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It's a really fun story, and hard to put down

Revisado: 02-27-24

I have one gripe about this series, though not enough to deduct a point - this is very clearly written by a man. the women in these books sometimes act more like anime tropes than actual people. They keep tickling and biting each other and I get that the author is writing a budding romance here, but it comes across very much in a way that feels like a man writing from a woman's POV. Comes dangerously close to characters breasting boobily.


That being said - I really enjoyed this book & series so far. Both this & previous narrators do a fantastic job with tone & inflection to make characters feel distinct, which is great since there's a lot of banter, and most of it is much more natural and entertaining than LitRPG banter often tends to. This might be second only to He Who Fights With Monsters in terms of party dynamics, and given the current state of that series, might actually be better. The mystery element of what the heck is going on & the sense of progression are both really good. I also vastly enjoy the way the series engages with things like physics & anatomy, where it gradually explains things to you without going too much into lore dumps. It's a really good listen, well worth the credit.

I'll also note that some people seem to find the way the narrator pronounces the S sound to be irritating..As far as I can tell it's only on some of the characters, and it gives the narration a lot of personality. I really enjoy it, but probably listen to the sample before committing.

Finally - I find the action to often be very tense and visceral in ways many books fail to accomplish, making it difficult to put down mid-scene - which to me is a mark of great writing. Two thumbs up, a hidden gem if a series

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Fails a very weird Bechdel test

Revisado: 12-06-23

This book fails a really weird Bechdel test where very rarely two characters would be allowed to hold a conversation without immediately bringing up Jason. It's getting quite absurd. It's made even more absurd because Jason is an active participant in these conversations, yet he ALSO remains unable to stop talking about himself. It's not as bas as the Earth books, because at least all the characters we like are back, and the banter still works, but holy crap, can we talk about literally anything else for a bit? When the plot actually kicks off, 20 hours in, it's pretty good, but just... ugh. Also this repeats the mistake of book 5 - where it just ends in the middle of a plot arc. It's a very frustrating reading experience. Moreover - when I finished book 9, I IMMEDIATELY preordersed book 10, which I recall being marked as being 45 hours long. This means they intended to give us a book with a complete arc, but instead... welll they just didn't and here we are. I don't care for it. It's one of the weaker entries in the series.

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It tricked me into thinking it was good for a bit

Revisado: 12-14-22

This book... this damn book. perhaps its greatest sin is how strong it starts off, and how rapidly it drops in quality.


So, to start off - some other reviews here bash the protagonist for being a "white night". This rings incredibly false to me. I mean, sure, he SAYS the right things, on occasion, but considering how a few hours into this he legit beats up a woman, then informs her that she can either become his slave or die, in a contract that is magically binding, you're going to have to sell me pretty hard on him being a good guy, book. More importantly, the narrative sortta tries to sell it as him having no choice but to enslave her, but that also rings hollow as it clearly states that he chooses to accept her challenge, which he is completely able to decline with no negative repercussions. It gets worse. As he beats this woman into submission (yes, physically beats her into submission) he screams at her how this is all her fault. The fact he is framed as the good guy in this scenario is pretty bonkers. Then he informs the woman that he does not consider her a slave, but rather a friend, which she just goes with, turning into something of a love interest.


So obviously he cheats on her with two other women by the end of the book. I say cheats, because while in theory he's not comitted to any of his slaves (which they all are, BTW), he keeps performing sexual acts with them then hiding that fact from each other so it doesn't mess up his romance with the other, which for how much ifva good guy Blair is supposed to be just feels incredibly like trying to eat your cake and have it too.


Oh, speaking of slavery, a few scenes happen where women have to reassure Blair that they ARE property, with one legit informing him that he should probably be using her for sex. Which he does, because he can. Then he sleeps with someone else and lies to her about it too, because he thinks her knowing will mess things up. He legit gets upset at the other male character for almost giving his game away. Such a nice guy, our protagonist.


Oh BTW, that other guy says at some point he would like to have a harem, like Blair does, to which Blair responds to in utter shock "harem? me? noooo", the concept of a harem being unfathomable to him, with his 3 slave girls whom he engages in sex with.

Storywise the book actually isn't terrible if you disregard all the terrible harem stuff. But there is SO MUCH harem stuff. The premise is good and some of the mechanics are interesting.

The narrator does a fairly good job with making characters sound different from each other, though having the character constantly saying "rad" and "dude" have a British accent seems like a weird choice.

