Jacob

“Common Sense” errors and singing.

Revisado: 10-07-24

Let me start off by saying this is FAR better than the majority of the millennial litrpg slop found in the genre.


This book does a great job at story telling us by SHOWING the world and not info dumping in exposition like format.
People, for the most part, behave like people.

Except for the MC.

Unfortunately this book suffers from “MC is an idiot” trope thinly veiled in “MC is clueless in a new world.” After the first 2 weeks in a new world, you’d expect the MC to start adapting. Yet, stupid decisions are made. Things like yelling “down with the monarchy” in a pub and expecting it to go well.

Things like being a spoiled Irish brat and never really changing.

Things like getting absolutely OP skills and taking WEEKS to use any of them in a month-long siege. Or forgetting to use them during almost every encounter.

Seriously, she has a stamina spell, people faint around here due to exhaustion, and it never occurs to her to use it? What?

I can forgive continuity errors or lapse in judgement for the sake of plot. BUT, these lapse in judgement happened SO soften the MC stopped being a multifaceted character and started being a characature of Irish stubbornness and idiocy. It really is jarring.


I kept the book. But I’m not sure I’ll be continuing the series. Probably not. Especially if narrator keeps singing.

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Childish. Trite. A mediocre YA story

Revisado: 08-28-24

TLDR: Look, this book wasn't for me. But give it a try! Especially if you can return the credit.

Industrial Strength Magic desperately needed more time in the editor/abridged oven to polish the royal road "anything-goes-millennial-writing" stench from what could have been a great story.

But as it stands now,
in all it's Stank,
It might just be the YA, shallow, power fantasy flick you want.

----
I was intrigued by the book's initial review and premise. Magic? Supers? Tech? Magic Super Tech?!?

What's not to love, right?

Well whatever points it gains from being in a genre I absolutely love, is quickly lost by the absolutely awful "Beat me into submission with world facts instead of showing me" that exists in this book. Nearly everything is a trope. And "magic" and "tech" are used to "magic" away so many explanations of the world; it's ridiculous.

This book was written on Royal Road by an author with a juvenile sense of humor and writing style. The author has consumed too much of the litrpg slop saturating this genre, and boy, does it show.

*spoilers*
Expect big, juicy eye-rollers like the ones below every 3 minutes of the book.

- Uncaring, slow, DMV employees a la zootopia.
- School/Work/Loot Bullies every time it's convenient. Who are absolutely the stupid, crybaby versions seen in typical anime tropes.
- A military that acts like 1830's "ready aim fire" of redcoat Great Britain and runs away... from a wall protecting one of the last bastions of humanity? When they are reloading? Sorry, what?
- Guns protecting one of the last bastions of humanity designed by scientists, shutting down from military people swearing, and they have to say "I'm sorry" to make the gun work again? What?
- A post-apocalyptic alternate reality where billions die in the 1970s, and most of the world is shit, yet today they still joke about fruit ninja and Minecraft.
- Smart people have a "tinker" power for tech things and use that tinker power as a be-all and end-all Mary Sue power. I'm sorry, but the MC can use tiny nanobots to level a section of land for a lair in seconds? Design a whole Motel? Paint a Fresco? Make millions on the stock market to buy land as an 18-year-old in one of the last bastions of humanity? How immersion-breaking. I can turn a blind eye to an acceptable amount of sci-fi fudging, but the MC magicking(tinkering) away 95% of their problems in a world where thousands of other tinkers exist is... ridiculous.

Look, this book was obviously not catered to me. It was a Royalroad fiction meant to entertain casual readers who like reading modern slang and projecting themselves into a magic, tech, fantasy world that doesn't make sense.

I'm looking for something a bit more real. I WANT a character to be limited in ways that make sense for both their age and the reality(post-apocalyptic, much of humanity is dead or superhumans) they are placed in.
I want to read about a world where people act like people and not just hastily written foils to Mary Sue along the MC to greatness.

OR, just accept you are a YA satire and go all in. Stop trying too hard.

TLDR: Look, this book wasn't for me. But give it a try! Especially if you can return the credit.

It might just be the YA, shallow, power fantasy flick you want.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Brags about 30 books in 3 years. Well it shows

Revisado: 04-18-24

The series starts off intriguing and strong. However, after the second book, it really feels like it tanks. The author mentions their own burnout for making 30 books in 3 years. Well, to that, I say, I wish you didn't. I wish these were better and I waited longer.

Wasted sex scenes, side quests, and drummed-up drama or sexual innuendos galore made up 60% of the final 3 books. However the most EGREGIOUS decision is the antagonist(s) and how it all plays out.

*Spoilers Ahead* in the form of questions.
- Why, in a culture of super heroes with light energy, can only the MC tell when people have been *corrupted* by the darkness? All the thousands of other psychic superheroes can't tell, including the guards of the president of the government? Someone can just GO UP TO HIM AND MIND CONTROL HIM? F*ing Lame.

- Politicians drop(big) hints that they are in league with the bad guys, and the MC just thinks "I might have to keep my eye on him"? Lame.

- Political problems(and thus the ending struggle to a degree) are forcasted since book three and the MC does basically ZERO to address them? NONE of his other 9 women and AI assistants and leadership he works with can see the writing on the wall so obvious to me, even with only MC knowledge? Lame.

- The MC can't use the "these bad guys have been genociding our race for 200 years, only attacked us stronger during/after they offered the truce, and thus, the truce is an OBVIOUS lie." Argument? People in power get convinced in droves? Super lame.

- No use of Ai to become a spy network for MC? Ai just becomes a powerful fleshlight to MC, and that's the extent of its powers? Lame.

TLDR: You come for the "adult" scenes, which saturate this series, and you stay for them. Story? Compelling Narrative? A World that behaves like real people outside of the MC's small sphere? You won't find that here.

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All my gripes just get worse.

Revisado: 01-26-24

I started this series enjoying the premise and characters. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was good *enough* to move forward. I enjoyed little moments like no one understood the MC's earth idioms, and then others getting to know him *also* adopting those idioms and confusing even more people. It was unique.

The characters, their reactions, and how they responded to the world were just realistic enough to be on a level above most of the mediocre millennial litrpg slop that comes out these days.
The narration was also on point, and the book does at least *some* work to explain why the world is the way it is in a satirical manner, which caused me to smirk on more than one occasion.

However, my MAIN gripes with this series only get worse in this book, and happen more frequently than ever before:

++ Stat sheets are LONG, FREQUENT, and IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAPTERS AND DIALOGUE!!!! Seriously, 3 hours of this book is stat summary. That along with the important interpersonal dialogue and planning thought process in the middle of it all made me hesitant to skip the slog that is the ever-updating stat sheet. If you skip the stat sections, 20% of the book, you WILL miss important parts of the story. I really wish the author made it easier for audible users to skip these sections. I'm sure they are a pain to read as well, but not nearly as bad as listening.

++ This story manufactures drama. And it's so obvious in the book you can FEEL the cheese, almost like a soap opera. Expect the MC to be mildly interesting and competent until the moment he has an important decision to make. Expect villains to have the possibility of being great up until they come in front of the MC and make the dumbest decisions ever. This author is better than most at developing characters, but sacrifices it all to put the MC in harms way, which just feels manufactured. Often, in the most important parts of the book or "lives" of the characters you'll find yourself thinking "there's no way they'd act like that in real life."

So what do we have? An above-average litrpg that does well with character building(not world building), only to have it cash in its brownie points on forcing the MC into neverending drama. Feels like the TV show "24."
That along with the excessive stat sheets summaries and unwieldy navigation of those moments left me enjoying only a fraction of the book.

I will not be continuing this series.

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You get whiplash from how the author writes

Revisado: 12-04-23

It has an interesting premise, a good story, and fantastic narration but is marred by poor execution. Or, at the very least, it's an execution style that does NOT translate well to audiobooks and should have been revisedf.

Here's an example of what I mean:

Chapter 1's premise: Discovery of the cycle and 2 minutes of confusion:
Chapter 2: 2 days before the cycle
Chapter 3-5: 1 day before the cycle
Chapter 6-10: 2 weeks before the cycle:
Chapter 11: Worldbuilding and exposition just cause
Chapter 12-15: 8 cycles
Chapter 16-20: 1 week before the cycle
Chapter 21-22: 2 months before the cycle
Chapter 23: 5 more cycles
Chapter 24: most important day before the cycle....
Chapter 25: 1 week before the cycle again for a POV shift and to give justification for another character's actions.

If I haven't done a good job of conveying this yet, then let me affirm that the WHIPLASH is SO real. Being jolted to multiple moments in this person's life's timeline put me at a loss. Why couldn't the damn story go from point a to point b? Maybe with a tiny bit of flashback *within* (keyword) a chapter to worldbuild?

Ultimately, this story was fine, but the Frankensteining of this narrative killed any investment for me. It needed a bit more time and love spent between transitions for me to be invested.

I wouldn't be surprised if the author crafted their world and narrative much like the way the book reads. Unfortunately, the shifts read less like important flashbacks and more like "Oh crap, we should probably flush this character out now.... uh... lets talk about the week before this thing happened!!"

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Interesting story. Harems and silliness.

Revisado: 10-06-23

This is an interesting story with actual thought as to how a merc would be able to woo many women in his lifetime. I normally don't appreciate more adult-skewing content, and you wouldn't be able to necessarily tell that this series is RIDDLED with the stuff from the cover, but I didn't mind it here; the scenes aren't drawn out and are easily skippable. More importantly, they MAKE SENSE.

The story is mediocre, borderline great. It leans a bit too much on the "Hansome rogue can beat anything, including empires" trope, but was realistic enough that is was (barely)palatable.

Unfortunately, the writing style doesn't translate as well to an audiobook. That, paired with Jessica Threet's below-average ability to portray assertive characters(men and women alike), leaves you scratching your head often. "Why did I just listen to a 10-minute excerpt on ship trading?" you might ask.
To which I say, it actually does the story well in an ebook, where you could almost skim-read through a section and get some immersion. but in audio form, it's immersion breaking IMO.

Last topic and to repeat myself, Jessica Threet was NOT the right person for this book. She doesn't do a good job of portraying assertive men/women. Orders barked out on a ship bridge feel anemic. Additionally, she can't do men's voices AT ALL. You simply cannot tell who is saying what during some conversations. A dual cast, or a better narrator able to differentiate more obviously between characters was needed.

Overall, I'd say this was barely worth the credit. I enjoyed the 33 hours of listening to the zany, borderline ridiculous story. However, I would never re-listen to this due to the terrible narrator casting choice.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

5 hours in, 17 sex scenes.

Revisado: 09-27-23

"What, sex? Again?!?!"

Those were words I said to myself at the 5th scene, and it just
kept coming.
and coming.
and cu.... coming...

and all this only 6 hours in...

MC is supposed to be a 70-year-old man. Instead, he's a (nearly)mindless horn dog who gets women thrusted *cough* upon him and for which the ENTIRE premise of the plot seems to be a backdrop for the many "positions" he and these gatcha, pokemon-esque women find themselves in. Worse, the narration, especially from Ophelia is exceptionally bland. Though to be honest, I don't blame her. Who wants to act out 30 hours of almost non-stop sex in a story like this?

Look, if you're 17 years old and this is your thing, go for it. Have fun. But for me, the "fun" was WAY too much and a poor mask for the flat characters, bad premise, and mary sue-esque MC.

Final Verdict: 1 rock-hard star out of 5.

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A LitRPG, DnD YA Harem: Pass.

Revisado: 03-10-23

This harem has an uninspired springboard MC, boring cookie-cutter world, and poorly inspired interpersonal dialogue.

The decent narration gives this series much more life than it deserves, but you'll be bored if you regularly listen to books of the genre. It TELLs and does NOT show almost everything that happens. And what little of the world it tries to SHOW you is so typically a trope in a white-washed litrpg/mmo game that if you're like me, your eyes will find themselves rolling often.

The setting sums up as a boring DnD campaign with dungeon cores(litrpg). Nothing is new or feels real enough to connect to.
Except for the girls.
And even those are one-dimensional.

Give it a try if you like. What's the harm? But if you near the end of its 28 hours without being intrigued, smiling, caring, crying, or getting horny, return it as it deserves.
Most likely, you will be returning it.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

Fantasy Story with Fantasy Logic

Revisado: 02-06-23

Some here have complained about the narrator's mispronunciation of fringe English words(true)...

But as for me? That wasn't an issue. People say words wrong all the time. Whatever.

I couldn't get past the fantastical premise, motivations, and characters.

MC has 1 hour to prepare to go to a new world and all they bring is... a suit and tie.
MC takes paragraphs of "inner dialogue" to explain mundane, seemingly pedantic details. We readers don't need an explanation on how to woo others(which this book doesn't do well explaining anyways).
MC uses the royal "we" often, for absolutely no reason.
Women just fall into his lap. They are a means to an end.
MC positions and postures, explaining these intricate political moves that are complete hogwash and don't work in real life.
MC doesn't TRULY struggle. Oh, the struggle is there. But it's manufactured.
MC tries to prove how down-to-earth he is but just comes across like a senile old man hesitant to lead.


Ultimately, I couldn't invest.
It felt like the author didn't know a thing about politics. Almost akin to an author who tries to write a military book, knows nothing about the military, and butchers the premise and execution.
Yeah... author knows nothing about politics. Or Charisma. It's glaringly obvious.

So, I returned it. But who knows?! It's a lot of book for just one credit. Give it a try yourself and if you found it as mediocre as I did, it's an easy 5 minutes to get your money back.

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Best in class of the tired "reincarnation" trope.

Revisado: 09-07-22

Wow.
This book has all of the best bits of modern fantasy, with almost none of the drawbacks.

MC starts off insignificant? Gets stronger, but in ways that make sense? Check.
Lovable characters you hope become important in their own right? Check.
Villans as strong as Jesus that the MC wouldn't dream of confronting? Check.
Everyone appears intelligent and doesn't seem to exist solely as a lazily written FOIL? Check.
Expansive DnD/Overlord/Vaniquer-esque world? Check.

This story does everything it attempts WELL. Dare I say, excellently.
It's not the best, and sometimes it trapezed the knife's edge of "telling me more than it shows." or making it just a little bit too easy for the MC.
But overall? It's some of the best-in-class in this genre.

At this point, I have thousands of books in my library. I return 3 out of 4 these days, especially in the wasteland garbage-heap of a genre that is "accessible/litrpg/Millenial fantasy."

But this book? I'm keeping it. Bravo Void Herald. Another excellent story.
Take my money.

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