LitRPG
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Void
BAU BAU
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This particular series isn't what I'd call litrpg, but the guy writes some and promotes all the usual sites for litrpg, so I'll put it here. It is much more of a Cradle-clone than anything else, where it has progression but no actual System or stats. Like, if you actually draw comparisons it is almost embarrassing how much of a clone it is, but that's ok because it is still decent.
To preface, I read a book a year or two ago by this guy, Phil Tucker, called Path of Flames. I fucking hated it. I literally didn't care about any of the characters, and it was told from a gazillion different pov's of all these characters I had no interest in, and when one died I didn't give a shit because they didn't do jack shit in the book except for die. On top of that there was a female character that wanted to be a knight or some shit, so she "practiced about once a week for 2-3 years" (being dead serious, that's straight out of the book) behind her mother's back, often by hitting a FUCKING TREE (not the Groot kind either), and of course soundly trounced all the male knights that had fucking trained their entire lives and were, by the descriptions, vastly more physically capable.
So yeah, I hated that fucking book and decided to never read another book by him. Well, I'm old and forgetful, so I didn't remember the author's name when Kindle Unlimited suggested a book, and it looked like it might be hell/demon related and I'm a sucker for that, so I read it. While it wasn't awesome it was pretty good, and I wanted to read more. That's when I found out that it was by the same author. I decided to give the rest a chance, and I'm glad I did as they got better and better I felt. Unfortunately the series is still in progress so I'm now stuck waiting for more. To the author's credit, I'm actually sort of bummed that the series isn't finished yet, and I even felt a little sad when characters died or shitty stuff happened to them, etc. So, kudos to that guy I guess for getting way better at writing.
The series is The Immortal Great Souls Series by Phil Tucker
It has a little bit of school stuff, but not a lot, which is actually sort of a shame because there could have been some good stuff there. For some unknown reason (the people in the book don't really know either) "great souls" are reborn periodically (in adult bodies) to help fight The Pit in Hell, without any memories of their previous lives. Some have been reborn hundreds of times. When they are reborn they are in the Academy to be taught everything all over again, develop their powers, etc. Except our main character is a "Red Lister" that means he did bad shit in a previous life and they essentially condemn him to death via expulsion to a monster area. Fortunately for the book he survives, but for obvious reasons he hates the school, blah blah. I will say that he can be pretty fucking annoying in this first book, maybe for good reason due to the red lister thing, but he actually has character development so that by the end he isn't too bad, which is kind of a plus to be fair. Too many of these books just have someone be the same the entire time, but this guy actually sort of sees the error of his ways and matures a little. And he's way better as the books progress, for the most part.
Anyway, there is quite obviously a much bigger mystery going on in the background with the being reborn shit, no one really knowing why they are fighting or where they all came from, etc. The everyday stuff is pretty good, but the overall mystery definitely keeps me interested and is why I am bummed there aren't more yet. Furthermore, many of the side/support characters are fucking great, as compared to that Path of Flames book where I couldn't remember a single one if my life depended on it, other than knowing I despised that girl. I recommend it. He's written a LOT of other stuff in a short time, including some dungeon-type litrpg stuff, but I've only read this series and that one shitty book above, so I have no idea if the others are any good.
To preface, I read a book a year or two ago by this guy, Phil Tucker, called Path of Flames. I fucking hated it. I literally didn't care about any of the characters, and it was told from a gazillion different pov's of all these characters I had no interest in, and when one died I didn't give a shit because they didn't do jack shit in the book except for die. On top of that there was a female character that wanted to be a knight or some shit, so she "practiced about once a week for 2-3 years" (being dead serious, that's straight out of the book) behind her mother's back, often by hitting a FUCKING TREE (not the Groot kind either), and of course soundly trounced all the male knights that had fucking trained their entire lives and were, by the descriptions, vastly more physically capable.
