Meet Your Maker Volume 1
An Epic Fantasy LitRPG
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Meet Your Maker Volume 1
Buy Now for £16.99
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Narrated by:
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Johnathan McClain
About this listen
From the imaginations of Seth McDuffee, author of the bestselling Big Sneaky Barbarian books, and award-winning screenwriter and audiobook narrator Johnathan McClain comes a new series that answers the question . . .
"What would happen if you crossed the high fantasy of Wheel of Time with the irreverent comedy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"
Bruce Silver is the author of the Riftbreaker novels, one of the most popular, beloved fantasy book series of all time. He's got everything he's ever dreamed of having: freedom to tell the stories he wants to tell, legions of enthusiastic fans who wait eagerly to see what he'll write next, and a really nice car.
But despite all that, Bruce finds himself dissatisfied, battling an ennui he can't quite put his finger on. So he decides to do what anyone would do in his situation: burn it all down by unexpectedly killing off Carpathian Einzgear, Riftbreaker's cherished hero. A solid plan with absolutely no downside whatsoever.
Until . . .
Bruce wakes up to find himself suddenly transported inside the world of the novels he's written. And . . . seen by everyone he encounters as Carpathian Einzgear himself. Which is problematic for a variety of reasons, not least of which being that, when Carpathian died, he left behind a sea of destruction, broken promises, and shattered lives that Bruce is now responsible for repairing—only, without access to all the powers and skills Carpathian built up through the course of ten books. Bruce is going to have to start over at the beginning.
Meet Your Maker is a comedic, epic fantasy series that asks the questions: What is fiction? What is reality? And does it make a difference, when everyone and everything is trying to kill you?
Bruce created this world. Now he has to survive it.
©2024 Seth McDuffee and Johnathan McClain (P)2024 Podium AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
“Everything I wanted and more. So much more. . . . [Meet Your Maker] will stay with you long after the final page.” —Amie Kaufman, New York Times–bestselling author the Isles of the Gods
“F***ing incredible. Wild to see two talented voices come together and produce something so seamless. Truly next level.” —Kyle Kirrin, author of the Ripple System
“A rare book that makes you laugh, draws you in with intrigue, then holds up a mirror to your own subconscious. I wish I’d written it.” —Haylock Jobson, author of Heretical Fishing
Great story great narration
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Themes: Action, comedy, character driven.
Abbreviations
MYM (Meet Your Maker)
BSB (Big Sneaky Barbarian)
Setting:
Bruce Silver author of the Riftbreaker fantasy series, is basically George RR Martin, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Rothus and many big named fantasy authors you can think of. His wildly successful series stretches 10 books and looks to be going on for 5 more. He writes in a flow state (like Martin and unlike Tolkein), which is why his friend and editor Brit is so invaluable (she keeps him on the rails), so when his own growing sense of disattistfaction causes him to retreat from Brit and come back with a draft that kills of the main character and end the series, safe to say she is not best pleased and is distinctly aware that the fans will be PISSED. Oddly enough, she may not be the only one, as the pair find themselves dragged into the world potentially of his own making as the reincarnations of the now fallen heroes and tasked with sorting out the mess Bruce made and with luck perhaps getting Bruce to sort out his own demons.
Bonus comment:
Just got to say a shout out to the cover artist. Both minimalistic, attention grabbing and artistic. I'm a fan of black and yellow as a colour palette, so it all comes together to really draw the eye.
Background:
Before I talk about any aspects of the book I should talk abit about the two authors. Seth's previous work Big Sneaky Barbarian is a wonderful clash of action and humour with a large emphasis on character development and growth. With this said it shouldn't surprise anyone that MYM contains similar beats, as the story is in many ways more about the development of the characters rather than the immediate task at hand. In contrast Johnathan McClain outside of being a theatre, film and television actor, is most well known in this community for narrating Noobtown (and Big Sneaky Barbarian). Johnathan's narration often brings excellent dynamic pacing, placing emphasis and speed to bring exciting moments to life, while at the same time knowing when to slow his tempo and let moments sit, this works particularly well when dealing with internal monologues where thought processes can jump.
