What do you think?
Rate this book
Azarinth Healer #3
Azarinth Healer: Book Three
In the aftermath of the demon invasion, Ilea makes her way to Riverwatch to find a home for a wayward mind weaver (ensuring he doesn’t eat anyone along the way). After traveling, reuniting with old friends, and some light punching, Ilea's life, it seems, is slowly returning to normal. But dire news awaits her upon her return to Ravenhall.
A friend is in danger, and there is work to be done.
The trail leads Ilea to the Empire and beyond, to dark alleys and ancient dungeons, to unknown desolate lands beyond the frontiers of humanity, and to the ruins of a long-forgotten Kingdom.
There are old allies to fight with and new ones to be made; an excellent maker of cakes, a fiery fox with a sweet tooth, and an… unlikely historian. Ilea will need all the help and levels she can get, to beat down both beast and man (and occasionally the weather too), for her enemies are many, and not every fight will be as simple as just another Drake.
A long journey is just beginning, and she may be surprised where it ends. Hopefully, there is some good food along the way…
A friend is in danger, and there is work to be done.
The trail leads Ilea to the Empire and beyond, to dark alleys and ancient dungeons, to unknown desolate lands beyond the frontiers of humanity, and to the ruins of a long-forgotten Kingdom.
There are old allies to fight with and new ones to be made; an excellent maker of cakes, a fiery fox with a sweet tooth, and an… unlikely historian. Ilea will need all the help and levels she can get, to beat down both beast and man (and occasionally the weather too), for her enemies are many, and not every fight will be as simple as just another Drake.
A long journey is just beginning, and she may be surprised where it ends. Hopefully, there is some good food along the way…
776 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 11, 2023
1091 people are currently reading
358 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 - 30 of 120 reviews
December 17, 2023
It's hard to separate the dislike I have for the audiobook narration from the writing. This is a long book that could have been shorter. The first third found Ilea moving from threat to threat with little planning, preparation, or agency. The last two-thirds was mostly an extended training montage as she sought the strength to rescue one of her companions. The transition between the two sections was forced – it didn't feel natural for that character.
There's no over-arching plot that carries the reader forward. There's also little sense of danger since Ilea can heal from anything and teleport away if pressed. That leaves fight scenes... a lot of fight scenes.
I enjoyed Ilea's rapid rise in levels. As a power fantasy, it was okay. What I didn't enjoy was her quixotic shifts in temperament. One moment she's deeply moved by a tragic event, the next she is facetiously quipping about delving a dungeon. It seemed bi-polar.
I've had enough of this series but if you like pointless fight scenes, then carry on.
There's no over-arching plot that carries the reader forward. There's also little sense of danger since Ilea can heal from anything and teleport away if pressed. That leaves fight scenes... a lot of fight scenes.
I enjoyed Ilea's rapid rise in levels. As a power fantasy, it was okay. What I didn't enjoy was her quixotic shifts in temperament. One moment she's deeply moved by a tragic event, the next she is facetiously quipping about delving a dungeon. It seemed bi-polar.
I've had enough of this series but if you like pointless fight scenes, then carry on.
October 16, 2024
Lost me with this one. There was no storyline to follow, it was just endless fights. The smidgen of a storyline we do have, finding out what happened to Ileas friend, isn't even concluded in this book. End of the road for me
January 11, 2024
Mary Sue done right
Ilea is OP. A total badass. The author is shameless.
It's great.
She has so much fun and gives so few effs that you can't help but just smile and enjoy the ride.
All while remaining a good person with healthy relationships, and again, having a blast. It's striking really. Most LitRPG MCs are edgelords or just dark, apathetic, antisocial jerks. The few exceptions just don't achieve this level of characterization. I guess it's hard to write a "good" character without being one-dimensional? Other authors should take notes.
Can't wait for book 4.
Ilea is OP. A total badass. The author is shameless.
It's great.
She has so much fun and gives so few effs that you can't help but just smile and enjoy the ride.
