Steven M. Brown

A decent KU read and audible listen, gets load and repeative.

Revisado: 02-16-25

This series is a royal road series that does have all see hallmarks of a run on story that keeps you interested nonetheless. I have read the 7 released book and the 8th completed work and while I do not regret it I did find tthe story and series frustrating as much as I found it entertaining. As a chapter by chapter release story, there is plenty of filler chapters wear, naval gazing, and pondering upon. The philosophy of whatever move is being developed, takes the entire chapter.
I will say that the audible version is very good, except for the parts. When the narrator is reading for the a parts at least in the second book of the series on it is annoyingly loud and not matching with the rest of the audible version. Having intense action or somber moments interuptted by a sudden arena annoucer saying something akin to CONGRATULATIONS will completel break the story.
There are many interesting concepts within the school of cultivation and magic. About those who have reached a height of cultivation considered god's and purposely interfere with the lower realms of power. The latter concepts. You don't really see until the later books in the series.
The frustrating part of this series is repetitive nature of the antagonist. Almost every antagonist goes along the lines of saying. How dare you look at me you “insert worlds racism,’ I will kill you, how dare you strike back at me you worm, I will kill you. The few antagonist that are motivated by greed and power are still over the top and how they speak and act towards the main protagonist. It doesn't really make sense in how people would treat each other. Even a world where people have power and magical abilities.
Thus, the story is both entertaining and frustrating because it repeats itself narratively, while adding a little bit more to the mystery and worldbuilding throughout each book as more is revealed.

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A great book 2.

Revisado: 09-13-24

Both books are a great story. If you enjoy a progression genre story with great characters doing interesting things then this seires is for you. With Luke Daniels pulling you in as the narrator it does flow quite well. However, there is a glaring issue with book 2 And that wound the most distinctive sounding characters from book one who has a French accent That goes great with her name has a completely different accent in book 2. Being voiced by the Daniels it makes for a consistant uncanny valley effect. It flows between a very light Scottish or Irish like accent to something that hints a oots of Minnesota.

Daniel still brings his a game in bringing the story to life. The story is entertaining and does have some flaws in logic But nothing that really knocks you out of the story. There is also some annoying virtue signaling That pops up and disappears never to be mentioned again. That's just the annoying aspect of many stories in this day and age.

The author has way too many irond in the fire. So it'll be a while for an explain, but I can't wait for it.

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A decent read on Kindle unlimited

Revisado: 05-13-23

While it is a decent read on kindle unlimited i did listen to it on audible. If i wasn’t a trucker and had a discount after buying the book Ii wouldn’t have spent the money despite how well the author brought D. I. Freed’s story to life. This story is a first person present tense litrpg with heavy and repetitive screen and status reads. When you can glance at it and skip getting back to the story when listening to it…it can be 5 plus minutes of stats, upgrades, and titles. It does have foul language but is otherwise clean. It has a bit of romance mostly just fade to black moment. There is also some humor and interesting surprisingly emotional moments.

This is a chapter by chapter release Royal Road story. It means that the chapters are designed to be interesting to pull the reader through but does make it feel like a run on story with a few climatic moments put in. The concept is interesting and as long as you're in it for a quick entertaining litrpg read you will have fun.

I think D. I. Freed has honed their skills and made some good editorial improvement in their second series Jade Phoenix. That is a royal road story but one that has seen a good amount of edits and rewrites I think.

Royal Road does provide a good amount of writes a place to hashout their ideas, get feed back, and if they are lucky funding. Such sites have created a style of writing that at times ignores the classic three act story. it also makes it harder for writers to fix issues they missed and or go back and plant foreshadowing in past chapters. This seems true for this story but having and OP Main protagonist means we are in it more for the fun action than any depth.

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Grant Cartwright's voice brings life to a decent 3

Revisado: 05-11-23

This Is first person present tense story is a worthwhile, if albeit akward kindle unlimited read, It has many of the litrpg chapter by chapter release hallmarks that some love and others hate. If love litrpgs and you get the e book and then the discount for audible, you may be able to justify the price for the entertainment.

The author is a royal road participant with this story and the Jade phoenix series. They have been tons of these books popping up on Kindle unlimited and even in audible. I think this is the first book from They're first story considering the pacing issues and awkward first person present tense that makes the story feel like a step by step manual at first.

The audible version was entertaining as I drove down the road. The 20 hours plus story was overall worth it, but sid have the annoying aspect of litrpg's with way too much repetitive and long reading of stat sheets. The format, while merely annoying it, could be glanced over when reading online or in E book can become a 5 or 6-minute process that pulls you. out of the story. it does have action, humor, and some romance. There is cursing, but the story stays pg13.

I know this is a lot of complaining, and I can't really break down the story as I would have one that is traditionally published. Haveing chapter by chapter release pacing, where every chapter is entertaining enough to keep you going, but the three act structure goes full Pacaso. This also has the unfortunate newbie writer cheesy cliff hanger at the end of A number of chapters. This is the character noticing Something that blows their mind, changes everything, or shocks them, and of course the chapter ends there.

Litrpg's and the surrounding genres are getting rather full they have the habit of being entertaining while not necessarily being great. Di freed is an interesting author I would have enjoyed reading. I think if they went through the traditional process, the stories would have been better, bu.t might not have ever gotten past the mail

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Seth Ring keeps it interesting.

Revisado: 03-11-23

I would love to see what Seth Ring can do outside of the litrpg genre, but I do enjoy his writing nonetheless.  Voice actor Eric jason Martin continues to bring Seth Rings characters from Nova Terra to life and the story remains a good read. it is appropriate for young adults and above with no foul language, And keeps to a mostly 3rd person limited point of view with a few pov shifts.


  Forge Master does rely a bit on the previous series in a way that I think new readers need to have read Nova Terra series or be perpared to feel left behind when the protagonist starts to apply previous abilites in way that will feel out of the blue if coming at the character for the first time.  Nova Terra is a Kindle Unlimited series and well worth the read.  I added the series to book my kindle and audible libraries and looked forward to book and a new series with Thorn.  I wasn’t disappointed but I think that the abrupt cliffhanger ending does suck because it feels more like stopping half way through a chapter with the next book due out in a few months.  


Overall this first book was interesting because of how much our protagonist has had to adapt. Flipping the script in a way were he has to start from behind others and rely on his own determination to get through.  I do think the story suffered a bit from a lack of a clear and interesting main antagonist. When the big reveal is given it feels a bit off simply because there was zero foreshadowing of it. When we get the explanation it does feel like there were oppertunies to plant some seeds and character tells.  As it was it felt random and the antagonist flip in character makes it all the weirder. 

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Sarah J Maas packs in the emotion and…more.

Revisado: 03-09-23

I love the Fantasy genre and its many many sub genres.  Maas’s Throne of Glass series is one of my all time favorites and it is clear when her writing style and target audience shifts from YA to a bit older YA in that seires as the romance comes with a bit more steam in the last three books.  The blunt truth is the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series is not a YA series but a college age and up adult series.  It had interesting characters, places and plot, without the depth and breadth of Throne of Glass.  What it does lean more into than Throne of Glass is  the “action” parts of romance. While it does not get to full blown erotica it is not YA appropriate despite saying the read age is 13 and up and indicating it is.  I do think that if Maas wanted to write more adult stories to an older audience she should have made the target age of the characters not YA. 



  With this first book it did take me a bit to be pulled in mainly because the logic or dynamics of the characters actions are a bit off from the start. It was not until I pulled back a bit and did not pay attention too much to the details that the story flew by as the miles went by for me on the road. TOG was a series that once you got past the somewhat bumpy start it pulled you in and through in a world you could almost see.  This book and series feels more like something aimed to be a quick but fun read without too much depth.


That is not to throw shade on Maas’s skill but to temper expectations a bit as the style changed.  I to think that the F bombs pull me out not so much because of foul or crass language but the lack of any other real world curses within the trilogy.  With the F bombs being split between curses and sexual talk it feels out of place in the fantasy world.  


As interesting as the series is it is to me a kindle unlimited read rather than something I want in my libaray. Since I purchased it and the audible I am stuck with it but am unsure whether I will take more chances in future series.

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It's a great KU book, but it's worth Audible, too.

Revisado: 03-02-23

I am not a big fan of plastering a 5 star on everything and have rated many books I have enjoyed and reread dozens of times at 3 stars. Most of the time, it is reader speed bumps to drop the books.  As a Litrpg Fantasy born on Royal Roads, of which I have been on an audible binge for the last few months with no reviews, I find it hard to give most of them 5 stars.  This one almost earned it with a solid voice actor bringing the story to life, a unique magic system in the flooded but entertaining litrpg market, and the chapter by chapter release norm of having interesting chapters pulled you through.  I have to give it a 4 star only because while It does have a pull you in beginning, interesting middle, the end feels more like the stopping point the author developed three quarters through the middle when the time jump occurs.


Royal Road stories are very much like Kindle Unlimited in that it is a mixed bag of talents, efforts, and editing opportunities.  The chapters are clearly well edited and with quite literally thousands of beta readers willing to point things out on the forums and patron. The story is smooth with no reader speed bumps in the ebook or Audible.  


I have gone  through dozens of books as I drive from coast to coast, and most of them have been litrpg series with many coming from Royal Roads whose authors use pen names.  Honor Rea does have some serious talent, and without a working author can make money. I doubt they will leave for a more traditional style of storytelling.  I do think they could . 


  The biggest issue with chapter by chapter releases is while the chapters pull you through they tend to start to feel the same entertaining but nothing really stands out meaning the up and down climatic moments and beats you have in traditional storytelling isn’t there. This can make a story go by quickly but be sort of “ho hum” when the end comes.  The end here was entertian and was certain a good shifting point, but it did sort of develop late with the time jump.  

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Interesting but unexpected change In style and for

Revisado: 03-02-23

Interesting but unexpected change In style and formula.


  The truth is this was not the book I expected from the previous book’s ending, nor what the title led me to believe it would be about.  Travis Baldree bring his A game as narrator as usual. I feel that Wong could have written an entire book about the mysterious mystical realm hinted at in the previous book but decided to use this book as a way to do a show and tell time jump in order to get to the next big idea and future reunion with previous characters without the blunt 10 year time jump between books. Of course I might be totally wrong considering all I know about the next book is a blurb.


  This book is a transition book, the first in the series.  It does not contain a real beginning, middle, and end as much as it is a flow of separate events following the previous book.  We see our hero settled for a time but get drilled in us that his place in the world is untethered as he goes where the wind blows. Thus the time of self discovery and navel gazing in the midst of action and growth. Growth in which it has been said at this stage is often measured in months and years rather than days.


  To be blunt it was off putting that what we got was not what I expected, it might have been better for Wong to have the title and blurb indicate the break in formula.  As it really does feel like a collection of short stories set in between a desired time jump and growth point of a character that we might have gotten off page and explained by hints in the next books. 


That said, this book was also a world building-gasim that was necessary given the untethered nature of the character. We get to see many interesting characters, cultures, and ways of cultivation. We also get to some really surprising meetings that were hinted at in the previous books but the author shift the characters focus at some point to not pursue growth in that direction.


Overall it is an interesting addition to the series that will be irksome to those that want a solid story, an entertaining hold over for those that see it for what it is as the next book comes, or the greatest thing ever for those that slap 5 stars on everything written under the sun. 

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The first arc ends with a bit of a splat.

Revisado: 10-15-22

  This series is a great kindle unlimited read, and seems to be something decent to have in your e-book library. I’ve been listening to on audbile but think that I might save the series for when I have time off away from the truck to read through it.  It is remains appropriate for older young adults and above and keeps in line with progression and cultivation genres with a dash of litrpg, but less so in book three.  There is also some iseki elements as background info.


I been burning through book via aubile while buying them for kindle as well.  As a Truck Driver a good story makes the time fly by and this series has been entertaining and a bit heart wrenching at times so far.  While it is enjoyable there has been so far a lot of Deus ex Machina, particular in this book.  The story started off okay and had some fun moments along with a bland minor antagonist designed to be blood bait to show off the power of the main character. There is also unexplained coincidence with character crossing each other paths and other characters beind revealed to have secret identities. 


While this first arc of the series had been entertaining it does show more and more of the chapter by chapter release flaws in this third book. Where the first two books seemed to have a good beginning middle and end, the third book doesn’t. The ending chapters were rushed,  a lot of random Deus ex machina moments appear like a fire sale.  The strangest thing is the main character has kept his secert the entire time but reveals it to --Deus ex machina-- off page. The action scenes get sloppy as does the scene set up.


I have enjoyed listening to series and still might  continue on with it despite my complaints.  It is frustrating because I can see why the seires was popular online but I can also see the cheap write tricks to pull on the heart strings or to clear the path for future chapters of the series there. 

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Entertaining, bloody, and a bit meh at times.

Revisado: 10-15-22

This third person limited story was a chapter by chapter release  in the litrpg, cultivation progression genre. It continues the chapter count from the previous book but was done in such away that if feels like a seperat book.  It has some iskei and rpg elements but it is a minor part of the story which feels more like a cultivation progression story.  The series so far is appropriate of older young adults and above, with some foul language bloody scenes, and mild sexual situations.


I both purchased the ebook and audible version via discount. It is written by Krill Klevanski and narrated by Kevin T. Collins. The story does feel as if it as a good begging middle and end which is to be honest a rarity in chapter by chapter stories that tend to feel like a run on story that doesn’t end but simply pauses.  This tells me the author plans his story with a decent arc, but I do wonder about the landing.


The characters are impactful but also very blunt.  While the main character and his friends are good guys they are not the knights in shining armor.  There is a quasi-philosophy that flows along the story trying to sound meaningful but really being meaningless.  The hero will sometimes not act to save someone because again he is not a knight in shining armor.  The antagonists are not to complexe almost all are arrogant and snobbish fools.  


The story was entertaining and detailed but did feel repetitive when it comes down to fighting and the hero also revealing and off page improvement of skill or “unprecedented” progression in the face of certain death.   It is straightforward fun read with some depth and a good listen. 


The narrator for the audible version is again Kevin T Collins.  His voice acting is great and with he does the whispered yelling I wonder why the author had so much yelling in the story rather that why he is doing lol.   They are  a few times as he reads through you hear in take a breath or dry swallow but it is background noise. 

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