Thad Steel

Superb!

Revisado: 07-26-24

What an epic entry.
The payoff makes listening to the entire series for again before the release of book 11 absolutely worth the time spent.

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Where are my 47 Epilogues?

Revisado: 04-20-23

This fantastic addition to the series is engaging and smartly paced from beginning to end.
The only thing I can even complain about is not anything to do with the book, but to do with the lack of numerous epilogues.
Since books 3 & 6 ended in much the same way, I was looking forward to seeing the wider world from the POV of various other characters. Instead, I have to settle for a satisfying and fulfilling ending.

You've masterfully brought so many not-so-main characters to life, that there are pressing questions about the world you've created that now need answering.
What's going on in the wider astral?
How did Dawn's possible reunion with her parents go?
What's happening with the Mercers & the Gellers in Greenstone?
(I hate him, but still...) What evil is Thaddwick Van Suckenstein unleashing upon the world?
What's the deal with Clive's Eel Farming Parents?

All of these questions could have been answered in the litany of epilogues I expected to wrap up this 3rd trilogy in the series, but NOOO... my expectations have been dashed and sundered against reality.

All I have now are the burning questions that might only peripherally matter to the main plot, the months of wait for book 10, and the glorious closure of one plot arc opening directly into the epic promise of another.

Respectfully,
Thanks for the expansion.
I'm genuinely looking forward to the next one with great anticipation.

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Dude Looks like a Lady! (... and the Giggles)

Revisado: 04-11-23

This story is conceptually solid, but the fluff proves itself far too saccharine.
The action and pacing are tremendous. The author has a firm grasp of the character's psychological state, doing very well to balance the "Mary Sue" aspect of the main character by showing character growth underscored by mostly believable compartmentalization of trauma marked by manic episodes of hyper-focused self-improvement. Even interpersonal relational flaws are well illustrated considering the main character (MC) appears to have no grounding in who they are as a person. This fact might be my biggest critique... if not for the other thing.

The next drawback of this story is its needless sexual trists and moral ambiguity. While the MC is introduced as virtuous in the first act, by the second and third, they just come across as a passively lecherous perve. I'd been excited with the prospect of reading a LitRPG from the POV of a female lead. But by the end, she just comes across as some creepy random dude you'd meet in a bar. Overall, the execution does little more than cast an oily shadow over the whole story. It's almost like the writer wanted to pen an erotic novel, but didn't have the guts to fully commit.

And then there's the giggling. DUDE!!! Just Stop!
Andrea Parsneau is an amazing narrator. I've listened to many of her books, and she's fantastic. Whoever made her "giggle" throughout the story like a parent forced to laugh at a five-year-old's pointless joke is an a*hole. Add that to the fact that the MC speaks through numerous British idioms with a bloody American accent, and I'm immediately pulled out of the story. It's like hearing a cat bark. In total, it's all so much of a distraction, that I believe I'll choose not to continue with any further installments in this otherwise well-imagined epic,

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I've heard worse...

Revisado: 03-07-23

Overall, I find the series very Mechanical, This book - and the series that follows - is pretty chunky. And I don't mean in a cute cuddly way. I don't know who mechanically edited this novel and the series, but Grammarly on auto-edit could replace that person.

The story itself is fine, but the pacing - which I know is subjective - feels labored and unrefined, Largely, the story feels jarringly obtuse, regularly breaking the immersion with its clunky redundancy. It reminds me somehow of being zoned out, engrossed in some pointless distraction (like tik-tok, youtube, snapchat, take your pick) while loafing on the sofa eating an entire family-size bag of plain kettle-style chips all at once. You don't know what you've done till you feel raw-mouthed, bloated, and ashamed of yourself for not having the forethought to put a little in a bowl instead of sitting down with the whole bag.

Similarly, the characters also seem to only grow mechanically. There doesn't seem to be a lesson to learn, let alone repercussions for piss-pour life choices. It's like blind rage and perseverance are all the secret sauce the main characters need to break the will of any and all challengers, no matter how formidable and otherwise far superior the enemies.

I listened to Primal Hunter prior to this book. I was intrigued to get into this collection after one reviewer critiqued that the Primal Hunter collection was all but a carbon copy of this series. As there were more books in this series, I thought to investigate myself. I soon discovered quality trumps quantity every time.

If you've read to this point, Thanks, Here are a few recommendations, though they should be taken with a grain of salt.
Still, for LitRPG, it's hard to beat The Land, & He Who Fights With Monsters.
I'd also recommend Red Rising & Ready Player One, and Name of the Wind.

Happy Listening!

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Let's Go Zero

Revisado: 06-10-22

Great story with amazing world-building.
I look forward to the eventual cross-over
Here's to the next installment. HAZA!!!

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!!! SPOILERS !!! Book by Book Review

Revisado: 06-30-21

Overall,
The story has the right amount of substance to make the juice worth enduring the squeeze.

Spoilers below
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Book 1.
The characters are mostly solid. The dialogue is on point, and there's well-paced personal growth throughout.
The Magic in the world lacks real impact. Beyond magic being elemental based on region delineated by racial traits, there isn't much more that gets fleshed out. In other words, it's a soft magic setting,
There's a lot of time spent studying in libraries, though mostly focused on what made magic so "taboo," coupled with a general overview of what (known) magics exist within the world and where they manifest (as described see above).
From initial reactions to magic, the "commons" appear to have an almost religious phobia toward magic, yet work with and around a palace filled with magically powerful people without any real issues. It just feels like the forced stigma is a plot device to drive off the MC's friends and isolate her to garner more sympathy from the reader.

Book 2
The main cast of character's again, are fantastic and relatable.
The insecurity of the MC's feelings over multiple interests illustrates personal flaws that make her that much more human.
The King's ruthless yet spiteful nature seems forced and unnatural for a man who commands such unquestioning loyalty from all of his subjects: noble and commoner alike. There are some hints that the hunger for power might be a new development, but, in retrospect, little to no light is shown toward this possible shift in the kingdom's reality. As a commoner living in the palace, the MC would at least hear - if not know directly - of the King's descent into madness.
Finally, we get a good look at what the MC's power can potentially do, but there is still too little description to ground the magic in any frame of reference. It just is as it is.

Book 3
I can't say enough about the dynamic struggle of relationships. Elise Kova has this element of storytelling dialed in and fine-tuned.
The supporting cast, however, continues to fall flat into two-dimensional paper dolls of static mediocrity. The Life and Death of hope for the MC and her friends fight a surreal battle within a grey macrocosm of underdeveloped motivations.

Book 4
The new narrator took some time to get used to, but I'm in this for the long haul.
The MC fully carries this entire series on her back as she is torn between continuing to struggle or just giving herself over to what's easiest.
Still, supporting characters, and even main villains, remain monochromatic facsimiles of tropes one can't help but dislike. I wish I despised the villains themselves more than their lack of depth. Even the "traitor," the one supporting character from Book 1 I had real hope for, became a telegraphed toddler punch. You know the kind: the kind where you feel compelled to feign shock as it lands or risk hurting a child's feelings.

Book 5
Hope rings eternal - and then some - as the main cast of friends gets their time to shine. Even much of the allied support characters get their own redemptive arcs, and we get to see a world cut from old tethers of fate become bound to new, promising ones.
While the final battle slips into an obscure literary non-event, the final "Boss Fight" rings with enough epic harmony to compose a satisfyingly melodic conclusion.

In summation, Elise Kova writes relational hero's very, very well.
In spite of the villains throughout seeming to lack that spark of humanity that makes them feel genuinely dangerous, her work is absolutely worth the read/listen.

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"No Rotting Hero..." [Spoilers?]

Revisado: 07-09-20

I am genuinely intrigued by this story, but it needs alpha/ beta readers and hardcore edits. Continuity issues with previous installments took me out of the story twice as I shook my head in annoyance.

The main character is a wealth of under-realized potential. We're less shown her growth and maturity as much as told about it... at length... repeatedly... as pace-grinding conversational asides.

There's a definitive plot hook into continued series releases that I'll likely pick up. The universes is deep and rich with possibilities and
[SPOILER]
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... it sounds like the heroin has just found herself woven into the Author's core series heros... I assume.
ice not read the Delvers LLC series just yet.

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Just Nuts!

Revisado: 07-01-20

Get on in here!
These are by far some of the best books I've ever read.
Even when it's on the nose, the story pulls no punches about addressing it.
Wonderful work, as always, Mr. Erikson.

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Damn It!

Revisado: 06-18-20

!! Spoilers !!
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...hope that's enough space...
You SOB... a couple of monster fights and a cliff hanger?
Damn it!
It's a good thing Podehl's got the narrative chops to make all those "Pop-ups" sound like gold!
I have to say that the "Character Growth" was a little on the nose. A stroke of brilliance, in my opinion, but still...
I also loved seeing Nexus again.
At any rate, I don't know how you made a constant flow of stat bumps into a legitimately entertaining listen, but you hooked me from the start. Substantively, I wish there was more, but I feel most upset at the thought that it might be another year(+) before we find out what the hell happens next.

Genuinely, I am thrilled to have found this series. It's one of my absolute favorites.
I'm only nitpicking because I was hoping for some resolution. I know it's coming. I'm just not a fan of having to wait.
Am I a fan of the books? That'd be a resounding, "Yes."
Am I a fan of waiting for them? That'd be an equally resounding, "NO!"
Keep 'em coming, Doc!
You've got a rare and marvelous mind for your craft, and I'm looking every forward to the next installment.

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Just not for me

Revisado: 11-25-19

Andrea Parsneau's performance is 100% spot-on.
[mild spoilers: review below]
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I immensely enjoyed the build-up of the story, the pacing, and overall character development.
The balance of Tension vs. Action only made a wonderfully imaginative setting more real.
While I'm not opposed to free expressions of intense physical interest, I ultimately took umbrage with the pathological inconsistencies. The emotional release from otherwise (self-proclaimed) emotionally stunted characters came without catharsis. There was no struggle or conflict they had to overcome, making it all feel like a contrived, dishonest plot device. While I saw the need to utilize it as a means to move characters along toward expansion, the lack of resolution ultimately took me out of the story. Since all of this broke down for me in the last three chapters, I stuck around for the end, but I don't think I'll continue the series.

Best of luck, Daniel.

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