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Deeply changed by his experiences on the fantasy world of Volar, Ty returns home to discover all-new threats and allies awaiting him. With the fate of two worlds on the line, he must do more than become the hero he’s always wanted to be. He must outmaneuver the gods themselves, even as they transform all he knows and loves into one giant theater of war.

Theater of War takes place on Earth and Volar, and expands the deep lore of the truly epic worlds in this incredible LitRPG series.

445 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 2023

426 people are currently reading
40 people want to read

About the author

Aaron Renfroe

41 books29 followers

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5 stars
354 (56%)
4 stars
177 (28%)
3 stars
66 (10%)
2 stars
19 (3%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
122 reviews
October 16, 2023
Love the series

This world is really interesting, I like the wag the universe is set up, and the characters in it. We definitely focus on Ty, and what he sees, and it works really well!

The magic system is complex and coherent, with plenty of science and magictec. I enjoy exploring how things work, and seeing Ty grow and overcome his issues, especially since theh aren't hand waved away, there are reasons and turning points to help him accomplish these things.

One thing that bugs me is the romance aspect. It's very much not there, and not needed as of yet, but was thrown in randomly in this book. Ty felt the need to repeatedly describe himself as "not asexual" but having never been in a serious relationship, and wanting one, but not ready for it... laying it out so heavily anf awkwardly was weird, and off putting. Just stick with the fact that's she's still half insane and in love with another man. The weird sex triangle jokes were.. well they were there.
In the same issue was the repeated awkward description of the gods looks. They were feminine but with a masculin vut to their jaw, or masculin, bit with a decidedly feminine beauty etc. Every time a god was described they were given a sex, but described as looking like the other, because they definitly weren't either. I get what tou going for, the gods aren't male or female, got it, but make it less awkward, no need to go into it every time. Just state that your interacting with the gods avatar and they can change shape at will or something.

Anyway, minot nitpick to a great story, I can't wait for the next novel!
Profile Image for Hanzel.
190 reviews23 followers
April 24, 2025
Another interesting end, Mr. Renfroe you truly love leaving your readers hanging whenever we finish one of your novels, but they are worth it, at the same, your audience already has an idea on what will happen.

Book Two, back to good old, polluted, packed, global warming event, no magic, in other words, BORING EARTH, the story revolves around the earthside preparations hinted at Book one, we now read on what happens when the mundane meets the magical, chaotic is one, another is let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!!! From a mundane viewpoint, there is truly a bit of truth if magic becomes available, this is what Humanity is good at, back stabbing, power tripping and also caring, nurturing, both sides are presented, that is why I love this story concept.

As for Ty and his level, again he is being hampered from increasing his ability, but glimpses on what is possible for him as a Merit Hunter, it makes the traditional wham, bam, ding ding ding LEVEL UP better.

This is turning out to be a rather topsy turvy series, and there are some truly unique ideas...Book Three here we come!!!!!!
214 reviews
September 8, 2023
Ok it in concept has potential but too convoluted

Honestly the main character is so ignorant and totally clueless as what a druid is about. Omg why in the name of anything would he think a druid would be celibate, who would ever I mean ever possibly think that. Oh and the stats are unrealistic wow a level 5 and has 18 whole hp maybe when he gets to level 20 who knows maybe he will have 22 hp .. Yeah right so lame… honestly at level 0 he should have started at 20 hp.
Next the story is so needlessly over complicated, I honestly want to like it, heck I skipped from 40% of the book to 70% of the book just to get through the boring stuff. I just think the author needs to do more research into litrpg books and maybe get some input from big readers like myself who have nothing better to do in life but read.
18 reviews
January 8, 2025
Book 1 was ok, even though the author was pretty clueless about nightvision and how it works and also firearms. Oooff. Just find someone with some knowledge. It’s funny seeing his “pull on his goggles” in the daylight and zoom them in like binos. Then later use them in pitch dark tunnels.

Would be better to just stick with fantasy stuff vs stumbling through and basing it on CoD.

Other than that annoyance, the Mac is just not likable. I liked the giant sloth more than him.

The writing overall is pretty dry and nothing really wow.

I also thought the “tactical genius” grandma that worked a flight line.

I tried to just power through but it just kept getting worse. So DNG book 2
Profile Image for Steve.
1,612 reviews60 followers
July 20, 2023
4.5 stars. Held my attention and sets things up for book 3, but falls just short of great for me. I understand when people write characters with PTSD etc. but the truth is that it is difficult to read about people struggling with mental illness. Not in a "triggering" manner, but just because it don't find it entertaining.

Not sure which direction this is going, but in the MC's place I'd likely have gone full rogue after all the shenanigans the gods subjected me to. Sandbagging the MC with his crap class looks to be coming back to bite the gods in the ass, but I guess we'll see what happens on the next go-round on Earth.
Profile Image for Emmanuel Obi.
196 reviews
April 14, 2025
Still Trying

This series has been harder to digest compared to other series. Very few action scenes and lots of character development and backstory/background world building. Sometimes I have to go back and reread some chapters to get a better idea of what I missed. It’s hard to give this book a 5, and I’ve been tempted to stop, however I’ll give book 3 a shot. Don’t get me wrong I like the concept, but the main character for all his planning and detail orientation is slow on the uptake a lot of times. I’ll say this he isn’t the typical hero trope expected from LitRPG genre.
25 reviews
September 18, 2023
The series is really coming into its own here

I’m pretty impressed with these books so far. The protagonist is taking a very non-standard character growth path while the scope of the story does the same. This is not your cookie cutter LitRPG and it’s nice to see some carefully cultivated outside the box creativity. I am excited to see where the author, Aaron Renfroe, goes from here and I feel as though he may have the potential to join the ranks of the truly great fantasy writers.
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,170 reviews79 followers
July 20, 2023
Book two

I would have loved to have given this book five stars because I love the fact that the MC is a planner. However I found mistakes that jarred me from the story. I will list them on Goodreads and maybe they will get fixed.
I'm going to jump over to Royalroad and try and read book three before it gets pulled down.
You should join me.

8/10
259 reviews2 followers
August 24, 2023
Designed for masochists

This is one of THOSE stories. Where no matter how smart or whiley the protagonist is the author does nothing but shit all over them and torture them. It's crap
Profile Image for Josiah Ploeger.
172 reviews6 followers
August 27, 2023
Great Book

Binged the book in a day. Enjoying following Ty’s adventures and seeing him develop alongside his power set. Author does a good job of balancing the MCs strength to where he both seems strong yet weak at the same time. Looking forward to the next
361 reviews4 followers
December 11, 2023
Enjoying the series

Well,they may be Gods, but most are bickering little kids with to much power. There are plots inside of plots. Ty is developing and I like his personality, well as the family he is forming. I can't wait to read the next book 😁.
1 review1 follower
July 19, 2023
Just getting started!

Book 2 definitely takes it up a notch. Basically, we see the foundation for future books get set up with plenty of action and plots to keep you engaged!
783 reviews9 followers
July 22, 2023
Very good book

This is a fine litrpg fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like the bunnies. I anxiously await the sequel.
767 reviews3 followers
July 24, 2023
theater of war book 2

I like this book about 50% into it. At 82% with so many main and sub characters and plots I gave up and skipped to the end.
1,112 reviews9 followers
August 4, 2023
Fun Read

The pen is stronger than the sword. Or prior planning prevents p*ss poor performance. Both are shown to be true in this story.
90 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2023
Excellent book

Growth, magic and technology, demons, angels and dragons all of them tropes you’ve read before but the writing here makes them fresh and exciting.

Read it.
112 reviews
Read
January 2, 2024
dnf too convoluted and messy. Super disappointing since the first books was pretty decent.
15 reviews
February 26, 2024
terrible flow

ended up skipping half chapters just to get the flow.
unsure if this is true litRPG reads more like fantasy
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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