Physics of the Apocalypse 1: A LitRPG Apocalypse Saga

Physics of the Apocalypse #1

by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris

Beers. Oktoberfest. The Apocalypse.

Leading astrophysicist Liam Jackson is participating in a scientist exchange program in Germany when a curveball of universal proportions is thrown at him.
Planes fall from the sky, cars explode, and strange particles rain down from the heavens as monsters appear out of thin air.

The laws of physics have changed in the world.
The fundamental forces of the universe are behaving differently and Liam needs to understand them if he wants to survive.

Physics of the Apocalypse is an Apocalyptic LitRPG that combines the wonders of the cosmos with magic and science.
Are you interested in reading how base-building can look like in a medieval castle?
How 3D-printing can be used to create magic items?
How spacetime, nuclear, and quantum physics are combined with spellcasting?

Then look no further. Get your copy now!

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Audiobook, Post Apocalyptic

820 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2023

About the author

The three things Dimitrios would grab in case of a fire, would be his Lord of the Rings book collection, his Chrono Trigger SNES game, and his dog, Poko.

July 2020 marked the beginning of his author career with the release of the Mana Trilogy, an epic fantasy saga focusing on world and civilization-building.

Dimitrios was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and is now living in Berlin with his partner and his doggo.

Reviews

[Mrsrjlee · Rating 1 out of 5]

scummy practices from the author.

In the middle of the book the author redacts information, only allowing you to access it if you sign up to their newsletter. This is a scummy way to get people involved.

I will not be reading another book done by this author.

For those interested, it’s on the first page of chapter 88.

[Donny]

DNF.

I just did not connect with the protagonist, Liam. The first bit of the book has Liam partner with his Army buddy Dan to fortify an American Army base in Germany. Then that gets wrecked all to hell and Dan dies. You really connect more with Dan than Liam so that hurt it. Then Liam connects with 2 unlikable characters and a monkey.

I just lost all motivation to continue this book or series.

I will not give this a rating as i did not finish the book.

[Kerry C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story that needs editing and has a chapter locked behind a newsletter

This book is solidly 4 stars. It needs some more editing like lots of independently published books lots of little things like switched names, copy paste issues in stat blocks and redundant sentences. One paragraph, quoted below, is comical and the worst example.
"This would most definitely be the end of the monster that could do nothing but wait for its inevitable end. An end that was only a matter of time before it came to pass."
The same idea said 3 times in almost the same way.
Now for the reason I gave it 3 stars. One chapter, 88 I believe is not in the book. Instead this chapter is replaced with a note asking you to sign up to the author's newsletter to read the chapter. Not only is this place in the middle of the book interrupting the flow of the story it's also the chapter that explains the entire conflict of the story.
The universe is ending and that chapter explains exactly why, every other chapter merely references that something is wrong and the universe is going to die.
Having extra content hidden for super fans is fine, but having critical information removed from the book to advertise a newsletter is just terrible.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ginormous book

Clocking in at 850+ pages, this is a monster of a book.

Multiple times through it I thought to myself, "alright this was good" to then look at the percentage and say to myself "only 43% through?".

This is a great take on the post-apoc genre, with some really interesting decisions that were made as well as a really relatable set of main characters.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Physics of the Apocalypse is a really interesting series with some of the usual progression fantasy/litrpg issues. These include poor editing (especially in book 1), some issues with pacing, poor characterization (we know that certain characters are British because they use the words "bruv" and "furry muff [fair enough]"), random misogynistic comments (not enough to ruin the series, but enough to make me give it the side eye), and some issues with the game system. I think my biggest complaint is probably that protagonist Liam puts all his points into intelligence, yet... he's kind of not that smart? His intelligence only becomes relevant when it works for the plot.

That being said, author Dimitrios Gkirgkiris does some really unique and wonderful things in this series. I really, really like the overarching plot, and the system apocalypse is introduced really well in this book. There are some genuinely heartbreaking scenes in every book, which is... honestly pretty rare in this genre. And on the note of "rare in the genre": the protagonist self-describes himself as asexual, and his sexuality actually appears multiple times in the series. We also see some really lovely metaphor/tackling of issues which is more than just rare: it's basically unheard of in litrpg/progression fantasy.

All in all, I am quite impressed by this series, and this first book is quite a solid introduction. It is certainly not without its issues, but in some ways it really pushes the boundaries of the genre - something progressive fantasy/litrpg is in dire need of. I recommend giving it a go.

(Oh, and for reference, the missing chapter that other reviews comment on is no longer missing: I was able to read it without needing to sign up for a newsletter. This is based on my copy borrowed from Kindle Unlimited on 12/2/2024.)

[Jon Svenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author.

Liam is a famous astrophysicist. His best friend Dan from childhood is man who gets things done in the army. They meet at Oktoberfest in Munich. Then the apocalypse strikes.

I enjoyed the first part of the book. Luminous snow falls from the sky and if you hold your hand out it disappears into your skin. Once monsters start appearing through mini wormholes (as theorized by the MC) chaos ensues. People get trampled trying to escape the beer tents. What follows is a manic escape to get back to the US Army base. They get there, but it isn't easy.

