Defiance of the Fall 11

Defiance of the Fall #11

by TheFirstDefier, J.F. Brink

Ultom stirs and the Era turns.

The sector is gearing up for war, unknowing the enemy has already reached their doorstep. The Void Star will become a springboard for their invasion unless Zac can stop them.

Meanwhile, a mysterious inheritance is rising from the depths of history, one connected to Zac's origin. Ancient plans are coming to fruition as the Multiverse's elites flock to Zecia. Zac has finally reunited with his old companion, but will it be enough to survive the gathering storm?

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, Action

662 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2023

Reviews

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like the second straight book of filler

What this book does:
* Bring back some old faces/friends
* Fill in some details, broaden some perspective, lay some ground for the future

What this book doesn't do:
* Have a villain, at all, really
* Advance the plot, at all, really

While I'm still invested in the series, this book felt like it had a few thousand words too many spent describing Zac's perception of his own powers. We get full story and advancement arcs for major secondary characters boiled down to a paragraph of summary and a chapter of interaction with Zac, but it feels like endless slogs through Zac monologuing the changes to his internal world in excruciating detail. Some of it is quite enjoyable to me, the bit about various 'core models' especially, but there's just so much of it, and so little actually happens. There's also incredibly little tension in this book. Zac's inevitability is rarely challenged anywhere in this series, but when so much detail is given to internal upgrades that are *certain* to succeed, I found myself scanning through pages for bolded skill-words, because the details of the dao involved did not matter, won't be remembered, and will never matter.

I get that this is a transition book setting up for what looks to be a pretty major arc upcoming, and parts of it I quite liked, but it could have used some conflict. Even if it was just Zac casually obliterating those in his way a few times to show how far he'd come (Ogras doing the same got about 3 pages, but they were interesting pages).

3 stars. Sorry, but that's what I give it. I'm still invested but this book was a bit disappointing. Zac's three pillars are life, death, and conflict, and honestly this book had precious little of any of them. No major life choices, no deaths, not even a villain (though maybe some introductions of future antagonists).

It felt like 75% stream of consciousness rambling from a Buddhist on mushrooms trying to narrate a D&D backstory.

[William Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

growth

Both in terms of his abilities and…in the number of named characters. This thing is getting out of hand.

If you’re still reading…just keep going. No sense stopping now.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needed an Editor

The book was a tough read at the beginning. I had to go back to book 10 to get my bearings. Unfortunately, it never got better. I don’t mind the cultivation scenes, but I skipped page after page and I never felt like I missed anything of note. I really feel like after book 6 or 7, the series could use an editor. The overall story is compelling , but I am wading through too much text to get to the next interesting scene.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize I hadn't read book 10, but it didn't matter. In the majority of the book, the author is engrossed in either stats or philosophy regarding his made up universe. The story is forgotten almost entirely.

Perhaps it is just me, but I am not nearly as interested in the author's extremely detailed filter as the author is. Not sure I will finish the series, it's been a slog for several books now.

[Jack Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, this series is losing its grip on me. I know that sounds like a complaint but I'm actually quite happy these books are getting worse. I need my life back

For the book itself? Theres like 5 entire chapters of just fight scenes. Really really dumb fight scenes. I've started straight up skipping them. Not worth my time, RL Stine, stop trying to get your page reads up.

The rest of the book is pretty halfway decent. Some good payoff of all that set up early on. And then the rest of the book just takes your sweet sweet time setting up a future.

I hope you know I hate myself for still reading these

[Andy Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still gobsmacked by the author’s imagination. The book moves way too slowly and it’s impossible to follow all of the advances without a proper glossary but it’s a fun diversion.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The universe continues to expand in this book. The MC got some speed leveling done, has almost all his friends back at his side, and a few side plots tied up until later on. Over all, I feel like the book glazes over a lot of details and conveys itself as disjointed. I would like to see a little more granularity on the plots and move a little slower (not take as many leaps in time. It’s ok to do occasionally but can be over used). I’m looking forward to the MC development and the major battles in the universe about to take place!

[Jim Maddison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic series

A great story line that continues to expand and evolve. if you enjoy the litrpg genre then this is a must read. Waiting anxiously for next installment.

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

A whole lot of nothing with a time skip

We've seen 10 books before this one where almost every conflict is resolved by some "McGuffin" that does the thing needed to make the change in our Main Character or he does the thing like all the normal cultivators. This book does have fewer McGuffins than the last one, probably closer to the number in the first book. However instead of a treasure or pill (which he still uses a bunch) the growth of the character is just passed over. We don't get to see the actual growth instead we get chapters of characters that we've either never met or met once for a half chapter several book previous. Do you remember that character from several books ago that was just showing the MC through the first space ship we've seen, well he's back and I hope you remember. A full 3rd to half the book is trying to remember who these characters were and what side of the ambiguous conflict they are on. I was lucky with being able to read the first 11 books one after the other but I can't imagine what it would have been like for readers who were following in the Web blog or for the publication of the books to try and remember who is who. So much time is spent on how it feels to do something all the while not actually providing any insight on anything. It seems like the Author read a few books of some eastern philosophy on Buddhism and Taoism and decided to write a series, but didn't consult or actually know much about it and it shows.

Second issue is the over use of some words, it would probably help if these were no longer written in the format of a weekly/monthly Web blog or journal and could use the assistance of a good editor/thesaurus. Sadly it seems like this series is falling into the same issues I've seen with other series with books reaching the teens. They are not edited and continue to be written like they are updating a web story, and while that may help to get them published as a writer (and I fully support that direction of follow a path that provides happiness and allow one to break into the world of literature) there comes a time when if the stories are popular enough to have upwards of 10 books it's long past time they start to look and read like a published novel and not a dear diary.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of Course

There is no doubt: this has got to be the most complicated cultivation ever. When Zac is caving it up, I feel like I'm reading the Bhagavad-Gita as interpreted by Anton LaVey.

These are obviously a labor of love and aimed at a YA audience. Not-YA-As can enjoy the story, too. Lots of the book has passable, even pretty good, writing. I think some judicious editing would really help, but the author can write, and has practiced.

The universe is huge. There are a lot of characters, and some of them are pretty great. Iz Tayn is crystal clear in my head, and so are Ogras and Ibtep. The author pulls characters and story threads from three, four, five books ago. It's a lot.

Growth is slow, difficult, and painful. Bloody, even. Zac blows out chunks of his body opening nodes! 12 books in and we've gone from F to ALMOST D. We could hit 30 books, easy. Which would be awesome, because they keep getting better and they are fun.

The cultivation passages are crammed with abstruse concepts that are not at all easy to digest. Zac goes into a cave and thinks deep, heavy, dense and chewy thoughts for years at a time. Whoa.

Finally: it is time for Zac to have a romantic partner. The author has made it clear that Zac has PTSD and trust issues. Time to let someone in!

[Ali Haji · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was bored in the first third, but then shit hit the fan and the Defiance I know was back into the spotlight.

There were long awaited reunions in this book that were executed immaculately.

The progression was nice, still didn’t catch up to my expectations, like it was great but COME ON dude.

Sigh I have one book left and then I have to wait for the next releases, thankfully book 13 is coming out this month though :)

This series has been drugs, drugs that are about to go out of stock :(

⛔️Spoilers⛔️

-Ogras is back babyyyyy
-Iz Tayn was a nice presence in the book
-Was awesome seeing how far Zac had come and how he closed the gap between him and Iz
-The meeting of Zac and Catheya and the negotiation scene was intense
-The legacy of Euz was so cool to read about, especially the history and the Abyssal Lake, excited to go there in the future
-My boy is manufacturing Spaceships left and right
-Evolving the branches of both life and death was great in the local earth Trial.
-The Void Vanra Sumblimination is busted
-The total hiddes Euz nodes so far! Tanky boi
-Emily is back and she is no slouch! Our girl has come far
-Joana breaking down because she was left behind and not chosen by fate was sad to see, hope she gets an awesome opportunity in the future and catches up
-Man did I want him to become D Grade already, but I guess it is happening in the next book

[RandomLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remain committed to following this series, like many who have reached this stage. However, I must express my concern: if it follows the recent trend of hastily accelerated series, where entire books could be condensed into chapters, I may have to reconsider my engagement. The likes of 'System Apocalypse,' 'Ten Realms,' and 'Cradle' are prime examples of this disappointment.

Regarding this particular book, its quality suffers due to the earth-based reconciliation arcs. These segments are jarringly out of sync with the main story's power scaling and timeline, failing to keep pace with Zac's progression. A subtler, 'fade to black' style would have been more effective in handling these earth storylines. It's evident the author recognizes this issue, as indicated by the narrative's direction towards Zac's extended absence and the hint of significant developments happening off-page. This approach is understandable, given the expansive world-building involved in the series. I'm eager to see how the story evolves in the next installment, especially with Zac's departure and the anticipated rapid developments in his absence.

[Steve Naylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating 5.0 stars

Is this really a 5 star book? Probably not. The rating itself is how I feel about the whole series versus this specific book. This series has become comforting. I enjoy listening to it. I had a smile on my face most of the time, especially the scenes with Agrass and Zack. There are some books in the series not as good as the others, it can be slow at times and sometimes just a little too complicated, but I really enjoy it. This one was a little more my style. A little less combat and a lot more development. There was also a return of some old characters. I missed the banter between Zack and Agrass. That actually could be my favorite part and it was missing for about half the series. That isn't the only return though. Emily comes back to earth. We get a little more information on Thea and what she has been up to. Iz catches up to Zack in this one and I like their interactions. Things sort of came together in this one and it had more balance. The story progressed, the cultivation progressed. There wasn't any specific quests or anything that needed to be accomplished in this one but I did enjoy the journey.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defiance of the Fall 11 by JF Brink is pretty good, and a return to form for the series. The pacing issues have not gone away entirely, but the pace has been picked up. There's still some artificial dampeners, like x number of years or so before events can happen, but Brink seemed to realize that it was a mistake to revel in those time periods and regularly has months or years pass within a single chapter if there's no development forthcoming. Good things all around. We find out more about the invaders, the demon comes back to Port Atwood, we get a peak into Thea's whereabouts, we resolve Billy (sort of), there's a bout with the crazy fire witch, we learn more about the planet Zac conquered, Emily's back, there's something useful with the supporting cast developing, and the author is comfortable making fun of the earlier characterization of his main character as someone who was not particularly favored because he's a mortal when everything else piled ontop of it makes it clear Zac's among Heaven's most favored children at this point.

All good things. Looking forward to the next one when it comes out in the spring.

[James Barugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a training montage

The start of this book starts of great closing out the end of the last book and sending Zac back to earth with some new information. Unfortunately, after that, this book really takes a dive in the quality I have come to expect from this series.
My two biggest gripes are;
1. It's just a training montage with Zac finding loads of small, mostly meaningless story arcs sown together to give Zac a power boost, which mostly happens of screen, ahead of his D grade ascension in the next book.
2. With a huge war soon to start, we are introduced to A LOT of new and returning characters. I love storyline where a bunch of powerful characters are scheming only for Zac to come along and ruin it, but the focus needs to be on Zac. The new characters in this book are ultimately one-dimensional with a lot of complicated names. I will 100% forget who they are by time they resurface in the story again, which means I won't really care when Zac beats them while almost dying again.

[Christopher Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, the story seems to be getting back on track, and the cast of characters are returning bringing out more developments and emotion. The author did a great job catching up with the activities of the sub characters. I got to enjoy the fun of the Zack / Ogras buddy action comedy, but it was also great to see the advancements of Emily and the rest of earths OG crew.

For a brief moment, my brain went "adult mode," and there was something that occurs (and things that happened in the previous books) that made me concerned that the author has fascist political leanings. However (word choice since it is overused in the books), I realize the "System" in the series world itself is what pushes imperialism and an "only the strong survive" mantra. Perhaps my "adult mode" brain needs to be patient as it seems the eventuality of the protagonist is to essentially build enough power to break the "System." To that...I will reengage my child like enjoyment of the game-like progression system. Onto the next book...

[Eric_R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still Keeping the Excitement Going

Book 11 delivers on every level. Loved seeing the story line progress and involve. It was great seeing some old characters return, even if briefly, and seeing some new ones pop in on the scene.

It was cool seeing Zac start to turn into an even greater powerhouse, but still feel there are holes in his character build in terms of personality and how he just magically understand everything, without what seems like you should have a more traditional learning path. I guess that’s how it works for genius savants🤔; or Heaven’s Chosen 😂.

Still loved the book and love the story!!! Definitely still down for the long haul and I encourage you to hang in there, especially if you made it this far. This still one of my top 10 favorite series…so far. Just don’t ask me where in my top 10 😇😂

[Rodney J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remains an overly wordy thought regurgitation.

However, the underlying narrative is engaging enough for me to wade through the swamp of rambling & unendingly repetitive diatribes.
It's like the author is hoping HBO will see how brilliant their story is & wants to ensure sufficient source material for 6 or 7 seasons.
Well, nice attempt, but perhaps hire an actual editor & not rely on you & imperfect AI. The interns the TV boffins would likely force to siphon through all the sputum to find the real story would likely throw up their hands in defeat unless they're true believers in this genre.
Good luck!
Those personal accusations all being levelled at you aside, it is still not stopping me from diving straight into book 12. So I'm either a masochist or an addict. Good on you for sucking me, & no doubt, countless others, in. 👏👏👏

[John-Torleif Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

So excited to see what happens next!

The last couple of books have felt a bit like Zac was stalling out, but I liked that things appear to be turning around for both Zac, and for his friends. It’s interesting how Hegemony was such an overwhelming, and impossible dream for so long, and now, so many of Zac’s core team are mostly guaranteed to make it without much worry.

I love that Zac is finding ways to push his Edgewalker status farther than anyone has before, and I’m glad this is being done through solidifying his foundations and understanding of his own path, and the Dao’s involved. If it had just been through his capturing the shards, it wouldn’t be his own power, but simply something borrowed.

[Leslie Baptiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

defiance of the fall 11, good book, not much MC character progression and not much story progression.

What I liked I am glad that ogras it back in the main story, missed him. And I personally like the character of iz. What I don’t like about the story is 11 books in and the MC is still in E grade. Yes, he has made incremental steps but 11 books in E grade not even making it to degrade? For all these flows, he has to fight it would seem that the character progression should increase a bit. I love the side minuet with the additional characters. It helps flush out the story. Will continue to read the series even though it’s a bit metaphysical, especially in this book. I think more story less metaphysics and cultivation would be a good thing.

[Murphies_law · Rating 3 out of 5]

The protagonist spends most of the book cultivating in seclusion. There are some rather awkward and flat reunions on Earth and the author seems to deem it necessary to revive a dead side character for drama reasons. Of course the protagonist gets even more boons undeservedly.

The adventures fight scenes of the side characters were unconnected and dull. They felt like a afterthought to (finally) advance the plot slightly.

I found the book once again complex - if not in a good way. The author seems really driven. I found it sad that he is not George RR Martin as then we would have the full 20 book GoT story we so deserve!!

[Larry Waldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

What!! …. after some thought ….

The author’s writing has declined since early series and it’s clear the books are stretching things out to make the series longer. Maybe it’s minor but the author has fallen back to some bad writing. Dozens of times the author has someone ask a pointed question and will then always use the same “after some thought” as the person answers. It’s lazy and ruins narrative. Just adding filler words. And worse, the same filler words.

I still care about the story and want to know what happens, but it’s becoming trying. I really hope the filler goes away and the author focuses less on length and more on substance. I’m not holding out hope though.

[Per Erik Løff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think parts of this book is some of the funniest moments so far in the series (before read 14). The meeting with Iz is so incredibly funny and I hope we will see more of her. I see potentially for him to live up to his "nickname", The Deviant Azura, in the future, I see atleast a 4 some love mess
(5 ? 🤡 (Not funny until you started book 13)!

Anyway, this is the only book I have made a review on except for book 1 where I declare my view after reading 13 books. However I think I read the part mention above for the 3rd time (2nd?) and I thought I would make a review based on his personal struggles!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still very good

I really have enjoyed this series and I'm looking forward to the next book. It's too bad that I have to wait 3 months for it to come out. I am now wondering how many books will ultimately end up in the series. I am also hoping for a happily ever after ending sort of speak. At this point in the series I'm sure anybody who would be reading this post already knows what they're getting into and I can't imagine anybody new to this series would be reading this post but on the off chance of the are simply know that it's worth the read.

[Horia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good entry in the Defiance series. After 10 books, this 11th installment feels like it's co-written along with a much more skilled writer.

Being less poetic than the top entries in the series (a thing that I miss), this book focuses a lot on the ensemble crew and their development. Everyone has their own time-to-shine and for the first time the author zooms off Zack's character and focuses the attention on building meaningful stories for the team.

There is still a lot of progress, bountiful action and a handful of trials. All goodies!

Can't wait for the next one.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zac continues to chase the heights of cultivation

Even as a mortal Zac has continued to push forward in his quest for more strength and power to protect Earth and his new empire. He soon learns that even a good deal with a big faction may be a ploy to change his path. Not just the Buddhists are out to throw him off his path as the undead empire makes a play on him also. As he strengthens his foundations, techniques, Daos, bloodline and his soul, Zac approaches the next roadblock on his journey, creating a core that fits his path.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

I felt like this book really nailed it. The story progressed, it wasn't too much of anything at any one time, and I had a really good time reading it .

I can get over some of the word choices like saying thousands of meters instead of a few kilometers or using miles and kilometers in the same sentence, but the one that dinged the star was the number of grammatical mistakes I found in the book, mostly near the end.

Still had a great time with the book and am absolutely looking forward to the next entry.

[Shanan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 11 is like whipped cream on Pie

The depth of the novel is only exceeded by the incredible overflow of wonderful characters. Mr Bug and the crazy Sun Pixie Iz will make you laugh and root for romance like in a #1 Hit Move Rom-Com. And don't forget the true Deviant-GREED demon Orgas. He's out protagonists best friend hype man. I really can go on and on about all the great characters, but why spoil the fun of reading Book 11.

Thank you, Dear Author

[Matthew Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lonesome flower

That escape treasure poem made my day. I gave the book 5 stars just for that poem. Laughed my ass off.

Overall the book was pretty typical of the series. Zac pwned some noobs and got some loot. The second half of the book was slow af though. Kept waiting for it to pick back up but it was mostly just a long training montage with a bunch of random side stories thrown in. Worth a read.