I got bored. Trevor is isekai'd into a town where everyone is friendly, people give gifts to strangers for no reason, and everybody respects and aids I got bored. Trevor is isekai'd into a town where everyone is friendly, people give gifts to strangers for no reason, and everybody respects and aids those summoned from other worlds. There's even a Hero House where Trevor can stay for free and it has all the modern conveniences including magic refrigerators, magic trash cans, and magic microwaves. Sure, he got a lame "power" but I can't help thinking that at least some of that is the lame person who uses it lamely.
There's some creativity in the world building but the expression of it is sadly mundane. And paced slower than a snail in molasses. I don't actually know how slow that is, but I'd put money on the metaphor holding up with an impartial jury. And it doesn't help that the dialogue sounds like it was put together by eavesdropping a junior high school lunch. At the awkward kids' table.
One star for the dnf and lack of anything to care about....more
This is the second in a series where they don't have their own titles. Read in order.
Spoilers for the previous story. You know what you are getting, nThis is the second in a series where they don't have their own titles. Read in order.
Spoilers for the previous story. You know what you are getting, not least because it's a repeat. Amber gets to go back to school again and do things she already has done. And the author actually handled that relatively well with enough changing to make it all interesting, including the crush dynamics around Amber and her friends.
I had a bit of an issue with Amber not thinking about her powers at all on her own. There were a couple of times her power would have been extremely useful and she just didn't even think about it. Like research for example. You found a deadend, how about maybe rewinding a bit and exploring a different branch? Only that would have forced the author to flesh that part out more, maybe? I dunno. That wasn't the only time I felt like Amber wasn't bothering with applying her core powerset to move the plot forward and it felt a little unthoughtout and potentially authorially manipulated.
And then we learn about a tragedy and Amber's complete lack of digging out the details, let alone consider ways she could help with a bit of timey wimey shenanigans, frustrated me. I mean, what if she ends up with another big do-over?
Which brings us to the cliffhanger* I knew was coming. It's there in the title. Apparently, each book is aimed at being a groundhog day like rerun of the whole first week of school? I am so not down for that. The thought of losing all those relationships and starting from scratch again? It made me want to cry. I can't imagine how Amber wouldn't find herself crushed.
Anyway, this was wobbling from four stars with my frustrations, but managed to be something I'd have rounded up to four. So three stars with the cliffhanger and I am completely uninterested in picking up the next (should it surface) and setting myself up for another go round.
A note about Chaste: Amber is a little more aware of the web of crushes around her this time. But she, herself, is uninterested in romance so there's nothing more than teases and blushes. So this is pretty chaste. And yeah, magical girl crush tropes are apparently a thing.
* Cliffhangers and why they are evil: Cliffhangers are the ultimate disrespect to readers. They're an overt emotional manipulation to invest you in the next story by holding a metaphorical pistol to your head saying "you don't get a satisfying conclusion unless you read the next book, sucka!". Or, less hyperbolically, "I don't trust you to be interested in the next story unless I employ this emotional manipulation to ensure that you are." If you don't believe me that they are an active offense to readers, try this mental exercise: imagine for a moment that an author put a big star on the front of their story proclaiming "Contains Cliffhanger!" Would that make readers more or less likely to want to pick up that story? Right. That's all you really need to know about cliffhangers. Which is why cliffhangers are an automatic loss of at least one star....more
This is third in a series where the books don't even have their own titles. Read in order.
So you kind of know what you are getting into with this one.This is third in a series where the books don't even have their own titles. Read in order.
So you kind of know what you are getting into with this one. Only, they separated the party. And you still have that PoV explosion carried over from the second book. And I found those two things compound in ways that made me a lot less interested in the story.
Watching Limpet run herself ragged solving everybody's issues and never learning to delegate (even though she was outright told to do so) made those sections painful. And having Har0ld off on his own with a new cast of hangers-on wasn't nearly as interesting as the group I had grown to appreciate.
