Andrew Seiple

Once upon a time there was a halven who desired adventure. And she got her wish. After saving her village from a necromancer, Chase Barrymore joins Tomasi and Remy on a trip to the big city. It's not long before Chase finds herself with a werewolf problem. Mysterious entities calling themselves "players" also keep popping up, bringing chaos in their wake. It's a tricky situation for one small halven with no combat skills to solve.

At Large is the second book in the Small Medium series by show more Andrew Seiple. I am really enjoying where Seiple is taking Chase's story. Since I read a lot of action oriented fantasy it is refreshing to have a character without combat skills having to manage these types of situations using mostly her brains with other people's brawn from time to time. It put me in mind of the planning for a clever heist though there is no heist involved.

The situation in the city is more complicated that it appears at first with the mix of Italian-style mafia family politics along with the werewolf threat and the chaos the players. I love how Seiple continues to mash unique classes together for his main characters to embrace that, with a lot of creativity, work out fabulously. I also can't believe it took me a book and a half to understand the joke behind the series title. Small. Medium. hehe

Even better than Chase herself were the additional characters we meet along the way. Bastien the Muscle Wizaard is easily my favorite. I also continue to enjoy the punny jokes. Operation Gimli! More about how "players" work is revealed though the greater mystery of why they're here still remains. I am looking forward to where Chase's story takes her next.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. He gives a phenomenal performance as always. show less

Once upon a time there was a halven named Chase Berrymore. Chase has dreamed of adventure her whole life with the hope of leaving her tiny village, Bothernot. And then one day adventure finds her. Not being one for violence, Chase is going to have to use her wits and the power of words if she hopes to save her friends and family from a new form of beings called "players."

Big Trouble is the first in the Small Medium series by Andrew Seiple. Set in an entirely different corner of the land of show more Generica, it sure felt good to be back in the Threadbare-verse. While this story does not rely on any prior knowledge of the world, you may want to read the original Threadbare trilogy first as this contains some minor references and links back to that trilogy.

Chase Berrymore and her sister Gretta are halvens which are this world's version of halflings. They live in a pastoral village where everyone knows everyone, eat multiple meals a day to keep their stamina up and Chase makes it her business to know everyone else's business. This uniquely prepares Chase to become an Oracle once the excitement starts. I love just how well she uses her talking skills and her innate sense to know people to navigate her village through the trouble they've found themselves in instead of the traditional method of fighting everything. It makes for a very different style of adventure story. Chase makes some friends along the way, my favorite of which is Remy a toy golem. There are plenty of nods to RPG-style games as well as some pop culture references and silly puns to go around. I found the humor to my taste.

I am intrigued at how Seiple decided to expand upon the world. The addition of "players" adds a whole other spin on the world I thought I knew. I hope this mystery is explored further as they seem be stuck in the game somehow.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. He's an amazing narrator and voices the characters brilliantly. I'm glad he stayed on for this sequel series. show less

Adorable +1

Stuff and Nonsense, the first book in Andrew Sieple's Threadbare series, is the most unique and adorable LitRPG I've read. That's right, adorable. As a bonus it also has a healthy dose of humor. The story follows Theadbare, a toy teddy bear golem, and his little girl, Celia. The book begins as Threadbare has just gained sentience and is starting to learn about the world around him.

Threadbare gets into a lot of innocent trouble while initially leveling, though he doesn't know show more that's what he's doing at first. Celia helps him out significantly as does Pulsavar the family cat. The story doesn't stay completely innocent though part of me wishes it had. I could easily have enjoyed a slice of life story with Threadbare, Celia and Pulsavar. There ends up being a lot more going on than it initially appears and is revealed as the story progresses. The pacing is spot on throughout.

Unlike other LitRPG's I've read this one is not a human player logging into a virtual world to play a game. Instead the characters live in a world that has stats, levels and classes along with some rules that govern how they work. It's a refreshing take on the genre. Telling the story mostly from a teddy bear's point of view adds on to the uniqueness. Even though Threadbare technically doesn't have a mouth to speak with, that's the type of stuffed toy bear he was created from, he has his own "voice" and we get his point of view through his thoughts. It was great learning about how the world works right along with him. This little teddy bear has a lot of depth to him.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. Reynolds tells the tale masterfully, giving it a story book feel that matched the writing wonderfully, even during the action scenes. When I reread that last sentence doesn't seem like should work but it does.

Thanks to my friends at the Vagabond Treehouse for the recommendation. Work it! I'm looking forward to continuing Threadbare's story soon. show less

Once upon a time there was a teddy bear who had lost his little girl.

And so starts Sew You Want to Be a Hero, the second book in Andrew Sieple's Threadbare series. It's been five long years since Threadbare's little girl was taken away from him and he must travel the kingdom to find her. Luckily, he has his voice now and is learning how to use all the neat skills he couldn't access before.

Turns out those skills are a lot of fun and pretty darn powerful when used in the right situation. You show more can tell Seiple is enjoying expanding the world he's created and the classes and skills for the characters. Threadbare skilling up his modelling job by putting on the oddest fashion show in history had me laughing out loud. Turns out the model job is surprisingly useful, especially for a golem. Threadbare (literally) makes several friends on his journey and each plays a role on the party. At this point I'm not sure which of the side characters is my favorite because I love them all.

We are also given a few chapters from Celia's point of view. Celia has had a hard time of things in the five years since they've been apart. It makes her chapters a little uneven as there's a lot of background info to be filled in that slows the pace slightly.

Tim Gerard Reynolds continues to knock it out of the park with his audio narration. He has so many different, distinct voices for the characters that sometimes I forget there isn't more than one person narrating the story.

I have completely fallen in love with Threadbare, the misfit toys and Pulsivar. Saving the world is just a bonus at this point. Fair warning, this story ends on a cliffhanger. I'm glad the trilogy is complete so I don't have to wait to see how it all ends. show less