TJ

Absolutely loved this!

Revisado: 03-05-24

Possibly the best anthology I’ve ever heard. Not only was it long enough to be worth the purchase, but each stories were fun, interesting, and expanded the lore or the world in unexpected ways. 10/10 would recommend.

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Good start

Revisado: 01-21-24

I’m giving this 3 stars even though I genuinely enjoyed the story and I intend to read book 2. There are just a few things that I think will make this a no go for some people.

I’ll start with the biggest downside for me and that’s the narrator. Idk if it was just me, but the audio quality was strange. It was especially bad at the beginning and while it got better later on it was still noticeable. The narrator also had a strange cadence that I didn’t care for. The voices he did all sounded pretty much the same and the women in particular were hard to listen to. He also didn’t take pauses between scene breaks which was confusing at first. He got better later on, but it was rough in the first few chapters.

Now for the actual story. It was interesting and unique. I didn’t expect things to take the turns they did and I was always interested to see what happed next. The story takes a while to get started though because the MC is in denial about what is happening in the beginning and even after he gets it he’s hesitant to really get involved. It was a little frustrating at first, but I’ll admit that he generally responded to things the same way most people would. He doesn’t seem very smart though. He isn’t “pull your hair out” dumb, but there were moments where some of his decision making didn’t make very much sense and only served the plot.

The biggest downside in terms of story though is the ending. It felt abrupt. The MC didn’t really seem to complete any arcs or resolve any major plot lines. The only difference from the beginning and end of the story is that he understands more about his powers and he potentially has a new ally.

This is one of the few stories that would be better served by being longer.

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Just read the webtoon

Revisado: 01-12-24

Yeah this book isn’t great. I’ve read the webtoon and I expected the novel to expound on things, give us extra character development, add extra content, or something since novel format gives an author so much more space to do this. But it is word for word what is in the webtoon. That’s fine when you have cool pictures to help the story along, but in this format it is extremely underwhelming. The writing is very simplistic, there are no purple prose, and the dialogue is stilted. I don’t need poetry, but I need sentences more complex than “the dog is black.”

The MC also comes off as a dick in this format. He seemed cool, stoic, and aloof in the webtoon, but actually having his actions and inner dialogue said aloud makes him seem rude and condescending. None of this is helped by the narrator. I can’t fathom how anyone thought it would be a good idea for him to do sound effects for every punch, kick, and explosion.

All in all you’d be better off just reading the webtoon. All you’ll get here is a watered down version of the exact same content.

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Cute but…

Revisado: 12-31-23

Cute story that expands the world a little more, but definitely not enough going on to justify the purchase. This should have been a part of a short story collection rather than sold alone. I genuinely don’t understand who thought This should be sold solo.

Also the narrator was great. I’m not sure what the other commenter is talking about.

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Looks like we’re getting a Harem

Revisado: 12-11-23

Slight spoiler alert, but there is a 3rd female companion now and an auxiliary 4th.That would be fine except everyone also seems way more horny in this book for some reason. That’s vibe isn’t really what I read System apocalypse books for. It doesn’t help that Hal was already a stereotypical manly man lone wolf MC with no people skills who people still seem to like for some reason. It just comes off as a self insert power fantasy.

If you can’t tell I don’t really like the MC. He isn’t very complex, which is fine, but he also hasn’t grown much as a character since book one. One thing in particular that I find off putting about him is his outlook on slavery. In book one he was a literal slave catcher and he justified it by saying the people who managed to get contractually enslaved deserved it. Now I’m all for characters with complex morals, but this viewpoint was never challenged and never caused issues for him. I had hoped this would be addressed in book two, but that whole angle was completely dropped and he became more of a mercenary. I was disappointed by that but ultimately fine with it since I didn’t want to read another book about slave catching. Then we get to this book and it’s brought back again in the most confusing way. The MC still believes that people who get themselves enslaved deserve it, but then gets upset when the slave owners don’t treat their slaves fairly? What is the message here? That slavery is fine as long as the slave owners are nice about it? Really gross and the fact that it continues to go unaddressed makes me think it’s the authors genuine opinion.

The writing itself was fine, but the last 2 hours of the book feel a little disconnected from the rest. The narration was amazing as always.

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Amazing story !

Revisado: 11-22-23

If you’re looking for action and adventure then this is not the book for you. But if you like slice of life with a sprinkle of magic then look no further. Not only were the characters well written and likable, but the stakes were somehow both high and low at the same time. The world wasn’t ending, but the suspense of wondering if things would work out for the main cast was well written. Pacing was great, dialogue was even better, and despite what I saw in another review there was a subtle yet compelling plot. Again if you’re looking for high fantasy adventures then this isn’t it, but if you want something heartfelt and down to earth then this is your book.

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Traditional Isekai Manga in novel form

Revisado: 07-09-23

I only recently found out that this series is a novelization of an actual WEBTOON style isekai novel and now so much makes sense. A lot of the tropes and character actions make so much more sense to me now that I know it’s not a traditionally written western novel. That actually really helped me get past some of the things I didn’t like about this series and made the read much easier. So with that being said, if you’re not into stereotypical isekai manga then you’ll hate this, but if you enjoy the genre and all of its well know flaws then this will be a fun time.

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Fix the MC please!

Revisado: 02-21-23

The narration was great with a plethora of distinct voices, the writing in general is solid, and we learn more about the system apocalypse world. However… I. Do. Not. Like. Hal. I was on his side up until the point where he decided to screw over other humans and become a literal slave catcher. Even worse is that it wasn’t something he was forced to do. It was a 100% unnecessary decision. I might be able to excuse that if the story in any way condemned his actions, but it doesn’t. He’s actually rewarded for his actions multiple times, and bends over backwards to justify himself (it only ever boiled down to “it was their own fault for being too dumb and lazy to read the fine print”). The authors try to make him seem like a morally grey character by having him do good deeds every now and then, but that really doesn’t work when the only reason he’s doing them is because he knows he’ll get a reward at the end. I’m all for morally bad characters when they’re interesting and complex. Hal is neither. He’s also OP. There was maybe maybe one fight in the entire story where he was truly outmatched by an enemy and he’d conveniently received exactly what he needed to win earlier that day. *Yawn*

Because I like the system apocalypse universe I’ll go ahead and read the next book , but if it’s more of the same I’m done with this side series.

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Entertaining story with a lot of wasted potential

Revisado: 11-01-22

I typically don’t leave written reviews on books, but this one left me so conflicted that I just want to write my thoughts out. I’ve never come across a book that left me disappointed in the path the author chose yet curious as to where it will lead. I gave this book 3 stars because it has a lot of potential and some really good moments, but it’s bogged down by weird flaws that could have been avoided with the help of good beta readers.

This felt like a full trilogy jammed into one book. Honestly it would have greatly benefitted from being broken up so that the various themes and situations presented could be more thoroughly explored. As things stand the story felt like it jumped from one major event to another, completely changing the cast of characters, the tone of the story, and even the general plot of the story repeatedly.

The portion of the book based around the premise we are promised of a magical market is depressingly small. Even the little we get feels glossed over. The world and lore are interesting though and does keep you engaged. The magic system is probably the biggest pro I have. The card system is unique and interesting. Unfortunately, just like with the magical market theme the initial power system is almost immediately abandoned for something more generic. The cards stick around, but they become less and less important.

Jake, the main character, starts off annoying, then evens out about half way through the book. Unfortunately right around the end his behavior becomes less and less excusable in my personal opinion and the book ended with me not liking him as a character. I think a big part of what bothers me is that there are no real consequences for his actions or mistakes. The few negative things that happens to him are completely not his fault and out of his control. There is only one real exception to this.

He also becomes overpowered alarmingly fast. He feels like an anomaly in the general power scaling of this world and it’s only ever addressed as him being lucky. I’m all for power trip fantasies, but not when it breaks the world. Often times the only way for him to encounter real trouble, even early in the story, is if he makes a stupid mistake or is caught unaware.

Overall I didn’t hate the story. I just think there was a lot of wasted potential. I’ll give the next book a try, but if I encounter the same problems I’ll definitely be dropping the series.

Side note: Travis Baldree did a great job narrating as usual.

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Unexpectedly entertaining

Revisado: 11-01-22

The first few minutes are jarring because of the various voice actors and sound effects, but it grows on you pretty quickly as everyone settles into their characters. The story was short, sweet, and entertaining. This is also the first story I’ve listened to that is comprised almost entirely of conversation and no physical descriptors, but it worked really well. I’d recommend this as a fun palate cleanser before your next book.

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