More mutated Australian wildlife than you can shake your beam rifle at
When the System arrives, no one is ready. Most of all Kira Kent, plant biologist and single mum. She's pulling an all-nighter, her children in tow when her beloved wildlife begins to mutate.
No more cute koala bears or bouncy kangaroos or fuzzy wallabies. Now, everything is mutated, aggressive and who made the spiders so big? The world's most dangerous continent just got a lot more dangerous, and no one, not even the alien Galactics who arrive are ready for it.
Kira is going to have to pull together a community of survivors to forge a safe zone for her son and daughter, figure out a long term survival plan and make nice with the aliens. Or see everyone and everything she has loved die.
The System Apocalypse: Australia omnibus edition includes the first three books in the series: Set in the same universe as Tao Wong's The System Apocalypse and starts in the same time period as Life in the North, but focuses on the changes in the deadliest of continents, Australia. Fans of the original series, LitRPG, fantasy, science-fiction and post-apocalyptic novels will want to take a look.
Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books.
When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
This sub genre is still new to me. I am still curious where the author is going with the story. So I rated it average. I like the type story it is. The changes that come along thru each book drive the next part of the story.
I really enjoy the world of Tao Wong's System Apocalypse and was happy to give this spin off a try. But this story is not even close to being on the same level as the original.
The MC spends the entire series regretting everything she says. "That came out harsher than I intended" "I didn't mean to be that sarcastic" "I shouldn't have snapped at him" It feels like she regrets ever talking to others. But I'll give it to K.T. Hanna, the MC is consistent. She whines and complains about everything for the entire trilogy. Zero character growth.
From the LitRPG side of things, we get a lot of interaction with the system shop and there's a few chapters discussing classes but neither the MC nor her son are seen really mastering their classes.
For the first two books it really felt like there was a going to be a lot of story to share, that this could be another 10 or 12 book series. It felt like it was being setup to be a long series. Then book three ties up like two of the story lines and abruptly ends not even a year into the story which left me feeling very unsatisfied.
Gets a second star because I really liked the pet wombats and dog.
I managed to read this in just a few days, which seems to indicate a real interest in what was presented. And I did enjoy it. Maybe not the best of Litrpgs I've read but solid. The main character spends a lot of time stuck in his own misery that book three helps try to develop him out of but you've spent a lot of time there by then. Seems like there were a lot of "I'm going to work on helping, but then eh, maybe not" bouncing on some points where he could have been more in on relationship/politics/etc. But again, the author did seem to have a structured why on that, I think because I'm used to, well, not massive sprawling litrpg series I expect growth a bit quicker maybe?
Nice quick easy to follow action, but a lot of the gamelit stuff was there - stats and whatnot, but the author kindly buried a lot of the less meaningful things noting something like (paraphrased) "if you can do it does it matter if you have the skill or what the number is."
I never LOVED this series, but I remembered liking it, despite its faults.
However, I read and listened to it on Audible this time and I could barely force myself to finish it.
The main character is just the worst. Whenever he isn’t flagellating himself for his perceived mistakes, he’s locking himself alone in the dark and using his own tears as lube while he wallows in his own misery.
It isn’t fun to read and it is seriously annoying to listen to.
I’d say about 2/3rds of this book is just him being insufferable. The rest is actually enjoyable to read. If the book didn’t have the main character in it, I’d give it at least one more star.
This is a really interesting universe. Loved the characters, the action, the magic and leveling system etc. Lots of action, adventure, cool creatures, etc. There are definitely some twists and turns in the books to keep you sucked into the story that really work. I really enjoyed these books and definitely recommend this series.
Just a word of warning...this is a stand alone book of The System Apocalypse. If you want to get the deep dive of the System...read the Original books.
Kira is amazing! The book keeps you moving with the action. You feel for Kira and the feelings she has to go thru with protecting her kids. Im looking forward to the next books!
Some wonderful action in this, and I love upgrades although the political bit being necessary still slows things a bit. With this arc finishing but opening up more it looks even more promising.
I can understand how some don’t like the lead character. I imagine my ex wife wouldn’t but she didn’t get me either. I am really enjoying this series. The actions, emotions and thoughts of the protagonist are very human and real.
Overall, this series start has a well thought-out and interesting world. The MC's constant anger, while understandable, was also frustrating and distracted from the story. I'm hopeful that there will be some character growth in future books, so I'll continue with the series.
A enjoyable read. Found the development of the characters fun and looking forward to the continued growth. Interesting combination of science and fantasy elements.
I enjoyed the book and the author has an interesting concept for a post apocalyptic genre, I look forward to were it's going, definitely recommend reading
It’s hard to describe what I liked about the 3 book series without spoiling it for others.
So, a very good read on a guy who gets thrown into the familiar change of a magic infused realm with all the familiarity of home. The leveling we all know and love with magic and high technology. All meshed very well together. I am getting the 4th book now to read.
Absolutely love the concept and execution of this litrpg story. Great characters, strong story lines. The fact that there is real emotion in the characters is refreshing.
I’ve actually read some books written after that are very similar .. this genre has become incredibly popular .. The main protagonist has a serious anger problem which is new, with things changing I’m looking forward to book 4 .. worth a read