A continuation right where the previous story left off and continues that story line without missing a beat. Really, it feels like the first two booksA continuation right where the previous story left off and continues that story line without missing a beat. Really, it feels like the first two books could have been easily combined to form a single large one rather easily.
One of the things I really appreciate about Livadny's writing, is the people actually feel like people. In several other Russian translated stories I've read, only the main character feels real, with everyone around him being some Machiavellian figure waiting for their moment to stab him in the back. Aside from spoilers (and this book has some big plot points), most of the book is better than average LitRPG fair.
There were some interesting translations errors in this one. It had one normal one I caught, oxidized being used instead of rusted. These are 'google translate' style errors and fairly common in other books too, since the meaning is essentially the same thing. This one, though, had a couple of the non 'google translate' ones, for example: Cannibal being used instead of carnivore, or avant-garde instead of advanced guard. Errors of a translator who has English as their second language and got close to the word they wanted. There were only two errors like this that I caught and they were so close to sounding like the right word that I almost missed them, my brain filling in the write word on it's own.
(view spoiler)[Livadny doesn't mess around with his plots though. Where some authors will sprinkle tidbits of bigger mysteries into a half dozen books and never get any closer to exploring them. Livadny drops a huge plot point at the end of this one and has me really excited for more. It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder if this series might spin off, or connect to another series of his. (hide spoiler)]
Merged review:
A continuation right where the previous story left off and continues that story line without missing a beat. Really, it feels like the first two books could have been easily combined to form a single large one rather easily.
One of the things I really appreciate about Livadny's writing, is the people actually feel like people. In several other Russian translated stories I've read, only the main character feels real, with everyone around him being some Machiavellian figure waiting for their moment to stab him in the back. Aside from spoilers (and this book has some big plot points), most of the book is better than average LitRPG fair.
There were some interesting translations errors in this one. It had one normal one I caught, oxidized being used instead of rusted. These are 'google translate' style errors and fairly common in other books too, since the meaning is essentially the same thing. This one, though, had a couple of the non 'google translate' ones, for example: Cannibal being used instead of carnivore, or avant-garde instead of advanced guard. Errors of a translator who has English as their second language and got close to the word they wanted. There were only two errors like this that I caught and they were so close to sounding like the right word that I almost missed them, my brain filling in the write word on it's own.
(view spoiler)[Livadny doesn't mess around with his plots though. Where some authors will sprinkle tidbits of bigger mysteries into a half dozen books and never get any closer to exploring them. Livadny drops a huge plot point at the end of this one and has me really excited for more. It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder if this series might spin off, or connect to another series of his. (hide spoiler)]...more
This.... is a confusing book. The first several chapters of this story are nearly impenetrable as Fleming does nothing to setup the world or the rulesThis.... is a confusing book. The first several chapters of this story are nearly impenetrable as Fleming does nothing to setup the world or the rules. As a result, you never get a solid footing in the story. It's difficult when you aren't sure what's strange for this world and what isn't. Especially when what is strange and what isn't is extreamly important for the plot of the story. The net result is a dreamlike (sometimes even Kafkaesque) feel most of the time.
Still, I mostly enjoyed the story.
Merged review:
This.... is a confusing book. The first several chapters of this story are nearly impenetrable as Fleming does nothing to setup the world or the rules. As a result, you never get a solid footing in the story. It's difficult when you aren't sure what's strange for this world and what isn't. Especially when what is strange and what isn't is extreamly important for the plot of the story. The net result is a dreamlike (sometimes even Kafkaesque) feel most of the time.
Well that's quite the different take on Lit RPGs. Got to say I'm fascinated with this already, and now I'm more curious about what's behind the systemWell that's quite the different take on Lit RPGs. Got to say I'm fascinated with this already, and now I'm more curious about what's behind the system....more
Pretty good, but honestly, I'd rather he focus on advancing his Good Guys and Bad Guys series rather than starting a new adventure in the same world.Pretty good, but honestly, I'd rather he focus on advancing his Good Guys and Bad Guys series rather than starting a new adventure in the same world....more
This one really just didn't catch my interest at all and I quickly found myself just not wanting to continue. I didn't get very far at all before apatThis one really just didn't catch my interest at all and I quickly found myself just not wanting to continue. I didn't get very far at all before apathy set in so I don't feel comfortable rating it....more
Very serviceable Dungeon Core story. More interesting is the isekai happening to a side character, and a multi-dimensional event happening out in RaizVery serviceable Dungeon Core story. More interesting is the isekai happening to a side character, and a multi-dimensional event happening out in Raizman's multiverse.
I do like how 'Dungeon' actually means something here. More people should use this....more
What happened here? I really enjoyed the first book, but this story has just...
The main character has become a nightmare monster justifying every evilWhat happened here? I really enjoyed the first book, but this story has just...
The main character has become a nightmare monster justifying every evil action he takes and the book is written in a way to fetishize it. I couldn't take it and ended up dropping the book without finishing....more
For starters, the reader for this book was having a lot of fun with it. Not sure if I've had a Johnathan McClain read book before, but he is has a verFor starters, the reader for this book was having a lot of fun with it. Not sure if I've had a Johnathan McClain read book before, but he is has a very energetic and entertaining delivery.
Howry has a bit of a Douglas Adams feel to his writing style that's hard to describe. He starts off with a lot of setup away from the main character that felt a bit strange at first, but I would say is critical for getting the setting and tone down.
What's interesting is how much science is percolating in the background of this. Not positive but it seems he's drawing heavily on M-Theory of the universe being crated. The membrane is is treated like an infinite improbability drive, where it can be reached into and pretty much anything can be pulled out no matter how improbable. Howry balances this by applying a conservation of entropy. If he's going to pull order out of that chaos and into the world, a certain amount of chaos has to be generated as well to balance it. (that was quite the tangent)
The litrpg aspect comes in as the filter between that chaos and the universe. The generated chaos is pulled into the 'game world' and the beings trapped inside it are conscripted to eradicate it.
This book has a very different feel from any other LitRPG. First, Howry makes vanilla Human awesome, like, really awesome and I love it. Second, while he does have Human, elves, dwarves, ext they are defiantly not 'human, short human, pointy eared human'. They also have (view spoiler)[Reptilians, Greys, intelligent land sharks, faeries, ext, ext, ext (hide spoiler)]. There's a real possibility he'll not only have Centaurs and Naga's in his story, but do them correctly :O. I'm excited for more of this series....more
Set in the same world as Eric Ugland's "The Good Guys Series", this story follows a different character in the Imperial Capital City who's pursuing thSet in the same world as Eric Ugland's "The Good Guys Series", this story follows a different character in the Imperial Capital City who's pursuing the path of a thief. Like Eric Ugland's other book, this one's got a charming cast of characters, simple but deep world, interesting plot, and well done action. By the end of the book I was torn between wanting to see him meet up with Montana at some point and just wanting this plot line to continue. I highly recommend both Eric Ugland's series....more
I've got to say, after the rather weak previous two stories, Morgana really steps it up and delivers.
In some ways this book feels like a new start. AlI've got to say, after the rather weak previous two stories, Morgana really steps it up and delivers.
In some ways this book feels like a new start. All the older characters are there but Boxxy as a doppelganger is significantly different than Mimic Boxxy. While Mimic's are still my personal favorite, this change in focus allows for much more dynamic story telling and a subtle horror element that just sits there in a corner like a ticking time bomb.
(view spoiler)[I found Boxxy running into the standard LitRPG protagonist rather amusing. I wonder if he's really dead or if he'll respawn in typical LitRPG style and show up later. Given his reaction to being killed, I'm guessing this wasn't the first time he died. (hide spoiler)]...more
I forgot how much I love this series. The design of the world remains excellent and the characters engaging. There are some excellent character momentI forgot how much I love this series. The design of the world remains excellent and the characters engaging. There are some excellent character moments in here and a lot of good world building, but, in the end, it didn't really feel like much happened.
I also appreciate the OT star wars references. I wasn't expecting a "Great Pit of Carkoon" reference to end up that way. Disney trilogy references drop you to 1 star ;)....more
Aaron Jay is a very cleaver author. I found myself saying that out loud more than once during this story. Partly it was his subtle and cleaver referenAaron Jay is a very cleaver author. I found myself saying that out loud more than once during this story. Partly it was his subtle and cleaver references to the genre (prison pod models being named Mahanenko's for example). More than that, though was his scarily plausible world design.
The world in Beginner's Luck is a post apocalyptic one in which a Gray Goo like event has occurred and humanity just barely managed to save a small region from the "Wild AI" by incorporating it into a game. The whole point of the game is to keep the AI thinking that the game is what's important and get it to follow the established rules. The variety of AI's that were incorporated into the Gray Goo are different monsters. The humans then play to attempt to tame the Nano and hopefully regain territory. We've already seen how AI now behaves, and how humans can screw with it. Be it Twitter AI or the youtube algorithm. But, humans following human nature, results in, over the years, people taking the easy road and taking the game less seriously, loosing the understanding of what the point of this is and playing the game as a game.
As a result, the world and characters are extremely compelling, the way Miles plays makes sense and even the way he accomplishes seemingly impossible things works logically. This one is a must read for LitRPG fans....more
An interesting take on the LitRPG genre with a great opening. Unfortunately, to me, the whole setup gets derailed with the addition of the 'shop'. TheAn interesting take on the LitRPG genre with a great opening. Unfortunately, to me, the whole setup gets derailed with the addition of the 'shop'. The idea is good, but I think he introduced it and the scifi elements that resulted from it too early. This book really needed to be focused on the initial world building, characters, and setting the initial stakes.
Issues with the 'shop'. 1. It hurts the post-apocalyptic sitting. Rather than the dread of the new isolation and facing insurmountable odds, the shop now shows there is a broader galaxy out there and many planets and species. It's played for humor too which really clashes the mood. 2. Instead of exploring a single mechanic, Either and everything that came with it. There's now also multiple types of alien technology, the merging of Magic and Tech, inter planetary politics, the functionality of the wider either-verse ext. 3. The stakes in this book ramped way too quickly. It went from 'survive', 'find family', 'rescue a town', to 'save the planet from alien invasion'. That would have been great to introduce in book 4 or 5, but it's at save the world already in book 1....more
This is one of the lazier litRPG setups I've come across. It has the 'immediately entering the game' trope with next to no backstory besides that the This is one of the lazier litRPG setups I've come across. It has the 'immediately entering the game' trope with next to no backstory besides that the guy is paralyzed (note to the author: Paraplegic is not the same thing as paralyzed.) Author goes to great length to describe how literally any species is available to play as, even custom races... chooses human. Maybe he can balance out that boring choice with an interesting class... standard fire mage. -_-
But, everyone gets a unique personal skill, maybe that'll be interesting. Kind of O_o. The skill really results in making the genre of the book confusing. Power leveling through coitus should result in just some dumb, explicit lemon story. Strangely, he mostly (but not completely) skips over the gratuitous parts. It's like he couldn't commit one way or the other to the story.
Anyways, most of the book is just boring mob killing for xp and harem building. About 75% of the way in, the book actually does get pretty good and so earns a star back. Not sure if it's worth continuing or not....more
This is the dungeon under siege plot line dungeon core books all tend to do. Dungeon World does it better than most, with better explanation of the ruThis is the dungeon under siege plot line dungeon core books all tend to do. Dungeon World does it better than most, with better explanation of the rules, better reasoning behind it, and with more interesting enemies. Brooks has created an interesting version of the dungeon core genre and I'll be looking forward to book 3....more
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