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Slumrat Rising #2
The Man from Nag Hamadi: A Cyberpunk LitRPG
A spellbinding adventure of biblical proportions awaits a young man coming into his powers in the epic second installment of this urban fantasy series.
Truth Medici has three Can he rescue his siblings from the clutches of the evil Starbrite Corporation? What will it require of him? And where does he need to go next to make it happen? When he meets Justinian Merkovah—a strangely ageless spellcaster, teacher of religious law, and nomadic exorcist—he’s one step closer to discovering the answers . . .
With his experience providing security to the rich and terrible, Truth accepts a gig as Merkovah’s bodyguard. What better way for Truth to grow as a mage? And what better body to guard than one that can help rid him of the demonic System trapped inside his own?
Truth and Merkovah are soon joined by two of the latter’s enigmatic students on a journey through an ancient land where both devils and angels lash out with fire, fury, and Old Testament devastation. Finally, Truth sees the world, previously kept hidden by Starbrite, as it really is. And he learns that magic—real magic—is far more powerful and strange than he ever imagined.
But one thing Truth has always known is that power comes at a price. And the price for Merkovah’s help may be more than Truth is willing to pay. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of a choice. Crops are failing; wars are heating up; even God has looked away in disgust. What can one slumrat hope to do in the face of all that? Except rise—and fight.
The second volume of the hit cyberpunk fantasy series—with more than one million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Truth Medici has three Can he rescue his siblings from the clutches of the evil Starbrite Corporation? What will it require of him? And where does he need to go next to make it happen? When he meets Justinian Merkovah—a strangely ageless spellcaster, teacher of religious law, and nomadic exorcist—he’s one step closer to discovering the answers . . .
With his experience providing security to the rich and terrible, Truth accepts a gig as Merkovah’s bodyguard. What better way for Truth to grow as a mage? And what better body to guard than one that can help rid him of the demonic System trapped inside his own?
Truth and Merkovah are soon joined by two of the latter’s enigmatic students on a journey through an ancient land where both devils and angels lash out with fire, fury, and Old Testament devastation. Finally, Truth sees the world, previously kept hidden by Starbrite, as it really is. And he learns that magic—real magic—is far more powerful and strange than he ever imagined.
But one thing Truth has always known is that power comes at a price. And the price for Merkovah’s help may be more than Truth is willing to pay. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of a choice. Crops are failing; wars are heating up; even God has looked away in disgust. What can one slumrat hope to do in the face of all that? Except rise—and fight.
The second volume of the hit cyberpunk fantasy series—with more than one million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
398 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 5, 2024
76 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 8, 2024
This is nothing like the first book. This one is pretty much nothing but a non stop sermon about religion mixed with a crappy teen romance. It doesn’t read anything like the first book. The action is barely there, the pacing is excruciatingly slow and truth doesn’t even feel like the same character.
March 6, 2024
Wonderful
An absolutely fantastic second volume of a wonderfully crafted series, i cannot recommend it enough. Get it, set down, take your time, and really savour the experience.
An absolutely fantastic second volume of a wonderfully crafted series, i cannot recommend it enough. Get it, set down, take your time, and really savour the experience.
March 10, 2024
More a romance with science fiction elements. A really good love story at that.
Rating: 5/5
Cover : 4/5
Narration: 5/5
Favorite line: “Things go slightly bad and you fold like a paper fan in the toilet.”
Rating: 5/5
Cover : 4/5
Narration: 5/5
Favorite line: “Things go slightly bad and you fold like a paper fan in the toilet.”
March 10, 2024
Epic story
Great book great story I have read book 1,3 times.
I root for truth all day long.
Pax.
Send more books.
Great book great story I have read book 1,3 times.
I root for truth all day long.
Pax.
Send more books.
March 8, 2024
TERRIBLE
Truly and utterly a sin against LitRPGs, Cyberpunk and magic in general.
Do I hate the series or the author? NO . I LOOOVED the first book. It was one of my favorite books in YEARS.
So as other reviewers on other sites and audible have said, This one turns into a weak teenage romance. Which is true enough, The MC has a girl who basically trains him like a dog to respond to what she wants and let her touch him..ect. Pushing and pushing rather than go at the MCs pace. It's self aware too because even the character's sprite mentions shes a 'I can fix him' girl. And it's just BAD.
But, we could ignore romance right? Sure the first book was great because it didn't do the stupid romance thing and focused on the story, development and mysteries. So he gets a little romance thrown in, that's fine right? Well yes..IF IT HAD ANY OF THE OTHER STUFF.
What does it have instead of interesting plot, mysteries or development of the character? Well besides HOURS of emo boy I don't love myself whining. Theology debates. Thats right..RELGION.
This book is basically if you went up to a preacher and told him god made mistake then listened to a 20 hour straight sermon on god. This book with very few exceptions is all RELIGION. All about gods this, god that, gods face, angels this, god is great, god is perfect, god hates us, we miss god. you must find god. And the debates of which aspect of god to follow.
You just wandered up to a street corner and listened to 20 hours of the crazy religious nut yelling at you, is this book. IF you were thinking about getting into religion. This book will be sure to convince you to stay the hell away from it.
I've never EVER read a worse sequel to a book. We went from story action to religious preaching and how to seduce a religious devotee. Not just a normal religious girl, no I'm talking about the utter nut case who says Jesus this, Jesus that, God doesn't approve of this. God love you in EVERY other sentence. That's the sort of girl the MC hooks up with and you got to listen to 20 HOURS of that trash.
At this point, I'm hoping the MC says F God, he made a shit universe and goes on his own thing. Because if this turns into some religious crusader series. I'm dropping it for good.
Author, if you're next book is like this. I suggest pulling it and re-writing it. You'll lose the majority of your readers if you keep in this vein for two books in a row. One people can mark up to character growth and just a bad book. Two becomes a pattern where people drop the series. If your hoping for a highly religious audience to cheer these books. Sad to say the LitRPG cyberpunk magic genre isn't it. The sleep holding a bible religious fanatics aren't the sort to usually like this type of literature. You might have a few niche mix of those who do but not many. Those types are more the D&D and Magic is from the Devil crowd. So either know your audience or write for your audience. This isn't it.
Truly and utterly a sin against LitRPGs, Cyberpunk and magic in general.
Do I hate the series or the author? NO . I LOOOVED the first book. It was one of my favorite books in YEARS.
So as other reviewers on other sites and audible have said, This one turns into a weak teenage romance. Which is true enough, The MC has a girl who basically trains him like a dog to respond to what she wants and let her touch him..ect. Pushing and pushing rather than go at the MCs pace. It's self aware too because even the character's sprite mentions shes a 'I can fix him' girl. And it's just BAD.
But, we could ignore romance right? Sure the first book was great because it didn't do the stupid romance thing and focused on the story, development and mysteries. So he gets a little romance thrown in, that's fine right? Well yes..IF IT HAD ANY OF THE OTHER STUFF.
What does it have instead of interesting plot, mysteries or development of the character? Well besides HOURS of emo boy I don't love myself whining. Theology debates. Thats right..RELGION.
This book is basically if you went up to a preacher and told him god made mistake then listened to a 20 hour straight sermon on god. This book with very few exceptions is all RELIGION. All about gods this, god that, gods face, angels this, god is great, god is perfect, god hates us, we miss god. you must find god. And the debates of which aspect of god to follow.
You just wandered up to a street corner and listened to 20 hours of the crazy religious nut yelling at you, is this book. IF you were thinking about getting into religion. This book will be sure to convince you to stay the hell away from it.
I've never EVER read a worse sequel to a book. We went from story action to religious preaching and how to seduce a religious devotee. Not just a normal religious girl, no I'm talking about the utter nut case who says Jesus this, Jesus that, God doesn't approve of this. God love you in EVERY other sentence. That's the sort of girl the MC hooks up with and you got to listen to 20 HOURS of that trash.
At this point, I'm hoping the MC says F God, he made a shit universe and goes on his own thing. Because if this turns into some religious crusader series. I'm dropping it for good.
