I should begin by acknowledging that NetGalley gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What is life like for the people in fantasy towns beset by Adventurers looking for their next quest? Adventurers who wantonly destroy property and kill anything and anyone they come across as they seek the high that comes from obtaining ‘Experience’. Why has this career recently become the choice of so many?

And what about those like Eric, the owner of Beast Be Gone? He’s an expert in monster pest control; he can rid areas of monsters because he knows what attracts or repels them, and how to negotiate their withdrawal in a way that benefits everyone. Thanks to the adventurers, he’s going out of business.

As Eric tries to get to the bottom of what or who is behind this rapid and puzzling world change, he encounters Rose, a girl from a Western country, who uses technology instead of magic (much to his chagrin), and a mimic named Larry who prefers to retain the form of a piece of furniture. Alternatively, we occasionally follow a little goblin named Squee as he naively pursues his hopes for a good career as a minion for the Dark Master. Finally, we see the perspective of the adventurer, shown to us through the exploits of Xenixala, an increasingly powerful sorceress with a sentient magic book as a familiar, who is introduced with newer, and more extravagant titles and achievements, with each passing chapter.

The book’s viewpoint is fun and quirky, an amalgam of fantasy gaming meets Terry Pratchett meets Free Guy, but it did have a few problems. First, the pacing wasn’t as quick as I would have liked. This may be because of problem number two, the story seemed somewhat predictable to me. Maybe I’ve just read too much fantasy and satire, or perhaps the author is a little TOO good at subtle foreshadowing, but, for me, nothing came as a truly funny surprise.

There was also a formatting problem with the mobi file on NetGalley that made the manuscript difficult to read. Fortunately, that issue has been resolved on Amazon’s website, and I’m finding it a much greater pleasure to read the second time through.

Yes, I’m reading it again. It’s a cute and clever tale, even if I know what’s going to happen. Maybe even better than Iron Man 2.

Beast Be Gone By: A Billington is a somewhat satire fantasy novel. It plays on a lot of common fantasy sci-fi jokes and makes fun of them while still fighting monsters and building the world. While I did find this somewhat enjoyable it just dragged for me. It's definitely a good book just not particularly my taste in writing style. Overall I do recommend.

Disclaimer: I received a reader copy for review.

Beast Be Gone is a hilarious parody on fantasy adventure. For anyone who's played Elder Scrolls, DnD, or any other RPG. Beast Be Gone is a humorous book that will have you laughing at yourself.

I enjoyed Beast Be Gone. The beginning is a little slow. It spends a lot of time setting up the world before the story really begins. I wish that the plot picked up a lot sooner. I didn't really get engrossed in the story until about 35% through the book.

The humor fluctuated between funny and tasteful parody, and the occasional call out. I wasn't too big a fan of the straight callouts, but there were parts of this book that had me laughing out loud, and calling down my brother to read a section.

I think that I was expecting even more of an NPC vibe off of Eric, but overall I think the story was great and the setup for things was amazing.

The ending of the book felt a little rushed to me. I wanted to take a little more time for characters to figure eachother out before they were fighting the big bad of the book.

I think that there was sequel bait at the end but I don't see a need for a sequel. The book went in, said what it wanted to sat, and got out.
I enjoyed it, but don't need to see more of it.

I rate this book PG-14 for language, adult themes, and violence and gore.

Eric, a shop owner with a horrifying event in his past, needs a new apprentice. Hopefully a smarter one this time. His business is pest control, Beast Be Gone. Pretty much anything except dragons. But business is getting worse.

There are tangent stories that weave in and around this one, which make the story more interesting and unique. It shows an unusual level of storytelling.

Existence is difficult in this world turned upside-down by wealth, evil, and magic. Where lives are ended with little more emotion than a blink, and the current fad is to be an adventurer; involving killing creatures for a tiny fraction of their power or life force. There is also widespread abuse of elixir among adventurers--which is intended to heal wounds--but is very addictive and creates a diminishing high. As more adventurers "appear," and fewer people tend to growing food and other important jobs, there are more deaths all around, and a lot of money is being made by someone, but not the regular folks.

The book began with humor, but within several chapters, it turns dark, and the PG-14 content picks up momentum until it becomes grim and plodding. The witches introductions continue to be creative, but they've lost their power to amuse. Then the story shares the bookshelf with most others about humans versus witches versus creatures treated as monsters.

The things that had been interesting and original disappear in a cloud of dust, and are replaced by literal commentaries on being "The Chosen One," or a bandit king, or a paladin or a famous and accomplished witch. Or the freedom of being a regular person, being oppressed, driven out of business, and killed repeatedly (if you can afford the gold coins to be brought back). So, based on the roughly 1/5 of the book that delivered humor, I think it hardly qualifies to be in that category.

I had hopes for the storyline and the plot, I really did. But they died a slow death, smothered primarily by clichés and crude language. It felt like the focus of the story--the happy questing--took a sharp turn. I finished the book, but there was no sense of satisfaction. Because by then, I was avidly looking forward to an end, and disappointed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the preview of this ebook.

2/5 Stars

#BeastBeGone #NetGalley

Note for the publisher:
I suggest labelling and marketing this book in "Magic and Questing" so it will hint to readers that fighting will be involved. To partly prepare them for the literal bloodbaths to come.

Was macht ein NPC in einem typischen Rollenspiel oder Computerspiel wenn seine Existenz von Abenteurern bedroht wird? Und gibt es vielleicht sogar eine große Verschwörung? Diese und andere Fragen werden sehr amüsant und mit vielen Referenzen und Klischees in diesem Buch beantwortet. Auch stilistisch ist es gut geschrieben und schwer aus der Hand zu legen. Eindeutig eine Empfehlung für jeden der Fantasy mag und kein Problem damit hat wenn es nicht so ernst ist.