Austin

I got to Chapter 4

Revisado: 01-20-24

I couldnt finish it. I could barely start it. I was so lost in what was happening in the beginning, and then once i understood, the pace felt slow and hard to trudge through. The system was very crunchy and the amount of skills was enough for me to lose focus with the way the narrator read through them. What frustrates me is that I'm sure this is a great book, but for whatever reason I can't focus on it. As this is likely more a me problem than a problem with the novel, I'm not going to rate it any lower. I still think there is a lot of clutter in the beginning that can be amended.

I think its the lack of dialogue. The only times I was semi- focused was when the god was speaking. Which is why I am sure this novel gets so much better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Time and Time Skips.

Revisado: 12-26-23

it isn't often I'm disappointed by a novel. This is one of those. Honestly, it has so much potential, or HAD so much potential.

I'll avoid major spoilers. Minor spoilers beware.

In the very beginning, the main character gets the ability to manipulate Time. It's part of a magic system as the apocalypse happens. It's a card system with upgrade potential, fusion and the like. I feel like there was so much untapped potential there.

The reason for my rating are Time skips. After the very beginning, we start to get time skips. First a few days, then sometimes weeks. I felt disconnected when months started to be passed over and summarized.

That's what the book turned into halfway through. it was no longer, if it ever had been, a detailed and immersive story. I enjoy the idea of a magic shopkeep. The system is good. But having months pass by with just an "oh this happend and that happend" doesn't cut it.

There is a part in the story where the MC gets captured. Which he had multiple. Multiple, chances to use his time card to get away, but he doesn't and we're forced to listen as he has a boo-hoo training arc over the course of months! Months! Why Months!? It could very well be days or weeks, but virtually nothing happens other than literally "I tried to sense the energy but I couldn't focus".

The line that made me stop to write this review was "He just said a lot of evil monologue bullshit so I didn't bother listening to him".

The author is writing a story that's no longer a story. he's writing bullet points. There are pieces in between that are fleshed out, but they aren't worth my frustration with the stupidity of the Main Character or the glazed over writing style that ruins the potential of a fantastical and amazing world. The author did so good in the beginning and it had so many different place to go... I hate this feeling.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Listen.

Revisado: 01-13-20

Okay. So. I wanted to set a few things straight from a few conflicting reviews.

1. While the MC does get beaten to a pulp, and often, he does not always "lose". He is dealt a crap hand in life and has some terrible luck, but everything isn't all bad. He first gets beat up roughly by a client, (He works as a personal trainer/practice dummy), but in return he gets a few nice drinks from his coworker and a little bump to his defenses. This isn't exactly an huge boost, but their is an exchange. Next he gets the absolute **** kicked out of him by some bratty rich kids, but he gets healed by a nice client and gets to keep a large bonus. You see the pattern?

2. There is a give and take relationship in this book. Nothing is free, and everything has strings attached. If he gets beat up, he gets a break. If he gets a break, something bad is usually around the corner. Everything has strings attached to it. This advances the plot from point to point rather nicely.

3. I have read reviews that this book is depressing because the MC keeps getting continually beaten and "nothing good happens". This is FALSE! There are some undeniably good and heartwarming moments in this book. Especially surrounding the MC's sister. Their relationship is an emotional rollercoaster, and I am glad she actually has character and a sense of humor rather than just being a two-dimensional motivation tool for our MC.

4. While I did enjoy the author's "Changing Faces" book a lot better, this book can't be compared. This book is cultivation while that one is definitely a LITRPG. The writing style, prose, characters, and entire genre is different. IF I didn't know better I would say this was written by entirely different person because of how different it feels and flows. This isn't a bad thing though. On the other hand, it is quite extraordinary.

5. Just as reference, other cultivation books have MC's who go through a lot more shit than our MC here. For example the characters from "Buryoku" by Aaron Oster and "A Thousand Li" by Tao Wong go through some exceptionally brutal beat downs. Even in Will Wight's "Cradle" series, the MC never gets a break and is thrust into new problems as soon as he finishes the last. At least here, our MC has days of down time and semi-relaxation.