All while remaining a good person with healthy relationships, and again, having a blast. It's striking really. Most LitRPG MCs are edgelords or just dark, apathetic, antisocial jerks. The few exceptions just don't achieve this level of characterization. I guess it's hard to write a "good" character without being one-dimensional? Other authors should take notes.
Can't wait for book 4.
December 19, 2023
I struggled a bit
Reading this one took me longer than it should have. Probably because I read it previously on RoyalRoad, but also because cause there isn’t really a *driving* purpose to the narrative.
I kinda want to skip past the parts I have read, but that may be a couple more books.
Still a great series.
Reading this one took me longer than it should have. Probably because I read it previously on RoyalRoad, but also because cause there isn’t really a *driving* purpose to the narrative.
I kinda want to skip past the parts I have read, but that may be a couple more books.
Still a great series.
December 25, 2024
Healing Excellent
It's our favourite ding level up read, and Ilea dungeon diving and resistance training makes for some interesting situations and enjoyable reading. The books are good, and this one gives some cool level up skills, although the audio is even better.
It's our favourite ding level up read, and Ilea dungeon diving and resistance training makes for some interesting situations and enjoyable reading. The books are good, and this one gives some cool level up skills, although the audio is even better.
December 22, 2023
First half of the book is a bit of a snorefest, second half is back to normal for the series.
Stick around for it, cause it's fun.
Stick around for it, cause it's fun.
December 28, 2023
Back on the right track.
The third was a continuation of book two. I did not like book two. It took me two weeks to get through it, that was with several stops to read other books. Once that was over, it got back to what made the first book so much fun. Five stars for getting back on the right track but minus one for making me wait so long.
The third was a continuation of book two. I did not like book two. It took me two weeks to get through it, that was with several stops to read other books. Once that was over, it got back to what made the first book so much fun. Five stars for getting back on the right track but minus one for making me wait so long.
June 3, 2024
As ever, a fun read. I don't mind admitting I skip or skim over a lot of it just to get to the bits where level-ups happened for that sweet, sweet dopamine hit, but that's just me!
July 4, 2024
An aimlessness plagues this series. A core want a core. Other than to fight and be stronger. It isn't until this book that you actually see her stop doing"trust the magic" and instead start to innovate and craft her magic. Also, her leveling actually gets smarter. I wish she'd actually started doing this sooner. because when she fought the drakes in the first book it was a smart fight for her. But it should never take 1000 plus pages to actually get to this level as basic writing craft. What's carrying the series is the fights are really good but most of the characters are annoying at best. Forgetable without a point. I feel like this book is trying to excute other things I've seen in early litrpg but more poorly then most. I think this book seires is like 6 years old and republished from royal road. I can see how 6 years ago this got traction because the fights are good. But even for 6 years the basic parts of writing don't appear until part of the last book and this book. that's troubling for readers.
Err,,, soft 3 for the series. good 3 or 4 for this book. Each book the writing plotting actually gets some what stronger.
Err,,, soft 3 for the series. good 3 or 4 for this book. Each book the writing plotting actually gets some what stronger.
September 11, 2025
The third book in this series is officially MID… Meh? Something like that.
The series continues its episodic narrative style, something I don’t have a problem with, but it’s disjointed, being marred by overly long, repetitive, and frankly boring fights. Same enemy types, same scenarios, same tactics, same outcomes.
Our main has the same plot armor as any non-gamelit series in this genre, the good guy’s not gonna die, so I don’t hold the fact that Ilea’s abilities are especially tailored to that role against her. Though I will say despite this aspect of plot armor being a given in the genre, the best authors find ways to add tension to their stories, often with endangering characters other than the MC. This author NEVER does that. The only character that’s even died, did so off-page and that was last book.