So it was good. Three stars worth. And I don't regret reading this far. But am I really interested in the next (should a next be published)? Meh. We'll see. Right now, probably not...
A note about Chaste: No hint of shenanigans still. So this is pretty chaste....more
So a guy gets sucked into a magic world using dark powers he has been practicing all his life, more or less. So he's a bit creepy, but okay. At least So a guy gets sucked into a magic world using dark powers he has been practicing all his life, more or less. So he's a bit creepy, but okay. At least he's trying to help people. Sort of. As long as they go along with him.
There's a lot of power fantasy at play here, with a bit of a juvenile frame, but at least some attempt at being clever by inverting the moral axis. Our main character getting explicitly "evil" class powers while some of the chumps that are pulled in with him get explicitly "good" class powers is a conflict that might not suck. And our main character is at least trying to help folks. And then the main chump with "good" powers actually kills a helpless person pleading for help while cowarding his way to a treasure he's going to steal that just happens to have the perfect item to make him have even a small chance to continue his entitled whining. And that was my last straw.
Sure, play with the moral axis. I'm interested to see where you end up with a mostly good person using power coded bad to do good. But we get a couple of PoV sections in the weasel's perspective and giving that guy unearned wins was like thrusting sticks in my spokes. He's a prejudiced, entitled jerk who has authored all the bad things that have happened and he gets the free wins that guarantee that his whiny thrashings will haunt this story for way longer than I'm prepared to tolerate.
So one star and just yuck. I'm okay with a kind of simplistic take on morality and power fantasy if you at least make it interesting. Entitled whiners who win by author fiat will lose all that leeway right quick, though. At least for me....more
Magical Girl meets fae weirdness with some magic boarding school thrown in for added fun. And I liked Amber for the most part. I don't know what she wMagical Girl meets fae weirdness with some magic boarding school thrown in for added fun. And I liked Amber for the most part. I don't know what she was thinking refusing the Seelie invite for as long as she did, but whatever. She's young and not that good at thinking things through (like the mechanic where magical girls get resources that would do her father much more good than the thrashing she's doing on her own).
So we see Amber learn about her time-based magicalness and make new friends and learn there are deeper secrets than people are talking about. She runs afoul of a magical conspiracy in her new school and that was about the right spice to keep the pace up as she attends classes and meets her assigned teammates.
The worldbuilding was interesting and the author kept even the lessons paced well and it doesn't hurt that Amber's team are individually interesting without breaking the sense that they could learn to work together usefully.
So I'll give this five stars for keeping my interested to the end. Where there is a cliffhanger*. So four stars when all's told.
A note about Chaste: The author plays around with potential crushes and there are some blushes and teasings. But nothing actually happens. It's mostly playing with the magical girl crush tropes that I had no idea were a thing until I read a couple of MG LitRPG stories recently.
* Cliffhangers and why they are evil: Cliffhangers are the ultimate disrespect to readers. They're an overt emotional manipulation to invest you in the next story by holding a metaphorical pistol to your head saying "you don't get a satisfying conclusion unless you read the next book, sucka!". Or, less hyperbolically, "I don't trust you to be interested in the next story unless I employ this emotional manipulation to ensure that you are." If you don't believe me that they are an active offense to readers, try this mental exercise: imagine for a moment that an author put a big star on the front of their story proclaiming "Contains Cliffhanger!" Would that make readers more or less likely to want to pick up that story? Right. That's all you really need to know about cliffhangers. Which is why cliffhangers are an automatic loss of at least one star....more
This is second in a series and doesn't even get its own title. Read in order.
This one changes some things, structurally. There are many more non-HarolThis is second in a series and doesn't even get its own title. Read in order.
This one changes some things, structurally. There are many more non-Harold PoV chapters and one of them wore on me a ton. Rem is a mantis girl and she's all senseless aggression and denial. I found her aggravating every time she was on stage and that magnifies by a thousand when it's her PoV. I have no idea why Alex would want to train her to be a butler when she has no desire, no aptitude, and no hands (mantis people just have scythes for forearms).
The story itself is still fun. And training Limpet by putting her in charge of the invading undead army was an interesting wrinkle. I feel like the pace was good, even with the PoV shifts dragging the story out. Plus I loved some of the groups encountered. The good-natured, semi-woke bro sect was a hoot, for example.
I'm going to call this 4陆 stars that I'm rounding up because I'm still all-in for the story. Harold's casual apathy balanced by his deep curiosity is a great story tension and him stepping back on the action so Limpet can learn added some actual dramatic tension for the action; and not least because you suspect he'd let her fail fatally if circumstances rose to that level. We know he can resurrect the dead (in addition to raising undead) but we're never really sure if he'd bother. So the tension isn't neutered by his presence like it might otherwise have been.
A note about Chaste: There's zero prurient content and no scope for shenanigans. So this is pretty chaste....more
This is kind of a power fantasy, but not in the sense of growing powerful. Harold, our main character, starts off entirely overpowered having already This is kind of a power fantasy, but not in the sense of growing powerful. Harold, our main character, starts off entirely overpowered having already pretty much conquered the world and gotten bored enough to decide to sleep until the end of the universe when he figures something interesting will happen. And then someone disturbs his rest and he decides to take a look around for curiosity sake and he'll go back to sleep. Should only take a day or two.
Only his defining characteristic is a deep curiosity. He considers himself a scientist and experimenter and when he discovers things have gone from his days with a system and classes and such to a kind of cultivator sect system with accompanying arrogance he becomes intrigued. He's not some isekai so all he really knows is that these fellows are being completely inefficient and he wants to understand why. The plot is off to the races from there.
Harold isn't nice. He's a lich after all. But his curiosity can bend to helping others in a kind of off-handed way. For example, when the importunate girl he has named "limpet", who wants to learn as an apprentice, breaks through his general disregard it is by becoming a test subject to see if he can level her up and what it will take given that she can't see the system the way he does (even though it seems to be working as he expects behind the scenes).
So the strengths of this is in having a world I liked exploring and a cast of characters I liked exploring it with. Yeah, there aren't many challenges Harold can't overcome (I mean, he defeated the entire pantheon of gods before taking a nap), but he isn't actually pursuing power. He's pursuing knowledge and doing it with a careful deliberation all while rollicking around the countryside interrogating sect masters, hunting down the new pantheon, and exploring ancient ruins. And his companions all have their own interests and motivations and watching them bounce off each other over the course of the story was fantastic.
Seriously, this was five stars from start to finish and it didn't hurt that it delivers some laugh-out-loud moments along the way. I'm definitely interested in continuing the series.
A note about Chaste: Harold has zero prurient interests, even to experiment. He's a lich. He doesn't have the needs. And those who choose to be in his vicinity have better things to do (like staying interesting enough to stay alive). So this is pretty chaste....more
So in the first three percent (as far as I made it) we have gratuitous tripping, flinging a tiara away in denial, many inane questions/whining about "So in the first three percent (as far as I made it) we have gratuitous tripping, flinging a tiara away in denial, many inane questions/whining about "can't I go back" and a request to speak with a manager. So much thrash. Worse, it all felt performative. Like the author thought that's what a person might act like if whisked away to a peaceful setting where you have your own throne and fountains and glistening mirrors. Maybe she's right. I had a hard time taking it seriously. So I stopped. Mostly I figured that a character with that little volition isn't going to make for an interesting protagonist as she'll be forever acted upon (reactive) rather than working for anything she cares about....more
I made it about a third through before I decided I wasn't interested. I mean, the boredom had been building, but once we see the main bad guy and the I made it about a third through before I decided I wasn't interested. I mean, the boredom had been building, but once we see the main bad guy and the troll community response is to send Chod off on a multi-day quest that was as ill-defined as it was uninteresting I lost what little interest I still had. I mean, it wasn't named maguffin, but might as well have been.
