Edwin M. Griffiths

Series Info/Source: This is the The Newt and Demon series. I borrowed this on audiobook from Audible.

Thoughts: I am setting this aside at 30% in. There is nothing really wrong with this; it is just boring. This is a town building fantasy where we watch a displaced human (he's been transported to a new world when Earth is destroyed) try to learn to be an alchemist and improve the town he's ended up in. You learn about him making cleaning agents and learning to purify water....things like show more that.

We read this from Theo's perspective. He is a soldier in post-apoclyptic Earth and when the planet is destroyed an unknown entity gives him a chance to start anew as an alchemist on a different planet.

This is an incredibly character driven story, and I didn't really like any of the characters much. They were all pretty bland. In the end, I just kept finding my mind drifting while listening to this. I was hoping the alchemy elements would draw me in, but you just listen the main character discuss strange fictional ingredients.

I listened to this on audiobook, and the narration isn't great, which added to my dislike. The narrator struggles to pin down characters' voices, and certain characters seem to sound slightly different every time he reads them. He also swapped character voices a few times, which you could tell was a mistake because he would switch voices mid-sentence. I would recommend skipping this on audiobook.

I agree with another review I read: if you like the first 25% of this book, you will love this story. If you enjoy LitRPG like Battle Mage Farmer, I would check this out. However, I liked Battle Mage Farmer a lot better than this book. I actually got through the first three Battle Mage Farmer books before I decided that series was just moving too slow for me.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was too slow for me and I ended up not finishing it. This is very much a LitRPG fantasy town-building story. If that sounds awesome to you, this is well written. I would recommend skipping the audiobook though because the narration on that wasn't great. If you have read and enjoyed LitRPG series like Battle Mage Farmer (which I did read the first three books in), I think you might enjoy this one. Although keep in mind Battle Mage Farmer does have some dungeon delving and action (which I enjoyed) and this book did not have any of that at the point I stopped reading it. show less

Theo Spencer is relieved when the apocalypse comes. Years spent fighting and killing have wearied him for anything more than peace.

Upon his death, a mysterious entity grants him a second chance at life. Reincarnated in the small town of Broken Tusk, Theo takes on a new life as a demon with an alchemist class. With a small bunch of loyal friends, kind townsfolk and a flair for leadership, Theo is determined to put their town on the map and take full advantage of his second chance.

This was show more an alright read. It's mostly lives up to the advertised description - a low stakes, litrpg with a creating focus. There's a few stats but it's not a main feature of the book.

I enjoyed the alchemy descriptions but I was less enamoured with the town building scenes. It was alright improving the town but I wasn't keen on the larger worldbuilding. The introduction of the overview from the crystal and that just killed my interest. It probably didn't help that I found Theo kind of bland. I liked Tresk but the bonding thing between Tresk and Theo was kind of awkward.

Still I enjoyed the slice of life approach and the solutions Theo was attempting to come up with to improve the town. 2.5 stars, rounded to 3 stars. show less