I'm Not the Hero: An Isekai LitRPG

I'm Not the Hero, Book 1

By: SourpatchHero

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

In addition to strength, steel, and courage, a hero discovers he's in need of a friend, in the first installment of a daring and dangerous fantasy adventure.

When it comes to action and adventure, every hero needs a good sidekick. Holmes has Watson, Batman has Robin, and Daniel has . . . Orrin. More like brothers than friends, they always have each other's backs. And as Daniel is the big, strong, handsome type, Orrin is more than happy to remain in his shadow at school, at parties, pretty much everywhere.

Then things take a turn for the truly weird when a terrible accident catapults the pair into a world totally unlike their own, in which the rules of a role-playing game hold sway. Naturally, Daniel is classified as a "hero," while Orrin is—also naturally—relegated to the fantasy equivalent of "bleh." Nothing new there.

But in this realm populated with lethal foes both inhuman and inescapable, sticking together matters more than ever, and soon Daniel and Orrin will discover more about themselves—and each other—than either one thought possible. In fact, Orrin just might find the confidence and strength to become something other than your average sidekick . . .

The first volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2023 SourpatchHero (P)2023 Podium Audio

Totally solid LitRPG. Negative reviews are overstated.

Well yeah, the CAPITALIZED nouns are a little abrupt and annoying at first, but after a chapter or two they stopped bothering me. This style decision is pretty minor in terms of the overall experience of the audiobook.

That aside, this is a well written and well performed book. Is it the best LitRPG ever?… probably not, but it is definitely worth the credit if you are a fan of this genre.

The plot is solid, it held my attention, and I didn’t want to murder the author or any of the characters. Compared to 75% of the GameLit available on audible which do not meet the above criteria, this is a no-brainer… It’s worth your credit.

Pretty awesome, except…

I have no issue with the story, but it was INCREDIBLY irritating hearing the names of the Skills pronounced in such BOLD and LOUD manner. The readers fully understand the concept that people are doing more than just standard combat techniques. It never stopped being off-putting. Please do better in other Lit-RPG endeavors

System voice

The story was great, I enjoyed the concept but the system voice in the middle of conversation doesn't help the immersion. I almost returned the book in the first hour a few times because of it. I'm still looking forward to the next book but I hope they fix the narration in it.

Engaging, Funny, Exciting, and Addictive!

A very fun take on an existing trope! If there are two words to describe this book, they are CHARACTER ARC!. Seriously, this author makes you feel how each person in the story is growing. I've read ahead on Royal Road so I know the next book is even better than this one, but I still can't wait to hear Nick narrate it

issues with class and skill audio

I love Nick Podehl, but deciding to always use the same voice even in the middle of a character talking to state classes and skills really hurts the narration of this book. When reading from the system box it makes sense. To place that same system voice in the middle of a sentence, or in the worst case multiple sentences over paragraphs of dialogue, it just keeps pulling you out of the story.

A worthy ride

An engaging story, entertaining and serious in a delightful blend. My only critique is an echo of many here already, please remove the AI voice from the HERO title and abilities. The narrator is incredibly skilled, and the insert of a monotone voice gets jarring very fast. Looking forward to book 2.

loved it. need more

the story and narrator were both great, only had one hiccup every time a class or ability was mentioned, when saying the name it would break immersion by using a neutral tone rather than sticking to the characters persona

Story was great, but I almost gave up.

I really enjoyed the story and originally picked up this book because of Nick Podehl name recognition, but the voice changes for stats and every single ability was both unnecessary and made it tough to listen to. I’d totally get the next book, but I would really hope that they completely remove all if not 80% of the “system voice” narration. I’m not even sure why they interjected it in most situations. I can see skill descriptions but every time a class or ability is mentioned is far too much.

Great Narration, strange format

loved the book, really really disliked the way they used a monotone system voice mid conversation every time they said a system word. If that was fixed this title would probably be 3x as popular.

Great storyline, anticipating the next book.

First time this narrator isn't getting full stars from me. The skills changing tone in mid conversation was annoying at times.