Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems

An Unconventional Heroes Publisher's Pack

By: L. G. Estrella

Narrated by: Fred Berman

Contains Books 1 and 2 of the Unconventional Heroes series.

Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf, book 1:

Two necromancers, a bureaucrat, and an elf - it sounds like the start of a bad joke, only the joke is on Timmy.

Timothy Walter Bolton - better known as Timmy - has spent most of his life as a necromancer. When he isn't terrorising his enemies, he's plotting inside his castle, which is built on top of lightless chasms filled with nameless horrors and beings of a generally malevolent and megalomaniacal nature. But after one of his latest creations, a zombie hydra-dragon-bear, tries to eat him, he decides that maybe it's time to find a new, less dangerous, career.

But that's easier said than done. He's a wanted criminal with no shortage of powerful (and crazy) enemies, and he has a bone or two to pick with the Everton Council of Mages.

It's a good thing that he's got some help: an obnoxious 10-year-old apprentice who thinks that pink glasses are appropriate for a budding necromancer and a bumbling bureaucrat who may or may not make it through their first real fight without puking his guts up. Wonderful.

Two Necromancers, an Army of Golems, and a Demon Lord, book 2:

Two necromancers, an army of golems, and a demon lord - it sounds like a recipe for trouble, and for Timmy, it definitely is.

To earn his pardon and avoid horrible torture and/or gruesome execution, Timmy has to complete every mission the Council throws his way, most of which seem to involve extremely scary things trying to kill him. At least he’s got help - sort of. His help consists of an apprentice with designs on his castle (and her plans may or may not involve overthrowing him), a bureaucrat whose two greatest skills are fainting in the face of trouble and using people (usually Timmy) as human shields, and an elf with the world's worst case of pyromania and enough magic to level a mountain.

Somehow, Timmy's got to get this bunch of unconventional heroes to work together. Trouble is coming, and it's trouble of the kind that only a necromancer like Timmy could possibly find himself in the middle of.

©2014 L. G. Estrella (P)2020 Podium Audio

Excellent Compilation: Publisher's Pack Done Right

Normally I don't tend to like publisher's pack audiobooks because they are indicative of a story that couldn't stand by itself, a disorganized collection of stories or short stories I might find unsatisfying. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I listened to this publisher's pack. It artfully takes two short stories and two books and combines them into a relatively streamlined product. The combination is perfect because otherwise I would have never encountered a quality story.

A large part of what makes the story entertaining is the parental/humorous tone, off beat world, and interesting characterization. It has a slice of life feel which I found to be a good change of pace from similar stories. Also there is a decent amount of meat on the bone as book 3 is ~15 hours and is quality as well.

The main gripes I had with the book are that the dialogue and character behavior can be repetitive. For instance, there seems to be a reference to how awful Timmy's old master was about every hour. Also the voice of Katie by Fred Berman I found grating. Despite these criticisms, I highly recommend this book. A publisher's pack done right!

Love these 2 Necromancers

This is a fun listen. The quotidian comes to a fantasy world led by Timmy and his apprentice, Katie. Because Necromancers also have to deal with the town council and open bank accounts. Fred Berman's becoming one of my favorite narrators - brings out the humor and the drama perfectly and his Katie is particularly good. I didn't experience any issue with repetition mentioned in a review here - download of the audio was fine.

Silly, popcorn comedy fantasy

Creative, humorous, and fun. It wants to be a fun little comedy that you don't have to take too seriously, and does that very well.

Entertaining

This was a very entertaining book. The narrator does an amazing job at conveying each character definitely give it a read/listen

extreme enjoyable

i have enjoyed listening to this book a really like the adventures that do not take themselves to seriously

Quirky story

The story is quirky. It is full of dark humor. It also was a lot of fun. The narrator was really good. I usually don’t read or listen to fantasy, and I’m not sure why I picked this one, but I’ll look for more by this author.

book amazing!

listen to this awesome man voicing lots of characters! story is fun and engaging. still whimsical for younger peoples and those of the older generation.

Very enjoyable listen

This was a really fun listen and one of those books where I personally just went by the weird title and ended up getting exactly what I wanted. It has a nice story that’s easy to digest. The plot and some of the things going on may fall in to their typical tropes some times and can be a little predictable “x story probably isn’t true” “there is no way that it is true” a few paragraphs later: “omg all of that was true.” Like the title though it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it is just an enjoyable easy listen.

a great comedy with better characters

the characters are what drives this wonderful story and each mayor addition are worthwhile, interesting and well written.
it's not gonna change your view of the world or make you think, but this book will be a better way to spend your time than most shows on TV these days.

Fred Berman has a wide variety of voices and keep them both consist and destinct. he was a joy to listen to

The funny side of necromancy.

I loved the banter and reminiscing of crazier times. Great characters and magic skill sets.