Sailfish

Meanders a lot

Revisado: 04-27-25

This book is mostly taking place in the hidden dark realms where Nease is accompanied with his sect members and a royal members. Here Nease has his companions grind away seemingly endlessly in order to level up their stats, all of which essentially places the plot in stasis mode for that period. Nease himself goes off on his own in another section of the realm to get busy grinding away on experimenting on monsters, intent on making unique and stronger versions of them, again, placing the plot pacing in stasis mode. There is some interaction with the outside real world but it was spotty.

I found it difficult to finish the book.

There is some inferences that the story might continue for at least book 4 but I doubt I will continue on with the series.

J.S. Arquin's performance was still well done.

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A good continuation of the series

Revisado: 04-24-25

The MC, Nease, is an ever-confounding child. At 11 years old, he is smart beyond his years but often immature as his age suggests. His rambunctious demeanor, combined with his horrific demonic encounter in his past keeps me on the edge of demeaning his character and empathizing with him at the same time.

The author does an excellent job of character building with the primary characters but also with the secondary and even making me want to engage more with the tertiary characters. All this makes for a highly entertaining novel.

Can't wait for Book 3.

J.S. Arquin's performance remains top-notch.

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It gets better after initial lengthy death re-dos

Revisado: 04-23-25

much better.

Robert Blaise, I almost gave up on this book in the first several chapters where the MC, Neave, was pulled into a demon realm and force to battle tons of demons before he was returned to the mortal realm. Neave is a strong-willed 11yr old intellectual progeny with a no-filter sarcastic attitude and a potty-mouth that would make a drunken salty sailor blush. On return to the mortal realm, he has attained unimaginable skills but at a cost which will cloud his moral decision-making from that point on. Being a member of cultivation sect and having been mistreated, he easily vanquishes those sect member who had attempted to kill him.

Afterward, he leaves the sect to venture out on his own to gain more power through cultivation and monster killing. Everything around him seems like a tornado, pulling others in with an intent to end him.

If you are interested in a cultivation series that sets itself apart on its own, suffer the first few chapters and stay for what follows.

J.S. Arquin's performance is well done.

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What a Pleasant Surprise

Revisado: 04-20-25

The is my first introduction to Robert Blaise writing and I was completely entrenched in completing the book. So much so that I lost sleep for days straight while listening to it. There are ample amounts of drama as well as some uproaring passages that keep the story very entertaining. The MC is someone who was abandoned multiple times during his childhood and forced to learn to live in squalor and near starvation level food availability. Things change dynamically once he happens upon an alien object which will change his life in ways wonderfully rewarding and tragically disastrous. While almost losing his mind on several occasions, he finds the will to survive.

The ending of book one is done well as it leaves some open story arcs but completes the book without leaving any major unresolved endings.

Daniel Wisniewski's performance was outstanding!

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A unique fantasy take

Revisado: 04-19-25

DB King crafted a progression series which starts out as a coming-of-magic story, where the MC had thought he was passed by as a summoner only to find out in his mid 20s that he not only was a summoner but a very unique one. The MC backstory is one of being a lowly military spearman who fought bravely in a recent war but afterward only found employment as a stable hand. Once he came into his power, he was mentored by one of the strongest summoner in the nation.

The story pacing moves briskly forward with the only drawback being too much narrative with him continuing to lament on his past tragic military experience and his need to hurry up to catch up with other summoners.

Austin Rising's performance was very well done.

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Good for a road trip

Revisado: 04-16-25

Harmon Cooper changed direction on this series from him more recognized harem fantasy sub-genre. I found the first 2 books in the series at a 5 star level and book 3 and 4 at a 3 star level. While there were cultivation elements to in the series, it was somewhat superficial that made it a stretch to classify it as such. The MC was much more realistic as a normal person being exposed to magic. He was overwhelmed at first and only after surviving several deadly encounters had he become more aware and in tune with his abilities, however, even then, he never reached a level that was close to being OP.

His bird sidekick, Roger, provided genuine comic relief in the beginning but after Book 1 his antics became less and less humorous and more and more banal and distracting. His 4 other Earth companions were integral to the story but never in a dominant way. The ending seemed a bit rushed, ridiculous in ways and the ending battle was a let down.

Neil Hellegers' narrative performance was very good and it alone kept me listening to the very end.

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A bit too YA for me

Revisado: 04-09-25

I picked up this book because I enjoy Greco-Roman mythology themed stories. While it was noted to be a YA novel, I had hoped it would be more toward mature end of that sub-genre. I was unable to get invested in the characters not the story and gave up early on.

With that said, others looking for a younger age novel in this genre may find this book to their liking.

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Barely made it through

Revisado: 04-07-25

Randi Darren move the series from an interesting tale with a touch of eroticism to an inundation of eroticism to a smattering of intriguing story. I ended up fast-forwarding past the erotic parts just to get back to the unraveling narrative.

Stephanie Savannah's performance was still well done.

I'll not continue the series.

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Yes, it's a harem series but ...

Revisado: 04-04-25

Randi Darren succeeded in making the characters and story more compelling than the few erotic love-making moments. The MC, Wrench, is a Hum (Hum being the alien masters' term for humans) of class "Fixer" who, unbeknownst to his captors and other HUms, has been given a method of overclocking his physical and mental traits, making him unique and more powerful among Hum species in his habitat.

This story is about Hum survival in a universe where humans are considered as non-sentient, non-sapient creatures, much like dogs or other Earthen pets. What follows is a series of unfortunate events which will test Wrench's resolve, cunning and wits to extreme limits; the success of which will grants him greater esteem and rewards.

Stephanie Savannah performance is excellent, exhibiting a rare talent to not only pull off several different female characters but able to do the same with the male characters.

The ending does leave off with a cliff-hanger but with most of the primary characters still surviving.

I've already purchased Book 2.

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Novel blend of time travel and progression levelin

Revisado: 04-03-25

Boris Romanovsky creates a story where it starts 20+ years in future where humankind on the brink of apocalypse and rewinds time in an attempt to change history's timeline in ways to prevent humankind destruction. The author's writing style is a bit rough around the edges but still maintains a level of interesting events along with a steady, if tenuous, pacing. The world building is minimal but adequate and the MC and his companions are diverse and distinguishable enough to gain a level of investment in most of them.

Oddly, the series has a book 3 but no book 2 which, regrettably, will prevent me from following the series.

James R. Cheatham's performance is quite good; especially the different genders and dialects in the telling.

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