D. Pope

Pretty OK

Revisado: 04-06-25

I can tell this is a newer author, but the story is a lot of fun. The MC does some things that make the reader not like him so much near the end, but I guess I can see the reasoning behind it. It’s just a shame that he’s built up to be more, or better, than the people he is against, and then he’s so quick to hurt someone trying to help, or someone that is being minimally nice to him.

There are times when the author uses a pronoun when a proper noun is desperately needed, because the reader has no idea who is talking/thinking. That isn’t often, but it happens enough that it gets a bit frustrating. It’s almost like the author was trying to build suspense by not saying who he was speaking about.

Overall, the story is entertaining enough that I wanted to finish it, which is a great trait. I think most will enjoy this book. Just don’t expect prose equal to that of the greats.

I’d equate this to a movie that you put on for background noise, but then you get sucked into it. Not bad at all.

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Her: Oh, Ashley, I Love You. Him; And I Love You My Unnecessary Compliment That Kills the Book’s Momentum

Revisado: 11-20-24

The book was OK. It certainly wasn’t bad, but good golly did the MC lean into owning a harem and keeping every wife happy in this book.

Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of harem fantasy. I normally stop reading when a book shows obvious signs of leaning that way. Unless, that is, the book has a good enough story, and the previous books in *this* series definitely qualified as good enough. This series was exciting, unique, and despite the obvious harem-to-come, Cultivating Chaos is widely and easily recommended among LitRPG groups as a gateway book, and for seasoned readers.

I’m afraid that this book, however, relied more on the harem aspects of the story than actually telling a story. There were times when I went back and re-listened - I even pulled up Kindle and re-read at one point - places where the story skipped, or I felt like I missed something. I even thought that perhaps the book was downloaded out of order and downloaded it again. Nope. There’s points in the story when the whole group just kinda ends up someplace, somehow. Or you think that he’s alone, but it turns out that his closest wives are there with him. And they’re talking about having sex, which derails his train of thought. And suddenly he, or one of his harem, has their hand somewhere naughty. Or someone pushes the MC’s head to their chest.

Sadly, this is what fills the story rather than the actual story in this book…. And the interaction between characters is saccharine sweet. I felt like I was getting a cavity. I consider myself a romantic and others have told me I possess levels of empathy and compassion that isn’t normally seen in men, but the way they talked to each other in the book was just… ehh… it wasn’t real. It was far too much.

If that was all, then I probably wouldn’t be saying anything; however dialogue that is like, “my beautiful, wonderful bride! Let me count to you the ways of my love for you!” talk shows up over and over and over and over and over. We get it dude, you love your women and they love you. You don’t have to remind us on literally every page. And you really don’t have to tell them of your love so formally and boastfully every time. Yeesh.

I will continue reading the series, because, despite the annoying harem aspects of the book, the series has given us a wonderful story up to this point. And the story was there in this book. The story that did exist was interesting, and I enjoyed it. Love seeing Ash continue to advance like a rocket. I needs me that dopamine kick! I just hope that the author puts the sickly sweet baby-ing of his MC and the MC’s brides back in the background where it belongs, and starts telling the story again in the next book. I don’t know if I can make it through another book of that.

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Good stuff… great stuff… but come on with the cliffhanger, my man!

Revisado: 08-28-24

I love how much this author has grown. His ability to write improves with every book, but his ability to tell a good story has always been top tier, in my opinion.

Great for the litRPG nerds among us.

Of course, this kind of book won’t be winning any prestigious awards from hoity-toity book snobs, but it scratches the RPG itch with the best of them.

In the book, we continue the story of Steve and his gang into realms previously unseen. In this universe, the science is examined, explained, and believable but not overbearing, and the pacing continues to be nothing less than break-neck.

I LOVE that this author doesn’t take what I call “commercial breaks” to see what’s happening with other characters, “meanwhile at the ranch.” We get one continuous story that follows the main character and his group, and if it does switch to the first-person of another character, it still continues the story. I really enjoy that. It kills pacing in other books, in my opinion, and those chapters aren’t usually even necessary beyond word-count. If an author wants to tell the story of another character, but has to break up the pacing, then, by all means, they should feel free to do so… in another book.

The only note I would give the author is that I feel he leans on the MC getting hurt badly in almost every altercation to add to the drama/suspense. Almost no one else in the group ever gets hurt regardless of the action they see. Even when they’re alongside the MC, facing impossible odds. Even when they do get injured, it’s almost like it’s a side-note. Without spoilers, for instance, a character that is not the MC gets hurt a couple times in this book, but it’s mentioned that he is stable and we promptly forget about him.

In my opinion, the MC is allowed to kick serious butt and walk away because they’re awesomely awesome with a side of awesome sauce. I mean, Steve is no Ender Wiggin, but he’s still the MC of his own universe. Maybe I’m alone in this. I’ve certainly been wrong before. It’s just something I noticed. (Wash - from Serenity - didn’t need to die… you know? It was just added for drama, it served nothing, and everyone hated it. Yes, I am still mad about a 20 year old movie.)

Also, loved the character voices. The narrators definitely have the feel and flow for this series down pat. Great stuff. They know these characters and the interaction feels real the majority of the time.

I’d recommend this series, and author, to any fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and/or LitRPG/progression/gamelit genres. The author tells a great story. I follow all of his series and grab each new book when it’s in pre-order.

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Great Series; OK Book

Revisado: 07-04-24

Let me start by saying that I love this series. Up until this book, I voraciously read each book a couple times. Like, unable to sleep because I needed to get through “just one more chapter”. I think I’ll stick to the one reading with this one, though. It’s OK. It’s not bad. I liked it.

I just felt this book was filler to get the next arc. I mean, I get it, I guess, but, compared to the rest of the series, nothing really happens. There are no big reveals or cool new abilities. Just pieces set up to be moved later. It was the first time in the series my mind wandered and I had to rewind to figure out what I missed.

Unfortunately, much of the book was focused on kingdom control and development… and the many meetings that have to take place to get a nation on its feet. The little action the book does have in it has the MC showboating that he could be used as the ultimate weapon against a two nation army and never feel like he was at any risk.

During one of the many meetings the reader has to slog through, I noted that it felt like I was in a social studies class. I know people who enjoy that sort of thing, but it’s not for me.

Also, annoyingly, the MC’s tone in all of these meetings moved from lighthearted levity to acting like a child just because he can. No one can touch him and everyone knows it. Especially the MC. So I guess that gives Derrick the right to act like a total jerk. That rubbed me the wrong way.

I’m concerned about the tone of the MC for future books. Nothing in this book could do anything more than scratch him. I’m worried the author might be hitting the “overpowered MC brick wall”: when there’s little that can harm the MC, it is difficult for some authors to up the ante and keep readers invested. Adventures stop being as fun when even the MC knows he can sleepwalk through any adversity.

I still recommend the series. I just hope the next arc - the rather obvious arc I thought we’d be starting in this book - starts at the beginning of the next book.

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Pretty OK

Revisado: 02-27-24

I LOVED the way this book started and expected so much from the book. It did deliver, for the most part - Krout is an excellent author… when he *really tries* to develop a story.

I might still be frustrated at his self-imposed goal a few years back of writing a book a month, because his books before he announced that goal have a qualitative difference that, at least to me, is obvious. While this genre is plagued with great stories that just kinda die mid-series, I’d rather read a completely fleshed-out story than a rushed one. I wish I could tell Krout - and every author for that matter - I’d be all too happy to wait longer for a better book. A month just seems like far too little time for a book to come to fruition and be full of the life that this author is capable of creating.

Anyway, Grilled Armageddon is certainly entertaining, but it feels strangely anemic in a lot of parts. Or there were obstacles that didn’t feel necessary in order to create a tension that didn’t really exist.

You know that trope where someone knows something but doesn’t tell other people in order to “save them from pain/fear” and that causes problems? Yeah, this book is full of that. Even the other characters were like, “dude, just tell us.” It would have cleared everything up… but I guess it would have lessened the “tension”, so it didn’t happen.

I don’t know exactly how to say what I mean, I guess - the book just feels rushed; it feels like it wasn’t completely fleshed out, but Krout went ahead and wrote it anyway with the hope that he would discover how the book was going to go while writing.

The system for stats is so different that it makes me wonder if Krout just needed to take a break from the usual and try something exploratory.

Also, between this book and the Lord January book in the series Year of the Sword (an excellent series, btw), it kinda makes me wonder if Krout has recently taken up cooking, or is on a difficult diet and is constantly thinking about food.

Honestly, I feel the most likely reason this series exists is because Krout writes down every pun he hears and realized recently that he had amassed a fortune of food puns. Upon noticing the burdening overabundance of food puns, Krout crowbarred this story into existence between the puns.

I do appreciate the feeling of family between the friends. Much of the banter feels like real banter between friends. It’s believable and, for the most part, pretty fun and even kinda funny most of the time. Though, I will admit, some of the puns I laughed at are so incredibly bad that they feel like an anti-joke. I’m convinced that Krout laughs at the idea of the reader cringing at a bad pun. That’s pretty darn funny to me.

I suppose I should mention the narrator: I’ve always really enjoyed this narrator - MacLeod Andrews - and I think he did a bang-up job breathing as much life into this book as was possible.

I don’t know if I’d recommend this book. For what it’s worth, I will be continuing the series to see if the second book picks up. I do think this book is good enough to deserve that from me.

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Another Good Entry in a Fun Story

Revisado: 11-24-23

This book is pretty good. It doesn’t grab you like the rest of the series, and it felt like parts were rushed then others were focused on more than necessary. There were also chapters that felt thrown in like, “oh yeah, this is what these people are doing,” which felt strange and may have made sense if going in chronological order, but felt weird or like filler just sprinkled in. The overall story was still good! The characters in the story are entertaining and the interactions - though they do feel stiff a small amount of the time - feel like they might exist in real life with their own voice.

The series continues to entertain me and make me wish for more. I just love seeing the MC advance! More!

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Other than the constant squeak…

Revisado: 07-11-23

Love this series. Loved it since the first great book. Jez has come a long way as a writer, and I’m happy I found his books.

… however, there is some squeak in the background. Sounded like the platform the reader’s book was on needed to have its screws tightened or something. Not sure, but it was hard not to hear once I heard it the first time. Holy crap was it annoying.

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Was Expecting Better

Revisado: 06-23-23

The first book was so good I couldn’t wait until the second book, and this second book turned out… OK. Not bad. Not great. Just OK.

Also, I normally don’t really care what voice goes with which character as long as it is consistent, but I immediately disliked the new dragon’s voice. It didn’t fit right, I didn’t think.

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Back on Track

Revisado: 02-19-23

I didn’t know if I wanted to continue to read this series after the last couple books, but this book, I feel, gets the Zac and Black attack gets back on track!

There’s loot galore, and Zac overcomes adversity by beating it senseless, learning more of the Dao, and evolving his skills like he is a cultivation demon.

If you also loved the first books, but were kinda bored with the techno-mystic realm like I was, I think you’ll enjoy this book as well.

Personally, though, I think the entire book could have been about Zac, and the other characters could be put on hold until there’s something more to say about them. It’s kinda weird that there are a couple chapters about other characters, and then we go right back to Zac.

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Nearly Didn’t Purchase this Due to Bad Reviews

Revisado: 12-15-22

Honestly, I have no idea what people who wrote the bad reviews are talking about. This is a GREAT sequel. I highly recommend reading everything in Jez’s library. He had a bit of a rocky start, but has grown as a writer like I’ve never seen before, and I’m happy for his success. He deserves it. His stories are fantastic, and interesting, and they are so incredibly long! LOVE IT! It’s like I’m getting 5 books in one.

Keep it up, Jez!

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