Only Villains Do That: An Isekai Adventure

Only Villains Do That, Book 1

De: D. D. Webb

Narrado por: Todd Haberkorn

From the author of the Gods Are Bastards series comes a new isekai adventure, in which a man is granted sinister powers he doesn't even want.

On a typical day, on an average train platform, two warring sister goddesses found their avatars. One avatar, the young Yoshi, was swept away to the world of Ephemera to be a great hero of honor, courage, and light. The other, the not-so-young Seiji, was swept away to become a dark lord out to kill or conquer all in his path.

But Seiji is in absolutely no mood for that nonsense. It's bad enough that on Earth he was a closed-off, misanthropic grouch with zero patience for other people. Now he's supposed to muster enough of a give-a-damn to lead vile hordes, crush Yoshi, and take all of Ephemera as his own? No thanks. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a choice.

Seiji's patron goddess wants results, and if he doesn't deliver, she's going to take a serious interest in discovering his pain, suffering, and overall misery threshold. But just because he doesn't care about people, doesn't mean he doesn't care whether they suffer by his own hand. After all, just because you're the embodiment of ultimate evil doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it.

The first volume of the hit fantasy adventure series—with more than five million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2024 D. D. Webb (P)2024 Podium Audio

Another world story without stats

A great story I didn't even know I needed. The lack of stats or harems really go a long way in making this great

chapter 34

Chapter 34 is what brought me from amused and interested to fully invested in this story and book. The while story is about a performer doing his best, I don't think it would have landed as well without the narrator.

much better than I thought it would be

First the bad

a tendency towards repetitiveness and kinda cringy at times. a little preachy too at times with his rants about society.

now the good

surprising excellent world building that didn't feel bogged down. Interesting and developed side characters.

lastly

narrator did a descent job, a little too much emotion at times and a few parts where he lost track of the accents he was trying to do but overall good.

A Pleasant Surprise

Between the narrator whose voice was perfect for these characters, the wonderfully detailed world-building, and the satisfying story that stays true to the plot premise while also giving the sense of steady (but not break-neck) progression, I have nothing to complain about whatsoever.

I had concerns because I read reviews mentioning the MC getting preachy about society and what it, but the Dark Lord is expected to monologue, and I honestly thought it was all acceptably on-brand and justified.

10/10, would listen again. Already purchased books 2 & 3.

Way better than I’d hoped.

I gave this audiobook 5 stars even though I occasionally felt like the MC was a little exaggerated. I didn’t penalize the book for this because when taken on the whole it does fit the story and the themes.

I just wish the author had been a little more nuanced with the MC’s inner monologue. As a result the MC sometimes comes across as annoyingly dickish and immature even though he’s clearly supposed to be kind of a jerk.

That aside this was a really engaging and at least somewhat different take on the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and the story and I’m excitedly awaiting the next book.

The Dark Lord... is a Healer?

This story has a couple of tropes that, if advertised, I think could bring in a lot more readers. First, the Dark Lord is a Healer! People love Healer Isekai stories; there aren't enough of them. Second, the main character is the Dark Lord, which you can figure out from the summary of the story.

That aside, I love this story, and the voice actor totally had me glued. It's nice having someone actually act out the story and not just read it to me—the difference between a voice actor and a narrator, I suppose.

As for the story, it kind of reminds me more of an isekai mafia-like trope, even though it has elements of everything you'd expect. Mostly mafia, though. To overturn the world, his great plan is to introduce Earth social concepts—feminism. Yeah, I rolled my eyes and laughed at that one a bit too much. Still, this entire story takes place outside a single city within a magical realm, unraveling the city’s (or kingdom’s) social structure from the very bottom to topple the top—through the power of healing and prostitutes. Albeit, he may sometimes imbue the most powerful healing spell with a fire spell, acting like an absolute sadist to those he’s healing, eliciting agonizing screams. However, we do get references about how horrible that makes him feel, and eventually how horrible he feels for no longer feeling horrible about it. lol

As for the main character, well, he's a sarcastic smartass, which I personally got a kick out of, but may not vibe with everyone.

In any regard, I loved it, and it feels like a fresh take on a repetitive trope that seems overused. Can't wait for the sequel!

Masterclass in parody, narration, and storytelling

This book is genuinely one of the best listens I've had all year. The narrator is impeccable with his voices, the story is a wild ride, and overall it's a fantastic take on the hero-saves-the-world trope.

In which the Dark Lord is sick of this Isekai crap

A refreshing take on the genre. The misanthropic protagonist can't be the proper evil Dark Lord because the world he's brought into already sucks that much. While the character and setting are interesting, the actor's performance elevates the story to another level.

Definitely recommend.

Insightful

Only Villains Do That is a book for anyone who wants their main character to be thoughtful, clever and devious. "Lord" Seiji's plans don't always work out, but he's got schemes upon schemes upon schemes. If anything, I found it unrealistic how much he seemed to know about culture and psychology to be able to plan so thoroughly for toppling the corrupt society he found himself living in.

The magic systems were interesting and creative. It was balanced and had weaknesses, which made the battles interesting. Even the side characters had distinct personalities and motivations that kept things feeling grounded.

I thought the narrator did a great job of bringing Seiji and all the other characters to life.

There be no White Knights here

A book with a more practical and bloodthirsty kinda of MC than your typical super self righteous MC. It was pretty amusing as well. Narrator did a great job