6. If I had to critique this book, the thing that irritates me the most are the speech patterns. For example, Granny continually uses "Dearie" every other sentence. The (bad) Uncle calls him "Boy". His other crappy family members call him "Dick". There are others, but each time they are said they are used as a slur to degrade him. This doesn't bother me so much as how often they are used. Having to hear them said over and over is grating on my ears. It is not quite as bad as "Kitten" from the Undead Rogue series, but it is pretty damn close.

7. Travis Baldree does a fantastic job as always. All his voices are practically unique, He can go soft or loud, portray male, or female, young or old. His words carry emotion and there is forethought to his reading. It's fantastic

Overall. It is a great book with a ton of character development. Don't get hung up on his defeats because he always bounces back. I highly recommend you listen to this book for yourself. It is worth a credit. Give it a try and make your own opinion.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 79 personas

Epic.

Revisado: 01-05-20

I am impressed.

This series was one of the first I ever picked up. From the beginning, the writing was top notch. I had issues with a few of the voices but have since gotten used to them. Each character (the ones that matter) is easily distinguishable and most of Soundbooths monster noises and sound effects worked really well.

This fourth book is an amazing addition to the series where we reunite with our favorite antagonist, the Lights strongest inquisitor, and a petty demi-God. All of the Dungeon Lords, The Haunts Minions, The Lights Servants, and an even more insidious characters clash in an epic battle. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

You cannot miss this book. The ending had the perfect twist that has me even more pumped for the next book. I cant help but look forward to what happens next. I give this book a solid 9.5/10

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Loss of Potential

Revisado: 01-01-20

I have to say that this series is rather infuriating. I read the author Pathways first two books but this series seems like it was written by an entirely different person.

Alex, our MC, is a young adult of an indeterminate age who is the son of a CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation, he is a new immersion tester in their most popular MMO. His mother was unfortunately killed several years ago by a terrorist organization. His Father took it upon himself to enact vengeance and showed his son a recording of the execution of said criminals, as a teenager, and told his son "No Mercy". This seems to have shaped our MC into a man with a sick sense of justice.

In the first book our MC runs across a group with red-skulls over their heads, indicating they are Player Killers, immediately judges them as two-bit-scum, and decides to basically torture them by killing them over and over. No one in the party is particularly concerned except Lainey, but after she is brought aside and told about his mother, she is immediately okay with it. He adopts his fathers "No mercy policy". This theme of execution, complete mockery, and humiliation continues for every Player Killer member throughout both books. Almost all the npc's and players LAUGH at the torture and humiliation. This is in no way justified, even if they are later revealed to be terrorists.

Wrong is Wrong. No human, no kind elderly, no innocent child, NOT A SINGLE PERSON ever tells him he is wrong.

There are bound to be different people with differing viewpoints that, like most of us, see that the MC is sick in his sense of twisted justice. Everything is written as if it is black and white. The MC is "charismatic", charitable, intelligent, and forward thinking. The bad guys are all apparently idiots, who despite playing the game for years to support themselves, get their asses handed to them at every turn and can't help but spout profanity. There is no smart villian that gets the upper hand. There is no dumb, good guy who makes a mistake. The only character I really enjoy is Fibble. Pew Pew.

Other things that upset me is that all the Dwarves are cookie-cutter characters. They all sound the same, act the same, and talk the same. The BWAHAHAHA! that each dwarve makes is literally copied and pasted into each of their conversations. The King, The Dwarves King, A 6000 year old wizard, and a LITERAL DRAGON all love and help the MC and all hold the same dispositions. They all have the same personalities, lovable, kind, and just. The "Seee Ya" catchphrase is incredibly annoying. Everyone laughs when talking to Alex. The MC has the a literal god on his side. (Along with the rest of the pantheon)

Speeches. Speeches everywhere.

The MC reiterates information several times to separate party members or NPC's, such as the attack in the real world. An Author should never repeat information that the readers all ready know, definitely not in the same way. The MC hands out gold, money, jewels, and artifacts like they are candy. Everyone boggles at his "charitable" nature and initially refuse but don't take much convincing. It feels like he is buying them to me. (For all he doesn't want to be treated differently)

The STAT system and Litrpg elements don't matter. The MC can create new spells, enchant Epic level items and build an entire town in 4 days around level 20. When he is level 40 he still has 27 unused attribute points. What kind of gamer does that? An OP one. He wipes the floor with level 50's 70's and 80's. Mostly because the bad guys are stupid.

There are no real challenges, no near escapes or any real losses.

Also, the narrator switched from Laurie to Jeff Hays somewhere along the way. Personally I love Jeff Hays. Soundbooth Theatre is always great and I feel the need to give them a shout-out. Unfortunately, they couldn't save this series for me.

I feel the need to go on for so long because while most reviews I read either praise the book without any real mention of its content, or berate the book but don't go into enough detail. With this I hope that you can at least be informed with what you will be buying.

This book is a great example of writing and character development you should NOT do. I do not recommend this series. There are plenty of good LITRPG's on audible that you can listen to instead. I cannot understand why there are so many positive reviews. Maybe you will enjoy this book and love all the little quirks it has. But I have said my piece and will let you decide.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Pacing.

Revisado: 12-23-19

I apologize but I just cant continue. The pacing is all wrong. The writing combined with the narrator's reading makes for an incredibly dull listen.

The content itself is unique and fun. The story looks like it goes interesting places.

I have had this book in my library for about 2 months. Every audiobook I buy, I binge and finish with a day or three. I had to start and stop this book 7 times. Whatever is about the pacing and content that cant get me interested, I just cant finish it.

I half regret this but since the author has failed to keep me interested and invested, I must give this only a few stars. I may finish it one-day, but it shouldnt be a mental slog to pay attention.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Good but First book was better.

Revisado: 12-16-19

Like I said, The first book was full of these really raw emotions as our survivors barely dodge danger. The second book had some great heart jerking moments too. This third book felt very forced though.

First, the amount of repeated information hurts my soul. Your readers know that the real world is dead, so stop repeating the information for every new NPC the Main characters encounter. As a writer, you never want to repeat information we already know. I assume you are trying to evoke a reaction in us, but each time you repeat it, it becomes less and less impactful.

Second, situations also repeat. New survivors meet baddies, very terrified, barely survive, etc. Our Drow MC intimidates, stupid NPC doesnt listen, Drown absorbs their soul. Many of these scenarios were played out in previous books and they are nothing new.

Third, breaking the fourth wall. While I like the fact that the NPC's know about the outworlders, like I said, it is repeated too much. Jokes and references to other Litrpgs are nice, but the gnomes rule reference from The Land felt soooooo hollow and cringey. It just didnt work here and I felt insulted.

Fourth, choices. Combat is always the same but with different enemies, it was just sort of "meh". The choices our MC's make dont make sense. They throw out money and give handouts everywhere. They become "king and queen" just because they can but they dont have the right personalities or foresight.

Overall, it is still a mildly enjoyable story. The first two books did it well. This book just sort of flew by me not resonating with me. Personally I suggest to stop reading after book two, you arent missing anything fantastic.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I missed this.

Revisado: 11-30-19

I missed this series. I have had my doubts about the narration and some of the writing in the past but I have been starved for good litrpg's lately. I knew I liked this series so I was glad there was a new addition. BTW I set the speed at about 1.3x-1.4x. Voraces' narration is really slow so I sped it up to more normal reading speeds. (It does get to fast when Yindis talks though)

I missed Raytak and his unique class, we don't see his type of character in other litrpg's.

Yindis is still hilarious and I really enjoy her interactions with some shady merchants.

