Audiobook Review – BuyMort: Grand Opening (Shopocalypse Saga, Book 1) by Damien Hansen, Jospeh Phelps, Narrated by Wayne Mitchell (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Humor
Length: 16 hours and 5 minutes
Publisher:‎ Podium Audio
Release Date: May 16, 2023
ASIN: B0C25C1WY7
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Shopocalypse Saga
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Audible
Rating: 4/5 stars

“After the arrival of the multiversal monopoly BuyMort, life got brutal. All systems were through BuyMort. All currency was through BuyMort. All sales were through BuyMort. You could resist, you could compete, but it didn’t really matter because in the end you used BuyMort—or you perished. BuyMort be praised.

But not everyone’s happy with the new system. Some, even, want to see it destroyed.

It’s quick. It’s convenient. And it will help people kill you and your family as readily as it will help them sell you knickknacks for a quick mortie. Because BuyMort doesn’t care about anything except the bottom line.
Enter Tyson Dawes, a no-cares slacker with a traumatic past, two wrinkled bucks in his wallet, and a crap job caretaking a crap campground in the desert sands of Arizona. He had a deal with the world. He didn’t change it, and it didn’t change him.

Seemed simple enough. He liked it, anyway.

BuyMort changed all that the moment it let loose a torrent of alien entrepreneurs upon his planet, intent on selling everything that hadn’t been tagged through the system and classified as his private property.
When a man has little, he cherishes it. When that little is lost, he’ll do whatever it takes and change into whatever he needs to be able to get that little bit back.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Shopocalypse series. I borrowed on audiobook from Audible.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this; there is a lot of dark humor in here, which I loved. While it is not as good as Dungeon Crawler Carl, at times it has similar vibes and I think those that enjoy DCC will get a kick out of this book as well. This is a LitRPG, but the user interface is more of a shopping interface. So, the character building is different than most traditional LitRPGs.

Tyson is a slacker serving as caretaker at a crappy campground in Arizona. Then BuyMort happens and suddenly his quiet crappy little piece of life becomes a torrent of alien entrepreneurs trying to sell out the whole world underneath him. It’ll take some quick thinking and some smart shopping to survive this odd Shopocalypse. The human population is dying off fast, and Tyson is hoping he can create some sort of stability.

This book is full of crazy characters and even crazier situations. I love Phyllis the old woman who accidentally summons herself a battle mech suit when trying to open a jar. She is just one of the many insane characters in this book. Tyson is smart and resourceful when he wants to be, and he is set on building a community one crazy deal at a time. It is fun to watch.

There is a lot of dark humor in here and a lot of gore as well. Please keep that in mind if either of those things bother you. There is also an absolute ton of drug abuse (painkillers, marijuana, alcohol, and other strange foreign things). This is not a wholesome world or a cozy one.

I loved the tongue-in-cheek theme to the story of a corporate takeover literally being an apocalypse. While this story is action packed and highly entertaining, it also takes some stabs at American shopping culture and particularly some of the bigger retailers. The analogy is well done; even if it is done in a way so ridiculous it is darkly hilarious.

One thing I did not like in the story early on was the blatant objectification of women. Lots of admiring breasts and discussing breasts…Tyson is definitely a breast man. However, as the story continues, it looks like this objectification is related to one woman in particular. There are some awesome and capable women introduced as the story continues, which balances out the story more. Again, just an FYI, if you are sensitive to that.

I listened to this on audiobook, and Mitchell does a great job reading this in an over-the-top style that matches the story well. Character voices are well done, emotion is conveyed nicely, and it is an engaging listen. I would definitely recommend this audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and plan to continue to the series. This is an over-the-top and darkly hilarious story about a interstellar store causing an apocalyse on Earth. The scenarios are just as ridiculously hilarious as the characters. However, this isn’t a book for the faint of heart or those easily offended. There is a lot of drug use and gore, among any other number of things that could be called offensive. While this isn’t as good as DCC, I think fans of DCC will find a lot here to like.