressed aside or overlooked here or there to focus on the titular character of this book, Keira Morgana.

Firstly, as a whole the story continues to remain a fun romp however entering the fourth book it feels as though some characters are no longer receiving attention like one might wholly expect. Boxxy himself fades into the background for a good majority, though that is to be expected to an extent. New characters are introduced, though not all are given quite the limelight you'd seen given in past books. And, worst of all to me at least, one miss Fizzlesprocket is relegated to a cameo and acknowledgement here or there. We get no inclination of her growth between the last book and this one, and whilst she does appear it is hardly noteworthy outside of being a way to acknowledge she exists still and is still working under our favored chest. A lot of this, I would say, is on the book focusing its perspective from the title character's point of view rather than the bunch we've come to know and... 'tolerate more than we thought we would'. It works, and it is understandable, but missing out on even simple character information so we know where they all stand is something of a missed chance here. It doesn't harm the narrative overall, but it's a nice point to have... and the same tends to occur with Boxxy as well, as the book seems to move away from general updates after major events for characters. This book is also the first where the greater powers that be are... conspicuously silent despite what happens throughout. They continue to be referenced, but that too feels as though it has been pulled back on.

As for the performances? Jeff Hays continues to be an excellent narrator and voice for the characters we all know. The newcomer to the series, Annie Ellicott, likewise is a strong addition though at least for me it sounded as though the mixing was a little off at first near the start. It smoothed out as things went on, but I couldn't shake the feeling the volumes were a little off between Hays and his narration and her own spoken parts. The worst part I will say, though, and the reason I scored it lowest is the additional effects mixed in. They aren't always bad, but nearing the end of the book the various additional sounds played alongside the narration end up sometimes overpowering the deliveries and becomes distracting more than they are immersive. It isn't painful, but they could definitely be toned down some.

Excellent!

All four stories in this series are great fun. However using soundbooth theater really pushed the performance to the greatest height yet. I have no doubt if you liked the first three books you will like this one also. I can't wait for the continuation of the story in the next book.

It's better with sounds

I love the voice acting for Boxxy. The screams during the large conflict were a bit much. The funny parts are funnier, the gruesome parts are gruesomer. A wonderfully grim story of a monster and his minions making a place for itself and a place to stash his shiny treasures. Top marks.

A Beautiful new direction

This one is very different than the previous books. It feels like our morbid monster troupe have grown into more divinely heartfelt beings. The beautiful song that Annie sang was also proof that our MC wasn’t just pretending to feel the interpersonal emotional connection, but that true bonds were being made.
The previous books defined a lot of what it meant to be a monster. This one bridges the monster to humanity- both the horrors and the beauty. I’m not used to finding such sentiment in this setting, but that’s likely why it stands out do gloriously.
I fell in love with our red-haired ...addition to the cast, felt the pains that we’re supposed to be nothing more than imitation.

Also..

Catgirls!

Narration is good, sound effects are terrible.

The background ambient sound effects are terrible and extremely distracting. My own imagination cannot reconcile the completely irrelevant sounds with what is happening in the book, which means I have to listen more than once to figure out what is going on. For example, during a fight with elemental fire on swords, we get a dubious approximation of a single unvarying fire sound. For a marching army, we get what sounds like the steadily increasing sound of a washing machine, to the point where the narrators words are actually drowned out completely. This happens over and over in random passages and is almost but not quite enough to make me just give up on this series.

twinkle twinkle shiny star

An enjoyable story and addition to the series. The song at the end really seals it. The voice actress playing the dryads was a great addition.

I've loved the story so far.

I've loved the story so far, everything made sense. To the succubus and the multiple eatings that broke the others mind. It is self evident from the title what this series is about, after all. But in this one it seems contrived to make a political statement. "it's these religious as hats that hurt innocent gays." that's when I decided I'm just fine ending the series on the last book and returning this one. When I read, I'm wanting to escape, not be part of some movement.

Very Shiny & tasty, INCREDIBLE

Great addition to the collection, possibly my favorite, Boxy is the ultimate anti-hero, no longer a simple box, he has a plan, big plans. Still homicidal, still surrounded by demons who do the awful things that demons do. Soundbooth’s production is incredible, they truly set the bar! Annie Ellicott is tasty!

The Sound Booth Theater Performance is Amazing

The book is hilarious, but the performance of it is what makes this a masterpiece.

not as good as the others

I feel like the characters of Boxy and its demons have been lost in this book. For me they dont have the "no punches held back" attitude that made this series so great. Although I was initially enjoying the storyline, the plot never really went anywhere and we didn't see Boxy progress itself. and the Last 3rd of the book just got progressively worse until a rather cringeworthy ending.
the epilogue spoke as though the series was being wrapped up, although nothing meaningful happened to the main protagonists. very strange.

the audiobook was a little too over produced for my tastes as well. it took away a little too much from my imagination.

Sound effects gone to far

I knew it was only a matter of time before the low quality sound bites invaded the rest of this book. This is a book not a movie/music read it to me dont make me listen to a crowded bar sound or unrealistic kissing sounds. It's a shame that yet another author has been lied to by the production team only for them to ruin the book.

The addition of Annie Elliecott as a narrator is unnecessary and should have been done at the start of the series or not at all.

The book itself is excellent as always if you can overcome the numerous problems caused by soundbooth theater and there incompetent team

Why the stupid sounds...... WHY!!

Enjoyed the story as usual by why the production team felt the need to add totally pointless sound effect I just can't fatham. I worry that if the next book has also been cursed with this then I will have to give it a miss and that would be sad.

Soundbooth yet again

I enjoyed books 1-3 the exstra sounds didnt get in the way tho 3 started to push it a little, I hoped for it to go back to the level it was at in book 2 but the dial was set to 11, The exstra sounds are distracting, jaring and at times headach inducing. You cant keep adding sounds and exspect it to make a better story. A book is there to tell you a story not show you one, while you can do a audio drama well, the writing needs to be made with that as the exspection like "We're Alive",

When you make a book into a audio drama you end up with things like:
"the ligthing stikes *ligthing sound effect* as the heavy rain comes down *rain sound effect* as they walked *waling sound effect* Tey spoke, we are going to get soaked tonight"
While something writen for a audio drama is more like this:
"*ligthing sound effect, rain sound effect* *walking sound effect* "we are going to get soaked tonight""

The audio drama book tells you then shows you while the script writen for a audio drama just shows you, it feels like the book repeats lines pointlessly, if you want exstra sounds and effect in your story, then make the story with that in mind, dont try and make a chimera of it.
It can work, and it can be really good, you just need to know what you are writing for and this is a book not a audio drama...

Annoying

The story and narrators are great. The annoying part is where the sound cuts out and even whole sentences are missing. At one point in chapter 27 you can even hear someone's phone go off. Production needs to be better.

This one not as good as the earlier in the series.

I enjoyed the earlier books in this series with boxy T Morningwood an intriguing character, as it continued to level up and gain xp by hook or by crook and in funny situations. however, this book Was very difficult to get through, I found the story dull and the narration very annoying, the female voices were very grating at times and didn’t hold my attention.

The story wandered off in all sorts of directions and I lost interest after about 10 hours and couldn’t be bothered to finish the book, it’s very flabby and loose, the main characters charm is lost.

I wouldn’t recommend.

More Boxxy Fun

Keeping it brief it was fun to be back with Boxxy and crew. It didn’t reach the dizzying hysterical moments of the past books but it was still a good listen.

I wished for more Boxxy levelling and adventures, it seemed to go off piste and idle along in parts. Mainly due to not tapping into the Boxxy we know and love. You gotta keep it shiny and tasty.

Don’t let it put you off tho - dive right in there.

The best yet

This series just keeps getting better. Fantastic writing and superb performance. Very enjoyable from start to very creepy finish.

The best so far!

The title may be misleading. By 'the best', I don't mean the best in the series. I mean the best audio book I have ever listened to so far. I have you know that I listened to most books by Brandon Sanderson. Those books are amazing too. But the performance and story in this book is so well-done, I really lived to book!

I love every main character in the book. Each has a unique personality and they never behave out of character. I value this very much.

I understand the fun part of this book may be a bit too gruesome or sexual for some readers. But these are the things I enjoyed most.

I will look forward to the next book. I will now search if there is any Boxxy T Morningwood t-shirts available online. It would be so taste to have one in my possession!

Great story so far

fast paced and lots of new characters introduced keeps you wanting to read more.