Stop! Read the Small Medium trilogy first

I know it sounds strange, but I actually recommend reading the three trilogies in reverse chronological order (i.e. Small Medium, then Threadbear, then Blasphemy Online - Small Medium lightly references Threadbear, so you feel like you are dropping into a place you've vaguely heard of and been intrigued, and both trilogies reference the Crash/Change/Fall, so you're interest is piqued when you realize this book is set BEFORE that happens and you will get a front-row seat. If you read them in chronological order, it won't be as fun, I think, because each new trilogy will be in a new land with new characters and very little idea of learning more about something you're already intrigued by.

This is a fun look into the beginning of Generica Online, and it has the same sort of clever world building and engaging characters we have come to expect from this author. Fans of Lovecraft will particularly enjoy the many nods to eldritch horror. I also liked the mashup of eldritch and computer speak - LDAP Sign, Haskell, the Yellow Icon, etc. The larger mystery of how the Change happened is yet to be solved, but that just leaves us salivating for the next book in the series; the main characters' tale is nicely self-contained. Fingers crossed we will meet some of the players and at least some references to the NPCs we have come to know and love from the other books, but even if not, it should be great.

One other thing: I wish they had gotten the same reader for this series as the other two - this guy is pretty damn good, with all the right skills, but the other dude was absolutely magical and I miss his hyper-expansive Game-announcements voice. Oh well; like I said, this guy is still pretty good, and maybe Richard and Ruttgeroyal wouldn't have sounded as "right" coming from anyone else (also, this guy is really good at girl voices, which is a hard trick for a guy to pull off).

23 people found this helpful

Pacing and DIssassociation

The story takes way too long to set up and doesn't have any constant direction. I'm honestly disappointed because after listening to Threadbare, I feel Andrew Seiple didn't put enough concern in how good this book could be. I could feel a great story being dragged along and see an MC fractured for the sake of a crappy twist.

6 people found this helpful

I don’t understand the harsh reviews.

Yes this book does appear to be related to the “thread-bear” universe. No the characters and story don’t seem to be connected in any way to the plot and characters of Stuff and Nonsense or any of the other books in that series. Calling this a prequel would be much more than a stretch.

My only guess is that people were disappointed that this is not another volume in the previous series. Taken on its own, this book is categorically not a 1 or 2 star book. Rating it below a 3 in my opinion is just inaccurate. It’s well performed, well written, its characters are compelling, and the plot is engaging. Even if you dislike the content, I think it’s hard to justify a 1-2 star rating for any book that has all four of these characteristics.

Is Dragon Hack better than Stuff and Nonsense?... No, it’s not, but it’s definitely an interesting story that’s worth the credit. Ignore the reactionaries and give it a try.

I think that at the very least this series will eventually shed some light on how the universe of ThreadBear started out, and maybe we’ll get some more context for how it ended up the way it did. Both of which are things that I am eager to learn.

5 people found this helpful

Spectacular as always

A fantastic addition to the world of Generica, and a grimly humorous take on the future.

3 people found this helpful

just to much

The writer tried packing to much together and did not go into much of any of the threads trying to close them all. to many tropes and popculter refrences for their own sake, many not fitting I to the world they are trying to build.

3 people found this helpful

good but the characters suffered from dumb

it was a fun book but the characters had trouble acting optimally in the situations they were placed in. A lot of the authors worldview leaked through and those were the weakest parts

2 people found this helpful

Very Good Book

Narrator was really good. The story was great. Couldn't stop listening. Can't wait for book 2

2 people found this helpful

The start of the Threadbearverse!

This story goes back to the origins of the Threadbear world. It is well-written, humorous, and a thoroughly enjoyable tale, though it has a bit of a more serious side as well. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will certainly get the next book in this series, if there is one.

2 people found this helpful

nick podehl is amazing but story is bad

story tries to make a religious civilization after a second civil war in america. super police state and you follow a 13yr old in puberty who just wants to see porn/get laid. the premise is decent but it tries to comedic but it always falls flat. the religious state doesnt make sense and the kid is no one special just gets lucky in fights. the ending was good but i had a very hard time finishing it at all. wouldnt reccommend.

1 person found this helpful

MC Is The Worst

The narrator was the only good thing about this story. The MC is basically just a hormonal, sexually driven boy that gets irritating fast. He is a complete dunce in the story constantly. I couldn't get more than 1/4 way through the story because of how terrible he is.