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Mistrunner #1
Mistrunner
Imbued with superhuman power, a young woman becomes the ultimate weapon, in this post-apocalyptic cyberpunk series from the bestselling author of Genesis.
Ninety years ago, Earth was consumed—and irrevocably transformed—by a cloud of alien nanites known as the Mist, bestowing humanity with uncanny abilities and enhancing technology far beyond early twenty-first century science. But these advancements came at a high Billions are dead. The planet has been overrun by vicious monsters. And alien overlords await the opportunity to swoop in and exploit what remains of Earth and its people for all their worth.
Mirabelle Braddock was born into this much-changed world. In the megacity of Nova, built above the flooded ruins of New Orleans, she lives a privileged, though isolated, life as the niece of Jeremiah Braddock. Jeremiah survived the onset of the Mist to become one of the planet’s most dangerous men, and he intends to use his hard-earned power to accomplish a single train Mira to withstand Earth’s imminent Integration into the larger galaxy.
Soon, the alien factions waiting in the wings will descend and strip the planet bare, leaving little more than a wasteland. To ensure Mira’s survival, Jeremiah has given her a unique Tier 7 Nexus Implant, granting her abilities heretofore unseen. Further augmented with cybernetics and an arsenal of advanced weaponry, Mira has the potential to become the most powerful being on Earth—and possibly even save the world from its seemingly inevitable destruction.
Ninety years ago, Earth was consumed—and irrevocably transformed—by a cloud of alien nanites known as the Mist, bestowing humanity with uncanny abilities and enhancing technology far beyond early twenty-first century science. But these advancements came at a high Billions are dead. The planet has been overrun by vicious monsters. And alien overlords await the opportunity to swoop in and exploit what remains of Earth and its people for all their worth.
Mirabelle Braddock was born into this much-changed world. In the megacity of Nova, built above the flooded ruins of New Orleans, she lives a privileged, though isolated, life as the niece of Jeremiah Braddock. Jeremiah survived the onset of the Mist to become one of the planet’s most dangerous men, and he intends to use his hard-earned power to accomplish a single train Mira to withstand Earth’s imminent Integration into the larger galaxy.
Soon, the alien factions waiting in the wings will descend and strip the planet bare, leaving little more than a wasteland. To ensure Mira’s survival, Jeremiah has given her a unique Tier 7 Nexus Implant, granting her abilities heretofore unseen. Further augmented with cybernetics and an arsenal of advanced weaponry, Mira has the potential to become the most powerful being on Earth—and possibly even save the world from its seemingly inevitable destruction.
492 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 29, 2024
Are you a fan of hundreds of Stats blocks substituting for any kind of story? Have you been searching for "bootcamp-training-porn"?
How about a female Protagonist, who is trained as child soldier by rich creepy uncle and she also suffers "Stockholm Syndrome" so bad she fails the Bechdel test in her own internal monolog?
Then this is the tedious-ass book for you. Hours of your life you'll never get back.
How about a female Protagonist, who is trained as child soldier by rich creepy uncle and she also suffers "Stockholm Syndrome" so bad she fails the Bechdel test in her own internal monolog?
Then this is the tedious-ass book for you. Hours of your life you'll never get back.
Read
June 2, 2026Ok if you don't mind repetitive wording and sequences
The overall worldbuilding and story was very interesting.
But the voice of the FMC Mira went from alightly off-putting cause spoilt teenager, to more smug and repetitive nepo baby Mary Sue.
I want to sympathize with her as she was raised and trained that way, but I just can't.
Spoilers going forward:
How often does anyone need to read a variation of "due to my expert training", "with my enhanced skills", "easy or with ease"? Or about how her equipment paid for by her uncle is superior and saved her again?
The action sequences repeat a formula of almost getting hit, doing stuff she was trained on, taking hits and feeling pain that she overcomes cause of her training, to killing the enemy and then using her medic skill to patch herself up.
Intellectually I know she trained and suffered for every thing she can do, but I don't feel like that.
Its like "hey she is doing all this super hardcore military training and basically abusive instructions by her uncle and allies, but oh shucks she actually overall enjoys it despite grumbling about it cause numbers be climbing"
And all of it cause her uncle is such an elite operator that still gets killed when its convenient for the plot by throwing an army at him.
And really? No one is going to look at an "aliens junk" on his CORPSE just after they killed him just because they are curious ffs.
Tldr:
I will give the second one a chance to see more of the worldbuilding, but if this was not on KU I would absolutely not spend a penny on continueing it.
Amazing cover.
The overall worldbuilding and story was very interesting.
But the voice of the FMC Mira went from alightly off-putting cause spoilt teenager, to more smug and repetitive nepo baby Mary Sue.
I want to sympathize with her as she was raised and trained that way, but I just can't.
Spoilers going forward:
How often does anyone need to read a variation of "due to my expert training", "with my enhanced skills", "easy or with ease"? Or about how her equipment paid for by her uncle is superior and saved her again?
The action sequences repeat a formula of almost getting hit, doing stuff she was trained on, taking hits and feeling pain that she overcomes cause of her training, to killing the enemy and then using her medic skill to patch herself up.
Intellectually I know she trained and suffered for every thing she can do, but I don't feel like that.
Its like "hey she is doing all this super hardcore military training and basically abusive instructions by her uncle and allies, but oh shucks she actually overall enjoys it despite grumbling about it cause numbers be climbing"
And all of it cause her uncle is such an elite operator that still gets killed when its convenient for the plot by throwing an army at him.
And really? No one is going to look at an "aliens junk" on his CORPSE just after they killed him just because they are curious ffs.
Tldr:
I will give the second one a chance to see more of the worldbuilding, but if this was not on KU I would absolutely not spend a penny on continueing it.
Amazing cover.
October 28, 2025
I will start with what I liked.
Cool world/setting with tech upgrades in a way.
I think that's everything. I had to quit in the middle of book 1. It is free on both audible and Tokybook
I was sure the author was a middle age single woman who wish she could have been a hero. it is a long description of how this 16yr old girl hate that a 13yr old boy looking at her.. and by description they barely are wearing clothes. So this is a talking point for 15 min
And I see author is a guy.....
Since MC is a young girl there are random feeling about killing people. Sometimes it's terrible if she needs to kill someone, then killing 20 people with glee before it is boo hoo I had to kill someone again..
the world and "steampunk" No CYBERpunk which is scifi with a hacking skill i remember from a free game on phone where you do a minigame to hack/open lock etc in somewhere..
I think it had some possibilities but unfortunately the author is all over the place regarding skills/weapons/attributes/Subskill etc etc. I n the middle of book1 it took 5 min to read stats and you have no idea what is going on. I think sometimes evolution of a random skill is described. very strange. As suddenly a Subskill is described up to level 10 or something. Skill change names (as in main skill (can understand if a Subskill evolve). Very much time filling in skills (which I think sometimes went backwards) but no explanation of why/how it gets there.
there is max on the stats that can be improved (constitution mind mist) but somehow when you train and your physical/brain/how you can use nanites? (not explained, kinda mana but how do you develop it?,?
I am starting to get worry for my reading. I think I need to be satisfied with the Litrpg I do like. it seems there is mostly bad versions of them.
these are:
Defience of the fall
(I may have title wrong lol.. )
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Primal Hunter
I still also follow
Chrysalis
(Anthony! sometimes on the verge regarding to enthusiastic side char)
Reborn as a demonic tree
is still ok and different. i do see it gets harder and harder for authors to keep coming up with new stuff. i think this is what the 3 big ones for me do.)
Hm I thought it was one more. i have tried all the other "big ones" like He who kill mosters or whatever etc. I am hard to please in this department.
Cool world/setting with tech upgrades in a way.
I think that's everything. I had to quit in the middle of book 1. It is free on both audible and Tokybook
I was sure the author was a middle age single woman who wish she could have been a hero. it is a long description of how this 16yr old girl hate that a 13yr old boy looking at her.. and by description they barely are wearing clothes. So this is a talking point for 15 min
And I see author is a guy.....
Since MC is a young girl there are random feeling about killing people. Sometimes it's terrible if she needs to kill someone, then killing 20 people with glee before it is boo hoo I had to kill someone again..
the world and "steampunk" No CYBERpunk which is scifi with a hacking skill i remember from a free game on phone where you do a minigame to hack/open lock etc in somewhere..
I think it had some possibilities but unfortunately the author is all over the place regarding skills/weapons/attributes/Subskill etc etc. I n the middle of book1 it took 5 min to read stats and you have no idea what is going on. I think sometimes evolution of a random skill is described. very strange. As suddenly a Subskill is described up to level 10 or something. Skill change names (as in main skill (can understand if a Subskill evolve). Very much time filling in skills (which I think sometimes went backwards) but no explanation of why/how it gets there.
there is max on the stats that can be improved (constitution mind mist) but somehow when you train and your physical/brain/how you can use nanites? (not explained, kinda mana but how do you develop it?,?
I am starting to get worry for my reading. I think I need to be satisfied with the Litrpg I do like. it seems there is mostly bad versions of them.
these are:
Defience of the fall
(I may have title wrong lol.. )
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Primal Hunter
I still also follow
Chrysalis
(Anthony! sometimes on the verge regarding to enthusiastic side char)
Reborn as a demonic tree
is still ok and different. i do see it gets harder and harder for authors to keep coming up with new stuff. i think this is what the 3 big ones for me do.)
Hm I thought it was one more. i have tried all the other "big ones" like He who kill mosters or whatever etc. I am hard to please in this department.
March 16, 2024
Mistrunner is one of the best LitRpG stories I've read in the past couple of years. It's everything you'd want from a LitRPG tale, skills, advancement, great storyline, and a whole lot more.
The only complaint I have is that I'm the kind of person that loves the stats, skills and levels, but since I use a screen reader, I couldn't see all that info in this book, because the author used images to convey said information. I've seen this from time to time, and it's always a frustration for me, because the stats/skills are the whole reason I read LitRpg, (well, one of the main reasons anyway), and not being able to see those is like setting a kid loose in a candy store, telling them they can only have something if it's sugar free. Sure, there's still some candy you can have, but the shear joy of agonizing over the decision of what to buy has all the soul sucked out of it. (not fun guys, please don't do that).
I'm sure there's a formatting reason to use images instead of text, but Don't leave screen reader users with black and white, while the rest of the world gets color, it's just wrong.
Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and would definitely offer it 4.5 stars. (5 star ratings are reserved for books I'd read a second time, which almost never happens, because that's time I could spend reading an entirely new book).
So, if you're a LitRpG fan, and especially if you're a fan of cyber stories, have at it, you won't find much better. And, with that, I'm off to read book 2 in the series.
The only complaint I have is that I'm the kind of person that loves the stats, skills and levels, but since I use a screen reader, I couldn't see all that info in this book, because the author used images to convey said information. I've seen this from time to time, and it's always a frustration for me, because the stats/skills are the whole reason I read LitRpg, (well, one of the main reasons anyway), and not being able to see those is like setting a kid loose in a candy store, telling them they can only have something if it's sugar free. Sure, there's still some candy you can have, but the shear joy of agonizing over the decision of what to buy has all the soul sucked out of it. (not fun guys, please don't do that).
I'm sure there's a formatting reason to use images instead of text, but Don't leave screen reader users with black and white, while the rest of the world gets color, it's just wrong.
Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and would definitely offer it 4.5 stars. (5 star ratings are reserved for books I'd read a second time, which almost never happens, because that's time I could spend reading an entirely new book).
So, if you're a LitRpG fan, and especially if you're a fan of cyber stories, have at it, you won't find much better. And, with that, I'm off to read book 2 in the series.
July 5, 2026
Overall, not a bad entry, but I have some gripes.
1. The author spends entirely too much print on Mira's showers, stripping down to underwear, or doing her "business" in the bathroom. It's never explicit, but it IS creepy, since for much of the book the protag is underage.
2. Man, does he emphasize how much the protag hates her hair.
3. Unending rumination over the morality of killing. It's very tedious. She kills people, we get it. We don't need to be convinced she's a good person, or that she's really considered all the moral implications of her actions every single time she kills someone. It's enough to be told a couple of times that she tries to make moral choices, but sometimes makes mistakes, instead of having it beat over our heads.
4. There are secrets that the elite keep from "lesser" people that, if shared, will have consequences. But I could never figure out what those consequences could be or who would enforce them.
Then a few pet peeves:
1. "comprised of" - I get that the expression is becoming more common, but it is still considered incorrect in most circles. This phrase particularly bothers me because it makes the author seem like he is trying to sound smart, but since it's still technically an error, it does the opposite.
2. The protag blames herself for things that were impossible to predict and out of her control unless she possessed some sort of powerful precognition. Why do authors write that slop?
3. "she wasted no time before verbing" - The "before" is completely unnecessary.
Despite all the gripes, I did enjoy quite a bit about the book and plan to read the second entry.
1. The author spends entirely too much print on Mira's showers, stripping down to underwear, or doing her "business" in the bathroom. It's never explicit, but it IS creepy, since for much of the book the protag is underage.
2. Man, does he emphasize how much the protag hates her hair.
3. Unending rumination over the morality of killing. It's very tedious. She kills people, we get it. We don't need to be convinced she's a good person, or that she's really considered all the moral implications of her actions every single time she kills someone. It's enough to be told a couple of times that she tries to make moral choices, but sometimes makes mistakes, instead of having it beat over our heads.
4. There are secrets that the elite keep from "lesser" people that, if shared, will have consequences. But I could never figure out what those consequences could be or who would enforce them.
Then a few pet peeves:
1. "comprised of" - I get that the expression is becoming more common, but it is still considered incorrect in most circles. This phrase particularly bothers me because it makes the author seem like he is trying to sound smart, but since it's still technically an error, it does the opposite.
2. The protag blames herself for things that were impossible to predict and out of her control unless she possessed some sort of powerful precognition. Why do authors write that slop?
3. "she wasted no time before verbing" - The "before" is completely unnecessary.
Despite all the gripes, I did enjoy quite a bit about the book and plan to read the second entry.
January 11, 2026
The story is mostly really good and enjoyable, though I do have some nitpicks.
for example, I like it less when a character's path is mostly random or chosen for them. it would've been cooler if she got the... gift, from her Uncle, but got to choose, or even better earn, what skills she put in her slots. I do understand, though, that that would have changed the narrative from what the author is aiming for, so that's why it's a minor nitpick that doesn't take away from it being 5 stars.
Another is for the audiobook, where it's way too crunchy during stat sheet time and I completely zone out Everytime because it's too indecipherable. a better summary or breakdown of how it worked would've been really really nice to have, or maybe even an uploaded PDF of what the skill trees look like (at least I think that's how it's set up? like I said, I zone out pretty hard and only catch the MC summary of what she gained after the gibberish ends).
anyway, it's a good, fun story with a solid ending and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
for example, I like it less when a character's path is mostly random or chosen for them. it would've been cooler if she got the... gift, from her Uncle, but got to choose, or even better earn, what skills she put in her slots. I do understand, though, that that would have changed the narrative from what the author is aiming for, so that's why it's a minor nitpick that doesn't take away from it being 5 stars.
Another is for the audiobook, where it's way too crunchy during stat sheet time and I completely zone out Everytime because it's too indecipherable. a better summary or breakdown of how it worked would've been really really nice to have, or maybe even an uploaded PDF of what the skill trees look like (at least I think that's how it's set up? like I said, I zone out pretty hard and only catch the MC summary of what she gained after the gibberish ends).
anyway, it's a good, fun story with a solid ending and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
March 25, 2026
Dropped at chapter 6. Mirabelle is a sheltered, whiny, naive, and emotionally immature teenager, and she's like that for the whole volume, and some of volume 2 from what I've read on the Internet. Which is extremely immersion breaking for anyone with an ounce of life experience, teens that grow up in harsh and stressful conditions aren't naive, they mature fast, because they have too. Mirabelle acts more like a middle class kid from a first world country, which clashes terribly with the whole dystopian atmosphere. You can expect us to wait almost two whole volumes, to stop disliking the main character.
Anyway, growing up in a post Communist country in Eastern Europe, maybe I have a different perspective, and I'm less forgiving, as someone with a real life experience of what dystopian feels like.
Anyway, growing up in a post Communist country in Eastern Europe, maybe I have a different perspective, and I'm less forgiving, as someone with a real life experience of what dystopian feels like.
November 10, 2023
Let me start by stating that I am a huge fan of Nicholas Searcy his other series (Death Genesis) is in my top 10 Litrpg. However this one was a clear miss for me I hung on until I was 19 hours in but I just couldn't take the YA any longer. I kept waiting for things to get more interesting. However I felt that it was lacking in character growth and the plot didn't feel all that urgent to me either. The other characters felt pretty stale in comparison to the MC and none where all that interesting. It was all very shallow relationships that went nowhere. I am really not a fan of steampunk either so keep that in mind.
October 3, 2023
kick ass protagonist
Very enjoyable read. MC is a bit of a naive and thoughtless girl at the beginning, and quite privileged, but she is tough as nails and has no qualms killing villains and their allies. Villains are nice mix of humans and aliens. Uncle is a solid side character and I appreciates his brutal training regime. System and setting are strong. A resemblance of earth and alien technology with something like magic (mist). A nice long term goal of aliens attacking in 10 years with plenty of tasks to achieve beforehand.
Very enjoyable read. MC is a bit of a naive and thoughtless girl at the beginning, and quite privileged, but she is tough as nails and has no qualms killing villains and their allies. Villains are nice mix of humans and aliens. Uncle is a solid side character and I appreciates his brutal training regime. System and setting are strong. A resemblance of earth and alien technology with something like magic (mist). A nice long term goal of aliens attacking in 10 years with plenty of tasks to achieve beforehand.
April 14, 2024
I had this book for a while. My Friend really enjoyed it, and kept recommending me to read it. I hope it's entertaining.
Dear Lord. The author found a reason for the protagonist is do a full stat sheet check as many times as possible.
The story was kind of okay, but with her being a naive young girl who is now venturing into the open world, I can expect the issues that will crop up.
Really don't know if I want to read a sequel. Not really a cyberpunk fan, and the "magic tech" use was "meh" for me.
I will see what the future holds.
3/5 Stars
Dear Lord. The author found a reason for the protagonist is do a full stat sheet check as many times as possible.
The story was kind of okay, but with her being a naive young girl who is now venturing into the open world, I can expect the issues that will crop up.
Really don't know if I want to read a sequel. Not really a cyberpunk fan, and the "magic tech" use was "meh" for me.
I will see what the future holds.
3/5 Stars
January 12, 2024
Solid original cyber punk litrpg
This is a solid, well written, original take on cyber punk litrpg with a good mc who has to work hard for her abilities despite appearing to be given them early on. The standard attributes are not used and there isn't a numbers overload in each chapter yet they do exist and seem meaningful. As does anything she gains. Great story and really well done.
This is a solid, well written, original take on cyber punk litrpg with a good mc who has to work hard for her abilities despite appearing to be given them early on. The standard attributes are not used and there isn't a numbers overload in each chapter yet they do exist and seem meaningful. As does anything she gains. Great story and really well done.
January 20, 2025
Nanite Apocalypse
What if Nick Fury had a daughter after a nanite apocalypse? I just kept thinking of Nick and his long term planning and What If? I felt conflicted about unnecessary deaths but you need to read and make up your own mind on how to rationalize dealing with evil people that want to enslave or kill you. I highly enjoyed the introspection and combat action of the story.
What if Nick Fury had a daughter after a nanite apocalypse? I just kept thinking of Nick and his long term planning and What If? I felt conflicted about unnecessary deaths but you need to read and make up your own mind on how to rationalize dealing with evil people that want to enslave or kill you. I highly enjoyed the introspection and combat action of the story.
September 27, 2026
I like this ebook. From the cover, I thought it was a graphic novel, but it's a fictional text. There's a lot of action in this one. The characters drive the plot, but the settings are complex, so there's a lot of twists and surprises. I like the concept of "mist". This is a fresh spin of the cyberpunk genre, and it leans heavy toward sci-fi, but it's toast and butter. It appears like a great start for the series, so I'll be exploring it further.
March 14, 2025
I really enjoyed 95% of this series. I read them start to finish so they're quite fresh in my mind. It comes recommended.
ONE CAVEAT
The ending of the entire series is a bit lackluster in my opinion. I won't go into details but it just didn't sit right with me.
YMMV so buy it, read it and decide for yourself.
ONE CAVEAT
The ending of the entire series is a bit lackluster in my opinion. I won't go into details but it just didn't sit right with me.
YMMV so buy it, read it and decide for yourself.
September 27, 2023
Great start
Beautiful beautiful story with tragedy, depth, character and world development and creation.. Original take on cyberpunk litrpg... Kudos.. Wonderful book one... Highly recommend
JD Glasscock
Author of the Series Blood Brothers and the Dream and Embers and Ash
Beautiful beautiful story with tragedy, depth, character and world development and creation.. Original take on cyberpunk litrpg... Kudos.. Wonderful book one... Highly recommend
JD Glasscock
Author of the Series Blood Brothers and the Dream and Embers and Ash
November 11, 2023
Good a lil wordy
Not gonna having a non ethnic man write an ethnic character lead is a bit disconcerting, but he does an okay job of addressing it. Weird that this chic has never really seen any other black people besides her uncle cause no one has hair like her.
Not gonna having a non ethnic man write an ethnic character lead is a bit disconcerting, but he does an okay job of addressing it. Weird that this chic has never really seen any other black people besides her uncle cause no one has hair like her.
January 24, 2024
Overall I enjoyed this story. Four stars because of the repetitiveness of the writing. After the 4th or fifth time, we understand that her Constitution and [combat utility] are allowing her to keep going. It seemed to get better as the book progressed, so I am continuing this series.
June 5, 2024
Serial killers are more relatable than this girl and her uncle. This book must be written by a weathervane and an AI for how disjointed everything is. Shame, as the underlying world and its mechanics are quite good.
December 23, 2024
This is cyberpunk LitRPG!
This I such a good story. The characters, world, system, and mods are truly unique. Great writing and blending of genres. This thing is coming of age, LitRPG, and sci-fi. I absolutely love it.
This I such a good story. The characters, world, system, and mods are truly unique. Great writing and blending of genres. This thing is coming of age, LitRPG, and sci-fi. I absolutely love it.
February 3, 2026
Hooked from start to finish!
A very interesting twist on the " integration" tropes! Great story with rich, complex characters and believable description of the post- apocalyptic world in which they find themselves! Fantastic is a limited descriptor! Well Done!
A very interesting twist on the " integration" tropes! Great story with rich, complex characters and believable description of the post- apocalyptic world in which they find themselves! Fantastic is a limited descriptor! Well Done!
Did Not Finish
March 29, 2026Just wasn't vibing with it. The kid stealing something and then acting like a victim in the intro wasn't for me. Also didn't realize that the MC was gonna be around 16. Not my jam. The little bit of writing I sampled was good tho
January 6, 2024
fun book
Great book fun twist on game lit…well written with great characters and character motivations. Highly recommend. Verry much looking forward to next book
Great book fun twist on game lit…well written with great characters and character motivations. Highly recommend. Verry much looking forward to next book
April 13, 2025
Great take on cyberpunk
I loved how this book focused on slowly building up the main character. MC works years to get decently strong. It was great watching that happen.
I loved how this book focused on slowly building up the main character. MC works years to get decently strong. It was great watching that happen.
May 20, 2025
This is a fun start to a cool series. It feels like the progression is slow, but the pacing really is good and the MC's progression speed makes a lot of sense. 👍🏽👍🏽
June 21, 2025
great cyberpunk
LITRPG and cyberpunk all in a real story line. Worth your time to read! And it’s on kindle unlimited too.
LITRPG and cyberpunk all in a real story line. Worth your time to read! And it’s on kindle unlimited too.
Did Not Finish
January 4, 2026dnf@10% audible plus 1/4/26, no longer interested.
November 24, 2024
Good
Solid start of cyberpunk LitRPG series, a somewhat rare genre.
The story constantly moves forward and is packed with action.
Solid start of cyberpunk LitRPG series, a somewhat rare genre.
The story constantly moves forward and is packed with action.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews