wickedlyethan's review
3.0
I feel weird giving "Mogworld" three stars because I didn't finish it - nowhere near finished it, actually. I got about thirty percent into the book before I realized the story had lost its momentum and moreover motivation is rather hard to come by when the stakes are so strange: our main character cannot die, nor does he want to live either. He sometimes seems like he seeks to be deleted - to permanetly die - but he'll never say it?
Despite these rather huge flaws, the thirty percent of the book I did read I enjoyed immensely! Aye, there's the rub. I laughed and I got tense and I enjoyed the jokes in Croshaw's trademark dry style - and then it all just ground to a halt, with more than half the book to go.
So if the synopsis sounds like it'll scratch that itch, it will *really* scratch that itch, but if you keep scratching for the lengh of a long novel, don't be surprised if your skin is left a bit raw.
Despite these rather huge flaws, the thirty percent of the book I did read I enjoyed immensely! Aye, there's the rub. I laughed and I got tense and I enjoyed the jokes in Croshaw's trademark dry style - and then it all just ground to a halt, with more than half the book to go.
So if the synopsis sounds like it'll scratch that itch, it will *really* scratch that itch, but if you keep scratching for the lengh of a long novel, don't be surprised if your skin is left a bit raw.
lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this story, and the characters, particularly the protagonist, but the end kinda bummed me out. It just seemed kind of abrupt.
hyperashley's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
snpefk's review
4.0
как Пратчетт, но с шутками про хуй и еблю и без философии деда
хорошее развлечение на пару вечеров, а большего мне и не надо
хорошее развлечение на пару вечеров, а большего мне и не надо
efabri123's review
2.0
Firstly, I loved that this book put me back into my World of Warcraft days. The first three chapters or so were fantastic - engaging and hilarious. Witty enough to hook an agent by query, I guess. The rest of the book unfortunately was a large bore. I found myself more interested in the drama happening with the developers of the game than the main story line. Halfway through I ended up speed reading through a lot of content just to get to the developer drama and found the rest of the book really bland. I wanted to like it more, I really did and I hate giving bad reviews as I understand how much time and effort goes into writing a book but this one failed to entertain me beyond the first few chapters. There were also glaring formatting issues and some misused punctuation that should have been caught by the proofreader.
tadster20's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
ajmaybe's review against another edition
2.0
Very Important to Note: I am not the target audience, and I think the target audience (YA) would like it better.
The writing is amusing, clearly Pratchett-inspired. If you've actually read a lot of Pratchett, however, you will notice when the author's aspirations begin to exceed his abilities (at this stage).
The characters were amusing. The plot was sometimes amusing, sometimes almost too obvious to bear. Here the "target audience" probably matters; for some I think this would present some lines of thought in new and accessible ways, which is good (as with the Matrix: new and mind-blowing to some; familiar and well-explored to others.
The writing is amusing, clearly Pratchett-inspired. If you've actually read a lot of Pratchett, however, you will notice when the author's aspirations begin to exceed his abilities (at this stage).
The characters were amusing. The plot was sometimes amusing, sometimes almost too obvious to bear. Here the "target audience" probably matters; for some I think this would present some lines of thought in new and accessible ways, which is good (as with the Matrix: new and mind-blowing to some; familiar and well-explored to others.
peapod_boston's review
3.0
I stumbled across this in the local Borders and picked it up on a whim. I'd call it a pleasant non-surprise. I was worried that Yahtzee's ability to write scathingly funny reviews might not mean he could write a decent novel and I would be throwing my money away. Fortunately, he can write. While not as relentlessly funny as a Zero Punctuation review, "Mogworld" frequently amuses and, more importantly, presents an interesting situation and a surprisingly engaging protagonist.
About the same time as I read this, I was reading a serial killer mystery set in Mongolia, and I found myself much more interested in finding out what would happen to Jim than in resolving the mystery. In comparing the two works, I realized that Yahtzee's protagonist was simply more interesting than the heroes of the other novel I didn't want to like or care about Jim--he is distinctly unlikable--but I did anyway. He's one of those characters that the reader understands better than he understands himself, and it becomes a pleasure to watch him grow.
So what I thought would be at worst a disaster and at best a mildly amusing throwaway novel was quite enjoyable), and I'd be strongly inclined to pick up the next thing by Yahtzee.
About the same time as I read this, I was reading a serial killer mystery set in Mongolia, and I found myself much more interested in finding out what would happen to Jim than in resolving the mystery. In comparing the two works, I realized that Yahtzee's protagonist was simply more interesting than the heroes of the other novel I didn't want to like or care about Jim--he is distinctly unlikable--but I did anyway. He's one of those characters that the reader understands better than he understands himself, and it becomes a pleasure to watch him grow.
So what I thought would be at worst a disaster and at best a mildly amusing throwaway novel was quite enjoyable), and I'd be strongly inclined to pick up the next thing by Yahtzee.
sofer_mahir's review
3.0
Very funny (I expected no less), if a tad unoriginal. Douglas Adams was quite obviously a major influence -- the book practically reads as though *he* wrote it! (Not that I dislike that.) There were still bits which caught be by surprise. Essentially, I can dig it.