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Phantasm #2
Talnier
A twenty-four-year-old woman trapped in a fantasy role-playing game continues her quest for a way out in this epic adventure for fans of Dungeons & Dragons.
Seven strangers have been snatched from their average lives on Earth and transported to another realm. Now they’re Champions in the Great Game—legendary heroes destined for a higher purpose that will change the world. Speaking of purpose, Kandis Hammond, a junior financial research analyst from Sydney, sure would like to figure out what hers is.
Kandis has a come a long way since her arrival in Latorra. She’s a level-four Phantasmal Artificer with high charisma and a team of fellow adventurers. Together, they set up a home base in the city of Talnier and hunt monsters to rack up experience points, wealth, supplies, and more. But Kandis can’t continue like this forever. She has some burning questions that require answers . . .
As a Champion, Kandis must determine which god brought her to Latorra so she may take up their cause. Not doing so could have dire consequences. There’s also the matter of what to do with her mysterious Dungeon core. And on top of everything, another Champion is about to show up in Talnier. The newcomer might be an ally, but when Kandis sees who else is riding in their party, her hopes will go up in smoke.
The second volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Seven strangers have been snatched from their average lives on Earth and transported to another realm. Now they’re Champions in the Great Game—legendary heroes destined for a higher purpose that will change the world. Speaking of purpose, Kandis Hammond, a junior financial research analyst from Sydney, sure would like to figure out what hers is.
Kandis has a come a long way since her arrival in Latorra. She’s a level-four Phantasmal Artificer with high charisma and a team of fellow adventurers. Together, they set up a home base in the city of Talnier and hunt monsters to rack up experience points, wealth, supplies, and more. But Kandis can’t continue like this forever. She has some burning questions that require answers . . .
As a Champion, Kandis must determine which god brought her to Latorra so she may take up their cause. Not doing so could have dire consequences. There’s also the matter of what to do with her mysterious Dungeon core. And on top of everything, another Champion is about to show up in Talnier. The newcomer might be an ally, but when Kandis sees who else is riding in their party, her hopes will go up in smoke.
The second volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
379 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 18, 2023
203 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 25, 2023
This is the second book in a LitRPG series and picks up where the first left off. Read in order.
You know what you're getting. And that's a good thing. Kandis picks her way through intrigue and social combat while pursuing her own aims. She takes care of the folks she can, but can be ruthless when needed. And I liked all of that.
I do think the serialized nature of the story works against it a bit. It took me a half-dozen chapters before I caught up with characters from the previous book and remembered all the details of their starting point. And the abrupt ending was a huge fizzle that is going to cost enough to affect the rating.
And I don't have much else to say about it. The plot meanders a bit, with Kandis going off on tangents for her own reasons but the pace never let up so that's kind of a wash. And I felt that one discovered alliance doesn't hold up to scrutiny given past interactions. I'd put this above four stars, but not by enough to round up to five.
A note about Chaste: Kandis doesn't have any real viable romantic partners and she doesn't seem terribly interested in flings. So there isn't even any kissing in the story and I consider it very chaste.
You know what you're getting. And that's a good thing. Kandis picks her way through intrigue and social combat while pursuing her own aims. She takes care of the folks she can, but can be ruthless when needed. And I liked all of that.
I do think the serialized nature of the story works against it a bit. It took me a half-dozen chapters before I caught up with characters from the previous book and remembered all the details of their starting point. And the abrupt ending was a huge fizzle that is going to cost enough to affect the rating.
And I don't have much else to say about it. The plot meanders a bit, with Kandis going off on tangents for her own reasons but the pace never let up so that's kind of a wash. And I felt that one discovered alliance doesn't hold up to scrutiny given past interactions. I'd put this above four stars, but not by enough to round up to five.
A note about Chaste: Kandis doesn't have any real viable romantic partners and she doesn't seem terribly interested in flings. So there isn't even any kissing in the story and I consider it very chaste.
July 22, 2023
Missing context
So this story is good but I think some things were missed in editing. How did they know about the paladin before hand? Who is Tom/Mr Parkes? Why did one chapter end with them returning from a dungeon and the next she's off to see the enchanter? At first I thought I'd missed something but by the third time something happened without context I was just totally confused with the plot.
So this story is good but I think some things were missed in editing. How did they know about the paladin before hand? Who is Tom/Mr Parkes? Why did one chapter end with them returning from a dungeon and the next she's off to see the enchanter? At first I thought I'd missed something but by the third time something happened without context I was just totally confused with the plot.
August 14, 2023
Still had an abrupt ending.
What's worse is that numerous plot threads were poorly balanced. This made reading a muddled affair. This bounces around enough to add to the confusion rather than provide salient details. This level of intrigue requires more polish.
What's worse is that numerous plot threads were poorly balanced. This made reading a muddled affair. This bounces around enough to add to the confusion rather than provide salient details. This level of intrigue requires more polish.
December 21, 2023
The second volume is a slight improvement on the first one as it goes a bit more into the "meat" of the story: the world-walkers and the mythology. It's still a bit wishy-washy and there's a lot that requires strong disbelief suspenders (especially with the Gods' relation to the system), but nothing critical. The following volumes might retcon some of it for consistency.
This book is leaning into the side of Gamelit that I prefer: political intrigue and base-building over level grinding. I appreciate that A LOT.
I read the story for the plot. I don't identify with the MC at all. I find her quite the hypocrite, with a pernicious superiority complex. I don't know if the author is going to address it eventually (I don't really need him to) or if he's unaware of how she comes across, at least to me; but that trait is actually a boon for the story as it makes it harder to predict, so I'm totally fine with it.
Once again, the book ends without any sense of closure. I really wish they wouldn't do that. I'm guessing it's yet another of those repackaged web novels... Ah well.
I'm going for the next volume.
This book is leaning into the side of Gamelit that I prefer: political intrigue and base-building over level grinding. I appreciate that A LOT.
I read the story for the plot. I don't identify with the MC at all. I find her quite the hypocrite, with a pernicious superiority complex. I don't know if the author is going to address it eventually (I don't really need him to) or if he's unaware of how she comes across, at least to me; but that trait is actually a boon for the story as it makes it harder to predict, so I'm totally fine with it.
Once again, the book ends without any sense of closure. I really wish they wouldn't do that. I'm guessing it's yet another of those repackaged web novels... Ah well.
I'm going for the next volume.
July 6, 2024
Kandis talked about having her hand in a lot of pies, and boy was she right.
A lot was going on in this one and a lot more politicking. Not that I'm complaining, just that I thought there would be a little bit more balance between political intrigue and dungeon crawling/leveling up.
Maybe I am just a bit worried on how her progress is going compared to the other champions (not that stats are all important) Kandis doesn't seem to be doing bad at all, but who knows what the more stat heavy champions will be like? I also wonder how far she can push her power leveling.
Will read on.
A lot was going on in this one and a lot more politicking. Not that I'm complaining, just that I thought there would be a little bit more balance between political intrigue and dungeon crawling/leveling up.
Maybe I am just a bit worried on how her progress is going compared to the other champions (not that stats are all important) Kandis doesn't seem to be doing bad at all, but who knows what the more stat heavy champions will be like? I also wonder how far she can push her power leveling.
Will read on.
January 30, 2024
Rating 4.0 stars
A good continuation of the series. It started off a little slow but the things I liked in the first book are still there. I like the female MC working with her strengths. She is using her charm and social skills to solve most of her problems. That is very unusual for an Isekai story where fighting is almost always involved. There is intrigue, plots and politics and it all seems to work. I am not a huge political person but I enjoyed it in this story. Overall, I liked it.
A good continuation of the series. It started off a little slow but the things I liked in the first book are still there. I like the female MC working with her strengths. She is using her charm and social skills to solve most of her problems. That is very unusual for an Isekai story where fighting is almost always involved. There is intrigue, plots and politics and it all seems to work. I am not a huge political person but I enjoyed it in this story. Overall, I liked it.
July 20, 2023
not bad
I really enjoyed the first book and this one was pretty good. It was a little more political and social in terms of battles, and the MC seems like she could become a bit of a slut in upcoming books. I would have liked the antagonists be more bloodthirsty and ruthless, but I was happy to see the MC become more murderous. The lack of violence is a bit boring, as I was hoping for the Champions to kick up larger conflicts and wars.
I really enjoyed the first book and this one was pretty good. It was a little more political and social in terms of battles, and the MC seems like she could become a bit of a slut in upcoming books. I would have liked the antagonists be more bloodthirsty and ruthless, but I was happy to see the MC become more murderous. The lack of violence is a bit boring, as I was hoping for the Champions to kick up larger conflicts and wars.
July 27, 2024
Could do without the corporate bs
Fantasy, adventure, romance.. not things I associate with the creation of soulless bureaucracy, corporate best practices or financial institutions. The IMF would approve of the world MC is apparently trying to create. Next we'll have calls for dungeon reward austerity and finally an ideal anarcho-capitalist state. Without the ideology, this would be a 5 star read.
Fantasy, adventure, romance.. not things I associate with the creation of soulless bureaucracy, corporate best practices or financial institutions. The IMF would approve of the world MC is apparently trying to create. Next we'll have calls for dungeon reward austerity and finally an ideal anarcho-capitalist state. Without the ideology, this would be a 5 star read.
August 23, 2023
Definitely an improvement over the first book, but I see what people mean about the abrupt ending. This was originally a web serial on RoyalRoad so that's a bit expected, but it still could have been wrapped up better. Even trying to continue it on RoyalRoad though, it still feels like there's a chapter or two missing between where the book ended and book 3 on RR begins. Nevertheless I intend to continue it.
April 17, 2026
A good sequel. Everything continues much like in the first book, Kandis keeps amassing more power, discovering secrets of the world she was transported into and even some of the background of that. The story hints at some revelations coming along at some point and I am looking forward to that. I will definitely move on to the next book immediately.
November 25, 2023
Even better than the 1st book. Continuing a great story line with novel concepts of social combat and fewer repetitions of the stat sheet. Well done. Definitely buying book 3 even though the price is outside my normal budget.
February 8, 2024
Really good (for the genre), manages to take the cliches of the genre and actually make them matter enough that I don't think you could tell the same story if you removed them.
Character writing is probably the strength here.
Character writing is probably the strength here.
December 16, 2023
Intriguing
I like the story and the intellect of the MC. It's a very interesting story with mild continuous violence no romance and government.
I like the story and the intellect of the MC. It's a very interesting story with mild continuous violence no romance and government.
February 29, 2024
Still pretty good but so different. Goes a bit too much into the political aspect with very little progression
April 23, 2024
No epilogue
One of my per peeves is when we fall off a cliff at the end of a book. On the brighter side the characters are engaging, funny and loveable.
One of my per peeves is when we fall off a cliff at the end of a book. On the brighter side the characters are engaging, funny and loveable.
May 22, 2024
Really loving how Kandis uses cleverness to advance and establish herself. A very different method from the big name progression series’ (several of which I’ve also enjoyed).
January 24, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - i like how the world building is going and the power progression is nice too. kind of confused about all of this god stuff but hopefully it'll make more sense in later books
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews