Master of Puppets: Master of Puppets, Book 1

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 252 ratings

Price: 29.66

Last update: 01-19-2025


About this item

He thought he was ready for the apocalypse. Then it happened...

A Secret Service operative and dedicated survivalist, Special Agent Del Roosevelt had a plan for every world-ending scenario and regularly trained for them all.

He was even ready for a date with the hottest woman in his office next Friday. At least he hoped so.

But all that training, all those rations, all that prepping? Useless for the apocalypse that actually played out. Del wakes up half-buried in a giant trash pile, missing his thumbs. And, um, covered in red fur.

He's stuck in a world of fuzzy monsters, senseless violence, and cult-like crusaders. Instead of falling back on known strategy, or making smart decisions based on, I don't know, logic, Del kind of just freaks out. Big time.

He knows he's got to get to the top of the tower he's in to find the wizard who presumably turned him into a living toy. Will the help of an academic rat and an exiled little dinosaur get him there? Doubtful.

But in all his failing, in all his traipsing around as a silly little red doll, Del starts to realize how ridiculous his life as a prepper actually was. After all, what's the point in surviving if you have no one to live for?

Master of Puppets is the first book in an all-new LitRPG adventure by Eric Ugland, bestselling author of The Good Guys series. Strap in for an immersive adventure full of quests, powerful magic, tower climbing, leveling up, wise-cracking landlords, and murderous cookies.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Dan in Michigan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, some problems dealing with a MC who is a fuzzy muppet-like doll
    Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2024
    I love Eric Ugland's writing. The characters are well-constructed, interesting, have actual motivations and challenges. This is an absolutely great book from that perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

    OTOH, the MC is more or less a muppet. Yeah, a fuzzy doll, basically an isekaied human stuck in a fuzzy doll body. So incredibly weird it was hard to suspend disbelief and get into the story for the first several chapters. That said, it was totally worth getting into the story after the first several chapters. Ugland has demonstrated an amazing ability to craft deep, heroic, flawed characters who live in a dense plot and a wonderfully built world. If you look at Ugland's other series -- Good Guys / Bad Guys -- his stories are consistent in that they are well-plotted, placed in an interesting and complex world system, the characters develop significantly over time (not just in litRPG progression but in terms of their actual character, self discovery, and relationships with others), and the romantic aspects are focused on romance and building a relationship rather than the unfortunately common trope in this genre of how many different combinations of Tab A into Slot B can the author describe.

    Ugland's wit, style, world-building, and character development have made him into one of my favorite authors. So much a favorite that I'll take a chance on reading about a muppet and then be really glad I did. This is a great book.
  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Just misses the mark for me
    Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2024
    I love the basic premise, and the world building is sound, but it hits just off the mark for me. It's very slow starting, and sometimes the plot is a little strange, but once you get into it, it's worth it. Just not a "can't put down" page turner for me.
  • Heidi Z.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully funny
    Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2024
    Eric Ugland for sure had a blast writing this book, and I am confident that this series will continue on for some time and his skill at keep long series interesting is wonderful. I loved this book, from the humor to an MC not being all-knowing and admitting to flaws, to hilarious creatures and interactions, Ugland has done it once again!
  • Shawn Higgins
    3.0 out of 5 stars A change of pace
    Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2024
    As always, Eric does an excellent job at writing engaging and fulfilling banter between his characters, and this was the highlight of the book for me. Eric also does a good job portraying action scenes, and these did not disappoint, especially the comic undertones.
    There were creative monsters and imaginative beasts. I think the crumbling death were by far the most unique and comical creations. The Higgins gets a close second.
    I had a hard time following the MC logic as the story progressed, he seemed like an individual that would heavily plan his actions based on his backstory, but he seemed very spontaneous with a bit of Montana shining through. It would have been a more palatable story to have more thought put into the actions of the MC. He’s a strategist at work and a doomsday planner…
    Additionally, the storyline progressed almost in a sawtooth fashion, where I felt like I was being jerked along in highs and lows. The introduction and progression of the characters was abrupt and somewhat uncharacteristic from prior works (potentially rushed?). While I enjoyed the humanistic qualities during conversations and banter, I think it could have had some more spice if the characters were portrayed more with idiosyncrasies brought by species traits.
    Based on the other series, I was anticipating a clever entrance into this new world. I am a little disappointed that something rolled off a shelf, bonked his head, and he was transported.
    The land the MC finds himself is interesting. I kept thinking of Montana’s bag of holding from the good guys, and how he’s always throwing anything he can find into it.
    A creative writing Eric, always a pleasure to read.
  • Small Group Facilitator
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lewis Carroll Wept…
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2024
    … because Sterling wasn’t his character. Or maybe it was Jerome K. Jerome. Absurdly funny. Good MC & world building, but Sterling sets a charming tone as Best Supporting Character.
  • Craig G
    2.0 out of 5 stars too much internal dialogue
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024
    I wanted to like it. The characters are interesting but the internal dialogue killed it for me. I loved the first chapter and would have rather of read that book.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eh
    Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2024
    If you like the other books you'll probably like this one too. Personally I found it a bit slow and underwhelming compared to the good guys or bad guys. And remarkably similar in many ways. Transfer to a new world. Confusion. A system voice granting abilities. Only difference is a strange body. And obviously miniature world with trash monsters, a talking rat and toys that are people. Like toy story kinda with magic. Huh? Weird. But will probably still read the next book. Chuckled a couple times. And curious about where its going, just like with the good guys and bad guys.
  • Hailey V.
    4.0 out of 5 stars weird
    Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2024
    This book was weird. But it was good. I really enjoyed the humor throughout it, especially with the Crumbling Death.

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