Plus, Chad (the player, it's the character he's playing who is called Chod. Yes, that is as stupid as it sounds) is pretty basic for someone who is "a professional gamer". Could we see him make just one interesting or good choice? Maybe intuit an interaction or build ahead of time? Anything? He literally rage-fled from a slime.
I gave a pass for the stupid setup where we have laws that wouldn't pass a first amendment challenge made by a first-grader and even the defense lawyer who was both incompetent and visibly disinterested in a trial that was supposed to be public and highly anticipated. But the sentence and its execution were so devoid of creativity or interest it was like the author couldn't be bothered to story. Seriously, if you're that eager to get to the VR world, then just skip all that nonsense! If it doesn't matter enough to make it interesting, then why make your reader(s) go through it?!? Yeah, I should have seen the dnf coming from there.
Anyway, one star dnf. A potentially fun idea run aground on the shoals of the boredom archipelago. Tale as old as time, really....more
This is a System Apocalypse series that builds over time. Read in order.
It has been exactly a year since I read the previous book. And I feared I'd haThis is a System Apocalypse series that builds over time. Read in order.
It has been exactly a year since I read the previous book. And I feared I'd have a hard time getting back into it because there are so many important side characters and certain developments have been building up over time. I was surprised with how easy it was to get back into the story. There was a very helpful prologue type thing with a frame that served to keep it snappy. But also, I think Dinniman took some effort with inline context to help readers along and did so subtly enough that I only noticed because I both needed it and was watching for it.
All that to say that you know what you're getting at this point in the series. The developments were, as expected, hilarious, heartrending, and deeply touching. Carl throws his protective net wider than I think I would personally, but since he's also willing to pay the price for erring on the side of mercy I find I'm okay with that. Even when the worst case manifests.
A lot comes to a head in this book, but we knew it would. What we didn't know was just how many long-running bridges were going to burn in this one. Hidden movements surface throughout, including an early reveal of (view spoiler)[lots of former cookbook authors entering the faction wars to help Carl and his friends. They are literally putting all of their eggs in this one basket and that's both heartening and terrifying (hide spoiler)].
To avoid (more) spoilers, I'll keep this part vague. I loved some of the character developments in Carl's inner circle. And I equally loved some of those outside that circle, who have been independently pursuing their own goals so far, who merged more tightly into Carl's vision of humanity. And I even loved developments on the world building side where we start to see the movement of the wider system and how the dungeon AI is playing games with literally everybody and not just those it was meant to. But best of all is Carl making all of the death tourists who thought to play games with the lives of Earth very, very afraid. You know, until they aren't anymore because they are dead. Grim. But I can't help but be on board for it given their actions and motivations.
Anyway, this is another solid five stars and I can't wait for the next book. Dinniman is slowing down on the publishing front, but this one reassured me that even if it's a while, I'll be able to pick it up without fear of having forgotten important relationships or developments.
A note about Steamy/Chaste: There is still lots of dark humor, some of it crass. There's no steam (well, there's a volcano, but you know what I mean), but there are embodied, um, "parts" and other bits played mostly for humor/horror that this isn't chaste. So neither tag really fits and I'll leave both off....more
This is second in an isekai LitRPG series you'll want to read in order. Or not because it's a trap! See below for details.
I've been worried that Eryk This is second in an isekai LitRPG series you'll want to read in order. Or not because it's a trap! See below for details.
I've been worried that Eryk would do a runner or something else to abandon his troop. I've grown to like them and their various personalities, including his Mage commander. I'm not entirely sure why they don't abandon him, though.
Frankly, I don't get Eryk's motivations throughout this story. He's an otherworlder and completely afraid to take anyone into his confidence. So he's sneaking magic resources and practice and hiding his abilities and acts like a complete paranoid nutter, even about some basic things. This irks me because his commander is going out of her way to show him trust and give him training and help him in ways that she knows would only help him abandon them in the future should he choose. So it's honest and appears non-self-interested. And yet Eryk never, not even a little, extends any trust himself.
At the same time, he's the biggest idiot about doing and saying things that risk outing him as an otherworlder. He's almost recklessly casual about idioms and phrases and even when people are all "what's that mean?" he's all like, shrugging it off and not even trying to restrain himself.
It's the weirdest dichotomy and makes me hate him just a little bit. You see, I like his friends and cohort. I could almost join him in a tightly clenched paranoia if he wants to see it that way because the stakes couldn't be higher. But he, himself, is not taking those stakes seriously. He's both acting like he's in the biggest danger imaginable and acting like he's surrounded by morons who can't add two and two to get four.
Still, the story was fun, the pace is good, and I liked both the new friends he finds and the continuing relationship with his current friends. Oh. Except for Konstantin. Eryk's almost casually dismissive of the trainer who actually likes and trusts him and I don't get that at all.
Anyway, I'm going to go with four stars even if the trap makes me want to tank the rating just so others aren't fooled. It's a trap! Go back now! Still, I had fun reading it even if I refuse to fall into the trap and read the rest.
A note about Steamy: Eryk is an idiot but eventually falls to temptation with a willing woman. There's not much steam at all, but there's enough that I'm flipping the tag. I also don't like his treatment of her on the trust/don't trust front as, again, he's completely unreasoned about it with her as well. Do or don't but pick one, please.
It's a trap!!!: So it turns out that this is a four-book (so far) series with the author ramping up the price by a dollar with each book. What's that you say? It's on Kindle Unlimited so you don't care? Not so fast my binge-reading friend! Only the first two books are in Kindle Unlimited. The third is a hefty $7 and the fourth is $8. You might want to take this into account if you decide to start this series....more
This was a fun read. The power fantasy is a bit muted with this one as Eryk is bullied into the army early and remainIt's a trap!!! See below for why.
This was a fun read. The power fantasy is a bit muted with this one as Eryk is bullied into the army early and remains a scrub throughout. He does have some advantages from isekaing into the world, but he has motivation to keep that on the downlow as much as possible as there are sinister forces that may or may not be harvesting otherworlders.
So this is very much an army tale and it's based on Roman legions seeing that the kingdom Eryk portals into was founded two thousand years ago by a legion that got pulled into the world together (otherworlders come in batches in this world with Eryk being an exception as he was isolated when transferred). He gets sucked into an elite unit so it isn't leaning into the brutality and stupidity that such stories might forefront and I liked that. And I liked the other members of his unit as we get to know them over time.
So this was headed for solid five star territory with an engaging main character, strong characterization, interesting world building, and a great pace and plot. And then it ended on a cliffhanger*. So four stars.
A note about Chaste: There is some minor soldier talk about women, but nothing graphic or crass. So this is fairly chaste even if it's a bunch of soldiers. This may be at least partially due to their main commander being a woman they all respect, but maybe not.
It's a trap!!!: So it turns out that this is a four-book (so far) series with the author ramping up the price by a dollar with each book. What's that you say? It's on Kindle Unlimited so you don't care? Not so fast my binge-reading friend! Only the first two books are in Kindle Unlimited. The third is a hefty $7. You might want to take this into account if you decide to start this series.
* Cliffhangers and why they are evil: Cliffhangers are the ultimate disrespect to readers. They're an overt emotional manipulation to invest you in the next story by holding a metaphorical pistol to your head saying "you don't get a satisfying conclusion unless you read the next book, sucka!". Or, less hyperbolically, "I don't trust you to be interested in the next story unless I employ this emotional manipulation to ensure that you are." If you don't believe me that they are an active offense to readers, try this mental exercise: imagine for a moment that an author put a big star on the front of their story proclaiming "Contains Cliffhanger!" Would that make readers more or less likely to want to pick up that story? Right. That's all you really need to know about cliffhangers. Which is why cliffhangers are an automatic loss of at least one star....more
I picked this up because I've liked other works by the author. He has a great way with power fantasy in LitRPG. Unfortunately, this one is something oI picked this up because I've liked other works by the author. He has a great way with power fantasy in LitRPG. Unfortunately, this one is something of an exception with Lucas being tied to a dungeon. I've found Dungeon Core hit or miss with mostly miss in the past. This one actually does a great job with the characters and world building. But the major drawback to dungeons is that they are geographically static. Which means that all of the conflict has to become local (or at least have a local effect) to manifest meaningfully in the story. And here is where I had a hard time.
The thing is, big events are happening. It looks like there's a major world foe developing and Lucas has only defense available. Or, worse, proxies in the form of the adventurers that he's "training". Note, this is where the characters are so strong. I became attached to his relationships and his care for the people he encounters. But as proxies to the bigger fight? Yeah, not as interesting.
I stopped at about three-quarters through because big things were ramping up and I don't care for mindless fanatics as foes. I'm going to go with three stars even with the dnf mostly due to the strong writing and interesting characters that kept me going at least that long....more
This is third in a series that doesn't even have different titles for each book. Read in order.
This continues on the same vein, but the power curve isThis is third in a series that doesn't even have different titles for each book. Read in order.
This continues on the same vein, but the power curve is so steep that our main characters are pushing the boundaries of the Titans at the start. This picks up with them in Hell and I thought it'd be a long slog to full-on Titan status. Nope. That happens pretty quick. And they keep climbing. So that's some strong power fantasy right there.
Two things knocked me out about three-quarters in. First, all the alternate PoVs annoyed me beyond all reason. Pace-killing thread-shifting sucks anyway, but mix that with various plotting bad-guys and I found my patience wearing thin. Very thin.
Second, I stopped caring about the stakes. By the time they (view spoiler)[jump back in time chasing "Sapphire" to remake the timeline so the "gods" don't break into their current Titan form (hide spoiler)], I found myself completely disconnected from the story.
So I made my own ending in my head and quit. I'm going to give this 2陆 stars but I'll round up because I liked the characters and my ending didn't suck. Yeah, I'm being a bit capricious. But at least my head-ending stopped PoV hopping......more
This is second in a series. I mean. It doesn't even have its own title... Read in order.
So you mostly know what to expect with this. The action descriThis is second in a series. I mean. It doesn't even have its own title... Read in order.
So you mostly know what to expect with this. The action descriptions get snappier. So that's good.
But we also start getting a bunch of bad guy PoV and they are seriously evil schemers. It might help if they made any kind of sense, but so far not so much. I mean, they keep talking about "experiments" but without any real context of what they're trying to "research". It isn't helping that Evelyn is continually called a failure even as we hear, over and over, how nobody has ever grown so fast before. So I'm wondering what kind of whacky criteria they are using to determine success or failure because all these people coming around to end her as a failure seem a bit stupid.
I particularly hated any time Sapphire showed up. I get the feeling that the author is enjoying dripping whatever her motivations are on the readers but I'm to the point now that I just don't care. And the weird RI1 from Evelyn's original lab was just boring.
I do like Evelyn still. And not just because her power curve is stupid steep. You can't ask for more from a power fantasy than to have her pull out the stompy boots and take whack job after natural calamity after mad scientist behind the wood shed. And I'm not hating the developing friendships, though her thing with Sierra is a little over the top.
Anyway, if it weren't for the bad guys, pretty much every aspect of the bad guys frankly, this might have been a higher rating. I'm still going with four stars, though, and will certainly pick up the next.
A note about Chaste: Evelyn and Sierra blush a lot and help each other try on clothes and stuff. There's no details or any shenanigans and frankly, Evelyn doesn't seem to have a sex drive or know what attraction means. So it's chaste. But you could quibble with that given how much Sierra is definitely throwing out the vibes and we do get some non-sexual intimate moments....more
This is an isekai without the isekai. EV3 (later Evelyn) wakes up in a test tube in an abandoned lab with a system and the quest to devour the others This is an isekai without the isekai. EV3 (later Evelyn) wakes up in a test tube in an abandoned lab with a system and the quest to devour the others "born" with her to grow stronger. This sets up her drive to grow and become stronger with the unspecified background that she's pretty much amoral and power driven. So it's not portal fantasy (isekai) but it has aspects of it due to memories and judgement that originates outside of the character's base circumstances. Anyway, good for a power fantasy, not so great for the character, right?
Only, the author does a pretty good job with the characterization, too. You see, she isn't without some guidance. She doesn't have memories, as such, but her creators have gifted her with worldly knowledge. Language, survival skills, cultural background, and basic system things like classes, traits, and skills. So she is making relatively good choices and her plans don't suck. And bonus, once she encounters people, she isn't a mindless killing machine and can navigate social situations without the fish-out-of-water gaffs. She experiences kindness. And betrayal. And has a chance to develop "allies" that she invests in. In other words, she forms a foundation for thinking beyond mere transactional utility and potentially a foundation for cooperation and even friendship.
So it's a power fantasy with a protagonist who is figuring out her own motivations and what she will and won't sacrifice for. And I enjoyed it more than a little.
I had two things holding me back from complete immersion. First, the author gets bogged down a bit during action scenes. It's bad enough that Evelyn gets in so many fights where she's completely outclassed, but each sequence includes both her decisions and analysis even as she's in the midst of duking it out with her life on the line. I actually skimmed entire paragraphs in the middle of some of the later fight scenes it was so pronounced.
Second, it got a little old with her being completely outclassed by forces hunting her for her nature and origin. It was frustrating the couple of times Sapphire shows up and just plot bombs the story. And I hated them even more when they became PoV sections in the epilogue where we see them conspiring and scheming. It struck me as unnecessary and "extra"; intrusive in a way that detracted from my enjoyment and nearly to the level of not wanting to pick up the next (because the foreshadowing made me groan a bit).
In the end, I'm calling it four stars and admit that I almost certainly will pick up the next. I hope it keeps the best aspects of what I enjoyed, though the prognosis isn't good.
A note about Chaste: There's a completely left-field attraction pair-up but no shenanigans ensue. So this is fairly chaste....more
So the system apocalypses the place up and a nerd becomes the champion of Earth. I mean obviously right? Talk about wish fulfillment. Maybe in a good So the system apocalypses the place up and a nerd becomes the champion of Earth. I mean obviously right? Talk about wish fulfillment. Maybe in a good way. Only...
So of the billions of people on Earth, we're asked to accept that nerd boy is faster and better than every special-ops candidate on the planet at learning to kill monsters. I mean, he'd have died in the initial challenge if he hadn't been setup to kill-or-be-killed against a soldier with a conscience who refused to attack an unarmed civilian. And then he fulfills his first quest through time-consuming ambush tactics and "clever" use of new powers. And once he completes this first quest, after nearly a full 24 hours, he's awarded super-rare titles for being the first guy on Earth to complete the kill everything quest? Seriously? Nerd boy is faster at killing invaders than all the trained killers on the planet? Soldiers? Gangbangers? Politicians? Really?
This had me break immersion badly enough that I started nitpicking everything else. Unfortunately, there's lots there to nitpick. Not least is his introverted "training" once he enters the tower waiting room that is indistinguishable from arrogance coupled with authorial fiat.
Unfortunately, the power fantasy takes back seat on this one with Max barely eeking out minor gains fThis is second in a LitRPG series. Read in order.
Unfortunately, the power fantasy takes back seat on this one with Max barely eeking out minor gains for most of it. Also, the pace bogs down into a lot of nerdery system bits with the safe zone build out in handyman, home construction porn. This part might have been more fun if it hadn't become survival documentary over system wonder.