Moderate Flaw : In chapter eight there is a gift for one of the minor characters. It is ALL description. It is SO long that I zoned out three different times. Why did you have 7 minutes of monotone monologue backstory for such an obscure item. If it was read like the actual book it might be better but it was instead read in "system's" voice which did not have any inflection at all. If the backstory about the gnomes, pirates, and necromancer (I think), were relevant to the plot I would understand. It is just all really unnecessary...

Minor Flaw : There are a few moments where there are gaps in the narration as if it had been deleted, leaving several seconds of silence.

+/- : There is more emphasis on the different characters in this book. There are whole chapters dedicated to Yindis. There are also chapters from the enemies point of view. These chapters are good when they are connected to Raytak, such as the enemy's viewpoint of his army. The chapters concerning Yindis, her party, and her battles is rather tiresome since they don't add to the overall story.

It seems almost like Yindis should have her own side book dedicated to herself, as it is now, here character feels like it is competing too much with Raytak. I enjoy Raytak's large scale battles, not Yindis and her parties.

Overall, it has a few minor flaws but they can be overlooked, this is a great Litrpg series. I highly recommend it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Not as good as the first.

Revisado: 11-28-19

The first book was an underdog story. He rose from poor farmer to sect member, to inner sect member. He was harshly discriminated against for being poor, kicked down at every chance, and barely gained any respect. He was able to change expectations, and clawed his way up through hard work and determination. This book however, is mundane...

He learns a few styles, dabbles in smithing, pill-making, fighting, but never really does anything amazing or unordinary. Several times throughout the book he is told he has no talent for each subject, he is just average. AND he accepts that! He doesn't find a unique style to throw himself into. His professions yield little fruit. It is so frustrating.

Why is he suddenly so ordinary? Why does he not have any true passion? Why does he progress so slowly? My biggest concern are the time jumps. There are several, skipping days, weeks, and months. For all the time that is passing, little is actually happening. I am disappointed. The first book was more more well done. This one is just "eh".

The narrator is decent, being able to portray different male and female voices. Range doesn't go high or low though. It is also very difficult to tell the characters apart when they have such similar voices. Not to mention I still have trouble with the traditional Chinese names. Being a single language speaker, it is difficult for me to latch onto names I can't easily recognize. You may see this as petty or my fault for not being cultured enough, but it is a real concern that should be taken into account when selling to a specific audience.

Overall: I am not too pleased with how this book turned out. If I have to wait 6 hours for anything remotely substantial to occur then something is wrong. This book was still mildly enjoyable but the first book did it much better.. The narrator did a decent job. Characters and plot may be hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with Chinese culture.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 22 personas

Not as good as the first.

Revisado: 11-28-19

The first book was an underdog story. He rose from poor farmer to sect member, to inner sect member. He was harshly discriminated against for being poor, kicked down at every chance, and barely gained any respect. He was able to change expectations, and clawed his way up through hard work and determination. This book however, is mundane...

He learns a few styles, dabbles in smithing, pill-making, fighting, but never really does anything amazing or unordinary. Several times throughout the book he is told he has no talent for each subject, he is just average. AND he accepts that! He doesn't find a unique style to throw himself into. His professions yield little fruit. It is so frustrating.

Why is he suddenly so ordinary? Why does he not have any true passion? Why does he progress so slowly? My biggest concern are the time jumps. There are several, skipping days, weeks, and months. For all the time that is passing, little is actually happening. I am disappointed. The first book was more more well done. This one is just "eh".

The narrator is decent, being able to portray different male and female voices. Range doesn't go high or low though. It is also very difficult to tell the characters apart when they have such similar voices. Not to mention I still have trouble with the traditional Chinese names. Being a single language speaker, it is difficult for me to latch onto names I can't easily recognize. You may see this as petty or my fault for not being cultured enough, but it is a real concern that should be taken into account when selling to a specific audience.

Overall: I am not too pleased with how this book turned out. If I have to wait 6 hours for anything remotely substantial to occur then something is wrong. This book was still mildly enjoyable but the first book did it much better.. The narrator did a decent job. Characters and plot may be hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with Chinese culture.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña