Christopher

Sociopath gets transported to other world

Revisado: 12-26-24

So not the best of the "alternate reality" Lit RPG style story. A busload of random people are transported to an alternate world with stats and monsters. It's not really well done- there is very little description of the event itself- it just kind of happens and there isn't much thought given to why or natural survival of a group of people other than they realize they need water at some point. They more or less just kind of jump into the game grinding and social dynamics of the story without much fanfare or questioning. But the main drag on this story is the MC is a class A sociopathic A-hole. He literally does not care about anyone, whether they live or die except for what they can do for him and what benefits he gets from them staying alive or not. Around the 50th chapter, he starts to develop like MAYBE a grain or 2 of empathy towards one or 2 of the character, but mostly because they are helping him without anything in return and he is really bothered by those emotions. So, maybe it's working it's way up to be a redemption story, but it's several hours of listening to this guy either use people or being intentionally cruel to them. It's pretty brutal and I honestly wish he'd just die a this point. I'm giving up on this one halfway through and sending it back -there are a LOT better stories in this genre to spend my credit on than this that I would enjoy. Even Primal Hunter series was better than this. Maybe if that was your jam but there was too much caring about people in that one, this one might be up your alley.

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Pretty good if leveling is it's own reward....

Revisado: 02-24-24

About 2 hours from finishing book 3 and all of them have the same major flaw to me- not sure I am interested in any more. The big issue is that there is no larger story going on here. Ilea's only real long term goal is to get stronger and challenge herself to fight stronger monsters. She has no ambition to build something, be a part of something, learn why she was brought into this world in the 1st place. I can see that there MIGHT be some larger workings going on, the story could evolve into a larger epic in the future MAYBE. After all there is that mysterious pyramid key she found in the 1st Telene dungeon that I'm pretty sure is the key to controlling the Telene machinery. But what about it? Ilea does not strike you as the character is is either smart enough to figure that out or motivated enough to do anything about it.
All this revolves around all the challenges she has faced- every large quest she has gone on all result in disappointing outcomes. Fight off a demon horde- check, only to come back to a broken guild and hall, with no interest to rebuild any of it. Help a friend take revenge for the murder of his family, check, only to be disillusioned with the killing humans and the politics associated with it while the friend then goes into a depression.
Find a lost king and free him from his dungeon- Check, only to find him going into a depression about the kingdom he lost. 60 + hours of listening and no big bad guy introduced, no answers as to why she came to the realm, or really any desire on the part of the main character to figure it out. You can tell there are some big things going on, but all Ilea wants to do is keep moving on to find another mindless enemy she can punch.
Again, if that's your cup of tea, then this is a great listen. I need more to hold my interest though, and not just the vague promise that more MIGHT be coming down the road after 60 hours of listening with a main character who doesn't feel like she would follow through even if those great mysteries are discovered.

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Good story but a huge wait time between books

Revisado: 11-18-23

So I can see where some reviews are complaining about the teenage drama- it is certainly here in spades. Granted the characters are dealing with some heavy duty issues- orphaned, one kid finds his mom committed suicide at a young and they are all coping with the damage done to them early on, so I can get behind that as I don't think it hurts the overall story arc, even if it feels heavy handed at times and can really slow the pacing of the story telling down. But yeah, no real ground breaking going on with the whole "overpowered orphan" story line- been done a lot, but it's a classic for good reason.

Really the publishing pacing is my main complaint here. The 1st book is the story of a kid basically going into a college level military school, and BOTH the books still haven't covered the 1st year of that. Plus there is a war raging on that is only hinted at that I'm sure there is a lot of places the story could go post graduation of the main characters. I think it's a pretty rich world they are building and it's got me intrigued, and the characters are likable despite the drama. But the real story seems like a ways off. And these first 2 books were 2 1/2 years apart. That's a long span to cover the what isn't even the end of the 1st year of school (writing this review with 3 hours left to go- maybe it gets there, but if it does it won't go much beyond that).

My point being that you may be waiting a LONG time for this story to really hit it's stride. And these are huge books- 65 hours of listening between the 2 of them for year one of school in story time. So yeah, that's my main issue. If these were coming out every 6 months to 1 year, I'd feel different. It's nowhere as slow going or as overly dramatic as "The Wandering Inn" series is, but it's not exactly fast paced, nor are the books coming out anywhere near as fast as that series.

I'm definitely down to see where this story goes, but honestly if I have to wait another 2 plus years to get the next one, my interest is probably going to fade. Pacing isn't "Dragonball" levels of slow, but it ain't that far off either.

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Unique LITRPG style book

Revisado: 04-13-23

I am leaving a review for the series as a whole up to Book 5 in the series, which was the last one available to date as of this review- I like to know if I am going to enjoy the entire series ands not just one book.
Overall, I think this is a worthwhile purchase from that standpoint. I am kicking it down 1 star mainly because the plot of each book gets highly convoluted and hard to follow- there are obscure references which become critical lynchpins by the climax of the story, and if you are only paying half attention to the story they are easy to miss and get lost as to exactly what is going on and why.
Having said that though as the main criticism of the series (for me), I do find the books to be a good listen. They have enough length to them to not feel like you are being short changed (a bit too lengthy if i'm being honest as they can meander at times), but they are overall entertaining and do a good job of keeping your attention as a whole. The characters are very engaging and interesting, the humor is well mixed in and while not really LOL, they do keep you smirking a lot. It is very clever in the overall story arc despite it being absolutely ridiculous (intentionally so) but that is part of it's charm really. It straddles the quirky humor with some very horrible circumstances and drama in the fictional world (the whole world was essentially destroyed so everyone could be enslaved and faced into a life and death dungeon crawl that is televised for its reality show entertainment value). So yeah, pretty cruel premise, but the author does a good job of making it interesting and adding the right balance of humor and character interaction and development to keep it a good read. And it seems that there will be a way for the main character to win and get revenge on the system that enslaved him (potentially) so we will see how it plays out, but there are hints throughout the books of this happening.
Of course Jeff Hays knocks it out of the part and nails every character and makes them come alive fantastically. Always a big hit to hear them come to life in the audio versions of these books! Soundbooth does a decent job of not overdoing the effects in the series so far but using them at a few select key points to help add to the story, so well done there.
Overall a solid book if you can keep track of what is going on through the 12 - 16 hours of storytelling. I would recommend this one.

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Unique LITRPG style book

Revisado: 04-13-23

I am leaving a review for the series as a whole up to Book 5 in the series, which was the last one available to date as of this review- I like to know if I am going to enjoy the entire series ands not just one book.
Overall, I think this is a worthwhile purchase from that standpoint. I am kicking it down 1 star mainly because the plot of each book gets highly convoluted and hard to follow- there are obscure references which become critical lynchpins by the climax of the story, and if you are only paying half attention to the story they are easy to miss and get lost as to exactly what is going on and why.
Having said that though as the main criticism of the series (for me), I do find the books to be a good listen. They have enough length to them to not feel like you are being short changed (a bit too lengthy if i'm being honest as they can meander at times), but they are overall entertaining and do a good job of keeping your attention as a whole. The characters are very engaging and interesting, the humor is well mixed in and while not really LOL, they do keep you smirking a lot. It is very clever in the overall story arc despite it being absolutely ridiculous (intentionally so) but that is part of it's charm really. It straddles the quirky humor with some very horrible circumstances and drama in the fictional world (the whole world was essentially destroyed so everyone could be enslaved and faced into a life and death dungeon crawl that is televised for its reality show entertainment value). So yeah, pretty cruel premise, but the author does a good job of making it interesting and adding the right balance of humor and character interaction and development to keep it a good read. And it seems that there will be a way for the main character to win and get revenge on the system that enslaved him (potentially) so we will see how it plays out, but there are hints throughout the books of this happening.
Of course Jeff Hays knocks it out of the part and nails every character and makes them come alive fantastically. Always a big hit to hear them come to life in the audio versions of these books! Soundbooth does a decent job of not overdoing the effects in the series so far but using them at a few select key points to help add to the story, so well done there.
Overall a solid book if you can keep track of what is going on through the 12 - 16 hours of storytelling. I would recommend this one.

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A good series, but not the best from Jez (IMHO)

Revisado: 08-21-22

I picked up this series after listening to Jez Cajiao's other series, "Rise of Mankind". While I prefer that series to this one, this is still a decent listen to and worthwhile.
I have to start off by talking about the narration. A LOT of reviews slam Wayne Mitchell's performance here, and yeah, it's a bit hard listening to the Cockney accent the main character is using. But honesty, Wayne has a pretty impressive range doing a pretty wide variety of characters, so I don't think all the shade in the reviews is deserved. Yeah, if I was from the UK I probably would consider the accent a bit fake (and yes, he also has one or 2 character that he is obviously doing a DIRECT Sean Connery impersonation), but still, I think he pulls it off pretty well (once you get used to his style, which can take a bit). I did pass this series up initially after listening to the preview, as it can be off-putting initially, but you do get used to it and it does work after a while. If you are used to authentic dialects of English, I could see this potentially being more off-putting, but for a "yank", it was a fine, if not admirable, job of narration. So I say don't let that stop you.
A good portion of this 1st book is about how "Jack" (Jax) gets into the UnderVerse in the 1st place, and I found some of the logic here pretty questionable. Best explanation I can come to terms with is that the people sending him there are just idiots- it makes no logical sense why they would treat him the way they do and then to send him there and expect him to do anything for them. Maybe they have some way of influencing him down the road that just hasn't come into play as of yet (at book 3 of the series) but for now they just look like idiots. Just ignore that and move on.
Otherwise the rest of it is pretty great. He gets dumped into whole new world, finds out he has some grand lineage, and has a grand quest to save everyone. Kinda standard pieces, but the story is pretty intriguing and has an air of being unique despite the common threads with other epic stories. Overall it was enjoyable and I plan to continue the series.
I knocked this back to 4 stars because 1) the accent did take some getting used to, 2) the story was a bit drawn out for the initial entry into the UnderVerse. But once there and you get used to Wayne's performance, everything sort of smooths out and you can enjoy the ride. I am enjoying it at least.

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Excellent series

Revisado: 08-21-22

Really good series. Neil Hellegers is fast becoming one of my favorite narrators, and he just continues to knock it out of the park. His sense of timing, authenticity and gravitas is just brings depth to the story.
I think this story works on a lot of levels for an "end of the world" scenario. My only real issue is the level of suspension of disbelief you have to buy into that allows the "Game Mechanics" that are part of the Lit RPG genre to come into play for this series. It's honestly a bit goofy, that all the stuff we know from D&D games somehow becomes the real life physics and biology for a new world that was in fact (according to the narrative) brought to us by an alien race.
But just put that off to one corner of your brain, because the ride is ever so fun! Matt (the hero? Anti-hero?) is a highly likable Class A "a*hole" (self proclaimed), but not "a dick", unlike a lot of the people you meet (briefly) in this series. While I don't agree with all his human interactions, he readily admits his failings, and people he trusts are always there to help him realize that he is being a jerk. So he generally tries to make it work. But you know, it takes two to tango and man, he's got a short fuse. So it's pretty fun to watch interactions with unreasonable people (and some of the dregs of life) as it generally ends poorly for them.
If anything I get lost a bit in the battle scenes. If I focus and listen, I can follow along, but as I am generally working or driving while I listen (different part of my brain to work- don't ask, that's just how it goes for me) the focus needed to follow the battles is a bit much to really catch everything. Still entertaining though. And plenty of world building for people who enjoy dungeon building and some cultivation like stuff too without getting TOO bogged down with it.
And yeah, there are a a lot of stats to listen to (another failing of the audible versions of Lit RPGs), but honestly if there are important stats, he talks about them- so for the most part you can just kind of tune out the info dump of stats and not really miss much.
The world created here is a fun one to put yourself in and honestly, that's what a good story is all about. Sure it's an end (or start?) of the world story, but it is a well done adventure!
I've just downloaded and listened to book 3 of the series (that last one to just come out as of this review) and I have absolutely no regrets about starting this series. Good work and likable characters by Jez Cajio, would definitely recommend if you are into the Lit RPG series.

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Odd mix of things that are both good and bad

Revisado: 10-13-21

So 4 books into the series and there are some fantastic things about these, and strangely, those same things can be frustrating.

The world building and characters are so well done in their depth and complexity. But like Robert Jordan, the characters tend to get forged into their initial molds and have a very hard time evolving past them. You can see that the author is trying to expand them and make them grow, but it happens at a truly glacial pace.

And I think that is true for much of the series with regard to timing. On the one hand, this is going to be a very long road with a lot of backstories and side stories and so much detail about the mundane lives of these people. And so much internal dialog given about their motivations. SO MUCH INTERNAL DIALOG.

It is both interesting and yet somehow tedious at the same time, and that is going to come down to a very personal interpretation for each reader/ listener. Its good because there are hints and suggestions of future places this story could go buried in that mundane narrative. But you can't write a book this long and not have it feel drawn out at times when the subject matter veers from what you personally find interesting, which obviously is going to be a very subjective thing.

While I think comparing this author to Robert Jordan is poor in a lot of ways, I do think the method of storytelling they employ is something they do have in common. It is simply going to be a very long story that I think will come together in the end in an epic way, and I expect the payout will be huge. The question is can you hold on to the pure length of the story in the midst of the rambling.

For me, I gave up on Robert Jordan's Wheel of time series somewhere around book 7 or 8. I know the series came to a conclusion and I may pick it back up again someday, but I got sick of listening to the same people go through the same flaws in their character over and over without learning anything.

I am HOPING Pirateaba can overcome this in the story they are telling, because it IS interesting at times and frustrating at others, but with each new book I find myself asking: I am ready to invest another 30+ hours of my life into these characters? Do I still care enough about them to continue?

The past couple of books have certainly felt more rambling that the 1st, so I am hoping that the "Wandering Inn" can recover from the "Wandering Plot Lines" and not get too bogged down in the weeds, which I think it is starting to run the risk of doing.

Of course Andrea is fantastic and executes the performance so very well. He range of characters is really quite astounding.

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Solid story, worth a credit for sure

Revisado: 12-29-20

I'll be quite honest, I bought the book not because I know anything of the author, nor can I say the plot line drew me in. Honestly the narrator Neil Hellegers was my primary draw, and mostly because he narrates one of my all time favorite Lit RPG series by Eric Eugland, The Good Guys and Bad Guys series. So it was a bit of an impulse purchase of not seeing anything else better in the offerings and taking a chance with an unknown author but with a familiar voice.
However I do have to say that that I found the story to be engaging, the characters complex and intriguing. and the story definitely held my attention, and I wish there was more now. Its not quite epic enough (given what has been revealed so far) or humorous enough to make it into my top 5, but this is certainly a solid enough book for a recommendation.
If you're looking for an entertaining story to take up a credit, there is really no flaws here and I would absolutely say it's a good start to a hopefully good series. Give it a shot!

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Has become one of my favorite series!

Revisado: 09-27-20

After listening to everything written to date of both "The Good Guy" and "The Bad Guy" series by Eric Ugland, I have to say I am just a HUGE FAN of this entire series. My only real gripe is that the books are quite short. But GET THESE BOOKS, you will not have regrets!
Eric creates some very flawed and yet very enjoyable characters. Montana, the MC is crude, brash, obsessive and overall just the sort of guy you'd love hanging out with. He often finds himself in over his head (and he knows it) and yet he manages to overcome everything thrown at him. That's all pretty generic and bland description of the story though and really falls short of telling you anything about it.
I guess what really makes this book magic is the raw honesty of the narration the MC gives as he tells his story. His brashness about how he feels about what is happening to him, the absolute brilliant delivery of the MC by Neil Hellegers, and the wit employed by the author really makes these stories shine. They are simply hilarious, don't try to take themselves too seriously, and while the story that unfolds is quite epic, the attitude of everyone involved is just pure gold.
If you liked "Thor Ragnarock" for the way it took a serious superhero and made him into a comedic genius, then you really should enjoy these books. Probably the best analogy I can give.
Can't recommend these books enough.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas