The Tournament of Supervillainy by C.T. Phipps Narrator: Jeffrey Kafer
Series: The Supervillainy Saga #5
Published by Crossroad Press on January 4, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
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Being a supervillain was all Gary ever wanted to be but the constant beatings, moral ambiguity, and the fact he now has a young daughter to look after have caused him to reconsider his career path. As he debates making a jump to the "other side", Gary finds himself recruited by Death to serve as her champion in a multiversal tournament for the ultimate prize: anything you could desire!
Gary and a oddball collection of champions from a variety of universes must prevent the prize from falling into the hands of the genocidal space wizard Entropicus! He also must discover just where his heart really lies when his two closest loves reveal shocking secrets.
Guest starring Jane Doe from I Was a Teenage Weredeer, Agent G from Agent G: Infiltrator, and Cassius Mass from Lucifer's Star.
So, it’s been a while since I’ve listened to a book in the Supervillainy Saga series, but I’m excited to be back in the world of Gary Karkofsky, aka Merciless. The Tournament of Supervillany is a bit different as Gary and the gang are put into a tournament, which is an interesting new challenge for Gary.
The author continues to follow several superhero tropes, while thumbing his nose at the tropes too. He also combines his universes with guest to Gary’s world. I loved seeing Agent G from Agent G series and Jane Doe from Bright Falls Mysteries series (the weredeer, whose family has a thing for puns). There is also Cassius Mass from Lucifer’s Star, which is one of two series I haven’t read by Phipps. If you haven’t read these other series, that’s okay, but you will want to read the earlier books in this series.
So Death puts Gary into this tournament with Jane, Agent G and Cassius (new to this series) along with his normal sidekicks. The person who wins the tournament gets an orb that will give you one wish, with no rules. Needless to say, everyone wants this orb. Death doesn’t want the other side to have it, because the other side wants to end the world with it. Hence, Gary saving the world once again.
Phipps also includes his trademark snark and cultural references. There is a comment in the book about having a PhD in Nerd, well, you don’t actually need a PhD, but a Master’s wouldn’t be bad. There are references to all the different superhero comics, not to mention a lot of Star Wars (and boy, did Phipps not like The Last Jedi), Buffy, and even Harry Dresden is referenced. I’m sure there are some jokes I didn’t get, because I just wasn’t familiar, but that’s okay. There are so many jokes, you’ll get enough of them.
This is a fun series. If you’re looking for a fun series with a supervillain who can’t help but save the world, this is a series you should really try.
Narration
Jeffrey Kafer does an amazing job narrating this series. He’s great with male and female voices (and there’s a lot of different voices in this series), not to mention Gary’s daughter Leia. Kafer is also great at bringing out the snark in a series. He even does writes a second forward to this book. Kafer is a great narrator. If you haven’t tried him yet, you really must.
About Jeffrey Kafer
An award-winning, Los Angeles audiobook narrator, Jeffrey Kafer has performed over 375 titles in all genres from indie authors to bestsellers.
About C.T. Phipps
C.T. Phipps is a lifelong student of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. An avid tabletop gamer, he discovered this passion led him to write and turned him into a lifelong geek. He is a regular reviewer at The United Federation of Charles and the author of Agent G, Cthulhu Armageddon, The Red Room series, Lucifer’s Star, Straight Outta Fangton, and The Supervillainy Saga.
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I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
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This DOES sound like a fun series! I enjoyed your review, Melanie. I’ve not seen anything like this before.
I love this series. There is another similar, but different series (also read by Kafer) called The Shadow Master by M.K. Gibson. I’ve reviewed them on Hot Listens. Both are a lot of fun.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Each time you review them, I think they sound wildly fun. I know I would be missing stuff right and left since my comic and pop culture knowledge isn’t as developed. Neat how he crossed over with his series.
I enjoy Kafer’s work so that’s an even bigger bonus to getting onto this series.
He references everything from Star Wars and Star Trek to Buffy to Harry Dresden and others. I don’t get all of the references, but I think I get most of them. I think you would enjoy even if you don’t have a PhD in nerd. LOL
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
This always sounds like so much fun. I will need to put it on my bloated TBR. It is a different kind of fantasy than the historical type stuff and I need more superpowers in my life.
I really love super hero type stories. I always go to opening night for all the DC and Marvel movies. So this is right up my alley.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
I love villains and now we have a super villain. Sounds super to me. 🙂
I love the whole superhero/supervillain genre. I’m at every Marvel and DC opening night. I do also read comics, but not as much as I listen to audiobooks in that genre.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
This totally sounds fun. I love the weredeer concept and puns are great. I’ll have to check it out.
I’ve really enjoyed the weredeer series. There’s two books out so far (at least on audio).
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Ooooh now I want to try book 1!
This series is really fun. I hope you enjoy as much as I have.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
This sounds like fun! I have liked this author’s work in the past so I should try out this series. Great review!
I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve read from this author. He always makes me laugh.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Glad to hear you liked it. It does sound good but I haven’t read any of the books yet.
I’ve really enjoyed this series.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
This series sounds so fun 😀
And yes I must try the narrator
Jeffrey Kafer is great. I hope you get a chance to try this series. I think you would enjoy it.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Oh… I forgot about this series. I put it on my wish list when you first started reviewing them. Glad to see it holds up!!
This has been a fun series. Book three is a little slow, but it picks back up in these latest two books. This author is a lot of fun. It’s a lot like The Shadow Master books, but different. And you still get Kafer as the narrator. Again, his narration is a little bit different for this one.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart