What do you think?
Rate this book
Beast Invasion #1
Journey
The world is under attack. The invasion has begun. You can only run or fight.
Drew’s life was stalled. Suffering from a progressive disease and losing his ability to work, he was worried about the future. These problems suddenly disappear when he wakes to an invasion of strange beasts.
Fleeing from the attack, Drew finds the source of their power and uses it for his own. Now Drew, with the help of new friends and a magically healed body, must race across three states to save his family from the beast invasion.
The action-packed first book of the World Destruction Trilogy in the Beast Invasion series from Timothy Nugent. Begin your journey into a post apocalyptic progression fantasy that contains a westernized version of cultivation. Join Drew as he follows a weak-to-strong progression into power, magical science, action, and light western cultivation, all told by a third person narrator from a single point of view. The series does not contain a harem, stats tables, or instructions on how to grow his power. Drew must experiment and learn it all on his own
Drew’s life was stalled. Suffering from a progressive disease and losing his ability to work, he was worried about the future. These problems suddenly disappear when he wakes to an invasion of strange beasts.
Fleeing from the attack, Drew finds the source of their power and uses it for his own. Now Drew, with the help of new friends and a magically healed body, must race across three states to save his family from the beast invasion.
The action-packed first book of the World Destruction Trilogy in the Beast Invasion series from Timothy Nugent. Begin your journey into a post apocalyptic progression fantasy that contains a westernized version of cultivation. Join Drew as he follows a weak-to-strong progression into power, magical science, action, and light western cultivation, all told by a third person narrator from a single point of view. The series does not contain a harem, stats tables, or instructions on how to grow his power. Drew must experiment and learn it all on his own
329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2023
256 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 24, 2023
Book one
While the idea is sound and the magic is pretty neat that was all that really worked.
There is very little to no planning by the MC. He is just running from one confrontation to the next. The character interaction is just horrible. Example, you killed my husband so now you have to take care of me and my baby. The fact that the MC has his family turn their backs on him because he's sick and wanted to travel while he still could didn't make sense to me. The MC is in this big rush to get back to and protect people that wanted nothing to do with him since he was sick. Why? Why would the MC even waste an extra thought on them?
Matt the sidekick of the MC sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth.
Lack of proper planning from the very start and all the way through the book should have kept the MC from ever making it to his family.
2/10 because I did find the beast core idea interesting.
Story continues over on Royalroad if you are interested.
I hope that the author improves as he continues to write, but at this time I wouldn't recommend this book to my friends. Mainly because I find the character interaction to be so awful.
While the idea is sound and the magic is pretty neat that was all that really worked.
There is very little to no planning by the MC. He is just running from one confrontation to the next. The character interaction is just horrible. Example, you killed my husband so now you have to take care of me and my baby. The fact that the MC has his family turn their backs on him because he's sick and wanted to travel while he still could didn't make sense to me. The MC is in this big rush to get back to and protect people that wanted nothing to do with him since he was sick. Why? Why would the MC even waste an extra thought on them?
Matt the sidekick of the MC sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth.
Lack of proper planning from the very start and all the way through the book should have kept the MC from ever making it to his family.
2/10 because I did find the beast core idea interesting.
Story continues over on Royalroad if you are interested.
I hope that the author improves as he continues to write, but at this time I wouldn't recommend this book to my friends. Mainly because I find the character interaction to be so awful.
September 4, 2023
Journey
Nice start to the story. Don't know a lot about the cultivation genre myself, but this seemed pretty good.
Guess we'll catch up with Drew and Matt and Adam in the next episode.
Keep on writing !
Nice start to the story. Don't know a lot about the cultivation genre myself, but this seemed pretty good.
Guess we'll catch up with Drew and Matt and Adam in the next episode.
Keep on writing !
August 3, 2023
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action.
July 26, 2023
Good, but dark
This book is quite good. It is cultivation, so be prepared for that. While it is good, it's really dark. If you are like me and get attached to characters, this might not be the book for you. Honestly, most of the characters are red shirts at best.
Highly recommended, but with caveats.
This book is quite good. It is cultivation, so be prepared for that. While it is good, it's really dark. If you are like me and get attached to characters, this might not be the book for you. Honestly, most of the characters are red shirts at best.
Highly recommended, but with caveats.
March 7, 2024
I mean it's just barely readable
Welcome to a game lit novel that is incredibly vague and the outer basically just makes everything up as he goes along giving his protagonists whatever variety of powers he deems fit at any given time. The protagonist is incredibly uninventive with his abilities and constantly makes the exact same mistake over and over and over again getting tons of people killed. It's a horrible, horrible story with a horrible protagonist. I'm really not sure there's anything redeeming here.
Welcome to a game lit novel that is incredibly vague and the outer basically just makes everything up as he goes along giving his protagonists whatever variety of powers he deems fit at any given time. The protagonist is incredibly uninventive with his abilities and constantly makes the exact same mistake over and over and over again getting tons of people killed. It's a horrible, horrible story with a horrible protagonist. I'm really not sure there's anything redeeming here.
July 7, 2023
non stop action
Road trip to get back to the Family in the Apocalypse. The magic/chi system is really crude and hard for the MC and his companions to figure out and use to its best result. Nevertheless it’s a crazy ride. Totally worth the read.
Road trip to get back to the Family in the Apocalypse. The magic/chi system is really crude and hard for the MC and his companions to figure out and use to its best result. Nevertheless it’s a crazy ride. Totally worth the read.
October 2, 2024
My Thoughts:
This is my first Timothy Nugent read and I am glad I bumped into him! I looked for other works by this author and it seems that this is the only series he has thus far... Though, it seems like he is planning three trilogies for this series in which this is the first one. So, there are more goodness to come!
Having said that, I really do not like cliffhanger endings and that is exactly how this book ended! In fact, the entire book is just a chapter or two of a bigger book. In other words, there isn't much of a plot. A start of a plot, maybe. But not much else. All the characters are doing are journeying from A to B, and that is it. That is the whole story! Probably why the author titled it "Journey". Appropriate title perhaps but, plot-wise, it is quite very thin.
So, where did they come from? Why are they invading? I hope these get answered in subsequent books.
This is my first Henry Schrader audiobook and I would definitely buy audiobooks by him again! I love the way he used sound effects like the "roar" and how he "doubled" himself in line with the the narrative. The line was two people screaming the same thing at the same time. He must have taped himself and then replayed it together with him "screaming" the lines, so you hear two of him at the same time. I think it is very clever!
Not only is he a wonderful and talented narrator, he has a sense of style as well! Love his burgundy attire!
Quantitative Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 2.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (8 hrs and 55 mins listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
August 27, 2023
Plot Armor & Bad Decisions
The MC is an interesting guy for sure and Matt is something else too. Them as characters are pretty well written and fleshed out. That's what why you earned the 2 stars for character development and writing a semi coherent story.
The author failed to earn anymore stars because the magic/cultivation system is garbage. Add to that the MC can use unlimited cores vs1 per day for other people and the mechanics of that system just get worse and that's not including the whole, recharging his core with a car battery nonsense. Just a trash power system.
The plot armor used is lazy. The MC is constantly thinking that everyone loved ones are dead already but somehow his aren't! It was and old woman and a son who may not remember the code to the gun safe. Lets be real, in real life they'd be dead to but lets pause that thought for a moment.
These 2 people that supposedly loved him failed, betrayed and denied him his last request. We treat death row inmates better. Its all just poorly thought out and written. The audience is supposed to just go with the flow and then the MC makes the completely dumb decision to spend cores and weapons on the baby momma and friend of some bad guys he killed to save Matt and took them with them. Its not believable, even at the end of the world and babies are super noisy. Thumbs down
The MC is an interesting guy for sure and Matt is something else too. Them as characters are pretty well written and fleshed out. That's what why you earned the 2 stars for character development and writing a semi coherent story.
The author failed to earn anymore stars because the magic/cultivation system is garbage. Add to that the MC can use unlimited cores vs1 per day for other people and the mechanics of that system just get worse and that's not including the whole, recharging his core with a car battery nonsense. Just a trash power system.
The plot armor used is lazy. The MC is constantly thinking that everyone loved ones are dead already but somehow his aren't! It was and old woman and a son who may not remember the code to the gun safe. Lets be real, in real life they'd be dead to but lets pause that thought for a moment.
These 2 people that supposedly loved him failed, betrayed and denied him his last request. We treat death row inmates better. Its all just poorly thought out and written. The audience is supposed to just go with the flow and then the MC makes the completely dumb decision to spend cores and weapons on the baby momma and friend of some bad guys he killed to save Matt and took them with them. Its not believable, even at the end of the world and babies are super noisy. Thumbs down
October 4, 2023
This is the first book I've read by this author.
I will say that the book starts out well. Monsters start appearing and Drew (the MC) runs like everyone else does. He eventually manages to kill a few and finds beast cores.
That's the setup. I had high hopes for book one. Drew starts off as a decent enough guy. He has plenty of regrets, but everyone has those. As he eats the beast cores, he gets younger, stronger, faster, and all the rest.
There are a couple problems with the book that need to be discussed. The first is that Drew struggles to make the right decision. He gets them wrong more often than not. That makes it tough to get behind him and root for him to succeed. The second issue is that he beats himself up for making these bad decisions. And third, he has a tendency to kill whoever is nearby. That's not always his fault but it happens more than once.
He befriends Matt at a gas station. Matt goes from a guy who uses slang all the time to someone who speaks coherently to someone using slang. He's just not very consistent.
The editing is okay so that's fine. It's the characters and the way the story has been constructed that feels like a letdown. I'm going to read book two to see if these problems get fixed. I hope they do. 4/5*
I will say that the book starts out well. Monsters start appearing and Drew (the MC) runs like everyone else does. He eventually manages to kill a few and finds beast cores.
That's the setup. I had high hopes for book one. Drew starts off as a decent enough guy. He has plenty of regrets, but everyone has those. As he eats the beast cores, he gets younger, stronger, faster, and all the rest.
There are a couple problems with the book that need to be discussed. The first is that Drew struggles to make the right decision. He gets them wrong more often than not. That makes it tough to get behind him and root for him to succeed. The second issue is that he beats himself up for making these bad decisions. And third, he has a tendency to kill whoever is nearby. That's not always his fault but it happens more than once.
He befriends Matt at a gas station. Matt goes from a guy who uses slang all the time to someone who speaks coherently to someone using slang. He's just not very consistent.
The editing is okay so that's fine. It's the characters and the way the story has been constructed that feels like a letdown. I'm going to read book two to see if these problems get fixed. I hope they do. 4/5*
January 24, 2024
Beast Invasion
Pros -
Great world building.
Most authors struggle with setting up a believable intro into a pretty unbelievable scenario and you're supposed to just ignore all the holes in the plot, the author did a very good job of making the beginning believable.
Liked the main characters so far.
Cons -
Felt a bit unpolished, like a new authors work. Which is fine, hopefully he will keep improving.
Main character got a bit annoying, especially the part where he baited a bunch of monsters unnecessarily and took on a monster he knew he couldn't kill which endangered his friend. Also had some pretty big plot holes like they can't drive fast enough to outrun the monster but his friend then outruns it with his half dead body after he fights it. Etc.
The characters didn't really feel very realistic, needed to work on making them feel more believable.
Pros -
Great world building.
Most authors struggle with setting up a believable intro into a pretty unbelievable scenario and you're supposed to just ignore all the holes in the plot, the author did a very good job of making the beginning believable.
Liked the main characters so far.
Cons -
Felt a bit unpolished, like a new authors work. Which is fine, hopefully he will keep improving.
Main character got a bit annoying, especially the part where he baited a bunch of monsters unnecessarily and took on a monster he knew he couldn't kill which endangered his friend. Also had some pretty big plot holes like they can't drive fast enough to outrun the monster but his friend then outruns it with his half dead body after he fights it. Etc.
The characters didn't really feel very realistic, needed to work on making them feel more believable.
August 15, 2023
It's Ok
I'll be honest I couldn't finish this book. It started off good with the premise of monsters and monster cores and a different kind of invasion, instead of a system Iinvasion, it's actually aliens. Sadly, the main character is so incompetent and barely likable. I can't bond with a character that handles the end of the world with such stupid actions. There are monsters running around. Let's leave the loud motor idling, with the door open, while I enter a weapon shop and only grab a couple weapons instead of as many as I can with ammo to match. Or how about the time he goes from house to house to house to kill monsters to get more monster cores, but he never looks for more weapons or collects food or perishables to survive. Basically, this book hurt my head.
I'll be honest I couldn't finish this book. It started off good with the premise of monsters and monster cores and a different kind of invasion, instead of a system Iinvasion, it's actually aliens. Sadly, the main character is so incompetent and barely likable. I can't bond with a character that handles the end of the world with such stupid actions. There are monsters running around. Let's leave the loud motor idling, with the door open, while I enter a weapon shop and only grab a couple weapons instead of as many as I can with ammo to match. Or how about the time he goes from house to house to house to kill monsters to get more monster cores, but he never looks for more weapons or collects food or perishables to survive. Basically, this book hurt my head.
Read
August 26, 2023worth reading
This is a good read if you enjoy a lot of action and fighting as the MC basically has running battles for the entirety of the book.
I read the whole book and it kept me interested but there are a couple of frustrating aspects for me in the story. The MC gains powers/benefits from the invasion but is just stumbling his way through the powers. My control freak nature rebels at the lack of understanding or planning and I did not enjoys this aspect of the story.
The secondary character talks like an idiot and as an older reader this is perhaps not written for my enjoyment. It certainly did give me any.
Regardless of my moaning, I don’t tolerate books that are not interesting and this one did enough to keep me reading. Give it a go.
This is a good read if you enjoy a lot of action and fighting as the MC basically has running battles for the entirety of the book.
I read the whole book and it kept me interested but there are a couple of frustrating aspects for me in the story. The MC gains powers/benefits from the invasion but is just stumbling his way through the powers. My control freak nature rebels at the lack of understanding or planning and I did not enjoys this aspect of the story.
The secondary character talks like an idiot and as an older reader this is perhaps not written for my enjoyment. It certainly did give me any.
Regardless of my moaning, I don’t tolerate books that are not interesting and this one did enough to keep me reading. Give it a go.
October 9, 2023
Good world dumb MC
I still like the concept of this book and the series. The connection in the series between chi and electricity Is great. Haven't seen that one in cultivation before. However the MC being such an idiot Is cringeworthy. Other reviews pointed out the same thing. Sometimes the MC is smart other times stupid. Purely authors convenience and literary tool. And annoying. Could have a stack of car batteries in his seat the whole trip Just to name a few much less the trick at the end. Read the second book in hopefully the author quits it with that particular BS and just focus on a good storyline And not artificially inflate the drama like there isn't enough with a magic beast invasion.
I still like the concept of this book and the series. The connection in the series between chi and electricity Is great. Haven't seen that one in cultivation before. However the MC being such an idiot Is cringeworthy. Other reviews pointed out the same thing. Sometimes the MC is smart other times stupid. Purely authors convenience and literary tool. And annoying. Could have a stack of car batteries in his seat the whole trip Just to name a few much less the trick at the end. Read the second book in hopefully the author quits it with that particular BS and just focus on a good storyline And not artificially inflate the drama like there isn't enough with a magic beast invasion.
October 8, 2024
Good writing, but really depressing.
I think that the author intentionally wrote his characters as not too bright and rather irrational.
As opposed to characters who have a well executed plan, I think the author wanted to portray people acting in panic/stupid mode.
The author succeeded. These characters were messed up from the get-go. Their mistakes were authentic, but I could see no positive outcome for them whatsoever.
I will give this 4 stars for effort, but I will not be reading any more of the series. Real life looks welcoming after finishing this work and waking from the nightmare. :-)
I think that the author intentionally wrote his characters as not too bright and rather irrational.
As opposed to characters who have a well executed plan, I think the author wanted to portray people acting in panic/stupid mode.
The author succeeded. These characters were messed up from the get-go. Their mistakes were authentic, but I could see no positive outcome for them whatsoever.
I will give this 4 stars for effort, but I will not be reading any more of the series. Real life looks welcoming after finishing this work and waking from the nightmare. :-)
August 30, 2023
Lacking
First the good: It's a quick read.
Then the bad: Uninteresting MC, who's also an uninspired jerk. A comic (?) relief sidekick to prove that the author has never actually spoken to a 20 year old person based on the very poor interpretation of what a 20 year old person sounds like. Additionally there is a cast of extras that you don't care when they inevitably die. Full of post apocalypse tropes, but poorly done.
This is apparently a series, and I won't be getting the next
First the good: It's a quick read.
Then the bad: Uninteresting MC, who's also an uninspired jerk. A comic (?) relief sidekick to prove that the author has never actually spoken to a 20 year old person based on the very poor interpretation of what a 20 year old person sounds like. Additionally there is a cast of extras that you don't care when they inevitably die. Full of post apocalypse tropes, but poorly done.
This is apparently a series, and I won't be getting the next
September 6, 2023
Bad decision after bad decision
Overall, it's a good story, but toward the end, all of Drew's stupid decisions really start to hurt the story.
Early on, he made stupid decisions or mistakes, but they were minor and excusable. But as the story progressed, Drew just kept making dumber and dumber choices.
It's partially excusable since he's usually panicking or really emotional, but it's still annoying.
Hopefully, the next book doesn't follow the same pattern.
Overall, it's a good story, but toward the end, all of Drew's stupid decisions really start to hurt the story.
Early on, he made stupid decisions or mistakes, but they were minor and excusable. But as the story progressed, Drew just kept making dumber and dumber choices.
It's partially excusable since he's usually panicking or really emotional, but it's still annoying.
Hopefully, the next book doesn't follow the same pattern.
August 7, 2023
Terrible MC
Ok so first thing the MC does is abandon his wife and kid after attempting to put them in a financial bind...... This is who I'm supposed to read a book about... Why. Why wouldn't I root for him to be one of the first ones to get eat by the dynos? Sorry couldn't get past the absolutely self centered self absorbed MC.
Ok so first thing the MC does is abandon his wife and kid after attempting to put them in a financial bind...... This is who I'm supposed to read a book about... Why. Why wouldn't I root for him to be one of the first ones to get eat by the dynos? Sorry couldn't get past the absolutely self centered self absorbed MC.
July 18, 2023
This is just weak.
The characters are bland and unbelievable. The setting is very weak. The cultivation system is just bad. The pacing is staccato and makes reading the book very jarring. The overall idea lacks any kind of direction so the narrative in no way feels like a story.
The characters are bland and unbelievable. The setting is very weak. The cultivation system is just bad. The pacing is staccato and makes reading the book very jarring. The overall idea lacks any kind of direction so the narrative in no way feels like a story.
September 25, 2023
I'm definitely going to read book 2!
Got sucked into the story immediately. Really like the two main characters. It is a fast-paced, interest-holding, exciting story. I quite enjoyed reading this book and will definitely read the next volumes. Recommend.
Got sucked into the story immediately. Really like the two main characters. It is a fast-paced, interest-holding, exciting story. I quite enjoyed reading this book and will definitely read the next volumes. Recommend.
October 6, 2023
Decent start
Heavy but realistic. Lots of tense and unfortunate encounters and people who sadly don’t make it. My major complaint for this is that the magic system seems really strange and convoluted. I am hoping it gets expanded and simplified in later entries
Heavy but realistic. Lots of tense and unfortunate encounters and people who sadly don’t make it. My major complaint for this is that the magic system seems really strange and convoluted. I am hoping it gets expanded and simplified in later entries
July 3, 2023
Bit of a mix. There’s plenty going on, but Drew is hard to like as he bungles, blunders, and blusters his way through life.
July 26, 2023
Wow!
What an amazing first book! Very well written, lots of action, and includes areas that are not usually in stories, like Quartzite!
What an amazing first book! Very well written, lots of action, and includes areas that are not usually in stories, like Quartzite!
August 12, 2023
journey: beast invasion book 1
The book started out wells. The authors main character was made to dumb to be believable. The side characters were even worse.
The book started out wells. The authors main character was made to dumb to be believable. The side characters were even worse.
September 3, 2023
Poor
This novel starts out fairly well but then deteriorates. Way too much detail. The farther I read the worse it got.
This novel starts out fairly well but then deteriorates. Way too much detail. The farther I read the worse it got.
October 16, 2023
Very good
Will read the second in Series!!
Will read the second in Series!!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews