Jake's Magical Market

By: J.R. Mathews

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 20 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 J.R. Mathews (P)2022 Royal Guard Publishing

Surprisingly funny

This book caught me off guard it had no reviews and just came out being the author's first book he did an amazing job to create a world into characters that have real problems and find real solutions the story full of humor and funny moments that will catch you off guard I do highly recommend reading this book.

Absolutely amazing

Worth the credit. Slacker to hero and more. I love the different stages of each magical system and how the interlock

my first litrpg experience

I am not the target audience for this book and have never read litrpg, but I couldn't resist the summary for this book and decided to take a chance. I love the shop keeper part and all the items, the magic system (I'm a sucker for card games), the charming characters, the mix of conflicts and also hopefulness, and the narrorator is perfect!

I know this review might not be helpful to some because I don't really have anything to compare it to and these things may be common for the genre, but it says something that I'm already looking for another litrpg book after finishing this.

My main complaint is that the last few hours of the book felt rushed compared to the slow pacing of the rest of the book, some of the plot points could've been explored in an entirely different book. Also the shop keeper stuff kinda fell into the background as the book went on, but I still give this one 5 stars.

I pray to the muses bless the author with inspiration to continue this as a series.

I honestly picked this book up not expecting too much. Man was I happy I did. I laughed a lot, worried a lot, and loved every minute. I found the story engaging enough that I hardly zoned out while listening. With most litepg styles its during the stats reading but there is only enough of that to show some progress.

World building is fun and well down. The magic system is a little chaotic but for good reason. No spoilers but it makes more since why things are the way they are as the story progresses. This was a great mix of litrpg progression and just a good deal of cultivation.

The MC is fun and sort of relatable. If i was to sum this book up with one exchange from the book it would be:
Character - Do you just go around doing things with out thinking?
MC - well it seems to work out most of the time.

Hurry up with book 2

Never change narrator, and chill out on the pronoun stuff. But overall a good book

Please give this a try. Way better than expected.

I really liked this. I had misgivings because there are just so many litrpg that don't turn out to be good, and the cover art (although cute) seemed to suggest it might not be worth a listen. Very glad I took the chance. The game system was fun and the card based progression was unique. I like the ideas the author is playing with about multiverse concepts and was having fun listening to the exploration into the different social , cultural, and political structures of the other settlements. Travis Baldree is always an enjoyable narrator.
I would really love to hear more, and hope the author keep up the great work.
Please give this a listen to help make sure that happens.

great book

This was an unexpectedly fun story. I picked this up for a long drive and was delighted in how great it was.

great book

I randomly spent a credit on this book because I like the narrator and I was happy to find a great story too! Jake's Magic Market has a level up type system where they use a card system but it also goes beyond that as well. I would say this book has similar feel and is on par with Dakota Krout's universe. There is a ton of action and adventure. The story is well paced and never gets dull. This story sticks with the perspective of one main character who evolves along the way. I am looking forward to a sequel!

Really liked and and hope for more!

Nice first book to the new series. A little clipped at times like the author was in a hurry, but it is 20 hours long. Well done J.R.!

Travis did a good job as a narrator too. It seemed... average, which is perfectly fine. Narrators do a lot, so I can imagine it is hard to be exceptional all the time.

Looking forward to more!

Great overall but ending seems rushed

I like the book overall the banter and emotional stuff was great. Near the end things started to move faster and faster and it just seemed rushed but overall I liked it.