So yeah, I hated that fucking book and decided to never read another book by him. Well, I'm old and forgetful, so I didn't remember the author's name when Kindle Unlimited suggested a book, and it looked like it might be hell/demon related and I'm a sucker for that, so I read it. While it wasn't awesome it was pretty good, and I wanted to read more. That's when I found out that it was by the same author. I decided to give the rest a chance, and I'm glad I did as they got better and better I felt. Unfortunately the series is still in progress so I'm now stuck waiting for more. To the author's credit, I'm actually sort of bummed that the series isn't finished yet, and I even felt a little sad when characters died or shitty stuff happened to them, etc. So, kudos to that guy I guess for getting way better at writing.
The series is The Immortal Great Souls Series by Phil Tucker
It has a little bit of school stuff, but not a lot, which is actually sort of a shame because there could have been some good stuff there. For some unknown reason (the people in the book don't really know either) "great souls" are reborn periodically (in adult bodies) to help fight The Pit in Hell, without any memories of their previous lives. Some have been reborn hundreds of times. When they are reborn they are in the Academy to be taught everything all over again, develop their powers, etc. Except our main character is a "Red Lister" that means he did bad shit in a previous life and they essentially condemn him to death via expulsion to a monster area. Fortunately for the book he survives, but for obvious reasons he hates the school, blah blah. I will say that he can be pretty fucking annoying in this first book, maybe for good reason due to the red lister thing, but he actually has character development so that by the end he isn't too bad, which is kind of a plus to be fair. Too many of these books just have someone be the same the entire time, but this guy actually sort of sees the error of his ways and matures a little. And he's way better as the books progress, for the most part.
Anyway, there is quite obviously a much bigger mystery going on in the background with the being reborn shit, no one really knowing why they are fighting or where they all came from, etc. The everyday stuff is pretty good, but the overall mystery definitely keeps me interested and is why I am bummed there aren't more yet. Furthermore, many of the side/support characters are fucking great, as compared to that Path of Flames book where I couldn't remember a single one if my life depended on it, other than knowing I despised that girl. I recommend it. He's written a LOT of other stuff in a short time, including some dungeon-type litrpg stuff, but I've only read this series and that one shitty book above, so I have no idea if the others are any good.
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Ritley
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I’ve read a few things by him, agree with your assessment of the great immortal series. I liked the first book quite a bit, but thought the second was a step down. Not bad or anything, just seemed like a lot of fluff and filler. Also think it had a ton of editing problems when it was released.
The other series by him that I’ve read is Dawn of the void. I’d put it firmly in the worth reading but nothing great. Parts of it were interesting, but overall it never got above being just decent for me. On the plus side it’s completed with only 3 books, so not a huge time investment.
You posting this made me go check, and apparently the third book for immortal great souls came out a couple of months ago. Going to read that next.
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Void
BAU BAU
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The third book is pretty good. I'll be interested to see what you think of the ending.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Halfway through Ripple system book 2. The gameplay mechanics, land ownership and ship combat really reminds me of Archeage.
That reminds me, Ascend Online #5 will be out on May 7th. I briefly talked with the author and asked him about EQ since the book references it, and he said he was heavily influenced by it, though it's not nearly as similar to EQ as Ripple is to Archeage.
That reminds me, Ascend Online #5 will be out on May 7th. I briefly talked with the author and asked him about EQ since the book references it, and he said he was heavily influenced by it, though it's not nearly as similar to EQ as Ripple is to Archeage.
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I quite liked Dawn of the Void, was definitely a different take on that genre.
Speaking of which, that guy actually started a new series on RR this week, Thrones of the Fallen.
Not bad so far, I am amused that it makes the second series where being corrupted by demonic evil makes someone less of a shithead ( the other being Darker than Black ).
Ritley
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Yeah, I liked the beginning and ending quite a bit, but the middle portions I remember being bogged down with military shit that I didn’t really care about all that much.
Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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Yea, he was stuck in a direction he didn't like with Dawn of the Void, so he decided to cut it short and wrap it up.
