What I liked most about this title is that it gave me Umbrella Academy vibes (lack the siblings part). A group of former allies who regroup despite the wounds that tore them a part.

I've seen that some compare it to Dungeons and Dragons but I cannot speak to that art.

The action was high with brilliant written dark humor.

The narrators we well done with the pacing of the story matching the narration.

They Met in a Tavern reads like LitRPG about some friends who reunite, despite old wounds, for one last job that means saving their own skins. Multiple POV ensemble cast.

Narrator was okay, although I found the voice they used for Brass annoying. The story was alright and relatively enjoyable, but the world building could use some work and I didn't really understand much of where people's powers were coming from. Some of it was explained, but not until the end of the story. I think the layout of the flashbacks could have been put earlier in the story and maybe I would care a bit more about the characters.

This was a really fun and creative title! The audiobook was perfectly paced with excellent narration as well. It really felt almost like watching someone's DND campaign and was filled with all the right elements of action/adventure and more.

So this was slightly disappointing to me. I was looking forward to a grand Dungeons and Dragons like adventure, and what I found was actually just too many characters I did not really care about.
It was really fun to see the D&D references though, even though they are not named as such (very cleverly done).
I liked some parts and mechanics, but overall it was just not for me.
But it was a very fun concept!

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I am pretty bummed I finished this audiobook - I loved these characters. I know I'm going to miss them.
Phoenix is pulled back into the world of freelance hires - a bounty placed on his head as well as the other Starbreakers. Desperate to protect them all, Phoenix struggles to reunite his group. After a horrible incident, determined to never see each other again, none are too excited.
Desperate to uncover who commissioned the bounty, Phoenix and others attempt to unravel the mystery.
I enjoyed the dark humor; these characters are entertaining, realistic and relatable. Loved it.

This was such good fun to read. Following a disbanded group of adventurers who are now on a hit list for unknown reasons, this book has somehow managed to introduced a fairly large cast of characters who are all unique and interact with each other in very special ways. Memorable, funny and action packed, the balance is *chef kiss*.

If you enjoy fantasy in the most traditional sense, especially if you like fantasy anime with adventurer guilds etc. this book is for you !

The audiobook narrator did a great job at conveying different characters and the mood of the scene,and generally made reading this even more of a fun experience.

I can't wait to re-enter this world and hope to pick up the next one asap!!!

I was provided a complimentary copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.

This book was such a fun listen! If you are a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, it reminded me a lot of playing a campaign but being read to me vs participating. The characters had a great mix of seriousness and humor that kept me engaged throughout. I recommend this to anyone who needs an adventure read!

If you’re a Tired Millenial who loves D&D, ‘They Met in a Tavern’ is most definitely a book for you.

While much of the setting and descriptions are thinly veiled lifts from 5e, ‘They Met in a Tavern’ breaks from typical high fantasy tropes by starting the story off in the early 30s of our band adventurers— several years after not a triumphant or world-saving victory, but after a series of events that left countless innocents dead and ended in the very hostile disbanding of their group, the Starbreakers. Through third person omniscient narration and with every member of the Starbreakers wracked with their own brand of guilt and messy feelings about their former comrades, Menchaca is able to reckon with complicated growing pains that are all too relatable to anyone who thought they were infallible as a teen. All without sacrificing pace or bloating the story with too much introspection or exposition.

Especially clever is Menchaca’s use of given names and aliases to show the reader what frame of mind a character is in, and illustrating how those senses of identity change over the course of the story. As well as the subtle transitions between past and present that create a sense of how much each Starbreaker has been able to move on throughout the course of the story.

With an overflow of heart, a loveable cast of both main and supporting characters, and an appropriately bittersweet but still satisfying conclusion. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel, ‘They Split the Party,’ currently scheduled for summer 2023.

I love love loved this story. The author is great, and the narrator was phenomenal! Each character had their personality come through in his different voices. It was almost like listening to a DND play cast but more story based. The only negative I have to say is that the book was hard to follow in audio format. There’s a lot of switching between past and present, but there is no designation at the beginning of the chapters to tell you which one you’re in, and the characters in each timeline are the same, so it was a bit confusing at times until I figured out which story I was coming into. Other than that, I was completely enthralled! Highly recommended.

They Met in a Tavern by Elijah Menchaca is a self-published fantasy novel modeled off the author's Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at thirteen hours and is narrated by Chris Ciulla. We follow multiple characters with a third-person point-of-view.

An adventuring party known as the Starbreakers ran around as mercenaries in their late teens and early twenties. Their talents melded well, making them the best glint (aka money) chasers in the land of Corsar. But one of their contracts ended poorly--with each member blaming the others--and they haven't seen each other in seven years. And that's when a hefty bounty is placed on all of their heads.

I'm a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons. I've been in several long-term campaigns and am currently playing a blood cleric of the Matron of Ravens in a Tal'dorei campaign (aka the world of Exandria from Critical Role). Once I heard about this book, I had to get my hands on it.

Overall, the plot could have been tightened up a bit. But I had a great time figuring out what classes and races these characters were while following this group of fools. Figuring out the nods to equipment and spells was also super fun. I read this whole book in one day, I just didn't want to put it down.

I'm very pleased there will be a second book in this series, slated to publish in 2023.

If you're a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, or role-playing games in general, you might like this book. If you liked The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, give this one a try!

Tropes in this book include: mercenary party, getting the gang back together

CW: violence, murder

I was provided an audio galley of this book for review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

This was a really fun and solid fantasy that didn’t take itself too seriously. I’m really happy I tried this one on NetGalley. It was light, fast-paced, and had great characters. It took me a little while to come around to the narrator of the audiobook. At times it was hard to understand him and he had so much volume modulation that I lost some of his words, especially at the end of sentences. His distinct character personalities, however, were excellent and in the end he really won me over. I really liked this book and will definitely read (or listen to) the next installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC of They Met In A Tavern.

This book read just like a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign, and as a player myself, I loved that. I felt like you really were sat around the adventuring table flowing all of these classes through a campaign.

I did find the narrator of this audio book to be a bit mumbly at times, but otherwise an enjoyable listen.

I would recommend to any fantasy lover, or any D&D player!

This was fast paced and fun. Enjoyed the rapport between characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

Thank you to the IBPA and Member's Audiobooks for the copy of the audiobook to listen to, which had been published on August of 2021.

This book is about a group who used to fight together, and after 7 years reunite to try and stop the bounty that is on all of their heads.

This book was as good as your average DnD session. It had a lot of tropes that made the book what it was, and overall felt bloated. It had it's positive moments of levity and decent fight scenes that made the book what it was. I listened to the audiobook, and I think would have been better for me to read the text. The narrator was good, but listened to a faster speed it became difficult to understand the story, and that is on me.

If you like group fantasy novels, this is the book for you. It has everything from wit to battle scenes. For me it just fell a bit flat.

ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“They Met in a Tavern” is a fantasy book that follows the story of the Starbreakers, a mixed group of former freelancers, in a fight for survival when a hit is put out on them. The Starbreakers used to be the best freelancers in the game. Relying on various powers and skills, the group worked together to save lives and fight evil. Until the day it all went wrong, and the entire city of Relgen died under their watch. The loss and devastation tore the group apart in a mixture of animosity and blame.

Now seven years later, the Starbreakers have each moved on from each other to start new lives. Brass became a solo freelancer, Snow an assassin, Church a cleric and spiritual leader, Angel an owner of a bar and inn, and Phoenix a family man. Their new lives are violently interrupted when bounty hunters suddenly begin attacking each member, and these former heroes find out there is a price on their heads. In a desperate fight for their lives, the former Starbreakers soon find themselves drawn back to each other. Can they band together and save themselves? Or will their complicated history be their undoing?

I greatly enjoyed this book. It follows an interesting cast of characters as they maneuver through a lush fantasy world of magic, powers, heroes, and evildoers. The author does an excellent job at setting up this complex environment. The characters are interesting, fleshed out well, likeable, and engaging. Although they were once heroes, each character is brought back to reality with a variety of flaws. The overall story arc flowed well and kept me hooked from beginning to end. The author has an easy writing style that made this book a quick, engrossing, enjoyable read. The way this book is structured, the way the plot progresses, and the story’s final resolution seem to set up this book as a first in a series. I enjoyed this book so much that if it does continue as a series, I will definitely pick up a copy of future books.

The only negative I have with this book is that the ending does seem to wrap up a bit too rapidly. The book sets up the past and present adventures of the characters well throughout the narrative, but when it reaches the climax and resolution, it suddenly speeds up and quickly ends. It also wraps up while leaving questions unanswered and some of the plot unresolved. As I noted above, this book does seem like it would be the first in a series, but I haven’t found any indication that the author will be continuing with this story in future books. As a standalone novel, it did leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied with the conclusion. However, if it does proceed as a series, the ending would be just fine.

My copy of this book was an audiobook, so I must comment on the narrator. I thought he did an excellent job. This book has numerous characters, and the narrator had clear voices for each that made them easily identifiable. He did a good job with both male and female voices, and his overall narrative pace waws well done.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I recommend this book to fans of fantasy novels and both adult and older young adult readers. I look forward to more books from this author, and I really hope this book continues as a series!

This is a wonderfully entertaining fantasy story. Superpowers, heroes, magi, bounty hunters, humour, selfishness, ancient powerful arcana, big fights; all of these are bound up in an inventive book that I couldn’t stop listening too. (The hardest thing seems to be to say sorry.) The Starbreakers, superhero bounty hunter group, had gone their separate ways some years ago after a major bust up. But someone is paying lots of money for their capture. Maybe they will be able to get past their past history with each other and come out alive on the other side. Thank you to CamCat Books and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.

While I am a Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan and was once an avid DnDer, I have not really been very interested in DnD-esque stories. I read and reviewed an awful RPG book that did nothing to change my mind. Though I have seen plenty of good press for Salvatore I just have not been interested in exploring this subgenre. Until now.

Menchaca has written an engaging tale with flawed, lively characters who jump off the page. Even the bad guys are, at the very least, interesting. Each of the main characters has his or her own style and set of foibles. Their interactions are believable given their personalities and backgrounds. The plot is solid, though it carries few surprises.

In a book full of great qualities, there is one point I found to be stellar…the narration. Ciulla is brilliant! He speaks each character to life, modulating his pitch, timbre, and intensity to figuratively embody them. I could listen to this dude read an address book!

Five stars and well-deserved. While the author did indulge in one of my pet peeves, this book has me reevaluating my views on an entire subgenre. The narration by Chris Ciulla was nonpareil. Salvatore, here I come!

My sincere thanks to the publisher, author, narrator, and NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

#TheyMetInATavern #CamCatBooks #FantasyTale #DnD #IfCatsCouldRead #DandelionTheCatModel #DaffodilTheCatModel #FiveStarRead #BrilliantNarration #KindlesAllTheWayDown

As a fan of DnD, I did thoroughly enjoy this book. But, there were a few things that I found that did lower the rating, in all honesty, it is more like a 3.5. Firstly, the the perspective of which character we are following shift so much sometimes, that it is hard to tell who we are following. Secondly, we go from chapter 37 with each character in their own spot to chapter 38 where the group is together and falling in a sky ship. I had to go back and re-listen to previous chapters as I thought that I had missed something and was confused as to what was going on. In the physical copy, it might not be that bad, but it was very confusing as to what was going on. This occurred again in a later chapter to explain how snow got her powers? I think it was trying to do. Another thing that had bugged me was that multiple characters had gone by two names. The last thing that lowered the rating was the plot twist? that Snow was working with the enemy for sometime and killed the guild from the beginning that Phoenix was investigating. At the time that this was reviled to the group the reader already knew and thus it wasn't that big of a thing that it was supposed to be.
But, where it did have a few things against it, it did have as many thing working for it. The world building was good, there was diverse characters and it was action packed.