Big Sneaky Barbarian: A LitRPG Novel

Book 1

By: Seth McDuffee

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain

One angry young man is about to take a fantasy realm by storm—or by accident—in the hilarious first book of a new series by the author of Good Boy.

Gabe Skelter has a temper, which he likes to imagine has the effect of causing people to fear and respect him. On the contrary, his pudgy, underdeveloped body and negative personality make him more your standard outcast teenager. Worse still, he kinda knows what a jerkweed he actually is.

Then, in the middle of a class trip, Gabe finds himself spirited away to Regaia: a world of magic, mayhem, and nerd-tastic adventure. Naturally, he’s completely ill-prepared. But in this realm, he’s a monstrous, muscular man of action. Unfortunately, he’s still saddled with the frightfully unimpressive brains of a teenage loser.

Now, Gabe must make his burly, bulky way in a land where the strong dominate, the powerful rule, and picking a class has nothing to do with algebra . . . and everything to do with survival.

Bristling with reckless abandon and antisocial attitude, Big Sneaky Barbarian is Die Hard with dungeons; a must-hear for fans of heavy-hitting action mixed with laugh-out-loud snark—and absolutely loaded with swears.

The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with almost 100,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2022 Seth McDuffee (P)2022 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

“This has gotten me very excited at the chance to be one of those authors quoted on a book.”—Shirtaloon, author of the He Who Fights with Monsters series and brazen Australian

“I loved every one of the words in this book! Especially how they followed one another in perfect sequence, each of them dazzling me with their sublime poise, vigor, and panache. Or at least that’s what I think I’d say if I read the thing. Are we done here now? Wait, don’t write that. Stop, what are you doing, don’t hit send . . .”—Luke Chmilenko, author of the Ascend Online series and collector of “antique” eggs

Honest Brilliance

I may be biased as I’m lucky enough to count the author amongst my short list of dear internet friends and much longer list of mortal foes, but this book has me close to tears multiple time, both from laughter and sympathy, and that has to come from an honest place.

Seth’s writing shows an astounding level of both self awareness and sympathy for the main character who in both of his incarnations could be considered a complete loser, but beneath it all not without his redeeming qualities. Loon’s development as a person and protagonist feels true and honest throughout and without getting into spoilers, may provide a much needed role model for a reader who has gone through similar events.

Beneath its silly trappings, this book has the potential to be important to a lot of people and it takes a powerful writer to pull off that sort of double act. BSB is both hysterical and heart wrenching, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Seth McDuffy’s works. Truly a modern literary treasure.

TL;DR this book will make you feel things while you’re on the floor laughing. For the love of god, read it!

If you like NoobTown and laughing, add to cart.

Seriously though, this book is a treat.

Not a weird old half open halloween treat you found in the cushions of the bus seat next to the freshly used gum you grabbed earlier while trying to find your earpods.
The kind of treat that makes you lie to your friends about how much you've had and how hard it is to get so they should leave and you can enjoy the rest all to yourself.

The outtakes alone are worth...is priceless a worth? Well the outtakes are PriceFull so really it's an incredible value.

A Great Romp!

This book is full of immature responses and reactions. I've LOVED it. The main character is engaging, and written to perfection, treading the line between obnoxious jerk and sympathetic whipping boy. By the end of the book, you get a much clearer understanding of Why he is who he is, and it cements the character in a way that I did not see coming at the beginning of the story. I Thoroughly enjoyed this book, and Eagerly await the next installment. Hopefully, we won't have to wait much longer for the next adventure of Loon and Company! Bring on book 2 of Big Sneaky Barbarian!

So funny

This narrator is one of my favorites and brings amazing life to this story. I like the realistic take on how a person is slow to process being in a new world and trying to figure out how to come across as normal when your anything but normal to begin with.

Love the humor!

I may be {ahem} older, but I find the number of quotable phrases and teenage-level swearing hilarious! This guy gets into one problem after another and can't keep his temper and wit from spilling out. Please Keep it coming, Seth!

Best LitRPG

Absolutely a must in any collection, I haven’t had such a good time listening to a story in a long time. I have never laughed so hard in a while!

Good writing...horrible character.

I love Lit Rpg, I love Johnathan McLain. This book was well written but the main character was so unlikeable that I cannot root for him. I wanted to like it, but the MC has no qualities that make me want to keep reading. Would absolutely try another book with different characters from the author. Just done with this one.

fantastic book

man I can't recommend this book enough. what a fun listen with such a great story.

Hilarious and refreshing

I really enjoyed BSB. While many titles in this genre have elements of humor… this title stands out to me. I found myself tittering between wanting to slap the main character and cheering for him. Lots of fun and I can’t wait to try the 2nd title. Outstanding performance by Johnathan McLain.

Ok in small doses

Good plot. I got tired of the “hate everything “ vibe, but in small doses it was tolerable.