Goblin Mode

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2022

Author

Shaeor

• 3.02 Rousing the King
  Jun 10, 2023
• 3.01 Back from the Other Side
  Jun 6, 2023
• Amazon Announcement!
  Apr 16, 2023
• 2.2 The Wreckage
  Apr 2, 2023
• 2.1 A Hero's Welcome
  Apr 1, 2023
• Chapter Three, The Party Decides
  Dec 29, 2022
• Chapter Two, The Big Bad
  Dec 27, 2022
• Chapter One, Murder and Madness
  Dec 26, 2022

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• AdmiralmonkeymanRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Preface: I am a beta reader and am currently on chapter 20 of Goblin mode.
  This story both is and isn't like your average fantasy. You have all the comforts you'd come to expect from more DnD/Gameified fantasy, including guilds, recognizable spells, classes, and so on, but we see a whole new dimension to this by the perspective of the protagonist.
  Bogart the goblin isn't on some grand quest to save the world or to become the most powerful being in the universe. He appreciates the simple things, like money, money, money, and maybe a good fried rat here and there. He's quickly put in a great position to explore both the glittering uptown and grimey undercity of the kingdoms he finds himself in, and always finds himself in a strange situation one way or another. Bogart's interactions and inner monologue are always hilarious, and he's most definitely the spice that brings this story to life. With his monstrous background, something as simple as enjoying a human bed seems like a grand victory, and with his cleverness and lack of shame, any problem he faces is solved with... Unconventional and funny methods.
  The band of wizards, barbarians, paladins, and others Bogart finds himself with are also a charismatic bunch, although I did wish we spent more time with some of the less-seen members of the party. At chapter twenty we've yet to be truly acquainted with the majority of the party. I'm sure they'll get their individual spotlight in time, but it does leave me wanting more from them
  I personally check for grammar mistakes and can attest that there are none. The prose is great, and the way Bogart pictures the world makes it so I could listen to him describe a funny-shaped rock for hours and still want more. Each chapter is about two thousand words long and goes down like sugar, simply because the whole book is a treat.
• ArkhronRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  It's really hard to write a good villain protagonist, at least without falling in the self-righteousness, being an Ayn Rand bootlicker or a Joker wannabe.
  This novel, though, it's really well written. The protagonist is an evil bastard, coward, greedy and tracherous, and one empathyze with him. Also, his party has worse people, ffs.
  Excellent dialogues, swift pacing, beautiful worldbuilding using the show-not-tell, so you don't get assaulted by a boring wall of text.
  In resume, it's a fun novel where you get to follow a son of a gun surrounded by even worse morons.
  Chefkiss, 13/13 I'll keep reading it.
• DaybreakRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is the first time I've ever been sniped by a stub! I tend to stockpile about a book's worth or so of chapters and then binge it on account of how fast I read - Goblin Mode was an excellent enough story to get published before the second book's even out of the oven. Truly a remarkable achievement, and it's as good of an endorsement as anyone might give.
  I don't have much more to say on the story itself that hasn't already been said: I was a big fan of the characterization and how the author grapples with features of D&D that have really strange implications for social dynamics in practice when acknowledged by the characters they govern, like casting rates or alignment. I wouldn't bang on about how the characters are deep studies into the depths of the human mind, but seldom few even want to read such a thing - instead, their intricacies, flaws, and inhumanity are solid portals for the fantasy setting to work its magic. Such a combination of comfy fantasy setting, adventure, and intrapersonal intrigue is a trusty winning combination, and if you pick up the first book, I believe you'll find it delivered par excellence here.
  Congratulations & happy reading!
• broyworkRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Excellent and tittilating, had me on the edge of my seat, had me jumping for joy. I laughed, I cried, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the time of my life. Need I say more? It was superb, and I was starstruck.
• leafblazerRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  How do you scare off hundreds of orcs?
  This mad lad grabbed the leader by the balls and threatened to slice. Everything orcs do is to show off their masculinity, so the leader would completely lose his influence even if he did manage to kill him. So they waddled up up the hill just like that, and Bogart backstabbed him. This was a hilarious and serious scene. I've seen nothing like it.
  As a monster, Bogart think of plans that play so "dirty" that no self-respecting ever could. However, he has been loyal all the way to the team and helped them a lot.
  I'm glad that his teammates have slowly, slowly built trust in him because they've already been in many life threatening situations. Before, they contemplated killing, eating, or ditching him several times. . . But this isn't a grimdark story, since Bogart has really thick skin, he's scrappy and ruthless. He takes that all in stride and really proved himself to be a valuable rogue.
• K5P26Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Holy shit this is one hell of read.
  Short, concise, and beautifully done. A story about a GAAAWBLIN who find himself into an adventure of fate and destiny. Character Wise its beautiful, Style: Precise, Grammar: Perfect. If your like me who have nothing to do for a while, come and take a read, and hopefully Book 2 is not that far into the future.
• SaltiRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  If the title was any indication, Goblin Mode is an adventure fantasy story that knows exactly what it's about. Right from the start the story is positively soaked in its genre, with adventuring parties, crude goblins, and quests galore. It's a fantasy tale told with full gusto, but it also seems to know exactly how to play on that to keep things interesting and unique while still preserving that "D&D-esque" vibe we all know and love.
  One obvious way it does this is by telling its story through the eyes of our titular goblin protagonist, Bogart, who is a grimy but lovable little monster tossed into a world that's a whole lot bigger than him. From his place at the bottom rung of society, Bogart makes his way through the dirty underbelly of a land dominated by shiny knights and powerful guilds. But, driven by a little greed, wanderlust, and maybe even a smidge of heroism, it's a world he hopes to climb to the top of one way or another, and it's great fun to follow along for that climb.
  The story moves along at a quick pace and so far seems to be building nicely from guild quests and "little goblin in the big city" adventures to hints of an over-arching mystery and looming danger. The writing itself is first-person and very clean and crisp, with very few errors or hiccups to be found. I found myself breezing through chapters just because of how engrossed they kept me at each point.
  With a great protagonist who masterfully walks the line between lovable scoundrel and stinky bastard; a good side-cast of adventuring companions who I look forward to learning more about; an interesting world that's shown from a fun, new perspective; promises of growth (both in power and character); and terrible danger on the horizon, this is an instant favorite. If you like fantasy, adventure, goblins, or just a darn well-written story, give it a read!
• Wandering Brain SpasmRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I'm a sucker for a good goblin story and Goblin Mode delivers! The storytelling is fast-paced and brimming with absurd, irreverent, and sometimes dark humor. The writing is clean and goes down smooth. The absolute best part is the characters, particularly the MC, Bogart. So far, the rest of the cast seems to rely on preexisting tropes/archetypes from DnD. This in itself isn't an issue as they're done well; however, I suspect there is more going on here than meets the eye and can't wait to see what wild direction the author takes this in.
  Readers beware, you stand the chance of getting hooked at the first line and may end up binging the entire thing like I did.
• KoboldPatrolRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  (as of chapter 12)
  This is a very interesting story and I was instantly hooked. With an unusual species as the MC (goblin) and an even more unusual occupation for that species (adventurer), the author is building a story far from the norm. That the author knows how to write well is not hurting either.
  What it's about: After being promised money and citizen rights, and not really having a better option, Bogart the goblin finds himself a member of an adventurer party. But it is not going to be easy in civilization, because everybody hates goblins. At least Bogart has no overblown goals or pesky morals, he just wants riches and food and be able to do what he wants. Should be doable, doesn't it?
  The story is told in first-person limited style from Bogart's point of view. Word choice is good and the descriptions are fine, the prose feels natural. The pacing is quick with lots of things happening without significant downtime, yet it does not feel rushed. Grammar is very good, with few, small errors.
  Characters: Due to the first-person narration which shows Bogarts thoughts, we get detailed information about his motives. Those are rather straightforward and base, but he is from the lowest rung of (not even) society, so that's completely fine. This early in the story we have not seen much character growth, but the groundwork is laid for that. Bogart is not stupid in how he acts, on the contrary, he's rather shrewd. Just sometimes his savage instincts try to take over, for us readers that's an interesting struggle to watch.
  The other characters are so far a bit stereotypical, but this might change when they get a bit more spotlight. They are still interesting even with the little we saw.
• John Doe 123Royal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  Written at chapter 33
  Goblin-Mode is an okay story in a sort of Grimdark world. It is not bad at all. But I saw Goblin MC and Anti-Hero adventurer and that gave me some expectations that I don't think it delivered on.
  The current story cover features a goblin running from a mimic with gold coins everywhere and the captions "For the Loot". That could not be further from the current story. After the introduction arc, it quickly becomes clear that the MC is neutrally aligned with a hint of good, and the overall goal of the story becomes to save the world. Not to loot.
  There is still some money-making going on and the base greed of a goblin is still hinted at from time to time. But there is a stark difference between focusing on money and gold to having it as a side-thing.
  The explanation is that the Goblin MC is actually a nice guy who grew up in a bad environment and is now getting a chance to be the good guy he was always meant to be.
  The story description promises:
  "For fame and fortune! Maybe even to save the world. But mostly for fame and fortune!"
  But a more apt description would have been:
  "To save the world! Maybe even for fame and fortune. But mostly to save the world!"
  The story might change its focus in the second book, but I doubt it. For being unclear in the description and for setting up false expectations, I deduct a star down from a 4/5 to a 3/5.
  P.S. Please note that the start of the story does seem to deliver on the promises I have mentioned, but it changes with the arc that starts in chapter 16.