Holy cow, what a fun book! This is a perfect mix of sci-fi & magic (for me) that is literal non-stop from start to finish. I had a hard time finding a place to pause because there were hardly any points where you are like “ok, I’m cool to just stop here for a bit.” NO, it’s not ok and you must keep listening.
I laughed out loud tons of times, cringed with Charlie about the state of his surroundings, listened in suspense as he gets himself into mortal danger in what felt like about 4x a chapter. POOOOR CHARLIE! While he may be pretty smart, he’s probably got the worst luck in the world…no, the universe. First everything goes explicitly wrong at his job right off the bat and he’s (literally) flung into a completely different solar system. From here on out, Charlie is fighting/submitting constantly trying not to be killed for being a human, trying not to be killed as a slave, trying not to be killed as a pirate, trying not to be killed as a fugitive, trying not to be killed by dragons, trying not to be killed by gladiators AND dragons, and finally trying not to be killed or kill himself whilst riding on a dragon! Seriously, it’s non-stop because Charlie’s life seems to be ruled and shaped by Murphy’s Law. Also somewhere in there he gets completely covered in raw sewage too, so he’s also got that going for him. I will emphasis again: poor Charlie.
Gary Bennett’s narration is fantastic! His accents, character voices, & emotions have true individuality. He reads them so seamlessly that they seem natural – no problems knowing who is doing the talking. Gary brought Bad Luck Charlie to life for me; definitely a narrator that helps make a book series enjoyable. I actually went straight to audible to immediately buy the next book in The Dragon Mage series but it wasn’t out yet – but it is now! Bought it straight away.
I’m so glad I received this book, because it’s been one of my favorites all year.
I received this audiobook from the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.