I'll stop the recap there. It's at this point that the book slows down. All the energy we had in the opening begins to fade away. Liam has some good idea on saving more survivors which is great, but it takes a while before the military bureaucracy agrees to his plans. The book slows to a crawl. Sure, there are monsters out there, but they only appear when they leave the base.

In hindsight, I think this book is less about the apocalypse and the usual fighting that we read about and more about theorizing what caused it. Why did the apocalypse happen? There is a lot of theory here, and because Liam is a astrophysicist he speculates on anything and everything. When I got the book I was looking for something simpler. I think that's the biggest disconnect.

The editing is fair, and the stats are there but don't appear all that often once we get into the meat of the book. I want to wish the author all the best, but this one didn't work for me. 4/5*

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm nearly a quarter way through this book, and so far everything is a realistic reaction to how people would behave during a crisis. I hope the use of physics to bend reality happens soon.

Don't know how I feel about this one. Nothing I expected happened.

I thought this would have been more involved. A guy thrown into the deep end using his knowledge to survive and prosper. The protag is just given a bunch of physics based abilities and he used a predetermined system and base shop to do stuff.

I thought he would have been making atoms go nuclear, or creating things from out of the air using hydrogen, carbon and oxygen atoms. Nothing like that happened. A bunch of quotes from science people at the start of chapters, and some pretty lackluster story telling.

I really don't know if i would read a sequel. The book wasn't badly written, I just think the focus in the story was on the wrong things. Or should I say it wasn't focusing on things I cared about.

2.5/5 Stars

[Vance Holt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two (long) chapters were pointless. The author introduces a couple characters but that easily could have been handled by slipping in a handful of sentences once the story finally started.

Instead, we spend two (long) chapters proving how much the author knows about Oktoberfest in Germany. It is described in excruciating detail from the number of security guards hired to the size of the pretzels.

I honestly thought at first that the reason the author was pointing out so many fine details was because they would come into play soon. I finally realized it was simply a brag session by the author. (Look, where I've been. Look, how much I know.) It had nothing to do with the forward progression of the plot.

I'm assuming there is a plot. I stopped shortly into chapter 3 because I realized that you actually need a degree in physics to understand what the main character is talking about half of the time. It was not written so a laymen person can understand.

[Devan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but confusing

So I really enjoyed this. The two side characters brought a lot of flavor to the story and I enjoyed the world building.

I was a little disappointed in the MC. For someone so smart he doesn’t always utilize it like you think he would.

Also, some of the skills were so utterly confusing and loaded with physics jargon that I felt you needed a PHD to have a clue what they meant.

Loved the city building and can’t wait to see what direction that will go in the future.

Oh and needs editing. Had a ton of typos.

[Roberto Flores · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is poorly structured.

The start is meant to serve as set up, but with how the transition is handled, it comes across as pointless. The combat is terrible which makes the leveling, again, feel pointless. The side characters are never developed. There is a lot of tension and emotion built on very contrived and forced events. None of it seems natural, you can see it coming a mile away and it plays out exactly as you expect.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Help me read more bookks

For scifi fans, this is an excellent choice for a LitRPG series. Loved this one. Unfortunately, there's no space travel (well, not really), but there's plenty of nice crunchy stats, dragons (love me some dragons), and all kinds of building (I do so love building). Everything a LitRPG fan could want, and to think, it's just been sitting here waiting to be discovered this whole time (well, since the beginning of the year anyhow). Thank you to Amazon for recommending it, found it on the kindle app. Usually those recommendations are crap, but this time they really came through, so guess they're doing something right.
Anyway, click the button, buy the book, read it, then be prepared to have a burning desire to read the next one in the series.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad decent in some respects weak in others

The story in apocalypse itself is pretty good. An interesting take on A system apocalypse in this case centering around some of the broken physics and an Astrophysicist becoming a top Power. The story basically revolves around the MC(Liam), an astrophysicist, and his 2 unlikely pals. Not terribly pleased with some of the characters that were disposed of in the early book. But I guess it did create the setting. My biggest problem with the book is the fact that there is 0 details about any other Follow followers et cetera. The story is strictly 1 dimensional Really ain't not much of a face. The system and what the reader learns of it is only from the point of view Of the top 3 characters. Very thin system really. Well written for what it is but just not enough meat. I might read the second book.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly promising start, but I had to tap out at 30%

It meanders through too much irrelevant information on octoberfest, and intriguing build up around a US military base with ultimately turns out to be a plot cul de sac when the story skipped tracks (not in any way that felt like it was consistent and forward moving, more like the author had got bored of that storyline and sacked it off.)

By the time I got onto the game dynamics and class selection part at 30% I’d totally lost interest. So overall a pretty weak read and a no from me. I’d note other readers also seemed to get stuck at 30% but mentioned it gets better. I really don’t care enough about the remaining characters to stick it out tbh

I don’t get how many average self pub litrpg get so many positive good read reviews. It makes it very hard to separate the good from the dross…

[Colscimitar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 27 to 30% of this book really made me grind my gears, I didn't give up and I pushed through and I'm glad I did as the rest of the book I really enjoyed. Except for a few nitpicky reservations about choices the author made there were things that the main character did or didn't do that I found annoying although many of them eventually get resolved. I guess I just had issue with when the character would choose to do things based on what I would want to do in the same situation. So it was about the 30% mark that the book really started reflecting the blurb that got me interested in the first place.

In conclusion overall I enjoyed this book, by the end it had me wanting more to the point where I will definitely read book too on the forward to it arriving.

[cathy m freeze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it.

There were enough errors of a certain kind to make me think that the author is ELL, but they didn't interfere too much with meaning (they did always bump me out of the story.)

I liked the characters--they thought in interesting ways and did unexpected things. The MMC is asexual and made me think he was inspired by N Tesla.

The plot was solid LitRPG. The larger ideas were a bit high school ish but entertaining. They felt inspired by an old school, pulpy series called The Lensmen.

All in all worth the money. I'm gonna go see if bk 2 is out.

[Tom Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I noticed a mistake. At the start of chapter 86 Dan is used instead of liam.

Other than that. Using text to speech made this a bit of a slog but it was good in the end. The main character initially annoyed me with his magic isn’t real let’s just physics it away with un common words I skimmed over.

It got better when he got his class

It got even better when he stopped using the actual skill names for a few and shortened them or gave them a nickname.

Looking forward to starting the second book. Might buy the physical copy if I can.

[Clint Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

KU Review

Solid apocalypse system story with some fun characters. Really enjoy the team dynamic. Not sure I’d min/max my stats when my life was on the line but it works for the storyline.

General disclaimer: I want to be clear in that I do not factor cost into any review and as such, this is simply a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.

[Nathanael Keeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

good and long

A good story with an interesting cast of characters although the story is from a single MC perspective. Really enjoyed this story but thought the beginning was a bit drawn out, although this does introduce main characters very well. I was impressed with the story not getting bogged down with too much exposition although late in the story I did find it a little dense. A little more editing wold be good as there were a number of typos

[Jerzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost gave up on the book while struggling through the first chapters of Octoberfest, and that would have been a great loss for me because the rest of the book was what I was looking for: optimal actions appropriate to the situation, a scientific approach to figuring out the system, and all this in a realistic scenario set in a big city and how it changes. Over time, the action goes beyond Earth. There is a leveling and god motif. There is also the discovery of flaws in the system.

[Jeffing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the slight twist the story took shortly after integration. I thought it was gonna be another military centered system integration story but went in a somewhat unexpected direction.
I did expect more science and for everything to be through the lens of a scientist, and while it is at times, it's mostly just the MC class/skills. I get that it'd be quite tough to do much more though and enjoyed the story.

[Brian M · Rating 4 out of 5]

great story

Quite a few grammar errors, spelling errors, and name mixups. Jon has the animal speak ability yet the author had him asking questions about if he would do it. Stuff like that.
Story wise. Great, linear story progression with epic power sets. Fun to read and some good heart warming moments.

[kathy pittenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Physics of the apocalypse: book1

This was a very good book. It’s one of the few books that’s interesting enough to actually read details when a person ranks up. Very fast pace. the has a lot of emotional places for the main character to step up and get their reader involved. I look forward to the next book.

[Justin Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

Really well done characters and world building. I love the mix of growth, base building, and friendships. The larger story arc is compelling while the focus remains on the immediate issues. I am looking forward to the sequels.

[Tiuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun and action, interesting characters and a non-standard LitRPG setting makes this very enjoyable. Nevertheless, it really needs a lot of editing, there's quite a few instances of phrases that are not English and some typos as well. This didn't affect the story as such.

[Andy L · Rating 5 out of 5]

great litpocalypse

Well written. Good characters, setting and interesting system. A young American scientist finds himself at Oktoberfest when it all goes down, and must rely on science and two very unlikely allies to survive.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

No editing.

This book has not been edited. Wrong verbs, missing words, confusing sentences. more than 100 instances of these types of things.

Some basic misunderstandings of science in a few scenes.

[Nick Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book

I was hooked early on and could not stop reading.I enjoyed reading the story. I love the characters and the word is fantastic. The science is about e me but I still think this was a great read. Thanks again for your hard work

[J.D. Glasscock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great start.. Solid

It's a very interesting take on post apocalyptic litrpg..... Look forward to following the author and series.... Beautiful beginning and character development.. Highly recommend
JD Glasscock
Author of the Series Blood Brothers and The Dream

[Isilme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have done with some ruthless editing. Half of the book is filler and slows down the story unnecessary. It sometimes made me scream internally.

Otherwise it's a good story and fun, but my god, edit edit edit EDIT!

[Nylar · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent. I found myself thinking about the next book I'm going to read more often than not, while I was reading it. I feel like its missing something.
but it's a million times better than I could do.

I will read the next one though