He also has Skadi's Saga, which was a fantasy viking series that didn't get much traction, so I don't think he finished it, and the most recent one is Thrones of the Fallen, another "semi-demonic hero" LitRPG, both on Royal Road. Immortal Great Souls is amazon-only.
Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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Void
BAU BAU
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Thanks. I might try to watch that at some point, but an hour long...I dunno man! If you have an idea where he talks about it I'd look around that area.
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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Just a bump on this if anyone's interested. Looks like Overgeared has been completed. The free chapters are still coming out and the series will officially be over in in 28 chapters. Currently up to 2131 free chapters, the last chapter is 2159. As far as free releases go, they still come out 4x a week. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. So tomorrow is 2132.I suggest picking up Overgeared. It's closing in on 2000 translated chapters right now, and it's incredible. The story's growth never feels forced, as a way to just have a new plot point. It's just a very enjoyable read.
Overgeared
Shin Youngwoo has had an unfortunate life and is now stuck carrying bricks on construction sites. He even had to do labor in the VR game, Satisfy!However, luck would soon enter his hapless life. His character, ‘Grid’, would discover the...www.wuxiaworld.com
Wuxiaworld said:
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Void
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This is one I definitely want to read, so if it comes to KU (maybe it already is) I'm all in.
Void
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I'm so triggered by book 2 of Brad the Impaler that I'm posting on the weekend! I had to warn you guys directly while my jimmies were still rustled. If I keep even one person from starting this series!I read the first book of Azarinth Healer and put the second on my Kindle from KU, but for the life of me I can't remember anything about it or why I haven't read the second one, aside from there always being some other series that pops up with a new book. I remember liking it well enough.
Speaking of new stuff popping up, this kept coming up on my Kindle sleep screen so I finally read it.
Brad the Impaler: A LitRPG Adventure
"A hilarious, balls-to-the-wall, heavy-metal stake fest…www.goodreads.com
Not bad, but could be a lot better. The characters are decent, if reminiscent of Carl and Donut, but since the author thanks the Dungeon Crawler Carl guy for letting him pick his brain, it makes sense that it would have similarities. Instead of a cat, Brad has a terrified chihuahua that can talk. The interactions can be endearing at times, and amusing like when the dog pisses itself because that's what rat dogs do. And there are heavy metal references periodically, particularly Judas Priest, which is a huge plus for me.
The problem lies in the world. Maybe there is some huge backstory to it like in DCC, but we don't get to see more than a glimpse. it is literally the most generic "you got plopped into a game world but we aren't going to tell you much about it at all" you can think of, complete with snarky system messages (although far fewer than most books of this genre). He has a virtual AI guide that I actually really like (and you are obviously supposed to really like her), but she can't say much/doesn't know much beyond what her programming allows her. There is clearly shit going on behind the scenes, but after an entire book there is almost nothing. And while I despise stat-screen heavy books, this one has too few because none of them really matter. He gains +2 to wisdom? Who gives a shit, because I didn't know what it was before, or what it did, what more will do, etc. I mean, it isn't a lot different than Defiance or Primal Hunter or the like where their stats are like 10,000 in each, because again, what does that even fucking mean? But at least we occasionally see them and have an idea what they improve in those other books. In this you didn't even know he had a Wisdom score until he gained more, and not once did a stat seem to make a bit of difference in anything he did.
Still, it is interesting enough so far to read a few more. There are some slight woke leanings though, and I'm worried if they get out of hand. Of course the first real girl he meets is brown, gorgeous, and kicks ass. And he reflects upon how he used to have to "re-educate" guys in the military who thought that a woman couldn't beat their ass just like a man. So far it is mostly just him recalling stuff and pontificating mentally on shit, and I can handle it. So far. We're at about a 20% saturation level, so if it ever gets to 100% I'll be out no matter how good the rest of it is.
I give it 3/5 for potential, and initially interesting characters.
First, I had already complained about the game world in the first book. It doesn't get better. The system is basically just there to give the author a reason to make the characters go where he wants for absolutely no reason. And we still don't know much of anything about, well, anything. Even if that's by design, it sucks as a reader. And I'm honestly not even sure this guy knows much about rpgs. A skill that grants a 2% buff to something like stamina (what does stamina do, you ask? who the fuck knows exactly!) is what you get when you've maxed out the skill and are just sorta upgrading it because you have nothing else. Not one of the first fucking skills you get. Except that it seems to make a huge difference in combat, so imagine if he got a 20% buff?!?!
Second, this book is even worse in regard to Brad's inner dialogue. He endlessly repeats the same things ad nauseum. He was bullied as a kid. He almost killed himself over it. A teacher talked him down and convinced him to get buff instead. He ended up going overboard and sort of being a bully himself, which ok, cautionary tale right? He joined the Air Force, where apparently everyone, especially the superior officers, were just like the bullies he defeated earlier. His ex-girlfriend left him for reasons he completely understands and they are the best of friends and he realizes he wasn't the man he needed to be for her so he doesn't even blame her (fucking simp). His dog, which now talks, is literally the only thing that keeps the darkness away (I guess?) and if anything were to happen to him he'd lose his shit and become a monster again.
We knew all that from the first book. All of it, plenty of times. In the 66% of this book I read before quitting, I read all of it many, many more times. That is all this book is, not rpg shit. Just endless moralizing.
I was pushing through, but then the Strong Black Woman, Kira, that I honestly didn't have too much issue with before now, told some bullshit virtue signal/sympathy generating story that made absolutely no sense. Here:
This isn't a spoiler because it has zero to do with the actual story. Apparently Kira had an uncle who was a misogynist (she thankfully didn't use that term, but that's what he was). Her family tried to shelter her from that fact, and when she was around 14 her father had it out with him at a family picnic and ended with the smackdown of telling him to "fucking evolve," and the entire rest of the family backed her father, telling her uncle what a piece of shit he was. I can only imagine what a day for women's rights that was. But somehow, despite her never telling us how her uncle might have somehow stunted her emotional growth or victimized her or anything, and despite her being only 14 when this verbal beatdown from her very own father took place, and her being I dunno, 30 or so now, and a successful business owner no less, apparently just thinking about that day makes her cry and has made her life oh so difficult ever since. What?? Even if somehow her uncle made her feel inferior as a kid, she literally watched him get the comeuppance he deserved and had her entire family invalidating the way he treated women. Shouldn't that have done the exact opposite of ruining her life? Shouldn't it have empowered her? It is literally the dumbest, most pointless story I can remember reading in a book like this. I feel like somehow an entire segment of the story was left out, because I am just not getting what was so traumatizing about this relative that had very little to do with her life up to that point being a dick, and then getting blasted in front of everyone about it. He never did anything to her specifically that we are told. What am I missing? Is it literally just that some men still think that way, and that's enough to endless trigger her decades later?
Oh yeah, and during that conversation she mentioned "tiki torches" and "running people over with cars" so the author was clearly referencing real world events that he disagreed with, so fuck him. You don't like my politics, then I guess you don't like my money either. Fuck off.
So yeah, that's where I quit. I didn't care at all about the actual rpg elements, the inner dialogue of the MC was annoying, repetitive, and monotonous, and now I had to listen to his bullshit political opinions filtered through characters that are about the furthest thing from the author himself in real life.
Avoid at all costs.
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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Just beware. It is an extremely slow start, and Grid (the main character) is very jealous of everyone else and greedy about everything at that time. He doesn't really come into his own until about chapter 100. Then he really calms down. I say that, but I've only ever read the chapters 1 time, and that was years and years ago at this point, so I can't be exactly sure when changes took place.
I still love the story though, and I read the new chapters 4x a week.
Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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Ritley
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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It’s on KU assuming this is actually it