Warscapia

A LitRPG Spoof

By: Garrett Boggs

Narrated by: Matthew Broadhead

Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Sparrow wants to be the greatest warrior in all of Warscapia. But he's not. He's just a kid with mediocre magic skills.

When he's asked to team with ax bro Rock and ninja girl Jade, he will have to fight for his life and much more as the crew takes on some of the most brutal and fantastic monsters in the land of Warscapia - a videogame fantasy universe like none other.

©2016 Garrett Boggs (P)2017 Garrett Boggs

Looked cool, and was a great story!

Really I bought it because it was on the recommended list and had a stylish cover. I loved the story, great book and worth the read!

check it out

The story was ok. The narrator did a good job with the different character voices.

Not very Spoofy

A spoof is when you take a particular genre or film, imitate it, and then exaggerate the characteristics of said item for comic effect. Warscapia is not a spoof by any standards that I could think of. You want a Spoof, watch Spaceballs. That is a spoof. If you want a great literary spoof, that is on Audible, then go an check out Bored of the Rings: A Parody written by the Harvard Lampoon and narrated by Jim Meskimen. It is funny and attacks its target mercilessly. Seriously, it might not be LITRPG but it is a good listen. Warscapia does none of this. You don’t have player issues outside of the game, there is no recognizable world that is being riffed on, no races, or situations for that matter. For all intents and purposes this book should be considered a LITRPG comedy, and only barely so. You want honesty? The book is silly, but not a fun ha ha kind of silly. The MC, a mage named Sparrow summons ducks to do his fighting, the fighter, a guy named Rock Star, knows just how cool he is, and their female companion is so integral to the plot and story that I have forgotten her name. I think it was Jade. Maybe, not sure what she did either.

The book itself is about as LIT as an unopened box of matches. If leveling weren’t involved I don’t think it would qualify in my eyes. Titles do not make it so. The book itself is a very weak, like a tea bag that has been used 100 times and now actually purifies the water more than flavors it. It has a story arc, and the characters do get more powerful, but there is no development or character growth per se. Sparrow does come to accept his ability to summon ducks, but that is as far as it gets.

As for the funny stuff, for a spoof there is little to be found. Boggs attempts to slightly break the 4th wall by inserting himself into the story, but that fell flat. The group fights a lot of monsters with stupid names like lizard monkeys and a Dracula Dragon. Slight spoiler, the dragon is actually an alt form of a real vampire. Count Dragula. What was the missed opportunity here? With a name like Dragula he either should have been in a race car, per the old Munster’s dragula, or in ladies clothing for the drag aspect. Nope. Dracula lite. That’s all. There are a lot of things that you might consider funny if you were reading the book, but Broadhead lacks the proper timing or inflection to sell the joke. For example, there is a lot of talk about heavy metal goblins, whose music will corrupt your soul. A party member retorts, “But I don’t have soul.” Would have been funny if read right. The only thing done right here, by Broadhead, are the various quacks that the ducks do. Zombie duck was the best, but tracker duck came in second. A shame because I have immensely enjoyed his readings of the Bathrobe Knight, a beloved series of myself and my family. My son still says Broadhead can’t do female voices well, and I will note that here they tended to sound the same to other characters he’s done, but he really nailed the Heavy Metal Goblin Guard and Chuckles voices. His Count Dragula was your standard Blah blah blah vampire Lugosi imitation.

Boggs has another LITRPG book out called Dragon Mastery: Daybreak. I will be passing that one by. I don’t want to beat him up any further, and if someone out there listens to it and likes it, let me know and I might give a try, but for now I’m just going to do what Count Olaff says and look away.

Not funny. Lame characters. No real plot.

Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

As seen on the LITRPG AUDIOBOOK PODCAST, please check it out on Youtube.com

Good book

Funny litRPG book. I enjoyed the narrator's perspective on the characters. Fun to listen to.

Felt more like a "young teen litRPG" than a spoof

Would you try another book from Garrett Boggs and/or Matthew Broadhead?

Yeah, sure

Would you be willing to try another book from Garrett Boggs? Why or why not?

I would, but not another "spoof"

What about Matthew Broadhead’s performance did you like?

It was ok... Funny. I think the book would be hard to narrate better

Was Warscapia worth the listening time?

Yes. But it might not have been if it was longer

Any additional comments?

Short... There are lots of great LitRPG on audible you rather can get for your credit. This one is different from most om the though.

I felt like I was too old for the book. Might not be for LitRPG fans...

Humor Amidst Imagination

Broadhead brings life to a story full of colourful characters. Mixed in a tale of training for battle, are lessons of teamwork, patience, courage and possibility thinking. The most unlikely trio conquer situations that will make you laugh outloud!! A great book narrated by a great voice talent!