The Drop of a Hat

Hat Trick, Book 1

By: Luke Chmilenko, G. D. Penman

Narrated by: John Lee

A powerful wizard and a lowly kobold experience a magical meeting of the minds in the first book of this comedic fantasy-adventure series.

Absalom Scryne, the greatest wizard of his generation, has been murdered. There's no other explanation for why his consciousness now resides in his well-worn but perfectly pointed hat.

Well, he isn't going to take that lying down . . . or hanging from a branch, as the case may be. Instead, he'll hop on the head of the first foul-smelling kobold that comes along and convince it that it's in everyone's best interests for them to undertake the epic journey through the Badlands—past horny necromancers, rustic werewolves, and rampaging ogres—back to the shining city of magic at the heart of civilization, where he will promptly kick the backside of whoever it was that finally managed to stab him in the back.

Assuming, that is, he can teach a kobold how to use magic, survive all the roaming adventurers who consider a kobold to be a very minor payday, and prevent anyone else from claiming the wealth of arcane knowledge that is now bound within the rather handsome piece of haberdashery that he has become.

©2023 Luke Chmilenko and G. D. Penman (P)2023 Podium Audio

The Performance is excellent the book is fun.

It’s pretty much in the title. Overall I wish it would have gotten somewhat more resolved at the end, but eh I get it, that’s what a sequel is for. It was still fun. I hope Ig gets a sequel to himself tbh.

Excellent

I love this story and can't wait for more! It has everything. IG is awesome.

couldn't finish

couldn't finish. . . great narrator. . . won't get the next book in the series. . .

Funny and somewhat entertaining, but...

The book had some funny moments, but there's only so much endearing incompetence one can take.

It also has elements of a Hollywood car chase... exciting and entertaining, but if it runs on too long, it becomes boring. This was a very long car chase, led by an idiot.

John Lee, as always, was amazing.

A fantastic foray into fantasy

The greatest mage in the world ... is suddenly a hat.
Worse, he's found by a kobold, the lowest of all possible semi-sentient creatures. Also, he's been strip of almost all power.
Goal: Get home, find out what happened and get restored.

Ig the kobold has the new hat and encounters many dangerous adventures. Since just about anything could kill the kobold or destroy the hat, there is a good sense of danger. Also, the wizard has been in his tower for a bit too long, so his vast bank of knowledge mostly isn't useful.

There are a series of great set-ups for vignettes, including ogres, werewolves and a profit-based dungeon.

Highly recommended.

This is a good read

Yes it seems like the authors like the sound of their own voices in the first 3 hours. Stick it out. There is a good listen in this purchase.

What a turn of events

So cute funny and unexpected! But so we'll written and narrated. Time to start book 2!

Cute

It was quite a cute little story but a never quite found myself laughing. I got it on a daily deal and it's worth the 2.99 I paid but not worth using a credit. The narration was excellent and saved the book from being returned.

Fun

A little surprising that I was taken in so easily by the world and it's amusing wordplay.

Pratchett vibes

The Drop of a Hat sees far because it stands on the shoulders of Tolkien and D&D. Its unique voice and sense of humor nod at, without simply imitating, the Discworld series. This fun read flew by quickly.