Now the reason I raise these aspects is because MYM while primarily focused on Bruce and Brit, it is interspaced extracts from the Riftbreaker series. A series that in universe is entirely deadpan and serious, but in reality is a loving satire of many fantasy tropes. These interjections are introduced to provide further background about the world Bruce and Brit now reside in. From a narration perspective these moments also give Johnathan put on his theatre britches, dial-up the drama to 11 and ham it up. This leads not just to some great moments of dry-humour, but also to a wonderful sense that this world is a setting of a true epic fantasy. The problem for our MCs is that 'no one wants to be teleported to Westeros'.
Why I like it:
As someone who grew up reading fantasy, its fun to read a book that lovingly pokes the genre, playing into trope, unashamededly stealing ideas from other works (or should I say 'paying homage to other works'), a tendency to use overly flowerly language and presenting a large enough lexicon such that I'll occasionally have to reach for the dictionary. MYM manages all of thise while still keeping the story grounded with the characters and its own self awareness. It tends to use these linguistic changes primarily in the 'flash backs', rather than throughout the entire story adding to the theme while still leaving the story digestable. (Side note: It has been fun to learn some new words).
As a fan of Linsey Ellis, I tend to find the relationship between content, its creators and its fans interesting. So reading a book that touches on these elements is refreshing read.
It's wonderfully meta. Leaning into the experience of both authors in different aspects of the creation process, assides and snarky (and assumably self-deprecating) remarks add humour and a fun bit of behind the scenes insight into the work that goes into making books and series come to life. Occasional side remarks makes it feel like the two authors were occasionally bickering amongst themselves as they wrote, adding to the humour. *
I enjoyed the humour, between the satire, the odd euphemism, some chapters only contain brief asside while others derive humour from the circumstance. I feel like there is a good range without it getting to the point of being silly and detracting from the main story.
Now I've talked about humour and meta story telling but I should emphasis that the book doesn't do this at the expense of the overall narrative. Both elements could be removed and between the primary concept and the main story beats you would still find a compulsive read. There is still a solid and serious story with emotional highs and lows as they discover unknown aspects of the world they have created. Much like how Dungeon Crawler Carl balances humour with horror, MYM walks the line between humour and truely poignant moments, knowing that there are times when the humour has to stop and you have to let the story sit and all humour has to be left to the side.
The relationship between the two MCs feels quite genuine. There is no elements of romance and its clear that there never will be, just two friends who knows each others quirks and is willing to put up with one anothers flaws.
Effort has been made to make each of the characters come to life. This is many ways is a core aspect of the story, as our MC has to come to terms with the characters in his creation all exist beyond what he wrote. One thing I noted in my previous review of BSB is that Seth gives the impression that he is very much aware of the characters he writes. If a character is annoying, everyone in the story is also aware that he is and this character quirk is either jumping board for growth or a something that's going to get them into trouble later.
Throughout the book there are occasionally sound effects, I just find them quite fun and Johnathan seems like he had a blast making them. I also feel as its an occasionally addition, it really does add to the narrative and tension of a scene.
There is more I'd love to say and there is some aspects of the story I'd love to hint at, but for the benefit of avoiding spoilers. I've decided against it.
When push comes to shove, the book is just fun.
Why you might not like it:
I know some people dislike internal monologues and this book not only has a good number but some are intentionally rambling.
The humour might not mesh with your taste.
The story is quite prolific with geeky references. This may not be to your flavour. I feel like it works here, but I've read other books where I feel like it detracts from the narrative. This said your mileage may vary.
It's an action and character driven book. I know this may sounda a bit silly but I find I read where my mood takes me. Sometimes I want something slower paced and more cozy, sometimes I want the characters to be able to breath in and explore the mundane aspects of life.
Conclusion:
This book could have been written 15 different ways by 15 different authors. It could have been written straight as an adventure, it could have been written less character centric and it could have been written entirely as a comedy. MYM is a book that is not just enjoyable to read, but that I felt stimulated my imagination as I read it and when it comes down to it, is why I enjoy fantasy and sci-fi.
I enjoyed it, I dwelled on it, I look forward to the release by the pair and I think you may too.
* On the entire story being meta, part of me really wants a bonus (non-canon) chapter or two where either Seth is dragged into the narrative of MYM and Johnathan discovers the remains of a chapter he left behind or the roles are reversed and the narration is done by Seth.
A refreshing and wonderfully semi-meta story
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0-100 Rip Rolling Ride
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Just stunning
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Trying far to hard to be funny and falling flat.
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