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Mogworld
In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all.
On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams - and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams - and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
13 pages, Audible Audio
First published September 8, 2010
359 people are currently reading
4,680 people want to read
About the author
Yahtzee Croshaw
11books1,376followersBenjamin Richard "Yahtzee" Croshaw is an English comedic writer, video game journalist and author of adventure games created using Adventure Game Studio software. He writes articles for Australia's Hyper magazine, a major games publication. He uses his website "Fully Ramblomatic" as an outlet for his own work, including weekly dark humour articles, essays, fiction, and webcomics. He is currently making a series of video-reviews named Zero Punctuation for The Escapist, as well as the weekly column Extra Punctuation. In the February 2008 issue of PC Gamer (US), Croshaw took over Gary Whitta's "Backspace" column as a contributing editor. He is also one of the four founders of The Mana Bar; an Australian cocktail bar and video gaming lounge in Brisbane, Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 801 reviews
September 30, 2018
Fun listen, especially given that the Yahtzee has a delightful audio narration style.
My guess it that anyone who enjoys his game reviews will most likely enjoy this book as well.
My guess it that anyone who enjoys his game reviews will most likely enjoy this book as well.
October 14, 2010
Oh hey, looks like I got the first review. That's gotta be the first time that's happened.
Anyway, I really find myself wishing for half-stars again, 'cause this is a fairly solid three-and-a-half star book. But, given my love for Yahtzee, I felt I should round up. It's a loyalty thing.
It was a fun read, with plenty of smirks and one or two genuine laughs, but none of the full-out guffaws I'm used to from his work with The Escapist, and definitely not as much as comedic virtuosos like Douglas Adams or Christopher Moore. The story was fun, and just meta- enough to keep me interested, but it smacked too much of Croshaw's well-known hatred (to ZP fans, anyway, newcomers should be able to pick it up based on the dedication, though) of MMOs. Seems more like a long-form cathartic lambasting of something the author finds personally peeving than a real attempt to tell a story. Which is a shame, really, since his storytelling abilities seem pretty strong. Clean, easily followed prose filled with fun new similes, with nary a Stephenie Meyer "flew like a bird" cliche in the mix.
I've heard complaints elsewhere about the characters, and while I see where those complaints are coming from, I didn't really agree. Jim does change noticeably over the course of the book, and though he's still not heroic, he definitely qualifies as a protagonist. Doesn't really make him all that likeable, but Thaddeus and Slippery John were fun enough to sort of balance him out.
Overall, nice way to blow a Saturday afternoon, but given all of Croshaw's ranting about story and so forth in Zero Punctuation, I have to admit, I was hoping for something more. But then, it's rare that an outspoken critic is able to live up to his own standards. So the Cliff's Notes review would have to be this: Fun, but disappointing. I look forward to his next novel more than I look forward to rereading this one.
Anyway, I really find myself wishing for half-stars again, 'cause this is a fairly solid three-and-a-half star book. But, given my love for Yahtzee, I felt I should round up. It's a loyalty thing.
It was a fun read, with plenty of smirks and one or two genuine laughs, but none of the full-out guffaws I'm used to from his work with The Escapist, and definitely not as much as comedic virtuosos like Douglas Adams or Christopher Moore. The story was fun, and just meta- enough to keep me interested, but it smacked too much of Croshaw's well-known hatred (to ZP fans, anyway, newcomers should be able to pick it up based on the dedication, though) of MMOs. Seems more like a long-form cathartic lambasting of something the author finds personally peeving than a real attempt to tell a story. Which is a shame, really, since his storytelling abilities seem pretty strong. Clean, easily followed prose filled with fun new similes, with nary a Stephenie Meyer "flew like a bird" cliche in the mix.
I've heard complaints elsewhere about the characters, and while I see where those complaints are coming from, I didn't really agree. Jim does change noticeably over the course of the book, and though he's still not heroic, he definitely qualifies as a protagonist. Doesn't really make him all that likeable, but Thaddeus and Slippery John were fun enough to sort of balance him out.
Overall, nice way to blow a Saturday afternoon, but given all of Croshaw's ranting about story and so forth in Zero Punctuation, I have to admit, I was hoping for something more. But then, it's rare that an outspoken critic is able to live up to his own standards. So the Cliff's Notes review would have to be this: Fun, but disappointing. I look forward to his next novel more than I look forward to rereading this one.
September 11, 2015
After two lazy fat jokes in the first three chapters, I decided not to finish this one. This disappoints me. I love Croshaw's video game reviews, but this lacks the clever wit that those have. As far as I can recall, the humor in his reviews have never been lazy as these bits:
"I had passed on from life, from the world of struggles and hardship and big fat women with annoying laughs, and entered a glorious new existence of utter peace, joy, and love."
"I might have been surrounded by stupid people and arrogant people and fat people...But you don't need to put up with any of that crap forever."
Equating fat people to stupidity, arrogance, struggles, and hardship isn't funny. It's kid humor.
Maybe Jim's character is a shallow jerk, but with the lack of character development that hasn't been made clear at this point, and we're already a few chapters in.
I gave it two stars because I know Croshaw can do better. Maybe he has in his second novel, but I hesitate to find out.
"I had passed on from life, from the world of struggles and hardship and big fat women with annoying laughs, and entered a glorious new existence of utter peace, joy, and love."
"I might have been surrounded by stupid people and arrogant people and fat people...But you don't need to put up with any of that crap forever."
Equating fat people to stupidity, arrogance, struggles, and hardship isn't funny. It's kid humor.
Maybe Jim's character is a shallow jerk, but with the lack of character development that hasn't been made clear at this point, and we're already a few chapters in.
I gave it two stars because I know Croshaw can do better. Maybe he has in his second novel, but I hesitate to find out.
April 7, 2018
Everything about this book was unusual. I've known Yahtzee for a long time from his awesome podcasts but never read any of his works.
Turns out - I was missing a lot!
From the moment I started reading, I couldn't let go. The story started great, written and told in a manner in which only a gamer can do. When you are a member of a group who likes the same things as you do it would be a pretty big feat to mess it up.
But building up an original story is a no small feat. While it's not of a LitRPG genre per se there are certainly some elements of it. It's a good, old-fashioned adventure comedy :)
I'm used to hearing Yahtzee speak so his narration wasn't a turn-off. But it did sound super strange! I remember thinking how he couldn't narrate to save a life! xD
But very, very soon I realized he just misses the vocal range to allow for separate voices for different characters. In fact, he was well aware of that and then his genius emerged - Each character has a specific... way of speaking. They have a predominant emotion and choose to express themselves only using that one.
Dramatic, scared, excited... sounds unusual, right? Damn right it does xD
And when perpetually-confused person is now happy and excited or drama-queen wants to intimidate - hilarity ensues xD
Very quickly we figure out who is who and Yahtzee's lack of "vocal spectrum" takes nothing away from the experience. If anything, the
workaround he introduced to make up for the lack of expertise adds even more enjoyment.
Right now it must sound like my brother wrote this and I'm urging everyone under the blue sky to read it. That would have made for some hilarious childhood, but no. Yahtzee isn't my brother, unfortunately :-)
Let me tell you a bit about the story, as perhaps some of you are reading this review for this particular reason. I pity you :-)
So, instead of another random tangent, let me tell you about that story.
Jim was human. Jim was a mage.
He wasn't a particularly good mage, but he wasn't a bad one either. See, Jim was still in the school. A mage academy.
Another school, a warrior academy, led by their thick leader sent their own students to attack Jim's academy. Jim died.
Jim was dead for quite some time, about 60 years when a necromancer newbie wanted to test his skills and raised Jim and his neighboring friends.
Jim and neighbors weren't particularly amused about the whole shebang and kinda wanted to go back to that eternal peace and quiet. Alas, it couldn't be done. Necromancer needed able bodies.
So our Jim got a job! An Overseer of the Rat Pit! Wooo! Go, Jim!
I won't tell you anything more as this is the book full of jokes and witty comments you just have to experience for yourself.
As for me, I so dearly want to see a sequel. I'd make a preorder for 2020 release. It's just one of those books.
Now I want to read everything by Yahtzee. Everything!
Mogworld
by Yahtzee Croshaw (Author and Narrator)
Verdict: Compilation of impossible and insane events. Loved every second of it!
Turns out - I was missing a lot!
From the moment I started reading, I couldn't let go. The story started great, written and told in a manner in which only a gamer can do. When you are a member of a group who likes the same things as you do it would be a pretty big feat to mess it up.
But building up an original story is a no small feat. While it's not of a LitRPG genre per se there are certainly some elements of it. It's a good, old-fashioned adventure comedy :)
I'm used to hearing Yahtzee speak so his narration wasn't a turn-off. But it did sound super strange! I remember thinking how he couldn't narrate to save a life! xD
But very, very soon I realized he just misses the vocal range to allow for separate voices for different characters. In fact, he was well aware of that and then his genius emerged - Each character has a specific... way of speaking. They have a predominant emotion and choose to express themselves only using that one.
Dramatic, scared, excited... sounds unusual, right? Damn right it does xD
And when perpetually-confused person is now happy and excited or drama-queen wants to intimidate - hilarity ensues xD
Very quickly we figure out who is who and Yahtzee's lack of "vocal spectrum" takes nothing away from the experience. If anything, the
workaround he introduced to make up for the lack of expertise adds even more enjoyment.
Right now it must sound like my brother wrote this and I'm urging everyone under the blue sky to read it. That would have made for some hilarious childhood, but no. Yahtzee isn't my brother, unfortunately :-)
Let me tell you a bit about the story, as perhaps some of you are reading this review for this particular reason. I pity you :-)
So, instead of another random tangent, let me tell you about that story.
Jim was human. Jim was a mage.
He wasn't a particularly good mage, but he wasn't a bad one either. See, Jim was still in the school. A mage academy.
Another school, a warrior academy, led by their thick leader sent their own students to attack Jim's academy. Jim died.
Jim was dead for quite some time, about 60 years when a necromancer newbie wanted to test his skills and raised Jim and his neighboring friends.
Jim and neighbors weren't particularly amused about the whole shebang and kinda wanted to go back to that eternal peace and quiet. Alas, it couldn't be done. Necromancer needed able bodies.
So our Jim got a job! An Overseer of the Rat Pit! Wooo! Go, Jim!
I won't tell you anything more as this is the book full of jokes and witty comments you just have to experience for yourself.
As for me, I so dearly want to see a sequel. I'd make a preorder for 2020 release. It's just one of those books.
Now I want to read everything by Yahtzee. Everything!
Mogworld
by Yahtzee Croshaw (Author and Narrator)
Verdict: Compilation of impossible and insane events. Loved every second of it!
Overall
Performance
Story
September 23, 2015
Yahtzee is one of my favorite game critics, not just because his Zero Punctuation series is hilarious but because he's generally spot on with his criticisms, especially where storytelling is concerned, because he understands when it works and when it doesn't. Unfortunately, not all of his own advice makes it into his first published novel, and the results are a bit disappointing. This is by no means a bad book - it's frequently funny and full of clever and original ideas - but it doesn't come close to matching the humor density of one of his short video reviews, and when the humor's not there, the rest of the book is pretty thin. Just about all of the characters except for Jim the protagonist are one-or-two-note caricatures, and seem to exist largely to give Jim someone at which to be annoyed. The plot is choppy and episodic, whisking Jim from encounter to encounter (usually via the device of making him temporarily dead or at least unconscious, which gets repetitive) without a clear rhythm or sense of progression. This makes the climax feel a bit abrupt. The denouement is clever enough to make up for that, but on the whole I expected this book to be less of an effort to get through.
Right now Yahtzee reads like someone doing a pretty good job of imitating Douglas Adams. I'm confident he can grow into a writer with his own voice to rival Adams' if he can turn his keen criticism skills on himself.
Right now Yahtzee reads like someone doing a pretty good job of imitating Douglas Adams. I'm confident he can grow into a writer with his own voice to rival Adams' if he can turn his keen criticism skills on himself.
November 27, 2011
The only thing that carries over from Yahtzee's video game reviews is his unfailing cynicism. While that works well for him as a critic, it does him little favors as a novelist. The protagonist is essentially Yahtzee's internet persona thrown into a fantasy world, and his never-ending stream of complaints and pessimism about the book world only serve to make him impossible to like as a reader. If I've learned anything about writing through my years as a reader, it's that you should never have an unlikeable protagonist.
Yahtzee does a lot of other things that also scream amateur. The writing is childish and poorly thought out. The book is filled with contradictions, sometimes contained within the same page. The characters are one-dimensional and predictable. There are no surprises that emerge from either their actions of the plot as a whole. This makes sense when you consider that many of Yahtzee's reviews complain about too much story and not enough gameplay.
In the end, I don't know why Yahtzee wrote this book. Aside from financial motivations, of course. It kind of reads as a criticism of the MMO genre, but Yahtzee has already done that far better in his reviews. I wish I could recommend this at least to fans of his, but even that I cannot do. Everything about it is bad. It's so bad, that if it were a game, you would say, "I can't wait to see Yahtzee tear this thing apart!"
Yahtzee does a lot of other things that also scream amateur. The writing is childish and poorly thought out. The book is filled with contradictions, sometimes contained within the same page. The characters are one-dimensional and predictable. There are no surprises that emerge from either their actions of the plot as a whole. This makes sense when you consider that many of Yahtzee's reviews complain about too much story and not enough gameplay.
In the end, I don't know why Yahtzee wrote this book. Aside from financial motivations, of course. It kind of reads as a criticism of the MMO genre, but Yahtzee has already done that far better in his reviews. I wish I could recommend this at least to fans of his, but even that I cannot do. Everything about it is bad. It's so bad, that if it were a game, you would say, "I can't wait to see Yahtzee tear this thing apart!"
October 18, 2011
This is really more of a two-and-a-half, but I'm being generous on the grounds of "great idea, iffy execution."
This would've made a spectacular short story or novella; the idea here is fresh, taking your typical swords-and-sorcery novel and turning it on its head in several ways, from the choice of protagonist (an undead minion) to the framing device (it's no secret to tell you he's in a MMORPG). Unfortunately, there's just not enough there to hold up a full novel. The characters start to become grating and flat, the framing device falls down when poked too hard with the Stick of Plot, and you start really wishing Jim would just SHUT UP.
Seriously, hasn't his tongue fallen out yet or something?
There are several clever conceits, and the idea of the Syndrome is fascinating, as is how the world works and how gamers take over characters. But, alas, it just isn't enough to hold up the book. Cut about half, and you'd have something lean, mean, and interesting, rather than flaccid and plodding. Rather like one of the undead minions, in fact.
Also, the editor really needed to take Croshaw to task for some of his repetitiveness. I shouldn't be reading the exact same cliche three times within two pages, especially at the beginning of the book. I'm sorry, sir, but your right to use the phrase "ahead of the game" is hereby revoked.
This would've made a spectacular short story or novella; the idea here is fresh, taking your typical swords-and-sorcery novel and turning it on its head in several ways, from the choice of protagonist (an undead minion) to the framing device (it's no secret to tell you he's in a MMORPG). Unfortunately, there's just not enough there to hold up a full novel. The characters start to become grating and flat, the framing device falls down when poked too hard with the Stick of Plot, and you start really wishing Jim would just SHUT UP.
Seriously, hasn't his tongue fallen out yet or something?
There are several clever conceits, and the idea of the Syndrome is fascinating, as is how the world works and how gamers take over characters. But, alas, it just isn't enough to hold up the book. Cut about half, and you'd have something lean, mean, and interesting, rather than flaccid and plodding. Rather like one of the undead minions, in fact.
Also, the editor really needed to take Croshaw to task for some of his repetitiveness. I shouldn't be reading the exact same cliche three times within two pages, especially at the beginning of the book. I'm sorry, sir, but your right to use the phrase "ahead of the game" is hereby revoked.
August 7, 2011
For a debut novel, and a genre that I seldom read, I thought Yahtzee did exceptionally well. The book is at its core a parody of MMORPG's, (aka. World of Warcraft mainly). Many jokes are in there for gamers and lovers of linguistics-alike. The narrator and main character, Jim, is an undead guy which somewhat throws a spanner in the works however. Throughout the novel various entities try to have him killed, and Jim's goal is to stay dead in the first place. And although Yahtzee kept it pretty believable, some points when Jim may be about to die and the hated 'hero' aspect comes in to throw him and his adventurer "associates" (Not buddies remember! He loathes his companions.) out of certain death, I kept thinking: Why doesn't he just go along with it and die? Anyway, that only happened a few times, most of the time he is very focused on his mission to get himself back to being dead.
Plenty of jokes, puns, asides, weird characters and pokes of fun at WoW, Mogworld succeeds for gamers and lovers of fantasy fic. Yahtzee pulled off a decent ending too, which is a feat, considering how many subplots are amassed by then.
Every gamer and lover of Zero Punctuation should buy this book. ASAP.
Plenty of jokes, puns, asides, weird characters and pokes of fun at WoW, Mogworld succeeds for gamers and lovers of fantasy fic. Yahtzee pulled off a decent ending too, which is a feat, considering how many subplots are amassed by then.
Every gamer and lover of Zero Punctuation should buy this book. ASAP.
April 15, 2021
I enjoyed this one, it was a pretty fun story of a necromancer bringing people back from the dead, only to realize they aren’t mindless servants but people with free will and memories. The main character Jim was okay, not necessarily my favorite protagonist of all time but not one I’d complain about either. And he did develop over the course of the story, so I can overlook some flaws because of that. It was just a fun story, a solid 3.5 stars and decent book to spend time with if you don’t want something super heavy. I’d be willing to give the author’s other stuff a shot as well.
February 24, 2019
This one from Yahtzee Croshaw was quite enjoyable. Like his other listens, you can expect a wide dose of sarcasm and dry wit, as well as similar characters and voices, which are all well done and complex even if transferable. I still think Will Save Galaxy for Food is my favorite of Croshaw's works that I have listened to, but this one is a close second.
November 7, 2014
This book is Simon Peg/Nick Frost meets World of Warcraft. I can't remember if I got this in the same ebook bundle as or a different one, but I chose Jam of this one to read first because it sounded like I'd enjoy more. I never played WoW or any of its ancestors or any progeny. As of this writing never even played Diablo or any of its clones. So Jam seemed more up my ally - especially after I confirmed it was more of a spiritual successor to Mogworld than a Sequel. (One of the programmers in Mogworld is a character in Jam, but other than references via t-shirts, posters, etc there's no reason to read Mogworld first) I really only read Mogworld because a) I owned it and b) I really enjoyed Jam.
I knew I was in trouble when I started the book yesterday intending to just read enough to get to 1% done and get my first status update. I went about 20 pages beyond that and only stopped because I needed to sleep to get up for work in the morning. What I think is most incredible about Mr Croshaw is that he has written two incredibly different books. The only things they have in common are the British/Australian humor and a group of unlikely companions on a quest (the latter of which would make his books like 90% of all fiction ever).
A bit of a meta-story spoiler because it explains one of the reasons I liked this book way more than I thought I would: unfortunately the book description gives away the major plot twist. But on the plus side, it doesn't harm the plot at all. What made me enjoy this book so much is that the real-world programmers don't make their intrusion into the story until 50% or more of the way into the book. So the whole first half of the book is just "what if the NPCs in a WoW-like game were real?" I think the biggest strength of the book is that Yahtzee lets us play in that world for a while, really getting to know the characters, before he starts putting in the more meta elements. So the effort comes off a lot less cheesy and strained than a similar story might do. Think, it's more like Toy Story than the toys come to life stories that came before it. Then comes the deconstruction phase, what would the NPCs think of the player characters vs themselves.
A British comedy wouldn't be complete if it didn't riff on bureaucracy and Mogworld certainly has its fair share. This time around I'm reading it from slightly higher as a supervisor so I found the Necromancer part early on and the office emails late in the story to be quite a bit funny in a different way that I used to laugh when I was a worker bee.
British humor has a very pessimistic or cynical side to it - or at least that which I've come across does (including Hitchhiker's Guide and The Office) - and so does Mogworld. Without giving away what happens to each of the characters we meet, I can surely say that I was not expecting the happy or sad endings each of the characters got. That's one thing I do really like about British literature, you're a lot less likely to know just who's going to come out on top.
I hope Jam sold well enough that Mr Croshaw could create a Don Sunderland trilogy. In this one a minor character, in Jam a major character. Maybe next time the main character?
If you like WoW, quest humor, and/or British humor, I'd check it out.
I knew I was in trouble when I started the book yesterday intending to just read enough to get to 1% done and get my first status update. I went about 20 pages beyond that and only stopped because I needed to sleep to get up for work in the morning. What I think is most incredible about Mr Croshaw is that he has written two incredibly different books. The only things they have in common are the British/Australian humor and a group of unlikely companions on a quest (the latter of which would make his books like 90% of all fiction ever).
A bit of a meta-story spoiler because it explains one of the reasons I liked this book way more than I thought I would: unfortunately the book description gives away the major plot twist. But on the plus side, it doesn't harm the plot at all. What made me enjoy this book so much is that the real-world programmers don't make their intrusion into the story until 50% or more of the way into the book. So the whole first half of the book is just "what if the NPCs in a WoW-like game were real?" I think the biggest strength of the book is that Yahtzee lets us play in that world for a while, really getting to know the characters, before he starts putting in the more meta elements. So the effort comes off a lot less cheesy and strained than a similar story might do. Think, it's more like Toy Story than the toys come to life stories that came before it. Then comes the deconstruction phase, what would the NPCs think of the player characters vs themselves.
A British comedy wouldn't be complete if it didn't riff on bureaucracy and Mogworld certainly has its fair share. This time around I'm reading it from slightly higher as a supervisor so I found the Necromancer part early on and the office emails late in the story to be quite a bit funny in a different way that I used to laugh when I was a worker bee.
British humor has a very pessimistic or cynical side to it - or at least that which I've come across does (including Hitchhiker's Guide and The Office) - and so does Mogworld. Without giving away what happens to each of the characters we meet, I can surely say that I was not expecting the happy or sad endings each of the characters got. That's one thing I do really like about British literature, you're a lot less likely to know just who's going to come out on top.
I hope Jam sold well enough that Mr Croshaw could create a Don Sunderland trilogy. In this one a minor character, in Jam a major character. Maybe next time the main character?
If you like WoW, quest humor, and/or British humor, I'd check it out.
May 8, 2019
Well I'm impressed. I thought this was going to be some sort of humour/satirical fantasy, but it turned out to be so much more like that. It reminded me a bit of SAO, but much more fun, and definitely better achieved.
I loved this story, it's got a little bit of everything in it. The right amount of fantasy, the right amount of sci fi, and the right amount of reality. And it's hilarious! I've never seen an undead that was so much fun to follow around in his non-adventures.
The setup starts as a typical fantasy world, there's a mage student, his school gets attacked, he tries to fight and dies in the process. He's enjoying the afterlife, feeling all the warm fuzzy feelings of being elevated to heaven when he is suddenly yanked back to Earth and into his body, thus awakening as an undead thanks to a Necromancer, and it's just then when his problems begin, as he suddenly realises, he can't die anymore.
The book stays like a fantasy story for a long while before something starts happening that changes everything. I really don't want to say more because it's a major part of the story and it's fun to watch it unfold. I really loved that twist because it was handled really well and it made sense all the way. The story keeps running smoothly, and the characters still remain in character despite all that is happening around, even their reactions make a lot of sense as more and more is revealed to them. It was a fantastic job, and once you pass the first few chapters, it's hard to stop. So, I give it a full 5 stars review. It's got great characters, diverse personalities, amazing reactions, wonderful story, great setup. And great humour.
I loved this story, it's got a little bit of everything in it. The right amount of fantasy, the right amount of sci fi, and the right amount of reality. And it's hilarious! I've never seen an undead that was so much fun to follow around in his non-adventures.
The setup starts as a typical fantasy world, there's a mage student, his school gets attacked, he tries to fight and dies in the process. He's enjoying the afterlife, feeling all the warm fuzzy feelings of being elevated to heaven when he is suddenly yanked back to Earth and into his body, thus awakening as an undead thanks to a Necromancer, and it's just then when his problems begin, as he suddenly realises, he can't die anymore.
The book stays like a fantasy story for a long while before something starts happening that changes everything. I really don't want to say more because it's a major part of the story and it's fun to watch it unfold. I really loved that twist because it was handled really well and it made sense all the way. The story keeps running smoothly, and the characters still remain in character despite all that is happening around, even their reactions make a lot of sense as more and more is revealed to them. It was a fantastic job, and once you pass the first few chapters, it's hard to stop. So, I give it a full 5 stars review. It's got great characters, diverse personalities, amazing reactions, wonderful story, great setup. And great humour.
September 5, 2021
This was probably more like 3.5, but it could have easily been a 5 if the author had either integrated the game aspects earlier and more thoroughly, or left it out entirely, and made it a straight fantasy (this would have been even better, in opinion). As it stood, the game elements were confusing, and pulled you away from the story as it progressed.
Another downgrade, for me, was the ick factor. The 3 main characters are risen dead, and as the story goes on, they start to fall apart and...ooze. I could tell the author really relished this part of it, but I didn't.
Other than that, it was fun, funny without sacrificing drama or tension, interesting, and well-written.
*edit* I forgot to put this link: It's a cool fan created drawing I found on Deviantart of the characters.
Another downgrade, for me, was the ick factor. The 3 main characters are risen dead, and as the story goes on, they start to fall apart and...ooze. I could tell the author really relished this part of it, but I didn't.
Other than that, it was fun, funny without sacrificing drama or tension, interesting, and well-written.
*edit* I forgot to put this link: It's a cool fan created drawing I found on Deviantart of the characters.
September 16, 2016
This is one of those rare instances where I feel a book’s cover copy gives away too much about the plot. Other than that, Mogworld is a lot of fun if you’re a fan of MMOs, or D&D-style fantasy adventure games, or spoofs of the fantasy genre in general. Yahtzee Croshaw brings his renowned wit to the world of novels, and while I miss the crudely-drawn stick-like figures against a yellow background, there’s plenty of entertainment to be had here. As with many stories like it, Mogworld’s humour is in the details.
Jim is a reluctant hero, an antihero, who was a nobody when he was alive and who has been dead for sixty or so years. After dying unheroically at the second- (third-?) rate magic school he attended, Jim gets resurrected by a discount dark lord who goes by the name of Dreadgrave. And this is where the fun really begins. Dreadgrave works some impressive magic to reanimate all these corpses, but then they turn around and have free will. So, in a sketch that reminds me a little of Monty Python, he actually has to offer them, you know, payment and benefits and reasonable working conditions! So Jim ends up working in Dreadgrave’s dungeons, going after the surprisingly numerous adventurers who attempt to infiltrate Dreadgrave’s fortress. But matters take an even more sinister turn, and as Croshaw draws back the curtain on Jim’s reality, we find out more about the hint of an “AI� as promised on the back cover.
This is probably one of the more refreshing takes on NPCs� perspectives on their existence in a game world. Attempts to personify or imagine these types of worlds tend have variable success. It’s so tempting to play fast-and-loose with the tropes, to poke fun at everything, until you’ve broken down the fourth wall so much that the floor starts giving away too. Croshaw neatly dances around this problem by disassembling that fourth wall brick-by-brick. Spoilers on the back cover aside, even if you figure out the nature of Jim’s universe early on, Croshaw teases out Jim’s personal realization for as long as possible. Heck, Barry finds out first—and I love how he interprets it as a “Truth� that he must spread to others.
Indeed, the multiple layers of conflicts in Mogworld help to make it a much more entertaining novel than its premise or writing first suggest. First there’s Jim’s personal quest to be “deleted�, because he just wants to die, for good. That might sound macabre and nihilistic, and it kind of is, but Jim’s habit of acting heroically despite claiming not to be a hero balances it out. Then we have the various antagonists Jim runs up against, for better or for worse, including Barry and his minions. These characters almost always out-match Jim in the power department; their weakness lies in an inability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. Jim, by contrast, pretty much just rolls with everything. Finally, the overarching meta-conflict among the game developers, personified in game by the appearances of Simon and Dub and their chosen messiahs of Barry and Jim, respectively, is a lot of fun. Simon is the kind of personality we’ve all worked with at some point in our lives, and it’s interesting in a trainwreck kind of way to watch him totally sink Mogworld because of his ego.
I read this book towards the end of a week off from work, and it was a good choice. It is light, fast-paced, and very, very funny. But there are opportunities to dig deeper if that’s your thing; Jim’s whole story arc is very existentialist. Nevertheless, I do think Croshaw misses some opportunities to do even more here. The romance, or lack thereof, between Jim and Meryl is very unsatisfying—not because of Jim’s ambivalence but rather because I’m not entirely sure why Meryl is there, except to react to what Jim does. Indeed, pretty much every other character in the book exists purely as a plot device, literally showing up exactly when Jim needs them and then being written out, temporarily, until they get needed again. Although these kinds of cosmic coincidences make for very fun reading, they also have the effect of transforming Mogworld into a Swiss cheese block of plot holes and contrivances.
In other words, Mogworld is good, and if you think you’re going to like it, you will probably like it. Like many self-aware and meta-fictional jaunts, however, it is very much a patchwork with visible seams, and while Croshaw is a fun and talented writer, sometimes he tries to pack in one too many jokes. I had a great time, not sure if I’ll pick up his other novels though.
Jim is a reluctant hero, an antihero, who was a nobody when he was alive and who has been dead for sixty or so years. After dying unheroically at the second- (third-?) rate magic school he attended, Jim gets resurrected by a discount dark lord who goes by the name of Dreadgrave. And this is where the fun really begins. Dreadgrave works some impressive magic to reanimate all these corpses, but then they turn around and have free will. So, in a sketch that reminds me a little of Monty Python, he actually has to offer them, you know, payment and benefits and reasonable working conditions! So Jim ends up working in Dreadgrave’s dungeons, going after the surprisingly numerous adventurers who attempt to infiltrate Dreadgrave’s fortress. But matters take an even more sinister turn, and as Croshaw draws back the curtain on Jim’s reality, we find out more about the hint of an “AI� as promised on the back cover.
This is probably one of the more refreshing takes on NPCs� perspectives on their existence in a game world. Attempts to personify or imagine these types of worlds tend have variable success. It’s so tempting to play fast-and-loose with the tropes, to poke fun at everything, until you’ve broken down the fourth wall so much that the floor starts giving away too. Croshaw neatly dances around this problem by disassembling that fourth wall brick-by-brick. Spoilers on the back cover aside, even if you figure out the nature of Jim’s universe early on, Croshaw teases out Jim’s personal realization for as long as possible. Heck, Barry finds out first—and I love how he interprets it as a “Truth� that he must spread to others.
Indeed, the multiple layers of conflicts in Mogworld help to make it a much more entertaining novel than its premise or writing first suggest. First there’s Jim’s personal quest to be “deleted�, because he just wants to die, for good. That might sound macabre and nihilistic, and it kind of is, but Jim’s habit of acting heroically despite claiming not to be a hero balances it out. Then we have the various antagonists Jim runs up against, for better or for worse, including Barry and his minions. These characters almost always out-match Jim in the power department; their weakness lies in an inability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. Jim, by contrast, pretty much just rolls with everything. Finally, the overarching meta-conflict among the game developers, personified in game by the appearances of Simon and Dub and their chosen messiahs of Barry and Jim, respectively, is a lot of fun. Simon is the kind of personality we’ve all worked with at some point in our lives, and it’s interesting in a trainwreck kind of way to watch him totally sink Mogworld because of his ego.
I read this book towards the end of a week off from work, and it was a good choice. It is light, fast-paced, and very, very funny. But there are opportunities to dig deeper if that’s your thing; Jim’s whole story arc is very existentialist. Nevertheless, I do think Croshaw misses some opportunities to do even more here. The romance, or lack thereof, between Jim and Meryl is very unsatisfying—not because of Jim’s ambivalence but rather because I’m not entirely sure why Meryl is there, except to react to what Jim does. Indeed, pretty much every other character in the book exists purely as a plot device, literally showing up exactly when Jim needs them and then being written out, temporarily, until they get needed again. Although these kinds of cosmic coincidences make for very fun reading, they also have the effect of transforming Mogworld into a Swiss cheese block of plot holes and contrivances.
In other words, Mogworld is good, and if you think you’re going to like it, you will probably like it. Like many self-aware and meta-fictional jaunts, however, it is very much a patchwork with visible seams, and while Croshaw is a fun and talented writer, sometimes he tries to pack in one too many jokes. I had a great time, not sure if I’ll pick up his other novels though.
January 20, 2014
This was an audiobook I picked partly because Audible had a sale and partly out of curiosity to see how badly someone who's mostly known for making fun of video games online would fare as an attempted novelist. And it's pretty much what I'd expected. The quailty of the prose isn't anything to write home about and the first-person narration is loaded with metaphors that reference to things that wouldn't exist in a fantasy world. Maybe he intended that to be a running gag, but that's not how it came off to me. It just felt like lazy writing to me.
The humor mostly consists of pointing out that fantasy tropes are silly when you stop and think about them and, when about halfway through (in a twist that the synopsis of the book completely gives away) when the world is revealed to be an MMORPG pointing out that MMO tropes are silly when you stop and think about them. Some moments and situations have inherent humor beyond making fun of video games that actually made me chuckle, but it was more miss than hit.
The banter between the characters was clearly intended to carry the weight of keeping the humor up outside the references, but it quickly got tiring because it relies too heavily on the main character making a sarcastic remark to everything that everyone says to him all the time. So what should be witty banter is just tiring. I think the concept of him being an unlikable protagonist kind of worked out in the end when everything wrapped up, but it's laid on very thick.
So just when I'm about to write the whole thing off the book takes a darker twist near the end and becomes more about the fact that, if we gave the characters in a video game strong enough AI, they'd take a look at the world they were in and think we were complete assholes and how horribly we'd fuck up playing god if we'd actually gotten the chance. It feels like Yahtzee got a better feel for the story near the end and never went back to rewrite the story to fit it. So while this book ended up falling flat I did feel like Yahtzee has the potential to be a decent novelist with enough practice.
The humor mostly consists of pointing out that fantasy tropes are silly when you stop and think about them and, when about halfway through (in a twist that the synopsis of the book completely gives away) when the world is revealed to be an MMORPG pointing out that MMO tropes are silly when you stop and think about them. Some moments and situations have inherent humor beyond making fun of video games that actually made me chuckle, but it was more miss than hit.
The banter between the characters was clearly intended to carry the weight of keeping the humor up outside the references, but it quickly got tiring because it relies too heavily on the main character making a sarcastic remark to everything that everyone says to him all the time. So what should be witty banter is just tiring. I think the concept of him being an unlikable protagonist kind of worked out in the end when everything wrapped up, but it's laid on very thick.
So just when I'm about to write the whole thing off the book takes a darker twist near the end and becomes more about the fact that, if we gave the characters in a video game strong enough AI, they'd take a look at the world they were in and think we were complete assholes and how horribly we'd fuck up playing god if we'd actually gotten the chance. It feels like Yahtzee got a better feel for the story near the end and never went back to rewrite the story to fit it. So while this book ended up falling flat I did feel like Yahtzee has the potential to be a decent novelist with enough practice.
January 19, 2018
This was such a happy case of a book surpassing my expectations. It probably helped that the other reviews got my hopes down (ha, ha), so I wasn't really expecting much to come out of it.
I was led to believe that the main quality of the book is the way it satirizes the video game tropes and the fantasy world cliches. And that beyond this delicious flavor of irony, its literary value doesn't amount to much, nor is it the point of it.
Lo and behold, was I happy to discover that it is in fact surprisingly well-written and entertaining from the first page to the last! The mixture of internal chat with the various self-aware musings of the NPCs is an original blend, and the descriptions and details are not overwhelming. I recommend it to any fantasy fan, whether they are also a fan of video games or not.
I was led to believe that the main quality of the book is the way it satirizes the video game tropes and the fantasy world cliches. And that beyond this delicious flavor of irony, its literary value doesn't amount to much, nor is it the point of it.
Lo and behold, was I happy to discover that it is in fact surprisingly well-written and entertaining from the first page to the last! The mixture of internal chat with the various self-aware musings of the NPCs is an original blend, and the descriptions and details are not overwhelming. I recommend it to any fantasy fan, whether they are also a fan of video games or not.
September 17, 2020
I thought my opinion might change on a reread but no. Its still not bad but Yahtzee has definitely improved as a writer over time.
In order of preference:
Mogworld [3/5]
[4/5]
[4.5/5]
[5/5]
In order of preference:
Mogworld [3/5]
[4/5]
[4.5/5]
[5/5]
July 16, 2014
Entertaining (though not great). Would have been three stars, but got docked one for its horrid three female supporting characters: one is basically an idiot doormat, one is a nagging wife, and one is essentially a lobotomized piece of eye candy with no will or higher brain function, whose primary mentions are descriptions of how much she's not wearing and lewd comments about what the men around her can do (and perhaps have done) with her. While the basic premise, though not horribly original, is at least presented in an amusing enough way, its treatment of women falls right in line with the worst clichés of modern gamer culture.
September 17, 2018
3.5 stars. Funny and witty, but at points here and there lagged especially towards the ending which seemed drawn out. Many characters are on the stereotypical end, but it fits here. Our protagonist is bitter about being resurrected but waffles a bit at times about being deleted. If you’re a gamer this would probably be a lot more fun. This happened to be one I listened to and while the author is quite entertaining, he’d do better to find a professional reader who would add a wee bit more inflection in the readings in the non dialogue parts.
July 8, 2020
In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all.
The sense i got from this book is the author took moments from other authors, the mad real sarcastically British characters of Terry Pratchett, the darkness of Neil Gaiman and the adventure of Douglas Adams, and smashed them all together. These are not bad things as they all work together perfectly here in this book. Jim is alive and is meant to be dead, and he really isn't happy about being alive, so he goes on a quest to find out why his alive and how he can die, on the journey he meets some very colourful characters, one you'll never forget "slippery john" trust me you'll read this book and never forget that name, it's used a lot. The characters are all great and really well written and fit in this world, some are average, but that's fine as you'll grow to enjoy there failings. This book had a 2 laugh out loud moments for me, and 1 chuckle, the rest of the comedy was average and fuled by swearing at points, none of this is an issue, just if like you was expecting a laugh a minute terry pratchett world, you'd be disappointed, this is more a laugh every 5 minutes. A lot of this book is story spoilers, so not much i say, other than, if your a gamer, games designer, adventurer or lover of odd fantasy, then this is the perfect book for you, this being the author's first published novel, is something spectacular and definitely a diamond in the rough and one that should be picked up and just experienced by more people, as i honestly think you'dbe doing yourself a disservice for a good chuckle and laugh and to block out the world around you for a few hours.
4/5 Stars ŷ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Great)
90/100 GingerPoints 🔥🔥
The sense i got from this book is the author took moments from other authors, the mad real sarcastically British characters of Terry Pratchett, the darkness of Neil Gaiman and the adventure of Douglas Adams, and smashed them all together. These are not bad things as they all work together perfectly here in this book. Jim is alive and is meant to be dead, and he really isn't happy about being alive, so he goes on a quest to find out why his alive and how he can die, on the journey he meets some very colourful characters, one you'll never forget "slippery john" trust me you'll read this book and never forget that name, it's used a lot. The characters are all great and really well written and fit in this world, some are average, but that's fine as you'll grow to enjoy there failings. This book had a 2 laugh out loud moments for me, and 1 chuckle, the rest of the comedy was average and fuled by swearing at points, none of this is an issue, just if like you was expecting a laugh a minute terry pratchett world, you'd be disappointed, this is more a laugh every 5 minutes. A lot of this book is story spoilers, so not much i say, other than, if your a gamer, games designer, adventurer or lover of odd fantasy, then this is the perfect book for you, this being the author's first published novel, is something spectacular and definitely a diamond in the rough and one that should be picked up and just experienced by more people, as i honestly think you'dbe doing yourself a disservice for a good chuckle and laugh and to block out the world around you for a few hours.
4/5 Stars ŷ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Great)
90/100 GingerPoints 🔥🔥
March 6, 2020
Very fun little book about sentient NPCs in a MMO trying to figure out wtf is up with the players playing the game.
August 2, 2018
Very funny - would have been 5 stars if it wasn’t for the end. Recommended for those who like Terry Prachett and/or gaming.
February 16, 2022
*Solid 4.5 Stars*
This book was so funny and just so extremely enjoyable. I'm someone who just loves strange characters, and this book has its fill of that with the addition of just absolute hilarity. There wasn't a time that I picked it up where I wasn't cackling. The storyline itself is so unique and fun, and the ending was very satisfying considering its direction.
The only reason I am docking it at all is because some of the jokes and thoughts within it are a bit outdated and sexist. As a female who likes gaming, it really felt like the stereotypical trope of 'women are only good for their bodies,' as well as a few fat shaming cases (mostly also geared toward females) were just really there for no other reason than to say them. While this wasn't completely prevalent, it does come up a few times, but I found it easy to wave off and continue reading, and I do give it a bit more of a pass because of the books age. If you can't stand that sort of thing, then I wouldn't read, but I really do think this book manages to shine so brightly if you look past that.
This book was so funny and just so extremely enjoyable. I'm someone who just loves strange characters, and this book has its fill of that with the addition of just absolute hilarity. There wasn't a time that I picked it up where I wasn't cackling. The storyline itself is so unique and fun, and the ending was very satisfying considering its direction.
The only reason I am docking it at all is because some of the jokes and thoughts within it are a bit outdated and sexist. As a female who likes gaming, it really felt like the stereotypical trope of 'women are only good for their bodies,' as well as a few fat shaming cases (mostly also geared toward females) were just really there for no other reason than to say them. While this wasn't completely prevalent, it does come up a few times, but I found it easy to wave off and continue reading, and I do give it a bit more of a pass because of the books age. If you can't stand that sort of thing, then I wouldn't read, but I really do think this book manages to shine so brightly if you look past that.
July 5, 2013
I had fun listening to Mogworld. Don't expect it to be as packed with punchlines as Zeropunctuation.
I have never played a MMORPG, but I have watched a lot of Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise and all the movies, even the reboots) even so I think I prefer Mogworld written and read by Yahtzee to Redshirts written by John Scalzi and read by Wil Wheaton.
Yahtzee's narration is superior to the narration of the actor Wil Wheaton.
(Disclamer: I usually don't enjoy books in which the author goes on about the problems of her / his writing process and I hate zombies.)
I have never played a MMORPG, but I have watched a lot of Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise and all the movies, even the reboots) even so I think I prefer Mogworld written and read by Yahtzee to Redshirts written by John Scalzi and read by Wil Wheaton.
Yahtzee's narration is superior to the narration of the actor Wil Wheaton.
(Disclamer: I usually don't enjoy books in which the author goes on about the problems of her / his writing process and I hate zombies.)
August 20, 2017
I think this book would still be enjoyable even for non-gamers as the plot twists and turns with further sub plots added in just for fun. Kinda think of the sub plots as additional quests which had to the storyline of the main plot.
November 29, 2015
I really enjoyed 'Mogworld'. It is flawed, as some of the jokes fall flat and Croshaw's trademark absurd metaphors often feel forced, but I after a while I found myself just not caring! I loved the main character, the plot kept me interested and (for the most part) it was a clever, entertaining read.
June 11, 2020
This book was like eating butter toast. It wasn’t really all that tasty or interesting, but it was solid, adequate nourishment. Certainly better than plain toast. Or moldy bread. But I really could have used a bit of jam or honey to give it some pizazz.
October 16, 2018
This was solid fun, and I felt the meta aspects mostly worked. Go in expecting more cynicism than warmth and I think it meets expectations well.
November 26, 2018
DNF after 50%. Just couldn't get into it. Felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny
May 22, 2019
Alluded to rape and sexual abuse of a comatose/dead woman is not funny. I'm horrified by this author.
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