Author, if you're next book is like this. I suggest pulling it and re-writing it. You'll lose the majority of your readers if you keep in this vein for two books in a row. One people can mark up to character growth and just a bad book. Two becomes a pattern where people drop the series. If your hoping for a highly religious audience to cheer these books. Sad to say the LitRPG cyberpunk magic genre isn't it. The sleep holding a bible religious fanatics aren't the sort to usually like this type of literature. You might have a few niche mix of those who do but not many. Those types are more the D&D and Magic is from the Devil crowd. So either know your audience or write for your audience. This isn't it.
September 16, 2025
Unfortunately, this book is quite a let down after book 1!
DNF at 40%
While i couldn't stop reading the first book due to the deliciously exotic dystopia, the humour, the social Criticism and the action, the second book is, sadly, quite frankly rather dull. The first third of the book is mainly about the occult (demons and angels) and the MC's ongoing minority complex and quite contrived sexual confusion. Neither the story nor the protagonist felt the same as in book 1. The pacing was slow, the action sparse and nothing interesting happened beside a crappie teen romance and pseudo religious dribble instead of cyberpunk. I kept skimming through the pages and put the book down again and again, having to force myself to continue reading. In the end i accepted the sad fact that this book was the equal to an average season two of a Netflix series- changed beyond recognition and utter crap!
Criticism and comments
What is "to comp" supposed to mean?
"Who would he rather lose his virginity to, Etenesh or Jember? He instinctively preferred Etenesh, but Jember had a charisma that would be hard to refuse." Again the MC shows extreme submissive sexual insecurity. No grown up alpha man, who is - according to the story- only attracted to women, would behave this way.. it seems that the raven headed guy from book 1 was right after all.. The MC is no pampered, overly protected window flower. He grew up in the slums and saw everything going on there. There's just no way he would act like this in reality.. The fact that his younger siblings are way more mature than him makes the matter only worse..
"“You have the legs for it. And the ass.” Truth flushed." Oh great, now he flushes as a man compliments his ass. After his experiences with the pinps, prostitutes and lowlifes in the slum and other places, not to mention his time in the army and around mercenaries, this behaviour is quite ridiculous!
DNF at 40%
While i couldn't stop reading the first book due to the deliciously exotic dystopia, the humour, the social Criticism and the action, the second book is, sadly, quite frankly rather dull. The first third of the book is mainly about the occult (demons and angels) and the MC's ongoing minority complex and quite contrived sexual confusion. Neither the story nor the protagonist felt the same as in book 1. The pacing was slow, the action sparse and nothing interesting happened beside a crappie teen romance and pseudo religious dribble instead of cyberpunk. I kept skimming through the pages and put the book down again and again, having to force myself to continue reading. In the end i accepted the sad fact that this book was the equal to an average season two of a Netflix series- changed beyond recognition and utter crap!
Criticism and comments
What is "to comp" supposed to mean?
"Who would he rather lose his virginity to, Etenesh or Jember? He instinctively preferred Etenesh, but Jember had a charisma that would be hard to refuse." Again the MC shows extreme submissive sexual insecurity. No grown up alpha man, who is - according to the story- only attracted to women, would behave this way.. it seems that the raven headed guy from book 1 was right after all.. The MC is no pampered, overly protected window flower. He grew up in the slums and saw everything going on there. There's just no way he would act like this in reality.. The fact that his younger siblings are way more mature than him makes the matter only worse..
"“You have the legs for it. And the ass.” Truth flushed." Oh great, now he flushes as a man compliments his ass. After his experiences with the pinps, prostitutes and lowlifes in the slum and other places, not to mention his time in the army and around mercenaries, this behaviour is quite ridiculous!
February 17, 2025
Cults, cultivation, and cringe
This is the weirdest thing I've ever read. This whole entire book is about finding religion, finding identity, and losing his virginity. Yes, losing his VCard is a main plot point. It's cringeworthy and sad that this is a major issue for our protagonist, but unfortunately that is the case. What's worse is that there is a factor missing from this story that is hard to pinpoint. You know that situation when someone is explaining something that is obvious to them, and they can't seem to get it across to you? That's this whole narrative. It's absurd and disconcerting. In the first book, he is a literal deathsworn killer for starbrite, and unfortunately it seems like he did not learn the lesson he needed to get from his time in his current role. Even more concerning is the obtuse and constant barrage of religion and parable that the author consistently hounds you with in every other paragraph. I've never rolled my eyes so much. I understand that the author is trying to relate a story of self improvement and understanding, but it comes out as completely preposterous and uncouth. Idk, can't really recommend this to anyone unless you're into uninteresting debates on God. Most of us just want a cultivation novel where they get stronger mentally and physically, but this one focuses on the psychological aspects and effects of abuse, violence, and trauma and it sucks.
This is the weirdest thing I've ever read. This whole entire book is about finding religion, finding identity, and losing his virginity. Yes, losing his VCard is a main plot point. It's cringeworthy and sad that this is a major issue for our protagonist, but unfortunately that is the case. What's worse is that there is a factor missing from this story that is hard to pinpoint. You know that situation when someone is explaining something that is obvious to them, and they can't seem to get it across to you? That's this whole narrative. It's absurd and disconcerting. In the first book, he is a literal deathsworn killer for starbrite, and unfortunately it seems like he did not learn the lesson he needed to get from his time in his current role. Even more concerning is the obtuse and constant barrage of religion and parable that the author consistently hounds you with in every other paragraph. I've never rolled my eyes so much. I understand that the author is trying to relate a story of self improvement and understanding, but it comes out as completely preposterous and uncouth. Idk, can't really recommend this to anyone unless you're into uninteresting debates on God. Most of us just want a cultivation novel where they get stronger mentally and physically, but this one focuses on the psychological aspects and effects of abuse, violence, and trauma and it sucks.
August 23, 2025
Once again this book struggles with pacing. My guess it is mainly caused by a lack of promise of where this plot is going. The overall plot is driven slowly forward by a wise mentor figure, the MC is passive and mainly involved in a love story while occasionally doing some heroic posing. I say posing as the action scene are often just as much about who is watching and how they react to it as the fight. Is this what they call Aura farming? The MC has been mostly goal less since the first half of the first book.
It has themes of global crisis caused by collective inaction and greed (it is cyberpunk after all) as well as, oddly, religion and religious tolerance. The book seems to be influenced by modern therapy culture. As a gen X reader this book, to me, reads as very concerned with showing itself to be tolerant of difference and sensitive of women's boundaries. Which is fine but I find a bit irrelevant to the story. Just a comment I don't find it too prigish.
My mental image of the MC is now a Korean boyband member. A Hot, bad boy, emotionally troubled, but willing to work on it and fall in love with the right girl (or guy). It was a weird decision to turn the 2nd book of a litrpg series into mainly a romance book.
I must like something about it because I am considering reading the third book.
It has themes of global crisis caused by collective inaction and greed (it is cyberpunk after all) as well as, oddly, religion and religious tolerance. The book seems to be influenced by modern therapy culture. As a gen X reader this book, to me, reads as very concerned with showing itself to be tolerant of difference and sensitive of women's boundaries. Which is fine but I find a bit irrelevant to the story. Just a comment I don't find it too prigish.
My mental image of the MC is now a Korean boyband member. A Hot, bad boy, emotionally troubled, but willing to work on it and fall in love with the right girl (or guy). It was a weird decision to turn the 2nd book of a litrpg series into mainly a romance book.
I must like something about it because I am considering reading the third book.
February 28, 2025
Completely different, and so much better, than I expected
I read a lot of litRPG and I can say without exaggeration this book and the accompanying series have taken one of the strangest turns I have ever seen. The series starts as a pretty straightforward story of an underdog from a terrible environment who gets stronger due to unexplained abilities. But then it goes off those rails in an absolutely delightful and really interesting way. Book 2 is the story of a cookie cutter hero, really little more than a killer who checks a lot of the common boxes, into a well rounded person who is fighting for a world that is actually interesting.
It’s filled with clever observations about the banal evil that can live in many corporations, the nature of God, and what it means to be in a real relationship. It inverts the tropes of the master/student relationship and makes them both funny and moving. Oh, and it’s got an actual plot.
I can’t wait to see where book 3 takes us. Pick this up if you want something different but really good.
I read a lot of litRPG and I can say without exaggeration this book and the accompanying series have taken one of the strangest turns I have ever seen. The series starts as a pretty straightforward story of an underdog from a terrible environment who gets stronger due to unexplained abilities. But then it goes off those rails in an absolutely delightful and really interesting way. Book 2 is the story of a cookie cutter hero, really little more than a killer who checks a lot of the common boxes, into a well rounded person who is fighting for a world that is actually interesting.
It’s filled with clever observations about the banal evil that can live in many corporations, the nature of God, and what it means to be in a real relationship. It inverts the tropes of the master/student relationship and makes them both funny and moving. Oh, and it’s got an actual plot.
I can’t wait to see where book 3 takes us. Pick this up if you want something different but really good.
June 4, 2024
Excellent Sequel!
The Man from Nag Hamadi is a stunning sequel that showcases a new part of the world, Siphios, that contrasts beautifully with the bleakness of Harban.
So much exceptional character development!
The story dives deeper into the psyche of Truth's character, bringing new dimensions to his arc and making his journey even more engaging.
While retaining the essence that made the prequel captivating, this novel ventures into new narrative territories, enriching the overall story without straying too far from its roots.
This book is a brilliant follow-up that balances continuity and innovation, making it an absolute must-read. 100% Recommended!
P.S. Please ignore the edgelords, they're clearly allergic to any form of emotional or moral growth in a character. They likely missed the point of the first book. Read it!
The Man from Nag Hamadi is a stunning sequel that showcases a new part of the world, Siphios, that contrasts beautifully with the bleakness of Harban.
So much exceptional character development!
The story dives deeper into the psyche of Truth's character, bringing new dimensions to his arc and making his journey even more engaging.
While retaining the essence that made the prequel captivating, this novel ventures into new narrative territories, enriching the overall story without straying too far from its roots.
This book is a brilliant follow-up that balances continuity and innovation, making it an absolute must-read. 100% Recommended!
P.S. Please ignore the edgelords, they're clearly allergic to any form of emotional or moral growth in a character. They likely missed the point of the first book. Read it!
August 3, 2025
If it wasn't so obvious that the next book would be all action, I'd stop reading this series here.
The narrative came to a grinding halt while Truth was powered up. The only reprieve was a terrorist attack, which seemed out of place in that peaceful city. Regardless, it was used to reinforce the SpellBlade myth, which must play an important part in the future.
I really did not like the romance element. It had a sour note of desperation and manipulation. A little creepy rather than sweet.
After a such a good series opener, it would be a shame to give up so soon. Thus, I'm moving on to book 3.
The narrative came to a grinding halt while Truth was powered up. The only reprieve was a terrorist attack, which seemed out of place in that peaceful city. Regardless, it was used to reinforce the SpellBlade myth, which must play an important part in the future.
I really did not like the romance element. It had a sour note of desperation and manipulation. A little creepy rather than sweet.
After a such a good series opener, it would be a shame to give up so soon. Thus, I'm moving on to book 3.
June 29, 2025
Action and Philosophy
This book through the lens of the author, gives great insight into what matters to someone who has been constantly undermined their whole life and how that impacts their worldview. I’m looking forward to more action though in the next book!
This book through the lens of the author, gives great insight into what matters to someone who has been constantly undermined their whole life and how that impacts their worldview. I’m looking forward to more action though in the next book!
July 30, 2025
Il primo mi era piaciuto molto, questo è stata una sorpresa. Non posso dire che sia pessimo: è scritto bene, alcune battute sottile e in generale si parla di temi importanti. Percò NON succede nulla, anche quando passa di livello non c'è nulla di epico, anticlimatico al massimo!
May 28, 2024
What was the author smoking when he wrote this?
June 17, 2024
Where to begin.... If you can ignore the constant sermon, this isn't a bad book. If book 3 has the same feature, this will be a dead series.
December 25, 2024
OK-ish. Entire book is nearly just an interlude. Not a lot happens and it seemed to just drag on and on.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews