32-year old Tar feels like a Non-Player Character in their own life. They’ve been utterly sidelined by their anxiety and they spend all their spare time playing video games. Then they get invited to play Kin, a table-top roleplaying game their friend swears will change their life. And it does, but not in the way Tar expects. Friendship, it turns out, is even better than escapism.
But what none of them knew was that it would change their life a second time. Because the world of Kin is real. And the whole party soon discovers that changing your setting doesn’t change you.
Non-Player Character is a cosy, queer portal fantasy for adults featuring a non-binary autistic protagonist and their found family of fantasy-loving nerds.
A pleasant, low-stakes cosy adventure with found family learning how to get along with each other. The story’s told in first person, past tense by MC Tar. They are sympathetic and we get a full flavour of their challenges and difficulties without (imo) being bogged down in terms of story progress.
I am not, personally, a big fan of portal fantasy. I found this one fine as the focus was on the characters. Sure, the other-world elements were necessary, but the author integrated them nicely into the plot. The LitRPG elements are fairly understated (no pages and pages of stats) although I’m not sure how much the story would appeal to a reader with no RPG experience.
A lot of fun here. A lot of angst. A window into what it's like on the inside looking out.
The characters weren't exactly fun, but they felt real, even when they played new roles. I couldn't help but like them as they struggled to work together, to support each other, and to find a way through they each could live with.
When I started this story, I wasn't sure which world represented the NPC. Was it the one being held up as real life? Or the one in the game? Like is Tar's job at the museum the NPC role or is it their role in the game? Neither? Both?
The tension gets resolved nicely before the story ends but it really made me think about how that game space exists for me. Digitally or mentally. Digitally AND mentally.
I really enjoyed reading it!
The main character Tar and their anxieties were quite relatable for me. And it was very refreshing for me to see such a character as a main character and hero.
In the story Tar and their TT-RPG group get teleported into the world of their game. They take over some traits and skills of the characters they invented for the game.
I really love how, while being in a fantasy world and being able to do magic is like a dream come true, they run into multiple problems. Like suddenly they really have to sleep together in a crowded tent.
Or like fighting and killing with a sword was fine while playing the game and giving your character a challenging drawback sounded nice, that's not something you want to do or have in real life.
They have to solve all the problems in creative and non-violent ways which to me is very interesting.
At some level this is a standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel (mostly sorcery). The device of role-players cast into the game "for reals" has surely been done before. The interesting part is the characters, and how the plot progresses.
The hero (gender neutral) is extremely anxious, and the book presents their struggles in a way that is both relatable and interesting. The reader (at least this reader) sees themselves in these struggles even if they don't normally identify as neurodivergent.
Don't hate me for not giving it five stars, a few of the romantic(?) scenes didn't quite work for me. Maybe that says more about me though.
Non-Player Character is an absolutely lovely book about adults who get unexpectedly teleported to a different world, where they have magic and other special abilities. It is not only about their wonderful adventure in Vanthis, but it is also about how changing your setting doesn't change you.
It is about how everyone has their own difficulties and so much more.
It is just an incredibly well-written book and I truly recommend you to read it if you haven't already.
This might be one of the few books that I want to read a second or maybe even a third time. Maybe this has actually became one of my favourite books.