I’ve mentioned my dislike of the MC’s personality before, but in this book it’s toned down a lot, so hopefully that continues. But her character is still so contradictory, being overcome seemingly randomly by her own trauma at times, and others seemingly unfazed despite similar situations. So it’s less of a logically consistent trigger, than it is the author’s desire to just have her be introspective to the point I have to skip ahead. It’s the same thing over and over again. And that’s because, as a combat veteran and someone with severe anxiety, it’s like the author writes this trauma as he imagines it’s like, rather than from personal experience. To me, all this is an attempt to add depth to the character but it feels forced and superficial.
The characters are new this book because Ilea went off to train on her lonesome. But just like EVERY SINGLE other character in this series, each new friend mirrors the others in that they all appreciate Ilea as a person, and come to see her with respect and fondness. One could say, this is a testament to her character, but in reality it’s just a writing trap. She has never had a single side character whose motives are suspicious, who’s genuinely disliked by MC or they dislike her, or has any real poor character traits. That’s just not realistic.
Even the King or whatever from this book teases he’s secretly plotting to institute a new reign of terror, but he’s only joking. I actually don’t hate that trope idea, that’s how bored I am of these mirrored side characters.
The entire book is essentially one long training montage. She’s seemingly forgot about the metal mage she was grooming who got teleported to some unknown dungeon. I felt that her character arc would have led her to roam the continent delving these types of dungeons looking for him. She also weirdly assumes he’s trapped but also that he’s capable of taking care of himself when she starts this book not able to take on the toughest enemies of those dungeons. Why assume he’s okay? Why assume he can’t just exit and make his way home? Obviously we are building to some big reveal where he’s probably gonna step in and help her out of nowhere being equally leveled up by his ordeal. That’s why the character assumes these things, because the author plans to write it that way. That’s sloppy.
All that said, last book only covered twenty levels of progression, this one about one hundred. That’s definitely a notch in the favorable category, I just wish it wasn’t against the same enemies over and over. Ironically this mirrors the min/max strategies of actual gamers, and it just goes to show we will complain about either choice. I recognize the irony.
Still just hints at a possible overarching plot. I am personally tired of the big bad threat of doom that only the MC can face trope, so don’t hate it. But the episodic part of this series is just so boringly repetitive. With other episodic series, like A Soldier’s Life, even though there’s no big bad threat (yet), we still have minor arcs that can cover multiple books, and each book is its own story from start to finish. So there’s ways of doing this narrative style much better.
In the end, I rated this 3 stars, maybe more like 2.5. It’s not nearly as awful as book 2 was, but still makes a lot of the mistakes this author seems prone to making.
The series continues its episodic narrative style, something I don’t have a problem with, but it’s disjointed, being marred by overly long, repetitive, and frankly boring fights. Same enemy types, same scenarios, same tactics, same outcomes.
Our main has the same plot armor as any non-gamelit series in this genre, the good guy’s not gonna die, so I don’t hold the fact that Ilea’s abilities are especially tailored to that role against her. Though I will say despite this aspect of plot armor being a given in the genre, the best authors find ways to add tension to their stories, often with endangering characters other than the MC. This author NEVER does that. The only character that’s even died, did so off-page and that was last book.
I’ve mentioned my dislike of the MC’s personality before, but in this book it’s toned down a lot, so hopefully that continues. But her character is still so contradictory, being overcome seemingly randomly by her own trauma at times, and others seemingly unfazed despite similar situations. So it’s less of a logically consistent trigger, than it is the author’s desire to just have her be introspective to the point I have to skip ahead. It’s the same thing over and over again. And that’s because, as a combat veteran and someone with severe anxiety, it’s like the author writes this trauma as he imagines it’s like, rather than from personal experience. To me, all this is an attempt to add depth to the character but it feels forced and superficial.
The characters are new this book because Ilea went off to train on her lonesome. But just like EVERY SINGLE other character in this series, each new friend mirrors the others in that they all appreciate Ilea as a person, and come to see her with respect and fondness. One could say, this is a testament to her character, but in reality it’s just a writing trap. She has never had a single side character whose motives are suspicious, who’s genuinely disliked by MC or they dislike her, or has any real poor character traits. That’s just not realistic.
Even the King or whatever from this book teases he’s secretly plotting to institute a new reign of terror, but he’s only joking. I actually don’t hate that trope idea, that’s how bored I am of these mirrored side characters.
The entire book is essentially one long training montage. She’s seemingly forgot about the metal mage she was grooming who got teleported to some unknown dungeon. I felt that her character arc would have led her to roam the continent delving these types of dungeons looking for him. She also weirdly assumes he’s trapped but also that he’s capable of taking care of himself when she starts this book not able to take on the toughest enemies of those dungeons. Why assume he’s okay? Why assume he can’t just exit and make his way home? Obviously we are building to some big reveal where he’s probably gonna step in and help her out of nowhere being equally leveled up by his ordeal. That’s why the character assumes these things, because the author plans to write it that way. That’s sloppy.
All that said, last book only covered twenty levels of progression, this one about one hundred. That’s definitely a notch in the favorable category, I just wish it wasn’t against the same enemies over and over. Ironically this mirrors the min/max strategies of actual gamers, and it just goes to show we will complain about either choice. I recognize the irony.
Still just hints at a possible overarching plot. I am personally tired of the big bad threat of doom that only the MC can face trope, so don’t hate it. But the episodic part of this series is just so boringly repetitive. With other episodic series, like A Soldier’s Life, even though there’s no big bad threat (yet), we still have minor arcs that can cover multiple books, and each book is its own story from start to finish. So there’s ways of doing this narrative style much better.
In the end, I rated this 3 stars, maybe more like 2.5. It’s not nearly as awful as book 2 was, but still makes a lot of the mistakes this author seems prone to making.
May 22, 2024
Overall a pretty typical litrpg/progression fantasy, with some interesting takes on elves and dungeons. I'll read more in this series if the author ever publishes more on Kindle Unlimited.
What I actually want to talk about is a single paragraph from early in this book:
We need to talk about representation. In general I am fine with authors writing characters that are not their gender - if they do so respectfully, without objectifying anyone, and only after doing copious amounts of research. For some reason, some authors find this very difficult.
Overall protagonist Ilea is a fairly well-written character. She is very nearly never described in sexual terms; in fact, she's described in almost agender terms, excluding the occasional comment from bystanders. Even when she sleeps with someone (in ~2500 pages she has slept with two men and one woman, if I recall correctly), she is not objectified.
Needless to say, I find the quote I included above very bizarre. Where the hell did this come from? What relevance does this even have to the story? I understand that it's meant to be humorous, but in this series Ilea - and women's bodies in general - is never described as being fertile or a breeding factory or whatever prior to (or following) this quote, so why exactly did the author decide to include it? It honestly really grosses me out and gives extreme "this person should not be writing about women" vibes. And that's a shame, because the rest of the book, and even the series, makes me think differently.
I'll keep reading, and I do recommend the series to others, but I think this author really needs a female sensitivity reader or two to catch weird shit like this in the future.
What I actually want to talk about is a single paragraph from early in this book:
"I'll pay now," Ilea said, stopping a burp from escaping her highly feminine figure, accented by a now bulging belly that for once didn't stand for fertility and new life. Though considering how many calories her body somehow managed to burn, she did have to ask herself if there wasn't some sort of alien inside her, benefiting from her frequent indulgences and ready to burst out at the most inopportune moment.
We need to talk about representation. In general I am fine with authors writing characters that are not their gender - if they do so respectfully, without objectifying anyone, and only after doing copious amounts of research. For some reason, some authors find this very difficult.
Overall protagonist Ilea is a fairly well-written character. She is very nearly never described in sexual terms; in fact, she's described in almost agender terms, excluding the occasional comment from bystanders. Even when she sleeps with someone (in ~2500 pages she has slept with two men and one woman, if I recall correctly), she is not objectified.
