Wesley

Protagonist is bland.

Revisado: 04-02-25

I don't know if this is by design, but the protagonist has zero traits other than "determined to always advance" and "being neurotic obsessive compulsive"
I don't know if this is the author's attempt at making a neurodivergent protagonist, but it was very annoying to have to listen to this protagonist basically just disconnect his way through the whole story. He drifted through every scene with minimal interaction with anyone. The only things that would ever get an emotional reaction out of him, were if something happened to threaten his position as "The Chosen One" or "Number One Wizard" status. If he was at risk of being held back from class, he would go into a mental spiral of rage and anxiety. He was determined to do anything and everything to advance, and while that's a pretty common trope, often referred to as the Determinator, I don't feel like he's written very well this time. Which I find odd because Luke has written other characters similar to this, who actually have a personality. Namely Raiden Ward from the Stormbringer Series, is a FANTASTIC example of a Determinator. He's stubborn, self-destructive when it comes to training, and unwilling to consider ANY amount of common sense and caution when it comes to the risks he will put himself through. He was also someone with charisma, charm, and an actual personality. The protagonist of this book, Starbreaker? He's like a blank slate, intentionally made without any defining traits because......some reason I guess? I dunno, I found him difficult to empathize with overall. He was too detached, too standoffish for my liking. It feels deliberate, given how well the author personalized everyone ELSE in the book, and in other books he's written, still doesn't mean I enjoy reading that type of character

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Tina is horrible. Hard to finish

Revisado: 03-19-25

I haven't even finished this book and I have to write this. The way Tina is written is just teeth gnashingly annoying. The amount of compounded melodrama being the driving force of the story as a whole is monumentally frustrating. I mean for freaks sake, how many times must I listen to Tina blame EVERYTHING in her life on her brother? If the author thinks this is compelling drama and protagonist conflict, they're wrong. It's fine to a point, but after a while it just becomes ridiculous. You can't have an entire book's plot be driven by "if only they hadn't been so angry and listened to each other" over and over and over, without it becoming cliche and derivative. Every time, EVERY TIME, Tina and James would be in a scene together, I knew EXACTLY how it would play out. I just had to ask myself "What's the dumbest way Tina could blow this situation out of proportion and make it worse, while simultaneously blaming James?" and that would always be the choice she would make. And then James would make it worse by going all pathetic emo whiney boy, blaming himself because he was oh so mean to his sister when they were younger. Sorry but that crap only gets you so much investment from me as a reader. Too much, too many times. I'm finishing the book because I'm hoping (without much hope), that it will get better by the end. But given there is another 6.5 hours left in this book, and a whole other book AFTER this, I feel their sibling toxicity is going to stay as is

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WAY too much ability description

Revisado: 10-26-24

I think you could reduce the runtime of this book by 25% if you just cut out all of the "Ability: blah blah blah" in this book. Over and over and over. And the most frustrating part is immediately after spending so much time giving us the game description, the writer decided we needed a "layman's terms" translation of that ability, THAT WE JUST HEARD DESCRIBED! Just...cut out the game interface nonsense and just tell us what the power does in narrative terms. We don't need both!

My 3 stars for this are entirely for how tedious the ability description content is. Seriously Shirtaloon....stop.

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A fluffing good time, just too short

Revisado: 09-19-24

Typical Drew Hayes quality. Fun writing, fun story and premise. Interesting world being established. Wish it had been longer though. This felt like watching the first Harry Potter movie, and suddenly seeing credits roll after he gets back from getting his supplies at Daigon Alley, and returning to Hogwarts. Your brain just instantly says "Oh come on! We just got started!"

But yeah, fun book, heartwarming, silly, and awesome in equal measures, which is what I come to expect from Drew Hayes' writing.

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Romance is uber cringe.Still plagiarizing StarWars

Revisado: 05-12-24

I'm not even done with chapter 4 of this and I am almost nauseas from the romantic writing between Kat and Whip. Seriously what is this? The heavy handed awkwardness of the two of them, being pathologically incapable of articulating their feelings is just stomach turning. I get it, they're both oh so nervous and oh so unfamiliar with relationship stuff. But holy crap do you have to keep hammering that home with EVERY....LINE...they say to each other??? The hesitant, can't complete a sentence, stopping before saying anything that actually implies feelings is just ridiculous. Seriously this is only chapter FOUR and it's already become tiresome. Let them hook up already, this isn't drama, this isn't compelling writing, it's just tedious. It's literally dragging out every scene the 2 of them are in together, to have line after line after LINE reminding the reader "Hey, did you know Kat and Whip are attracted to each other?? Did you know they're both incapable of articulating that?? DID YOU?!? DID YOUUUU?!?! Well I'm going to remind you again....and again....." Just, give it a rest already.

Also the author is still just pulling lines directly from Star Wars as if it's his own writing. The characters aren't referencing Star Wars, heck I don't even know if Star Wars exists in this universe. The only pop culture thing referenced is Chrome Cowboys, which plagiarizes Cyberpunk with references to....Jenny Silverhand....or is it Silverarm? I don't know, and apparently neither does the writer between books, because he's called the character both.

I'm starting to feel reluctant to continue this series. Which sucks because it started off really well. I'm curious about the galactic stuff going on, I'm interested to see how humanity will integrate...but it's all being dragged down by a romance subplot about as complex as a 13 year old's first YA romance fanfiction.

We'll see how the book goes from here if I keep with the series or not.

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Finished Book1, instantly bought next 2 books

Revisado: 01-25-24

This book is hilarious. Picked it up after seeing the insane cover of Book 6, and just said to myself "....ok I HAVE to know what the heck is going on here." So I tossed a credit at Book 1. I haven't laughed that hard at a book in a LONG time. Heck even the aftercredits ad for the narration team was hilarious. Seriously listen to the ENTIRE thing. Don't stop until you hear "Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program."

The book is like someone took The Running Man, Borderlands 2's DLC of Tiny Tina's D&D adventure (her first one), pro-wrestling, and social media, and tossed them all into a blender with about 10 grams of cocaine mixed in, and then hit blend. The entire premise is ridiculous, but also surprisingly heartfelt and thought provoking. While the author clearly wants to have fun with the overall premise, he always makes sure to remind Carl (and the reader) about the horrific thing that has happened to Earth and humanity, and the messed up morality/ethics of what is going on with this galactic society.

It's super fun, super funny, and super disturbing/heartfelt. An odd mixture given the setup, but it works. It freaking works SO well. I'm currently on book 4 and have had multiple times when listening at work, where my coworkers looked at me concerned, as I burst out laughing out loud.

Seriously, gives this series a try. If you like Apocalypse LitRPGs, and can appreciate a love letter/parody of them, similar to Galaxy Quest, then you will enjoy this series.

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Finished Book1, instantly bought next 2 books

Revisado: 01-25-24

This book is hilarious. Picked it up after seeing the insane cover of Book 6, and just said to myself "....ok I HAVE to know what the heck is going on here." So I tossed a credit at Book 1. I haven't laughed that hard at a book in a LONG time. Heck even the aftercredits ad for the narration team was hilarious. Seriously listen to the ENTIRE thing. Don't stop until you hear "Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program."

The book is like someone took The Running Man, Borderlands 2's DLC of Tiny Tina's D&D adventure (her first one), pro-wrestling, and social media, and tossed them all into a blender with about 10 grams of cocaine mixed in, and then hit blend. The entire premise is ridiculous, but also surprisingly heartfelt and thought provoking. While the author clearly wants to have fun with the overall premise, he always makes sure to remind Carl (and the reader) about the horrific thing that has happened to Earth and humanity, and the messed up morality/ethics of what is going on with this galactic society.

It's super fun, super funny, and super disturbing/heartfelt. An odd mixture given the setup, but it works. It freaking works SO well. I'm currently on book 4 and have had multiple times when listening at work, where my coworkers looked at me concerned, as I burst out laughing out loud.

Seriously, gives this series a try. If you like Apocalypse LitRPGs, and can appreciate a love letter/parody of them, similar to Galaxy Quest, then you will enjoy this series.

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Adorably Hilarious

Revisado: 01-05-24

Not much to say about this. It's super fun. Adorble, heart wearming, funny in that romcom kind of way. It feels like what happens when you are playing D&D and find your party having more fun with the random town NPC's that you cooked up, instead of that big world ending adventure, but you run with it anyway because everyone's just having such a good time.

The premise is fun and instantly engaging, the way it's woven into the setting is wonderful, the cast of characters are all enjoyable and endearing. It's just a really solid, fun, easily digestible read. The fact that Travis was the narrator AND the author just makes it extra appealing. I've listened to probably several dozen books (at least) narrated by him, so I know his voice, and know it's going to be a good listen when his name is on the credits. And the fact that it's his story means he knows exactly what kind of inflection and tonality he wants for the characters, making it feel even more organic and engaging.

Seriously fun book, immediately started on the second one when I finished this one.

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The humor of Red Shirts, applied to James Bond

Revisado: 01-04-24

It's great. Hard to really say how/why. It's John Scalzi, making a fun parody of a popular genre of fiction, using his particular brand of humor. My title kind of sums up my feelings on it. It feels like his book Red Shirts, but for James Bond instead of Star Trek. Outright hilarious, equal parts touching and emotional. Clever, engaging, just, a good Scalzi book.

If you like his more comedic books, then you won't be disappointed by this one.

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A great return to form!

Revisado: 01-04-24

So I've reviewed several of both of these series, Good Guy and Bad Guy, the earlier entries. They've been fun and engaging reads, hilarious and thoughtful in equal measures. BUT, the last few books of both series took a really hard dip in my opinion, quality wise. I am happy to say that this book feels like a return to the spirit and mood that made me love these series so much in the first place. It's hard to nail down any specific detail alone, that makes the difference, it's more like a bunch of quality of life improvements. Little things here and there that were dragging down the story, and making the previous books a slog to get through, that have since been polished up and refined to no longer drag down, but to elevate the story, to work in service TO it, instead of against it. Plus I feel Eric's writing has just improved as well, like he's been able to refine his own talent a bit in recent years, and it shows. A lot of the plot threads that have been dangling and yoinked back for the entire length of the series, are finally starting to pay off. Some of the foreshadowing of other events, possibly intertwining the 2 series in some ways, also pays off. Just, overall, it's like Eric decided to clean house with his bag of plot threads, and the tapestry he wove them into was made brighter and more varied as a result.

I won't go into any details but if you're reading this review, then you've probably been reading this series for a while (and if not, seriously, book 10?! why is this your jumping on point?! xD ), but if you are an older fan of the series, and you were like me thinking "man, the last few books have lost the spark that I loved" then I think you will be happily surprised with this one. Definitely good, eager for the next one to come out ASAP.

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