Warrior of Mist: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG

Mists of Redemption #1

by M.L. Reid

A hero’s journey teeming with monsters and mystery is thrust upon an ordinary girl, who must struggle to stay alive, feed her family, and save the world.

It wasn’t the day the Gates appeared that changed Jynn’s life; she’d only ever known an Earth where hordes of interdimensional monsters terrorized humanity. No, Jynn’s life changed forever when she graduated from high school and tested positive as a a breed of enhanced humans evolved to challenge the monsters who are ushering in Earth’s apocalypse. The only problem is . . . she has the very lowest stats possible.

Struggling to compete with the more powerful and skilled Hunters and barely able to support her family with the scant kills she does manage to log, Jynn knows she’s fighting a losing battle. When she’s suddenly kidnapped while on a Hunting trip, a mysterious System offers to make Jynn stronger if she agrees to become a pawn in its quest for revenge. Without regard for the consequences, she jumps at the opportunity.

Now, fused body and soul to a System dictating her every move, Jynn endeavors to balance her new mission with her responsibilities as a Hunter. And as she levels up, defeating monsters and developing new skills, she’ll soon discover the weakest Hunter in history might be the only thing standing between Earth and its total destruction.

The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with almost 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

Genres: Fantasy

352 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2023

Reviews

[The Legend · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did want to enjoy this book and truly the first half I did, it was actually quite interesting. Sadly the second half showed this series is more a YA romance twilight novel mixed with a Dungeon slayers/Solo leveling genre post-apocalyptic world.

Five stars for what it is, sure but it didn't sound like that when I went to read it so for me one star.

So first, yes Solo leveling like theme. Got your 'gate' and monsters of E-S rank and she's a low level E rank hunter who gains the power to grow stronger. All sounds great yea? Going to be good story of her leveling up and trying to do what ever, maybe shut down the gates or who knows.

Instead we get a conspiracy thing with a 'big bad' 'twist' that won't spoil. Not really that interesting or fun. Putting huge hard stakes on these books early on always ruins the fun time of watching a character grow stronger and explore more because you got some looming danger that pressures them to do other stuff. Which isn't for me. I like to have time to watch the character grow without some 'do this or the world end' style quest constantly in the background from the start.

The YA twilight thing? So basically it's exactly that. She meets a guy who is the most handsome-est strong-est, most amazing-est guy around. However it looks like he already has a 'stupid' perfect girlfriend who the MC is super rude to from the start just based on looks and first impression, even outright ignoring her. Then the super best guy ever does the whole every time he sees the MC he just stands there creepily staring or asking one line then going back to staring. Twilight original right there. Of course she 'doesn't' like the guy she just has some idle daydreams and petty jealousy of how good a couple they are. No way his he the love interest. Noooo it won't be surely.

That alone would make this book a toss away to the thrift store for me.

You also get the whole Main characcter won't kill other humans even if those humans try to kill her or will harm others. No the MC goes on the YA moral high ground that killing other humans is wrong. Which at seventeen is believable she'd be that stupid but it doesn't make for a good main character. It just make her come off as naive and childish. So she lets the people who will go kill other humans go after a 'beating' ...good. Now they are free to go bully, rob, rape and murder other humans. Good on you MC. Just pushed your own suffering onto someone else. Real high ground there.

It's the type of logical that only flys in YA (Young Adult) novels where 'killing is bad' without thinking of the long term consequences of their actions and the ripple effect of them.

The book started out like she was going to be some bad ass warrior who grew stronger, put a stop to higher ranks taking advantage of lowers and figure things out to help out humanity. Instead it's more a Tween version read of books like Azarinth healer, Solo leveling. Dungeon Slayer and really any cultivation novel where the weak cultivator of a Wuxia novel unlocks the power to grow stronger and goes to protect his clan or people then goes on to defy the heavens. Only this book is defying thinking.

[Ozsaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jynn lives in a post-apocalyptic world where monsters periodically come through inter-dimensional gates and destroy everything in their path, especially humans. The first incursion happened twenty years ago, so Jynn has only known a world ravaged by monsters.

When the story begins, Jynn is about to find out if she is going to become a Hunter. If she does, she can help her family even more than she already does. She's pleased, until she finds out she's the weakest Hunter in recorded history. Her dreams are crushed under the day-to-day struggle of risking her life, only to barely make ends meet.

Jynn is a very sympathetic character. She works hard, is responsible, and is willing to undergo all kinds of hardships to help her family. When she finally catches a break, she tries her best to make it work for her.

I enjoyed the story, the writing was good, and I liked the world building. I'm not sure I liked what the Big Bad turned out to be, but I'm still interested in seeing how the story plays out.

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate it, but like it was just solo leveling with a few changes.

-The weakest hunter get in to a situation where they die and come back with a level up system.
-They have to fight solo because they have to hide their growth.
-endup having ptsd about dieing and using that ptsd to say will this one not as bad as the one that killed me.

It was okay. I liked the changes, like the system is implanted into the hunter, but hell, this is like the meme "hey can I copy your homework?" "Sure, just change a bit of it."

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

16.9.2023 - 4,5*
It's not classic action packed LitRPG story - there is action and plot is also good, but it has its own pace and the overall focus seems to be more on characters/world/thoughts than usual LitRPG action run. The feel is just different - not so hectic, more gentle, I don't really know how to describe it. :'D I quite liked it because the MC was nice, plot was ok and it had atmosphere that made the pages just turn themselves. I am looking forward to sequel. :)

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and have recommended it to several of my friends who are into the LitRPG genre. Also, while this is mainly for page turners, i did the audiobook and the narration was top notch. Really looking forward to more books in this series.

While nothing new or ground breaking, it does combine ideas from other books into a very enjoyable story with good character development (main character).

[Ajumi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Writing is enjoyable, however the story is pretty much Solo Leveling with a female MC - the rest is like a carbon copy, down to the mother's illness, the father's death, the little sister and even the monsters that the MC encounters. Only a few details were changed, but not enough to actually transform this into its own unique story. So I won't be continuing this book, I could just re-read Solo Leveling instead.

[misspinkeye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! It got me hooked from start to finish. It was very well-written, action-packed, and very intriguing. I read the whole book in one go. The world building was very interesting. The characters were done well. Who wouldn't cheer for a very determined underdog?

I can't wait to read the next book. Highly recommended!

[Krunal Sheth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The initial part of the story has a lot of similarities with Solo-Levelling (ie a very close copy with only a few subtle changes - female MC, no necromancy, etc...), however the book does add more depth to the characters and quickly diverges from what could described as the source inspiration.

Worth reading through to the end.

[Starr · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have ever seen Solo Leveling its very similar how is this not some type of infringement. The I'm a Hunter or the word Hunter repeated at nauseum at almost every sentence 😉 is really annoying I wanted to like this but it feels like it is written for A YA audience

[Gelareh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts alright but then turns into a young adult love story.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written well enough. Not a fan of YA romance, and it gets strong towards the end of the book. Cool concepts that would have been better without the romance.

[Ryan Devitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well paced book! I liked the main character. This book left me wanting to read the next one!
Learned about this book after meeting the author in the park one saturday at a book event. Thank you, M.L. Reid!

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young seventeen year old girl is the weakest Hunter ever recorded on her planet.
When she is betrayed and literally thrown at some enemies and left for dead by her party, while struggling for her life in a losing battle she calls out for strength, and something answered.
Now she has to get stronger fast because she might just be the only hope her planet has.

I found this book to be very different from other litrpg books. I mean this in a good way.
The MC may only be seventeen, but she has a good head on her shoulders.
I'm heading straight to Royalroad to keep reading. Search for it with the series title and not the book title.
Took me a while to figure that out and find the story.

10/10 Very well written and very interesting. Pulled me right in and got me hooked.
I kept getting an error message when I tried to write my review.