And I might have pushed through that, but we get some extra spice in the form of bad-guy perspectives from other humans who are looking to do bad things only now backed by classes and skills. This includes Max's ex-wife who turns out to be nothing more than a thin pastiche of every anti-ex fantasy imaginable. It was one thing when she was depicted as a cunning antagonist to Max who withheld contact with his daughter. But once we see her, she's a pathetic junky in complete thrall to her user boyfriend. She even picks up a class in the quarantine zone of "prostitute". Because that was better than the other options she got from the system (it actually was, unless you think junkie, drone, or thrall (yes, actual thrall) are better options). At this point, she's a stand in for vicious pillory that makes me wonder what demons the author might be working out. And her boyfriend is even worse.
So my interest dribbled out. And then dribbled some more. Then crashed when it became obvious the story was aiming junky mom at the found family and I had had enough. Once I saw the depictions of the authorial puppet ex-wife it became more obvious that every character, even the good guys, were thin veneers of characterization with little depth and predictable through lines.
So yeah. Dnf with one star. I thought the story was going somewhere cool and I'm bitterly disappointed to have those hopes dashed....more
Sigh. This book is really dumb. The author really, really wants to explore a protagonist with an insane "Luck" stat and I actually admired the way theSigh. This book is really dumb. The author really, really wants to explore a protagonist with an insane "Luck" stat and I actually admired the way they got there, even if it was a little silly. I mean, no game I have ever seen rolls "skills" into some "advanced stat" mechanic. But hey, it gets Jane a bunch of free stat points through an exploit. That she squanders in a really stupid way. And I'm not talking about maxing the Luck stat.
This is an example of the dumb so I'm going to explain. Jane finds that her stats all start at 5. And then figures a way to amass over six hundred stat points. So she puts them all into Luck, leaving all her regular stats at 5. No systems thinker would do this (and her background is as a systematic thinker). I polled the gamers in my proximity (two) and both said the obvious: you bump all stats to at least ten, even if you want to go all-in on one of them. You'd still have over six hundred points to make your Luck play, after all.
Anyway, this is an example of the dumb. One more before it feels like I'm just piling on. She lands in a desert. With sand dunes. Her way of traversing said dunes? Climb up one side, fall down the other. That's right. She tumbles down the sand dunes. Repeatedly. Like this is how you desert.
Okay, one more. She goes at least a week in the desert without finding any water. She gets a "dehydrated" debuff that starts taking off health. Until she eats raw sand scorpion. That removes the "dehydrated" debuff. Because that's how you hydrate. With raw meat. Can I mention again how she maxed out her Luck stat? And the author doesn't seem to have considered that finding water in a desert when you're dying might be an opportunity to show how "luck" works. I mean besides having an automatic "I win" button in every fight...
I finally quit when she enslaved a bunch of demons accidentally and her thrashing around with that circumstance was just . . . weird.
One star. Which is sad because an isekai who maxes luck has potential to be interesting....more
Ironic title for the start of a series... On purpose? No idea. Anyway, I took a shot and wasn't disappointed. It's a good action story with an engaginIronic title for the start of a series... On purpose? No idea. Anyway, I took a shot and wasn't disappointed. It's a good action story with an engaging protagonist. Unfortunately, I finished it a couple of weeks ago and have lost details I can share.
I will say that the protagonist is a super special boy and that more or less works with the background. He's maybe a little too precocious, but I didn't care because it was fun.
I knew I'd go with four stars but again, I've lost details. I will say that I'm not terribly interested in the rest of the series and that puzzles me a little bit. I think it's because so much of the coming plot is pretty obvious from here and the bad-guy PoV gave away just how thin the evil is in this story. I'd suspect that the author was trying to say something about fascist dictators, but it's only what everybody says about fascist dictators and a police state is a police state and there aren't any surprises or depth here.
A note about Chaste/Steamy: Chase finds a girl and she's awesome. Plus she doesn't like him. Until she does. They eventually go to pound-town, as they say, and we get some of the splash back on that. Enough that this isn't chaste. But there's no real detail so I'm having a tough time calling it steamy, either. So neither tag really applies....more
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