Meet Your Maker

What makes it funny?

The jokes reach outside Bruce’s predicament to the people telling it. An audiobook review describes an extravagantly written story-within-the-story opening, pop-culture borrowings and jokes aimed at the real authors and narrator.

The comedy at work

Knowing how a fantasy world was written gives Bruce an unusual advantage, but he still has to get through it as a beginner. The book also lets its writers and performer become targets, repeatedly drawing attention to the storytelling while Bruce struggles with its consequences.

Try this if…

Self-aware fantasy, leveling and conspicuous pop-culture references are central attractions. An appetite for long comic speeches will help; the independent audiobook reviewer found those speeches tiring, even while praising McClain’s timing.

Good to know

McClain also narrates the audiobook. The cited reviewer describes frequent loud vocal effects, including bellowing and screeching, so listeners sensitive to emphatic performances may want to sample it first.