The Road to Noviel

A LitRPG Portal Fantasy

By: Tom O'Bedlam

Narrated by: Will M. Watt

Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Transported to a fantasy world, a young man discovers his magical talents on adventurous quests, in the first book of a humorous new gamelit series.

One moment Robin is imbibing an elixir of his own creation as he practices casting spells, and the next he’s lying naked in a cave about to embark on a mysterious quest. It seems the God Rhyth has vanished from the realm of Mayaser, and Robin—altered from human to shadeling—has been chosen to find out what happened to the deity and its worshippers.

In search of a way out of the cavernous tunnels in which he awoke, Robin encounters the Sisters Sharp, a party of human, dwarf, and halfling adventurers led by the elf Lantha. The warriors are journeying beneath the mountains on their way to the city of Noviel, collecting enchanted artifacts to defend their land against the growing forces of Urkhan, God of Tyranny.

In need of allies (and clothes!) Robin tags along with the Sisters, joining them in battle against reptilian kobolds, goblins, harpies, and other dangerous cave-dwelling creatures. For the servants of Urkhan—including the priest Gis and Basgar the Blinder, who rules the subterranean trade route beneath the mountains—are determined to spread their empire and stop the people of Noviel and elsewhere from uniting against them.

As Robin confronts one evil after another, his magical abilities grow stronger, forging him into a powerful bard. And he’ll need all his newfound mesmerizing and illusion-casting talents to uncover the truth behind Rhyth’s disappearance before Urkhan does . . .

The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with more than 700,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2023 Tom O'Bedlam (P)2023 Podium Audio

A Bard

Bard is not my favorite. The author has a character that by his words can harm. Really OH and Illusionists never do well in any rpg that I have seen. So if I'm just desperate for another install it will be a while for me in this series. These are just my two cents. Some of yall might like bards and illusionists.

Don’t skip this one!

Solid narrator! One of my favorites if I’m being honest. The story is interesting and the world building keeps the listener engaged. This story has a different perspective on the isekai troupe and effectively describes the magic system. The MC is gay and I found him refreshing and endearing. I’ll definitely be interested in the next installment.

Cloak, Dagger, and Illusion

This book was a delight to read. The world and characters are both wonderfully constructed, and the narration is peak. With the premise of an illusionist as the main character rather than a spellblade like most of LitRPG, we have an interesting and rather unique protagonist who approaches situations in a cunning and deceitful way rather than the hack and slash we usually are subjected to.

The system is also quite interesting. While explanations of exactly how things work sometimes are glossed over, the plot relies less on hard number crunching and more on clever uses of simple abilities. Additionally, the hand of our MC's divine patron is quite clear to see in the wording of his quests and the people that "just happen" to be in his path. Who else if not a trickster god would give their champion those little nudges and fudged rolls that cause plot armor to thicken? Though, it's not like he's the only one with a god on his side, so it evens out.

I really enjoyed how our MC approached every situation and problem he was presented with, and the solutions his twisted tricksy mind came up with to weasel his way out of danger. I fully recommend this book to all fans of LitRPG and portal fantasy.


P.s. Don't trust in the low average rating for this book. The first spell we get access to doesn't get described at all, and this likely threw off a few people. Stay around until our MC starts messing with the Kobolds 30 min in to see if the book is right for you.

Took a chance…

And I wasn’t disappointed. This was a good GameLit novel with decent humor and an interesting plot. Much better than the standard LitRPG on offer at Audible.

Definitely worth a credit.