Sarah Lin

This is my first LitRPG, and one of only a handful of self-published books I've actually finished. To sum it up at the beginning: this was a really fun read, and I burned through it way faster than I thought I would.

Since I'm not overly familiar with the tropes of the genre, I can't really say how representative this one is. It has things that seem pretty standard, though, with the main character becoming aware of his stats and levels, and coming to grips with his life as a character in an show more RPG. That was all rather fun in its way. As a long time fan of RPGs it brought a smile to my face watching the character struggle with fetch quests and trying to game the system for some easy leveling.

But what really made this book stand out for me were the characterization and the natural feel of the relationships. The three primary characters really seemed to inhabit their roles, and the use of natural, modern language did a good job of avoiding the stilted prose of many traditionally published fantasies.

There are some minor quibbles I have. The beginning of the book seems to spend too much time on pointing out, and then waving away, the illogic of certain game systems. I don't really get why it was pointed out that Bloodwraith wasn't familiar with the money system, only for that fact to be ignored for the rest of the book, either. Also, I feel like Meara's change from existential despair to wise-cracking sidekick was kind of abrupt.

However, over all the book is well written, well paced, and fun to read.

One more thing I would like to point out in particular: The editing was surprisingly professional. There were no real typos that I noticed, although I a couple of places a non-standard use of hyphens made some sentences hard to parse. But this was head and shoulders above about 95% of the self pubbed books I've read thus far, and indeed better than some professional publishers put out. show less

once again, an interesting story, introducing characters a few of which survive to (probably?) become storylines in a future sequel. i don't know how many more of these books will detail the ascension of theo, but i'm guessing at least several more will be required if each new height takes about one book, each necessitating the story need for more power/speed/etc to tidy up the end of each book...

in and of itself, that's not a horrible thing, but unlike game of thrones, you pretty much know show more who is going to survive (and succeed) into future books. the basic tension is the same from book to book. too many more plots that are different only in location and minor difference in theme, and the total "chronicle" will become staid and lackluster. this reader would like to see a few surprises, REAL surprises, not just plot repetition....

still, if you've read the first three, the fourth will not disappoint. oh -- our idiot savant's minor arc may become more important. i've been wondering when it would happen, and what it would portend for the future... show less

This started strong with some interesting world building and politics between various groups and factions. When "the hero" first showed up I thought we were in a turn for progress, but it became the exact opposite. The characters were all mired in the foggy reality of the hero's presence and stopped being the forces driving the plot. Quickly things became a slog.

I didn't have enough time with the main characters to develop a true empathy for them or their plight, and then the spent forever show more acting not like themselves. It was hard to know if I should care at all. In the end, I didn't.

This story has strong roots, as Mr Miyagi would say. The author has a good command of her craft as well. I think where this failed for me is in the places where a strong editor would have been helpful. It needed some big pacing revisions, perhaps a bit of chapter reordering, some condensing, or maybe some expanding to break up the long stretches. Ultimately I wanted to feel like the characters actions made the story progress. If it's not them making things happen we have the wrong POV and this story should be about someone else. show less

The book is much less dark than the synopsis made it seem. The reader is reminded a few times how much the protagonist is a dark and twisted hero, which seems.. really not to come through in his dialog and behavior?

That said, the friendly vibes don't bother me either.

I love the idea of grounding the cultivation/soul concepts within a very concrete (literal) structure. It makes the mental "work" and decisions they're making easy to visualize and provides a great framework to (again, show more literally) build upon.

Solid intro, interested to see where the series goes next. show less