Overall - I think the character dynamic is unpleasant enough for me that I likely won't be listening to any sequels, but if protagonists who are terrible people who never get called out in being terrible and are treated as super nice guys are more bearable to you - you may enjoy it a lot, especially since the female characters, weird thirst for the man who violently enslaved them aside, are pretty likeable

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It tries so hard to be wholesome that it's creepy

Revisado: 11-29-22

This book kinda works in some ways, but completely fails on others, making it a bit of an odd read

First, let's put it out there - the protagonist is building a harem. Like full on, isekai harem. The author, however is very much working from a western approach to this, so the trope of the protagonist being deeply reluctant\unaware of the harem forming is subverted, but this means that the hero is firming a harem, while aware of how the female characters might feel about it, but shrugging it off. Then the book goes into insane lengths to make the whole thing seem like really the wholesome, sensible thing to do. It's very weird.

Then there is the romance the hero DOES pursue, which is bad for entirely different reasons. See he warps into this world and BAM, first girl he runs into - that's the one he is betrothed to after a few weeks. Also no actual romance takes place. we get a "we discussed it like adults and now we're engaged" which, kudos to the author for not dancing around people being romantically interested in each other, but also... why am I emotionally invested in this relationship if the most important parts are yada yada yada'd over? You wanna drown me in scenes of PG kissy face? you earn those scenes Mr. Author

Also this is 100% wish fulfillment. The MC is not, under any circumstances, allowed to fail or look bad, and this means stakes are always nonexistent. He legit refers to himself as Superman at one point. Know what makes Superman work? The fact that being superman often comes at a great personal price, like not being able to protect those you care about, or not having a personal life. Not Nate (the MC) though. Nate just gets away with anything all the time. He is always fucking around, not being a hero. But also protects people constantly. You know what would work for a hero being half-assed about it? having people die or pay prices because he wouldn't commit. Nope, not here. He'll always make it in the nick of time

Also - every other major character will get a few paragraphs to be the POV character, which they will inevitably use to gush about how wonderful Nate is, even the bloody animals do it. It's insane.

Like, if you wanna have the character focus on being a businessman, let him do business and maybe struggle in that front in some way but nope. Nate's just an amazing potion maker right off the bet.

There is never tension, never any stakes, which leaves you with just fluff. It's not TERRIBLE fluff, mind you. I didn't hate any of the characters, not even nate himself, but it's just not anything to write home about, unless what you're writing home is a middling review.

Pretty good work from both narrators though, moreso the male one. weird choice to give Japanese inspired characters British\Irish accents but I suppose everything looks like a nail when you're welding a hammer. Still very good work. All characters sound distinct enough that it's possible to tell who's speaking without the narration outright stating it.

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It tries so hard to be wholesome that it's creepy

Revisado: 11-29-22

This book kinda works in some ways, but completely fails on others, making it a bit of an odd read

First, let's put it out there - the protagonist is building a harem. Like full on, isekai harem. The author, however is very much working from a western approach to this, so the trope of the protagonist being deeply reluctant\unaware of the harem forming is subverted, but this means that the hero is firming a harem, while aware of how the female characters might feel about it, but shrugging it off. Then the book goes into insane lengths to make the whole thing seem like really the wholesome, sensible thing to do. It's very weird.

Then there is the romance the hero DOES pursue, which is bad for entirely different reasons. See he warps into this world and BAM, first girl he runs into - that's the one he is betrothed to after a few weeks. Also no actual romance takes place. we get a "we discussed it like adults and now we're engaged" which, kudos to the author for not dancing around people being romantically interested in each other, but also... why am I emotionally invested in this relationship if the most important parts are yada yada yada'd over? You wanna drown me in scenes of PG kissy face? you earn those scenes Mr. Author

Also this is 100% wish fulfillment. The MC is not, under any circumstances, allowed to fail or look bad, and this means stakes are always nonexistent. He legit refers to himself as Superman at one point. Know what makes Superman work? The fact that being superman often comes at a great personal price, like not being able to protect those you care about, or not having a personal life. Not Nate (the MC) though. Nate just gets away with anything all the time. He is always fucking around, not being a hero. But also protects people constantly. You know what would work for a hero being half-assed about it? having people die or pay prices because he wouldn't commit. Nope, not here. He'll always make it in the nick of time

Also - every other major character will get a few paragraphs to be the POV character, which they will inevitably use to gush about how wonderful Nate is, even the bloody animals do it. It's insane.

Like, if you wanna have the character focus on being a businessman, let him do business and maybe struggle in that front in some way but nope. Nate's just an amazing potion maker right off the bet.

There is never tension, never any stakes, which leaves you with just fluff. It's not TERRIBLE fluff, mind you. I didn't hate any of the characters, not even nate himself, but it's just not anything to write home about, unless what you're writing home is a middling review.

Pretty good work from both narrators though, moreso the male one. weird choice to give Japanese inspired characters British\Irish accents but I suppose everything looks like a nail when you're welding a hammer. Still very good work. All characters sound distinct enough that it's possible to tell who's speaking without the narration outright stating it.

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Well, the series had a good run....

Revisado: 04-24-22

This book is by far, hands down, the worst book in the series. Some reviewers venture guesses as to why its not good - maybe Travis wasn't having fun, maybe it's all about the money... Personally I don't know why it's not as good as the others, it just... isn't. Here's a list of things that bothered me (beware spoilers):

1. This isn't a book. This is 3 books. 2 of these have unsatisfying conclusions, while the 3rd just flat out ends in the middle. Twice in this book are villains introduced, a showdown is set up and then... nothing. One goes so far as to flat out vanish about a third of the way into the book never to be seen again. Oh also about halfway through the book SAUDDENLY VAMPIRES

2. Jason is now a bad character. How bad of a character is he? 3 people literally come back from the dead to talk to him, and they only ever talk about him and what HE needs and how great HE is. It's really quite vexing. The Mary-Sue levels are reallt high in this one. Like, in previous books attempts were made to justify why Jason would be the way he is - sure, his aura can't be supressed because he's so used to being weak that feeling weak doesn't really phase him - that's awesome. But now? nope, his aura is just really really powerful and he can just kill Silver rankers with his mind. Easy peasy.

3. The perceptions of everything from politics to gender roles are... iffy.. throughout the book people keep referring to Jason as an emo lord or a chuuni, but you know what no one ever refers to him as? a sigma male, and I fear that the reason they don't is because that's what Jason is unironically supposed to be - He's really cool and smart and all the ladies are really into him, but also he doesn't want to be a ladies' man or the position of leadership. His entire dynamic with Asia comes off very... weird. She's basically portrayed as perfect, and throws herself at him since he was a teen, apparently, but he was always just too damn cool for her. And you know what? I like the plot point where he rejected her in the previous book because there was a power disparity there, and it wouldn't be fair. I liked it when that was the deal with Sophie too, because at the very least it showed Jason as... kind? or as a person with a somewhat healthy grasp of relationship dynamics? well screw that noise! Asia now gets an aura suppression bracelet and they can go to bonetown! she also immediately and one-sidedly falls compoletely in love with him and then just immediately gets tossed into a fridge...
Remember when the series had depth? Remember when Cassandra had to break up with Jason because she was a flawed person and didn't wish to go against her family, even though they were wrong? Remeber how this was due to Jason's own arrogance? Well we're no longer doing depth, friends. Love interests get to be perfect women then die to motivate Jason. end of story

Though again - I say end of story but this story has no end.

4. Everyone is now stupid, or cartoonishly evil. People just let millions die for shits and giggles. Americans just go on murderous rampages for no reason, Japanese are are super obsessed with honor but also very treacherous. Only Australians get to not be total tools, and even then only sometimes.

All in all - not torture to listen to but really underwhelming....

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Quite a letdown

Revisado: 03-16-22

This series started pretty strong - the vaguely dystopian futuristic "real" world was used fairly effectively to create stakes in what would otherwise be just a story of a kid playing a game. The game itself was fairly generic, but Damian's unique position in it made THAT work as well. Lilian was very likeable, if cliched, and everything just sorta worked. Everything sorta doesn't anymore.

The author clearly had a fairly distinct idea of how things SHOULD, progress and what arcs the characters SHOULD have. The problem is that everyone arrives there artificially and through no experience or interaction that we ever actually see.

The book now revolves around three characters, up from the previous one. This can work when you read about multiple viewpoint merging into one narrative, but here the two stories seemed mostly tangential to each other, and the unlikeable characters didn't really do the narrative any favors. Let's explore them:

Damian - towards the end of the book, Damian is upset at Lilian for sidelining him. I am upset at the author for very much the same thing. Damian's story is very shallow, and us clearly the B plot to everything else that is going on. At the same time, the book treats it with way too much gravity. At one point in the book, Damian's mom notes that he does not seem to be having fun playing the game, and that seems very accurate. He's not having fun, and I'm not either. He's playing the game in crisis mode, but the crisis seems very shallow & convoluted. Damian also doesn't seem to grow as a person or change throughout the book. His skills improve but his personality does not. He seems very selfish & petty throughout, and when some heavy accusations are leveled against him early in the book, you think it's a set-up for growth, but the growth never comes. basically - Damian SHOULD be playing like his life depends on it, so he does, despite the stakes being low. He SHOULD lash out because he's stressed, so he does. By the end of the book he is apparently friends with Andrew & Lilian though it's not clear what changed to facilitate this.

Lilian - Lilian really got the short hand of the development stick. In book one she was portrayed as a bit too kind, and also clearly as a side character. Welp, she gets the A plot now. The author thought she SHOULD be more of a flawed, "real" character, but this ended up making her entitled and quite unlikeable. Everyone keeps either treating her with 0 respect, or treating like she's the best, or like she's a damsel in distress, and it somehow's all true - because her character is a complete mess. She can't do ANYTHING without Damian\Andrew, yet she is always rude and ungrateful. Then suddenly she is capable of galvanizing thousands of people to action, but also is the only one worthy of Excalibur, but also is a total asshole to anyone who slightly disagrees with her. It's infuriating to read her because she's just so erratic, and also never feels like she progresses through merit

Andrew - god, Andrew. This is just a completely different character from book 1. In book 1 his main characteristics were his cowardice and his selfishness. Now - he sacrifices himself for people, keeps a level head at provocation, charges headfirst into deadly battles. At this point it's really quite unclear why he acted the way he acted in the first book (or even early in the seconds). It's actually quite jarring. Andrew is like the worst person ever, then suddenly Lilian is in danger once, the redemption switch is flipped, and he's now smart, heroic & humble. The author thought Andrew SHOULD be redeemed, so that's what happens, even if it makes no sense for the character or plot...

Also Saga Online is a stupid, terrible game. characters gain insane powers for achieving the most menial and silly tasks. Lilian becomes queen of camelot by basically solving 5 easy riddles. It's insane. Also - what sort of MMO is sustainable when the first like 6 players to complete the big quests control the world, and it grants them power most players cannot possibly hope to match? The game just doesn't seem fun unless you're one if a few select elites.

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It's just so... bad

Revisado: 02-22-22

So I'll start by saying that perhaps the greatest detriment to me liking this book is the fact that I got it immediately after binging the "He Who Fights With Monsters" series. Those books were not perfect, but there's a lot of substance there, and a lot of easy roads not taken. The character's strengths and flaws are acknowledged throughout, and it often negates many of the contrivences of the plot


Siphon, on the other hand, seems to lack in both depth and plot. Jade is a character that never seems to make any sense. She keeps acting petty & entitled, and the book never seems to recognize these as faults. By the half point of the book she has impressed the entire royal family not despite being the literal worst, but by actually being literally the worst. The book very actively creates a world where Jade is the main character, and everyone else exists solely to cater to her whims. Also - any sort of adversity is IMMEDIATELY negated. In other titles, a character may arrive in their new world with nothing. Not here though - Jade is plopped in with an entire wardrobe, into a dorm room she can use, with servants to make her food. Also one of her powers makes her able to eat constantly without gaining weight, and makes her boobs bigger - because why not? Finally, just in case someone considered the ethics of draining people of their strength against their will - draining people makes them gain their power back even stronger, so really - no downside!

The comedy, such as it is, falls flat and a lot of it revolves around Jade being insufferable while everyone perceives her as quirky (the singing to herself and childish inner monologue become very grating very fast). the somber moments also feel like someone just decided "I guess we should have one of these here". It fails to resonate at all times. I've spent literally hours with these people yet I don't care for any of them at all.

By the half point of the book (which is where I stopped) - not even a semblance of plot presented itself and it has been merely 3 in-world days (in which time Jade already learned magic and made friends with the entire royal family - to the degree where the queen is actively setting her up with her son)

Finally - the video game interface is presented in perhaps the most irritating way possible, as if meant to waste your time. whenever Jade uses her power (which is constantly) - the narrator states the 7 stats she can siphon. But because Jade can't tell the values of the stats - we just have to hear the same 7 stats listed off with no meaning or variation time and time again. Even worse - Jade learns many, MANY skills over the course of the book. Whenever she views them, prepare for 10 minutes of dull, pointless narration, as you get to hear the 7 stats (this time with values though, so yay!) then ALL HER SKILLS, then ALL HER SKILLS AGAIN, but this time with growth percentage. Why not just include the percentage off the bat then? It feels unbearably long every time!

Samara Naeymi does her best with what she's given, but the material is just terrible.

I'd avoid this one, folks

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Brilliant. I'd give it 6 stars if I could

Revisado: 02-01-22

This book is everything the first one was - and more. It takes a masterful hand to make all faction feel deep and living, and Afterdeath does just that

Scott Lucas is in top form as always

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A thoughtful, thrilling listen

Revisado: 01-22-22

This is a very deep, well constructed dystopian society. BL Craig does a very good job at revealing his world, and it mostly feels organic and very digestible.

It's a very fine line to walk - to draw a reader (or listener) into a world without going on endless tangents about every flower and what insects pollinate it.

The style of writing makes the story very accessible. Granted, some may view this as a con, but I found it very appealing. The story was also presented in a mostly linear fashion, with very few flashbacks & time skipping back & forth, and I found this makes it much easier to follow in a spoken format.

The story itself is very engaging. It raises a lot of very interesting questions, answers enough of them to feel satisfying, but leaves enough open to make me crave the next book. There is also a wonderful balance struck between quieter character moments snd tense action.

Scott Lucas does a wonderful job narrating, giving each character enough of an accent and shifting pitch to make dialogue easy to follow. His few heavily emotional scenes are also very well performed


Overall - I highly recommend this

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