Its Miller Time!!!
Holy cow. As much as I have enjoyed The Bathrobe Knight by Dean and Haygood, the Bearded Lord of Bacon and Booze has really created a brilliant series in which a regular Joe, Lee, finds out that he is related to a powerful god named Augustus, and that he has to participate in a competition between gods and their heralds known the Faith Game.
I loved book one, but honestly, book two completely amped up the story and made it so much better as it has progressed far more than I would have ever hoped. Dean has seriously upped his game. I’m talking he went from playing old maid to strip poker. The writing is far improved, the story is far tighter, and the characters are so interesting. I really cannot say just how much I enjoy the paladin of Justice, Miller, and Lee, the MC, as people. You really get to know a lot about them in this go around and the rest of the party. More importantly, Lee learns how to magic up some of the most delicious beer anyone has ever tasted.
Lee and Augustus still have some issues in their relationship, although I begin to sense that the old shapeshifter has a lot more to him than he lets on. Lee finds a gal pal back in the real world, and finds out that her family may be just the right fit for him even if they did try to kill him. This book really hits its stride with the arena battles, and Lee learning to adapt and improvise on his feet in order to survive. The big bad for this book is another herald, and Lee has no idea of what he is getting himself and Augustus into when he decides to take him down; still this is all good fun. Or is it?
I’m not going to lie. We do have some tragedy here that cannot be downplayed, nor would I want to. It really lends some gravitas that book one was needing. It did choke me up, and made me feel for Lee in a way that I have not sympathized with a character in a looong time. We also get to know about Miller’s own tragic backstory, and you will see just how deranged Dean can be to his best characters. The man is utterly merciless. I LOVE it. For me, the best scene came with the confrontation of the team with the psycho lady Firbolg. She was, hands down the best fun psycho character I’ve heard in 10 years. She was written and played perfectly, like a master with a Stradivarius. Man, is Dean on fire with this story or what?
The narration here is proof that two people can make an entire world come alive. Jeff Hays, the mystical master of the Vocal Arts, and Annie Ellicott combine their talents, powers, and skills into one amazing audible adventure. Without a doubt, my favorite voice in this book is Hays’ Miller. If I hear him for more than 30 seconds I spend the rest of my day talking to everyone like him. The fools think I am just doing an Ah-nold impression. Annie really pulls at your heartstrings in this book. This is twice now that she has almost made me cry, and I am no gurly man! You cannot ask for better, and it was nice to see the pair of them handling things rather than the whole squad. This really felt like a narration rather than a production, and that is just what I am looking for.
This book has some startling revelations, and simultaneously creates new mysteries. Lee learns how to handle his magic, and yet realizes that he really doesn’t know enough yet. He does a lot more than just creating golems now. So, we get some serious growth, development, and powering up in this book. All signs point to book three being even bigger and better, and the way that Dean has been promoting the new character, Jade, I fully expect some joy joy feelings when book three hits. All I know is that I’ll be around as long as Dean keeps pumping out quality material like this. Don’t miss the train, get on board before we leave the station.
Keep bringing the Bacon, Oh bearded one!! To be fair, I may have been a little less generous in my video review, this book is easily one of the best I’ve ever read, it is exponentially better than book 1, and deserves more love than I can give it alone! 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.
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As seen on the LITRPG AUDIOBOOK PODCAST, please check it out on Youtube.com