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  • Master of None

  • All Trades, Book 1
  • Written by: Shane Walker
  • Narrated by: Nick Podehl
  • Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (26 ratings)

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Master of None

Written by: Shane Walker
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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Publisher's Summary

Alex is broke.

He's pretty much always been broke. A misspent youth led to mistakes that led to convictions and plea deals. No career, no education, no hope.

Now he has a chance to make things right for him and his family when the newest immersive MMO comes with the ability to convert money earned in the game into real currency. Well, it's cryptocurrency, but that's real-ish, right? Seeing an opportunity, Alex joins The Realms as Jack Alltrades, looking to make money any way he can. He may be a Master of None, but he's determined to learn every way possible to make money and turn his life around. Along the way, he'll find answers to important questions like:

  • Can he win employee of the month?
  • Do gnomes dream of electric sheep?
  • How many kobolds does it take to swing a pickaxe?
  • Can NPCs commit tax fraud?

Okay, maybe he won't answer most of those, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't come follow the high-margin adventures of Jack Alltrades!

©2019 Shane Walker (P)2020 Podium Audio

What listeners say about Master of None

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

review

So as we all know this is a lit.RPG story. the premise is basically the same with all these books. the author is making an interesting twist by mixing the characters personal life with the game world. Nick Podehl also does an amazing job with the reading and I enjoy listening to him in other projects as well. my recommendation to the author would be to try and add more depth to the battles. more descriptive words that could help us visualize the story better. I honest found the parts about him creating his wealth more interesting then the combat. still a really good book and if he can somehow make the battles more descriptive and interesting then I would definitely pick up the second book. I am a lit.RPG fan big time and hope that he can really build on this and give us something a little more intense! make me feel like I'm in that world 🌎!


Shane Walker you got a decent start to a possible exciting series I'm excited to see what you do with book 2.

1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Best Nick Podehl Performance

I’ve listen to a number of books narrated by Nick Podehl and this is by far his best performance.
The book itself was pretty fun too.

1 person found this helpful

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Hot damn

I could not put this book down, it was so interesting and different from other litrpg books while still filling like a proper litrpg novel. Even if it is a be litrpg.

Nick podehl great as always.

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Nick at his best!

Nick Podel is the perfect narrorator for this book. I found it very enjoyable with an even split between company building/crafting and adventure.

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It is fun story

It is little rough on edge. But I say it is diamond on rough. Fun

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  • David R
  • 2020-07-22

Meh, Unrealistic and not Exciting

So, this is a story about a player who decided to chose an ability in a brand new game where he can't do magic but can become a crafting genius and can hold multiple job classes because of it. There are quite a few things that make this story unrealistic and that the MC is a Garry Sue character.

First it says "master of none" yet he can master all the classes he can take in terms of crafting, and in actuality he can level them faster AND do it BETTER than the people who didn't take this talent and skill only in those jobs. Example is in the book he out blacksmiths the "incredibly talented brothers" and then out levels and out does them in less than 1 weeks playing time. Even though all they do day and night is smith. There are more but I'll leave it at that one.

Another thing, the MC is able to make items in less than 7 days of playing the game that the inhabitants of the world are unable to do in their several thousand year history. And it isn't "O I come from a world of tech" thing either it is like basic stuff like steel armor. His is just better because he is "the master of none"! Which again doesn't make any sense.

Then he is getting world firsts in several profession in the game even though he doesn't spend all of his time on it. He can spend 1/5th the time on any of these jobs and somehow manages to be get world first in ALL of them and is higher level than anybody in ALL of them.... the few I remember off the top of my head are alchemist, blacksmith, merchant, ranger, and thief, and there are more. Now in order to get these professions he needs to get 5 related skills in each of those job categories to lvl 10. Which not only does he do, but he gets them to lvl 20-30 by the time the people who only focused on one gets them to 10 or 12. In the entire book there is no other player who succeeds at anything that he hasn't already done like last week while also soloing dungeons and working on other professions.

O! He is SOO smart, he solved the problem with the thieves guild. You see, he convinced them that you should only steal from nobles, (who by the way in this book aren't corrupt and actually do their job) because of course rich people have extra money and it is OK to steel from them and everybody is happy!

Then lastly, he enters into several contracts where like it sounds good but if he made those deals in real life he would get screwed over SOO bad. Like taking a LIFE LONG flat rate deal for iron at 2G per bar that he is obligated to deliver and cannot get out of. When inflation kicks in and 20 years from now and the guy who is selling the bars for him is selling them for 20g and only giving him 2g... HAHAHAHA noob got swindled. but that won't happen to our MC Gary Sue because the author has made sure that no matter what dumb thing the MC does it is the right thing!

The MC's past is really boringly cliché, he was a gangster teen that tried to get out and got his sudo family shot in a drive by because of course you wouldn't quietly getting out and once you had money and power protect the people he loved. NOO! The MC announced it and had a big party and spit in the crime lords face.

So basically, the MC is dumb but presented as a genius, or maybe the author doesn't know about economics, people, or politics and so they think they are making the MC smart, but no... the MC is dumb and is rewarded for all his "smart" choices and everybody in the new game he plays thinks he is the next Steve Jobs and throws rose petals at his feet for being so smart for solving the world problems. That last line is actually true, he is single handedly solving the game worlds problems of economics and crime and hunger.... as said so in the book.....

OTHER THAN THAT it was ok. I guess. The stats kinda don't mean anything when the MC gets like 8 levels every 3 hours in w/e he wants for no reason. The side characters are ok unless they are interacting with the MC then they turn into stupid idolizing noobs.

This book wasn't so bad I had to return it, but I don't think I will ever re-read this. So maybe I will return it. Maybe this was intended to be more of a YA book and that's why it is so not like real interactions with people and everybody becomes friends and share because kindergarten rules. Dunno, but if you are looking for excitement, actual problem solving, overcoming struggles, or realistic human interaction, this book isn't it.

74 people found this helpful

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  • Marcus R Griffin
  • 2020-08-02

Worst Book I Ever Listened To

This is hands down the worst novel I've ever wasted my time listening to. Here's a bullet list of why:

- There's hardly any descriptions at all. This is a novel, a fantasy, a new world, and we don't even get so much as character descriptions? Really?
- The main character has notification going off every 5 seconds. Half the book is "You were hit for 3 damage" repeated over and over.
- The main character swears in every sentence non-stop. Like really? Is he 5? I thought he was supposed to be a con-man, how come his silver tongue is never shown and instead he has the vocabulary of a 12 year old playing Call of duty?
- Unoriginal plot, boring characters, auto-huge money making set up for main character with huge lucky level gains cuz plot armor?
- This isn't 1st person, 2nd, or 3rd. Instead, the main character is talking to you, the listener half the time, then the Pov switches to first person, then goes to 3rd person, only for him to make a joke in his head then tell the reader he didn't try to make a pun! Really?
- Unoriginal skills, explanation of some things we know but nothing else.
- SOOO much show and never any tell. As I've said before, no descriptions, the characters words and actions don't mash with his back story, and nothing is explained or told instead there's just random "you dodged attack" notification for every movement.
- Main character being stupidly high level things by poking it a bunch.

And this was all within the first 2 hours. This is like the Land, an already not good novel, watered down and stripped of everything interesting it had going for it and replaced with cuss words and more notifications. Like really?! How do you add in more notifications then the land??!

14 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Christopher
  • 2020-07-21

Not bad, but not great. Won’t be for everyone.

The majority of this book is a linear recitation of the MC’s day to day activities. We follow him around as he levels up his character and trains and does quests. Interesting things happen but for the most part there’s not much of an actual plot until very near the end of the book.

I found it entertaining enough to follow along through to the end without feeling put off by the lack of a story arc, but I imagine that might not work for some listeners. Of course Nick Podehl is such a good narrator that to some extent it might be the quality of his performance that kept me engaged.

In the end this was a decent way to pass some quarantine time. If you’re a GameLit fan and you’ve listened to all the really good LitRPGs on Audible, then this audiobook will probably be a better choice than the super-cringey harem nonsense, and the poorly written fanfic LitRPGs that are all that’s left after you’ve burned through the actual good stuff that’s available on Audible.

11 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Marlon
  • 2020-07-21

Overall Good

I enjoyed it, I could say it was one of the better LitRPG books. I found that it was good, but still think that it needed a bit more stronger on the side of being willing to kill people. An ex-gangster is unwilling to kill people to move ahead in a game is bit unreal to me. Let's see how the next one goes.

6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Mike Wiz
  • 2020-08-27

Solid LitRPG... easy ride

This is a LitRPG that has a lot of stats but doesn't feel stat focused...
I enjoy all levels of tension that can be displayed in a story, but I found this to be such an easy ride.

Nick Podehl kills this much like he does everything...

The main character quickly gets pretty OP compared to others at his level and gains a TON of loot and holdings "way earlier than expected". So pretty straightforward and well trodden road that most all others in this genre travel.

While I doubt you find much in this story that isn't, in part, everywhere else across the genre, Shane Walker somehow found a tone that makes this feel fresh.

I can already tell I will be revisiting this story for easy escape.

... I went ahead to read the next few books and I feel like Walker gets it. Not everything needs to be new and amazing. Sometimes... most times we just want the hits.

Beyond that, I get the feeling he doesnt take himself too seriously and we can really feel that through his MC and how playful some of the writing is. Chapter title puns... callbacks to other popular LitRPG stories... good stuff here

OH! and he actually folds most of the exposition about rules into dialogue.

4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • OldManModo
  • 2020-09-17

Fantastic

Nick Podehl does a stellar job, as always, bringing the characters to life and lending easy to grasp emotion to the dialogue.
While the writing could be more colorful, the story flows at a decent pace and characters have enough depth to connect to them without any opinion formed of them feeling forced.
The only flaw I'd say is that the main character comes off as rather cowardly at times when remembering his past, but I guess that's a personal distain for his fear of confrontation. Would be nice to see him embrace the detached and unrivaled focus raw deep rooted pain and rage can foster.

Spoiler alert:


Hopefully will see some actual clinical thought when he deals with his old criminal "friends". Either getting a suitable law enforcement agency involved or simply doing what money affords one by hiring some mercenaries to deal with the extortion on his behalf. His seedy background would afford him the knowledge of such things so hopefully he doesn't act like the awful trope of being afraid of killing to solve a problem many protagonists fall victim to.

3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Garett
  • 2020-09-04

A breath of fresh air

I was looking for a new book, browsing my recommended. Found Master of None, never heard of this guy. Guess I'll give it a shot. Pleasently surprised to find a look with a compelling fleshed out MC, believable side characters. Fun combat, out of the box thinking, and a fun business empire in the making feel. The MC isn't an over-powered 99 luck stat guy, he uses his head and life experience to get through by the skin of his teeth. Overall a new author with hopefully a good future ahead.

3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Megan Budnik
  • 2020-09-06

Solid LitRPG + Nick Podehl = winner

Solid Litrpg. I liked the levity of the main character (MC), and all the colorful support characters. I also liked all the different professions, and how the MC really comes into his own towards the end of the book, using his skills in unconventional ways! This was a fun book for me to read, with the MC not taking himself too seriously, and the Nick outdoing himself to bring that fun personality off the page!

Things that could be improved:
-The repetitive damage notifications during battle were a bit jarring to hear. Luckily, this doesn’t happen as often later on in the book, but at the beginning, the 9 back-to-back repetitions of “7 damage done to X monster” was a bit annoying and made me want to skip ahead.
-I think some of the world-building/mechanics weren’t explained thoroughly. As an example, the skill cap and its relation to intelligence. Maybe I missed it, but the MC is always talking about how he needs more INT so he can get more (skills or skill levels?), but the exact relation is unclear. Also, how is our MC getting all these world firsts? I get that he got lucky early on and has a rare perk, but how is he THAT ahead of the curve, especially compared to players who started in kingdoms that don’t have a war on, like with the elves or dwarves? I ended up catching myself a few times asking myself what was going on with a few small things.
-Lacking a bit in the overarching plot, but the drive of the MC isn’t just ‘making money for the sake of money’, which was my impression from the description. I think the next book will be even more interesting though, with all the groundwork and hints laid down in this book!

Overall I would count this as a solid 4 stars that Nick’s narration brings up to 4.5 stars. The biggest problem is that the narration of the second book isn’t done yet! *sigh*

2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Joshua
  • 2020-12-31

hope to listen to more of your work

business with VR love it. would love to hear more about Jack Alltrades and Alltrades inc.

1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Keonah
  • 2020-12-05

Fun characters, witty banter, and a great story

Well worth the credit. I greatly enjoyed this book. If you like LitRPG books then you will love this. I wasn't overwhelmed with game stats constantly and the characters had great relationships. The MC had a very believable progression and the situations that he worked through were interesting. The writing style kept me engaged and I look forward to seeing these characters again.

1 person found this helpful