Needless to say, I find the quote I included above very bizarre. Where the hell did this come from? What relevance does this even have to the story? I understand that it's meant to be humorous, but in this series Ilea - and women's bodies in general - is never described as being fertile or a breeding factory or whatever prior to (or following) this quote, so why exactly did the author decide to include it? It honestly really grosses me out and gives extreme "this person should not be writing about women" vibes. And that's a shame, because the rest of the book, and even the series, makes me think differently.
I'll keep reading, and I do recommend the series to others, but I think this author really needs a female sensitivity reader or two to catch weird shit like this in the future.
December 30, 2023
Rating 3.0 stars
I fell into the trap with this one. I thought the first book was pretty good. It had some problems but overall I liked it. The second book was just kind of .... meh. The trap with this one is that I was hoping for more like the first book and got more of the second. The main character is not a real person. Her personality is unbelievable. I can't imagine a single person acting the way she does. She is either overly emotional or nonchalant. As I said in my review for the second book in the series. She seems like a caricature of a person instead of a real person. I liked the magic system but that is pretty much it. All there is in this book is fighting. That is never enough. The first 8 hours of the audiobook is dealing with a problem with her team. One of her team members family were killed and she is going to help get revenge. She also meets back up with the group from the first book and helps them get revenge as well. Along the way one of her other teammates gets lost and the MC goes on a training quest to the north to get strong enough to find and help him. By the end I was just hoping for it to be over. The last 20 hours of the book was the MC fighting and leveling up. It wasn't even that interested. I really don't mind most training sequences when a character is trying to perfect a skill of magic. She just kept fighting and I didn't really hear anything about her skill growing. I didn't have a single laugh from this book. All the interactions with other characters were superficial. I also got real tired of the characters chuckling all the time. Nothing was really funny. This was a huge missed opportunity. I think I am done with the series. There is nothing pushing the plot forward except the idea that the MC wants to get stronger. That isn't enough to keep my interest. Especially when the audiobook was 29 hours long.
I fell into the trap with this one. I thought the first book was pretty good. It had some problems but overall I liked it. The second book was just kind of .... meh. The trap with this one is that I was hoping for more like the first book and got more of the second. The main character is not a real person. Her personality is unbelievable. I can't imagine a single person acting the way she does. She is either overly emotional or nonchalant. As I said in my review for the second book in the series. She seems like a caricature of a person instead of a real person. I liked the magic system but that is pretty much it. All there is in this book is fighting. That is never enough. The first 8 hours of the audiobook is dealing with a problem with her team. One of her team members family were killed and she is going to help get revenge. She also meets back up with the group from the first book and helps them get revenge as well. Along the way one of her other teammates gets lost and the MC goes on a training quest to the north to get strong enough to find and help him. By the end I was just hoping for it to be over. The last 20 hours of the book was the MC fighting and leveling up. It wasn't even that interested. I really don't mind most training sequences when a character is trying to perfect a skill of magic. She just kept fighting and I didn't really hear anything about her skill growing. I didn't have a single laugh from this book. All the interactions with other characters were superficial. I also got real tired of the characters chuckling all the time. Nothing was really funny. This was a huge missed opportunity. I think I am done with the series. There is nothing pushing the plot forward except the idea that the MC wants to get stronger. That isn't enough to keep my interest. Especially when the audiobook was 29 hours long.
November 2, 2024
You know what I want from my murder hobo stories? Maudlin guilt over killing people who deserve it, because the world has too much joy right now.
Ilea, a bringer of death who truly enjoys her craft, has suddenly become squeamish about killing. Not defenseless civilians or innocent children, but evil SOBs and cold-blooded assassins. Exactly the kind of people who need killing in a world where the strong can make a difference.
I guess the author was going through a pang of conscience and tried to inject some modern world values into his story. Well, it’s extremely late in the game for that nonsense. Ilea has a literal ocean of blood on her hands and hardly batted an eye getting where she is up to this point.
