Stranded

Stranded #1

by Vlad ben Avorham

With a flash and a bang, a West Texas truck stop, and all of its employees and customers, take an unexpected and unexplained trip into a parallel universe. Bad enough to be cut off from all they have ever known, this random group of survivors soon find themselves set upon by monsters out of a fantasy novel. It is a fight to survive in on a world where they do not know the rules. The impossible here, seems to only be unusual. Will they be able to make a life for themselves, or will they simply be devoured by forces beyond their control?

Genres: Fantasy

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2024

Reviews

[Gus Smedstad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a mediocre “modern people get transported into a primitive world” book. In this case, the world is literally that of Dungeons and Dragons. It has owlbears, a monster specific to the D&D mythos.

The weak point is mostly that things go too easily. For example, the truck stop has solar panels for power, though there’s no mention of whether there’s battery storage. The book also glosses over where the water is coming from, even though it’s mentioned that the showers still work. There are a couple of combat encounters which the castaways easily win with modern guns, and the locals are super-impressed with the random junk they have to trade.

It’s pretty weak tea compared to books like Island in the Sea of Time.

The protagonist is a lieutenant in the Air Force, a fact he throws around to justify grabbing authority a bit too much. It’s a little hard to swallow since being a LT means you’re a very inexperienced officer. Kind of like declaring you should be in charge because you were the night manager at a Wendy's. I’d have bought into it a bit more if he were at least a captain.

There’s sleaziness in the background. The protagonist has a 16 year old girl following him around who makes clear she’s interested in him sexually. His thought is that statuary rape laws can’t be enforced so he’s fine with her age, but declines because he doesn’t want to get involved. Not one thought about the morality of taking advantage of a teenager who sees him as an authority figure.

Every once in a while the author’s ugly politics surface. The worst is a bit of gratuitous misogyny, where he declares the prior generation “destroyed marriage” by allowing “no fault divorces” and “rewarding women for getting divorced.” You can practically smell that the author has an ex-wife who he wanted to force to remain in an unhappy marriage, and that he resents paying alimony as “unfair.”

He also takes time to bring up the Republican “war on women,” and dismisses it out of hand as “mythical” without addressing *why* women don’t much appreciate having their reproductive rights taken away. The only internal dissent in the group is from a woman who gets characterized as a loud mouthed idiot purely because she comes from California.

Overall the really janky stuff is only a dozen or so paragraphs over the course of the book, and none of it is important to the plot. It’s hard to ignore, though.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good!

[Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I wanted to be generous, I'd state that this book has a fairly interesting premise. I often enjoy books where characters find themselves in different worlds, especially when they have interesting technology they can introduce. However, I can not be generous with this book. The blatant misogyny, highly problematic introduction of a relationship between the main character and a side character that almost every state would recognize as a clear statutory rape case, and the pushing of women-blaming far right positions (anti-no fault divorce), all contribute to the certainty that this author wishes for a world with the social structure of the 1950 combined with the early colonial period of European-Indigenous trading relations. While most of this has been said before in better reviews, I want to take the time to point out that within the very first sentence, the author declares his separation from reality. Boulder, CO, for those unaware, lacks any form of air force base or installation. Boulder is hours away from any installation where air force personnel would be stationed, especially an air force logistics Lt.. Unless the author is referring to the *ROTC training* office in the super *liberal* state university, whose *lowest* ranked assigned officer is a Captain, the only logical conclusion is that either the author is stating the main character is so green that his largest combat qualification is running laps around the stadium, or that the addition of the highly specific location reference is nothing more than an attempt to claim his abhorent views are shared outside of the far right echo chamber he resides in.
This book is not worth your time, and it is definitely not worth any amount of money.

[Diarmuid O'Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun for Genre Intro or Genre Fans

This is a great book for people that liked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court or John Carter of Mars or Destroyermen or Lost Regiment, etc. Its also good as a YA intro to the genre. Might not be great for people that aren’t familiar with the genre, though. 


The characters make a lot of leaps of logic that may not make sense to people that aren’t familiar with the genre. They seem to base their decisions on an inherent understanding of what is happening without the expected learning curve. 


The main character is also somewhat of a Mary-Stu/Gary-Stu. It isn’t so bad as to heavily detract from the book, but it is obtrusive sometimes. He seems to command authority and respect instantly with little of the expected or reasonable pushback that should be encountered.


The idea to put the modern world in a fantasy universe is good and is handled well. The interactions with fantasy tropes aren’t amusing while still being serious enough to maintain tension and feel real enough to suspend disbelief. 


Quite a good book - recommended to fans of the genre. It was recommended to me by Amazon as a similar read to Destroyermen and I’m happy I bought it.  

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent action/fantasy novel, combining modern & medieval worlds.

I've read several books and book series' by this author, and this has to be my favorite so far. Many of his books follow similar overall themes, but each is otherwise completely distinct and unique.

This one follows a group which is somehow transported from modern-day Texas, to a world roughly similar to Tolkien's "Middle Earth" (complete with orcs, magic, and whatnot) and must somehow figure out how to survive and hopefully thrive. Adventures, romances and hijinks ensue...

The juice in this one is worth the squeeze.

[Todd Gleason · Rating 1 out of 5]

The word that best summarizes this book is contrived. The story progresses and unfolds in the most unnatural manner. After an absurd and unexplained opening, every character just essentially accepts that they are in an alternate reality without question.

This might be one of the worst books I’ve ever finished. It’s completely soulless. The dialogue reads like it was written by AI. I rarely regret reading any book, even ones I dislike, but even at just over 200 pages, this was still a colossal waste of time.

[Marty Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heads up look at survival needs

I enjoy these kinds of books where advanced but unprepared people have to use all their skills to thrive in a primitive setting. I have always wondered what difference I could make if thrown back in time. The author does a brilliant job of fleshing out those thoughts and enlightening me as to how much is involved.
Educational and thought-provoking, just the kind of entertainment I'm looking for in a good book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical of this author

If you like this author's other works, you'll like this one. If you're new to his work, this author is a conservative Jewish man and his work shows it.

All his stories are about modern people going to the past/different world and then thriving with superior tech. However, his main characters are always conservative, chauvinists, and attracted to teenage girls.

If you can get past all that, then it's a good story.

[Jay Barrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

1632 into DnD?!

And not half bad at it. Although there are times when tr he author's brain moves faster than his fingers, and he skips the occassions word or even statement, lol. It is jarring when it happens, but at least it doesn't happen a lot.

[Nick Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book

I liked the book and found the characters to be interesting, I am looking forward to seeing more charter and how they r.eact to the adversity that is sure to come. Please keep up your hard work

[Dglab1511 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally!

I am so tired of reading the “ same old” stories. I happened across this book from a Kindle suggestion. It was fun and a mix of reality and fantasy and magic. The traveling, the trading, the working to create a mixed community all resonated with me. I liked it.

[Bert Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad light read

Good for what it is, a light hearted but imaginative story. Rushed and overly simple but enjoyable. Enough to feed the imagination of young readers without all the social drama that tends to take the fun out of good fantasy.

[Damon Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this book down after the first chapter

Great read. I can't wait to start the next in the series. World building, time travel, and cultural diversity. This was a fun read.

[Saint Vitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever alternate universe

It is a good premise and having read another of his new world's with dwarfs and magic I was not surprised. The man does have an imagination. The age difference bothers me and seems un necessary.

[Milisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Upon finishing this book, after forcing myself to do so, I immediately deleted it and the other books by this author that I had on my tablet. Not even going to attempt to finish this series, nor will I give any of his other books a go. I'm full up on misogynistic bull, thanks.

[William Puryear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

This was a very good book. The author did a wonderful job. I hope he makes this one into a long series.

[Kelvin Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start on a new series.

Good start on a new series. A little shorter than I would have liked. This book laid a good foundation. I am looking forward to where this story goes.

[Will Ferrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic

After reading this book on unlimited I had to buy it. It was A very interesting plot and as usual well written. I look forward to the next one in the series.

[John Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Improbable, unbelievable... the 'butter bar' appears to have his shit mostly all together in one pile. ;-)

[Brad Beaulieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick short book, good start to world building. Similar in style to 1632 but with a bit of magic and fantasy.

[Scott Shjefte]

Borrowed this edition on August 13, 2024. Kindle Unlimited, Read Kindle book using Alexa audio asset. A truck stop is transported to a spot in the multiverse complete with monsters and some magic.

[Sandy Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story line, couldn't put it down

[Elias Abilheira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great spin on storyline

Great spin on story of modern group transported to different world or past. Loved the new twists and provoking ideas.

[David L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to put down

I really enjoyed the flow of the story. Enjoyable characters and inter actions. Makes think about how you do I. T hat situation

[Henrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have tried reading this book three times now since I like the concept, but I just find it childish and a bit misogynistic.

[Jim Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow start with aliens, gangsters, and good guys on a challenging planet. I'll give at least one more episode a try.

[Christopher Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

Good read. I laughed a lot while reading this book. Now I need ten more words to finish this review.

[IMHO · Rating 4 out of 5]

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