Dshoayo

80% filler

Revisado: 10-08-24

I do not mind slow pace, in fact I quite enjoy it if what is happening is relevant. but this book is mostly made up from scenes that are aggravatingly irrelevant to any plot or character development.
the whole last third is basically non existent. nothing is happening that matters.
the middle is not much better. I like people debating things. but not the same shit over and over.

I could, as a reader, see dozens of ways how the story could develop, what else is gonna happen or will be explored, and then I watch in disbelief when the authors meander in circles around the most banal inconsequentialialities ... it is infuriating and predictable with SciFi these days.

with that "pace", they will never do anything interesting the whole series.

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it is blatantly obvious how the authors will proceed:
paraphrase the same plot points over and wander in circles with barely any plot progression.
then in book 5 or 6, in the last chapter rush through a million things spat on a page to "wrap it up".

that's how everyone does it these days and this is no different.

also it has aplenty one of my pet peeves: narrating from the perspective of a cruel and disgusting bad guy. Stop that! we all know evil. I don't need a dummy's guide to how it thinks for the n-th time by a bunch of boomers who've crafted the most evil world that has ever been.

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dour and disappointing

Revisado: 04-16-24

the author went all in on the worst parts in his story telling...
the book is depressing and all fun and adventure is hidden behind triple quadrupled parody multiplied with itself into some post post parody until nothing matters, and everything has become pointless

there's a mean-spiritedness to all of it... it reads as contempt hidden behind some perfunctory layers of sarcasm riddled with plot holes and bumping off more side characters.

everyone is a complete idiot because haha that's funny.
nothing makes sense because that's life.
everyone's an asshole because otherwise you can't write snide remarks...

I understand why someone writes something like that in our current "modern societies" ... but I want escapism not more of it

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starts ok-ish, becomes kindergarden

Revisado: 04-10-24

the initial idea and how the world and characters are set up isn't especially enjoyable or sense-making, but passable.
sometimes authors struggle with the setup but the story itself is great.

here, it's different. the characters become denser and more short-sighted the more the story goes on.
not even halfway through, grown men who are supposedly weathered and experienced adventurers act like 5 year olds: they "screech in terror" from looking at a cricket that's very polite but human sized, they do slapstick nonsense out of the blue and completely out of character.

they do things that are so utterly stupid and predictably, nonsensically blind, that they come across as unlikable and undeserving of being heroes.

the author has never played a game, and never read any other litrpg beyond looking at what sells - seemingly:
he uses the lingo and genre tropes that are broadly known, but completely misunderstands them:

the main issue the MC has after the first part is that he earned 1 bajillion xp for killing the world boss. OK. but he's level 1 still.
... OK... so why is he STILL level 1 then?
everyone suddenly wants to kill him for his xp....... because THEY can level up by killing HIM, the level 1 guy. THEY can use HIS xp to level up. HE can't. wtf?

"lol bro, what if like a janitor like kills like the big boss or something like solo haha with no combat training? " -- the book.

the book also has a mile-deep structure problem:
so they got to raise the MCs level to 5 or he's gonna stay a walking xp piñata.
but they immediately give up on it.

the mc wants to help the town but immediately gives up on it and let some blatantly, obviously scheming, pure evil, out for nothing good and *powerless* ruffian bully them around even though the mc and his Shepard could dispose of him in a second.
even after he steals all the towns weapons right before a monster attack.
they still let this guy run the show and even allow him to have him and his whole goon squad on the same train later.

they get to a town with some obviously bad things going on with strong hints of mystery and solutions: and immediately give up on it.

and so on.

this reads like some dude who took writing lessens to earn a living. fair enough. but that's all he wants: sell you a book. and he did his job with the janitor kills boss line. the rest is him already mentally checking out and working on the next book.

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the best of the best

Revisado: 02-21-24

there is no better series out there. fantasy or SciFi.

this, after 11 books now, beats everything in scale and imagination.

especially scale.

forget anything you can find on TV or in movies, or the usual mainstream series content brought to books.

nothing I have ever read has such a vast, absolutely ancient and deep history and world that we get to know more with every book.

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don't get invested. sociopath "heroine" whiner

Revisado: 02-15-24

what really made me quit is when she snoops on other people's thoughts in book 2 and then having the brazen self a righteousness to condemn some guy for liking the behind of some other woman.

so she violates someone's privacy, gets into their mind, but HE is at fault for being heterosexual and thinking to himself about liking something.

