Sidekick

A Superhero LitRPG Adventure

By: Carl Stubblefield

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

A world-changing secret. Superhero mercenaries. Fake it till you break it.

Gus thought he could relax in paradise and level his powers at his leisure, but nothing's ever easy. No sooner are the shields down than the island is beset with intruders full of...only good intentions. Out of his league in every sense of the word, Gus scrambles to hang on to his only shot at making something out of himself. Losing everything despite all he has worked for seems inevitable.

The original owners of Gus' not-so-secret lair have discovered that the Manor is up for grabs. Only they know the true secret it holds - a secret that can change the fate of supers everywhere. Luckily for him, Gus isn't alone this time. Someone from his pre-super life has appeared to help him out, but the new supervillain can’t be certain where her loyalties ultimately lie.

Does he finally have a partner of his own? Or is he doomed to be the sidekick?

©2020 Carl Stubblefield (P)2020 Mountaindale Press

The story starts to make shape

And the story starts to take shape we're going from him being on the island by himself to now what happens now that he has to DO with opposition from the factions and has an onexpected ally within interesting plot Twist at the end this is a great Ark. To as always a great story can we for the next one to come out

A marked improvement!

This second installment in Gus's fight to survive and keep what is his demonstrates significant improvement over the first book. For those that had a rough time with the info dumps in the first book, there are WAY fewer in this second book! I was uncertain about the author's writing style when I started that first one. By the time I finished Sidekick, I decided it had grown on me and was worth further investment. I admire that the author puts so much thought into the books and the various abilities given the main character. I also admire the fact that he sticks to his moral code whenever possible, even when it's hard. I really like moral characters!

What’s with the watch‽

Can’t wait for book 3! Enjoying this series immensely. This was better than book one because of the hero finally grows up! His immaturity in the first one was starting to get tiresome but this one made it all worth it.

The last 2 hours were painful to listen to...

The story started off well then somewhere along the way the author decided it was time to make the MC an insufferable idiot who couldn’t make a good decision to save his life. Fortunately for the MC, he doesn’t die because the bad guys are even dumber than he is.

This story has so much wasted potential. I find myself having a hard time finishing the last 30min because I just can’t listen to another dumb ass decision made by characters who mistakenly believe they are smart.

This is really solid

I think this is turning out to be one of my favorite stories. It’s not full litrpg, but it is a great story with rpg elements.

Basically, it’s worth the credit.

One of the best 2nd books in a series I've read

Seriously fun follow up to his last novel. The story only gets better.

I need the next one! Need it!

So yeah, pick this one up.

Great follow up!

I enjoyed the second entry into this series. I feel the author did a good job increasing the MC power as he grows but there are balances that he must contend with. It makes for some good character growth. We also get some more world building to get a wider sense of all the super power phenomena. I can't wait for next one!

amazing

this might be my favorite book of 2020. if you liked the first one, you will love this one. and now I must wait for book three. amazing performance by the narrator, as always.

Really fun sequel

Great concept and well executed. This book Carrie’s the momentum the first book created with fun characters and a unique plot. Baldree does a great job with the narration.

A Child Playing at a Man's Game

As always, don't trust the 5 star reviews. Most aren't reflective of the actual content of the review and a bulk were provided free copies.

As always, a book series is really hard to screw up if you have a modicum of talent. The intrigue and mystery of where things well lead allow an author enough time to establish world building to a degree that keep the listener/read engaged.

The second book in any series is the true obstacle an author must overcome and this book feels as though it fails at that endeavor. Our MC is a jaded child jealous of a division of society that is inherently better. The author essentially outlines a superior species enhanced by another symbiotic race of nano machines plus those that are not enhanced. This creates a society of 'Supers' and 'Regs'.

The outline of the story has the potential to be great but is weighed down by conflicting morals where our MC's emotional immaturity really shines. He isn't okay with killing pirates who have raped and murdered for easy money but is okay with fundamentally altering their brains to basically punish them for their crimes until eventually a court deems them guilty and kills them anyways? He is okay with stripping other Supers of their powers simply for doing their jobs? The MC is practically handed a facility that makes him the most powerful person on planet Earth but can't spare any extra resources helping the only person who has offered him aid, hoarding everything for himself.

Add in the fact that the MC acts like a whiney child all the time and when confronted about his world view, it becomes clear the author never actually has plans on challenging him as a hero. Instead of giving the character room to grow emotionally the MC believes his way is the best. Our MC is NOT a good person. He also isn't a bad person either but will go out of his way to point out how 'good' he is. Everything he has gained he has either stolen or been handed to him.

In truth, the series attempts to do power fantasy with a litrpg superhero twist but fails at everything it tries to establish in the second book. The MC becomes too strong to quickly so to create false tension the author simply makes the protagonist 'forget' much of his strength. He will even address this being saying different variations of 'Well, I am so used to being oppressed and weak I forget I'm actually super strong'. He isn't a Jack of All Trades but a Master of All Trades.

Travis does an amazing job as always.

Not so lonely

The plot thickens and more characters make an entrance.
The hero has his ups and downs, but the hero always comes out on top..... Eventually.
The story is starting to open up in this, the second in the series.
Well read again with the new voices giving a little more variety.
Looking forward to the next one.