Temporary Monsters Audiobook By Craig Shaw Gardner cover art

Temporary Monsters

The Temporary Magic Series, Book 1

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Temporary Monsters

By: Craig Shaw Gardner
Narrated by: Thomas Machin
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About this listen

Lenny Hodge is a young man with certain abilities - special talents that even he doesn't understand. It is only when he joins Terrifitemps (the temporary employment agency that secretly controls the world) and meets his new team - a psychic, a vampire, a ghost hunter, and a werevole (yes, a werevole) - that Lenny realizes how much his special talent will put him in jeopardy.

But it's worth it, right? Hasn't Lenny always wanted to save the world?

©2016 Craig Shaw Gardner (P)2017 David N. Wilson
Classics Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Funny Mind-Bending Scary Witty Comedy
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What listeners say about Temporary Monsters

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Scary good fun`

Characters are unique and fleshed out, the narrator does a great job getting there voices different. The story does drag a butt on the carpet a bit but then it takes off and your glued to the words.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another light hearted addition from Mr Gardner

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, A fun light listen

What other book might you compare Temporary Monsters to and why?

This book is, in many ways, much like many other of Mr Gardner's

Have you listened to any of Thomas Machin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This seems to be my first encounter with Mr Machin's work. But I look forward to future works form him.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, It's a good story, but it seems to follow the same formula as many of Mr Gardner's previous works.

Any additional comments?

First, to get it out of the way, "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
With that said, anyone who has ever read, or listened to any of Craig Shaw Gardner's earlier works can be prepared for more of the same. He writes with a familiar formula that tells a fun lighted hearted story that entertains the reader/listener. If you are looking for an epic with deep meaning, you will disappointed.
If you have never encountered Mr Gardner's work, have no fear. This is a great story to introduce your self to his works.
Mr Machin's narration of this book is a superb compliment to this book. Making the story that much more enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Temporary Monsters

Any additional comments?

It took awhile for me to get into the story. I really like the quirky characters. The narrator seemed to hit his stride third way into the book. I would recommend this book to my friends. I received this audiobook for free from Audiobook Boom for my unbiased review.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A cute story

Wonderful for young adults. This is one I would let my children read. I received this audiobook for free and voluntarily reviewed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Funny and Strange

The narrator made the story really funny. Although it was hard for me to follow at times I gave it a four star because it was well developed. The plot and subplots as well as the characters. I am not a fan of slapstick comedy and that is what this was. There was adventure, magic, strange creatures, paranormal and "normal" whatever that is. The scene near the end where they finally got the director to stop asking for corndogs was just plain weird. The author still managed to end with a somewhat cliffhanger so you know there is another book coming. These types of endings boggle my mind. If you can create a story you can create an ending that will lead you to another book while not ending in a cliffhanger. I got this book via audiobook boom.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting listen

Where does Temporary Monsters rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably in my top 50 favorites.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lenny himself. Throughout the whole audio Lenny thinks that his life is a disaster and reflects upon himself. Through the story we learn more about Lenny, as does he, and sees that the problems in his life are not his fault.

Have you listened to any of Thomas Machin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Thomas Machin's other performances but compared to some other audio books where the humor didn't really come out, it ranks up there near the top of my list.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Bob the Pookah disturbs the Dimm Supervisor. Bob had irritated me listening to it, but when it hit this scene and Dimm Supervisor is waylayed and left rather disturbed left me laughing. This scene explained alot about Bob and why the Dimm minions were afraid of him.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Kind of Abbott and Costello are Frankenstein Dracula

I was given this audiobook for free the agreement I would leave an honest review. I think it was because of the narration that I enjoyed this book so much. The story though over silly worked because the narrator was able to take it and make it A bit classier than it would've been if I had read the printed version

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Still funny after all these years.

Any additional comments?

I received a copy of this audio title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

Wow, new Craig Shaw Gardner! I fell in love with fantasy books back in grade school and high school, with a special fondness for humor based fantasy, as such some of my favorite authors at that time were Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, and, yes you guessed it , Craig Shaw Gardner. I still have very fond memories of his Ebenezum series, his Wuntvor series, and his Cineverse cycle series. In fact I still have my old paperbacks. I must admit I wasn't even aware he was still writing, but what a wonderful surprise. Temporary Monster is the first book in a new series and I am thrilled to have found it. Not even sure how to describe what the book is about, it's just pure silly fun. I wouldn't say it's as good as either his Ebenezum or Wuntvor series, but then those two series have strong nostalgia for more, so a comparison really wouldn't be fair, but as I said it is pure silly fun. The cast of characters is great and the story is just wacky fun.

This is the first book I've heard by Thomas Machin...and doing a search here on audible I am shocked to see it's his only one!! How is that possible? Is this seriously the first book he has done? If so...WOW. The guy is fantastic. Some narrators can do 'voices' and some can't. (Of course there are some who think they can when they can't and no one has been nice enough to tell them that they can't, but let's not talk about those. Thomas Machin CAN do voice. He totally brings every single character to life. I'm honestly not sure who I liked best...no, that's not true. The Barron (aka the group's vampire) is great as is Karnowski (the groups ghost finder), but hands down my favorite had to be Bob the blue pooka! Not only were his parts funny has heck, the voice Machin uses for him was a riot. I seriously hope to see more from Machin in the future.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good

This is an ok story. The narration was good the story was a little discombobulated but it had its moments of humor and it was entertaining.

I received this book for free for an unbiased review

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fun fantasy romp

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I really enjoyed this book's characters and their crazy personalities. This really reminded me of the old king's quest games. Very silly and full of all of the traditional fantasy elements. All in all, it was just fun, nothing serious.

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