THEN she starts planning to set up that same guy to get murdered (!!!!!!) because he's a "creep", obviously. THAT's her reason.
SHE IS THE DAMN CREEP. this is nuts!! it's completely insane.
The author is the damn creep. but we're told on every page that she's some meek goody twoshoes who has no responsibility for her own actions.

this is the morality of a sociopath. this isn't Literature with a capitalized L. this isn't done to show how someone could think they're good but aren't at all. this is entry level writing and straight up the author's own morality (or lack thereof) talking.

I tolerated book 1 even though it reads like a mid slice of life book that just meanders and goes nowhere.

but book 2 soured me on the whole series. the author has an unbelievably twisted sense of moraliry.

the protagonist is doing something shady and immoral for a job, then when her own choices, her own decisions land her in a spot that she herself knew very well could happen any time, she blames everyone but herself.

she wines and wines as she stumbles passively into getting more overpowered and then being angry at the people who made her absurdly overpowered.

half the series is whining, the other half is a never ending training montage in the second book.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

painful USA USA USA freedumb and dumbocracy

Revisado: 02-10-24

I just don't get why every fantasy/litrpg/scifi book I try from an American always feels like it's only written to bring democracy and equal rights to whatever insanely different fantasy or scifi world with completely different rules.

the protagonist spits on every tradition and rule there is and usually does it in a "funny" way to elicit some cheering from the 50 IQ crowd while doing it....

this is the 4th book where shit like this happens that I tried.

nevermind that the "land of the free" has more imprisoned people than the rest of all countries put together (including China!)... or that the average American has less rights than most people in most other nations while having the worst healthcare the least vacation days per year, the most jobs per person, the highest obesity and among worst education levels worldwide, lower than the typical African nation, but they gotta give Hobgoblins equal rights in fantasy novels now - and not as a joke but in all seriousness...

the usage of political language to describe things the protagonist has no concept of or experience with is equally grating. not everything is about election year language, my dude.

the author writes like he thinks the reader is braindead or stupid and can't put two and two together. everything that the protagonist sees is instantly "explained" with some inane charged political term. oh it looks like this so it's like the Nazis!!1!

maybe hobgoblins are devious mf-ers who will murder you in your sleep when they get the chance? who knows! the MC surely doesnt, he just assumes this way through the book. always landing on the most on-the-nose idiot conclusion (which of course is rewarded by plot armor)....

if you want to write shit like this, write for Trump or Biden. donate all your money to some campaign who's gonna turn on a dime after the election and break every promise as usual. don't give me this crap in my fantasy books

stop being 2024 political in books that are about different worlds and cultures

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a true achievement. his best work yet

Revisado: 02-07-24

The book is amazing. I was very sceptical as usually a one book series, I.e. not a series at all, is usually too flat and uninteresting to me.

this however is such a deep world and so unbelievably much happening, with such fresh ideas that I listened to it twice in a row and enjoyed the repeat just as much.

I wished this was a series... there is so much to explore and seek out. so many places and secrets...

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among my all time favorites

Revisado: 01-28-23

and I've listened to over 400 audio books by now.

there seems to be a little gas lighting campaign going on right now against authors that write coherent, self assured but not foolish MCs and a clear plotline that actually goes places...

a lot of authors I really like have weird, completely off base reviews coming in, and Durand/void Herald is unfortunately also targeted.

but authors that tell stories for simpletons without humor and just paint by numbers get glowing, detailed reviews... it's almost like the book version of the YouTube algorithm.

I don't know what's going on. rarely have I chuckled that much as while listening to this book, yet the 'most helpful' review calls it unfunny.
I from find the MCs voice perfect and the other voices just effing amazing. the plant... she's soooo adorable :)

but of course numerous people complain. it's never been this bad on audible.
I feel ai can't trust any reviews any more

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entertaining, fresh and cyberpunkish

Revisado: 12-14-22

it's a good listen. never boring, trickles along without real tension, but with interesting things happening constantly.
kinda like slice of life but always along the whodunit and what is going on line of storytelling.

usually books like this are boring to me. this one had actually good dialogue, some nice SciFi elements that are original, not standard tropes.

I'm gonna buy the next for sure

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

top tier world, no stupid MC

Revisado: 12-11-22

I expected the usual copy cat trash but nope, this one is original, with a competent MC (even though I vehemently dislike a lot of his ideas - at least he has any, and he's consistent and does not rely on plot armor)

narration was good, as expected from Daniel Thomas May.

a big surprise overall. and it doesn't play in New York or one of those stereotypical locations.

a book does not need a fresh take on litrpg to be good. but it's a good sign if there are new ideas. and there are plenty in this one.

the things I dislike are basically just how the author sees the world and how he thinks things work in real life. mind you, 99% of authors are that dense (state apparatus is competent and trustworthy - what is this? 1970s lol??)

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