In fact, her indifference to hardship and lack of trauma is a big part of her charm. She hasn’t let anything get in the way of being her best self in a world that would break a normal person. I’m all for more realistic human interactions and characters, but not if it undermines the core tenets of what makes a LitRPG story fun - leveling, looting, and killing.
Finally, Part II of this book absolutely kills the story pacing. Plenty of interesting events, but all buried under a mountain of filler. And just way too much time alone with Ilea, who can be frustratingly one-dimensional and very annoying outside of combat. This part of the story will really test if you like the character or not.
Still, I think this is a decent book in the series. I especially appreciate the author’s continued commitment to edit his work before publishing. Too many authors take what could be generously called rough drafts from Royal Road and dump them on Amazon, warts and all. Thumbs up for setting a higher standard, I’m definitely looking forward to finishing this series.
Ilea, a bringer of death who truly enjoys her craft, has suddenly become squeamish about killing. Not defenseless civilians or innocent children, but evil SOBs and cold-blooded assassins. Exactly the kind of people who need killing in a world where the strong can make a difference.
I guess the author was going through a pang of conscience and tried to inject some modern world values into his story. Well, it’s extremely late in the game for that nonsense. Ilea has a literal ocean of blood on her hands and hardly batted an eye getting where she is up to this point.
In fact, her indifference to hardship and lack of trauma is a big part of her charm. She hasn’t let anything get in the way of being her best self in a world that would break a normal person. I’m all for more realistic human interactions and characters, but not if it undermines the core tenets of what makes a LitRPG story fun - leveling, looting, and killing.
Finally, Part II of this book absolutely kills the story pacing. Plenty of interesting events, but all buried under a mountain of filler. And just way too much time alone with Ilea, who can be frustratingly one-dimensional and very annoying outside of combat. This part of the story will really test if you like the character or not.
Still, I think this is a decent book in the series. I especially appreciate the author’s continued commitment to edit his work before publishing. Too many authors take what could be generously called rough drafts from Royal Road and dump them on Amazon, warts and all. Thumbs up for setting a higher standard, I’m definitely looking forward to finishing this series.
December 11, 2023
I received a free copy of Azarinth Healer from Portal Books.
I love this series. The first two books were great but this one is even better for 2 reasons. First, Ilea develops a lot due to having new and often challenging experiences and gains a lot of levels, but also this book is over 1,100 pages long so you can enjoy it for a lot longer than the first two books.
The first part of the book is a revenge themed adventure that involves two families at each other's throats but snowballs due to an alliance that continues from earlier in the series. Both battles are intense and visceral. There's plenty of murder and mayhem, so much that once the conflict ends, Ilea feels a need to escape into the inhospitable north. In this second part Rhaegar really ramps up the creativity as Ilea needs to battle a savage environment as well as many monsters and a veritable army of OP undead. She's helped by a very interesting new crew of non-human allies that make this a real page-turner.
Books this good are usually over nighters but this one, at 1145 pages took me 5 days to read and I enjoyed every last page.
I love this series. The first two books were great but this one is even better for 2 reasons. First, Ilea develops a lot due to having new and often challenging experiences and gains a lot of levels, but also this book is over 1,100 pages long so you can enjoy it for a lot longer than the first two books.
The first part of the book is a revenge themed adventure that involves two families at each other's throats but snowballs due to an alliance that continues from earlier in the series. Both battles are intense and visceral. There's plenty of murder and mayhem, so much that once the conflict ends, Ilea feels a need to escape into the inhospitable north. In this second part Rhaegar really ramps up the creativity as Ilea needs to battle a savage environment as well as many monsters and a veritable army of OP undead. She's helped by a very interesting new crew of non-human allies that make this a real page-turner.
Books this good are usually over nighters but this one, at 1145 pages took me 5 days to read and I enjoyed every last page.
May 7, 2024
Good continuation of the series. I didn't enjoy the first 30% as much; that story arc felt a little simplistic, with everything falling into place a little too conveniently and wrapping up a little too neat. The rest of the book was some exploration and power-levelling, but it was varied enough to keep me entertained, and I never grew bored with repetitiveness.
One issue with the series is that Ilea is bound to be polarizing. I find her entertaining, but there's no denying that she's the worst kind of adrenaline junkie. It can be, at times, uncomfortable to see her heedlessly risk her life for her next near-death adrenaline fix while then going through the classic denial of reassuring herself she's only doing it to push herself and that she is in control. At some level, this can make the story seem like we are reading about the survivor of a million fools that push too far or that "plot armour" is there to ensure she always has that sliver of extra health her opponent lacks.
For myself, the entertainment outweighs my reservations, and I find the series a fun ride I do not intend to get off of anytime soon.
One issue with the series is that Ilea is bound to be polarizing. I find her entertaining, but there's no denying that she's the worst kind of adrenaline junkie. It can be, at times, uncomfortable to see her heedlessly risk her life for her next near-death adrenaline fix while then going through the classic denial of reassuring herself she's only doing it to push herself and that she is in control. At some level, this can make the story seem like we are reading about the survivor of a million fools that push too far or that "plot armour" is there to ensure she always has that sliver of extra health her opponent lacks.
For myself, the entertainment outweighs my reservations, and I find the series a fun ride I do not intend to get off of anytime soon.
October 2, 2025
AZARINTH HEALER FINDS THE PERFECT BALANCE AS ILEA'S PATH TO POWER CONTINUES!
In my reviews of the first two books of this series, I've remarked on issues - in Book One, a lack of meaningful connections and supporting cast members to really strengthen the story; in Book Two, sacrificing too much Ilea's progression for the sake of adding and developing the lacking supporting cast, imbalancing things in the opposite direction.
I remarked previously that if a better balance could not be found in Book Three, my ratings for the series would start to suffer.
Thankfully, I'm happy to say things seem to have found just the right balance! Ilea's growth was rekindled in this installment, but without sacrificing character development or lowering the quality of the rest of the cast. As it is, Book Three was an absolute blast, full of phenomenal action, adventures through deadly dungeons, and mysterious lost civilizations.
While I don't know if Azarinth Healer is capable of reaching Five Star status, at the very least this was an incredibly strong Four Star read and I am more than likely about to plow right on into Book Four!
In my reviews of the first two books of this series, I've remarked on issues - in Book One, a lack of meaningful connections and supporting cast members to really strengthen the story; in Book Two, sacrificing too much Ilea's progression for the sake of adding and developing the lacking supporting cast, imbalancing things in the opposite direction.
I remarked previously that if a better balance could not be found in Book Three, my ratings for the series would start to suffer.
Thankfully, I'm happy to say things seem to have found just the right balance! Ilea's growth was rekindled in this installment, but without sacrificing character development or lowering the quality of the rest of the cast. As it is, Book Three was an absolute blast, full of phenomenal action, adventures through deadly dungeons, and mysterious lost civilizations.
While I don't know if Azarinth Healer is capable of reaching Five Star status, at the very least this was an incredibly strong Four Star read and I am more than likely about to plow right on into Book Four!
December 29, 2023
An definite improvement over Book 2 but still suffers from an awkward opening
Book three offers a vast improvement from the slog fest of Book 2 but still suffers from poor narrative structure. We open with the conclusion of the political thriller from Book 2 but the sudden and jarring ending leaves for an unsatisfying read. The political drama starring the golden lily and the Redleafs end like a deflated balloon, a proper fight not even narrated or written.
Maybe a future rewrite can cut the messy Academy/Tournament arc and include an expansion on the Redleaf/Golden Lily thriller while weaving The Hand and Team 34 within the narrative.
Book three successfully recovers from the poor pacing with an awkward transition to action adventure that made Book 1 stellar. Well written systems and abilities make for a fun read and a marvelous conclusion to Book 3. Engaging side characters, mysterious locations and dungeons, and nail biting fights bring the rest of Book Three to redemption.
Book three offers a vast improvement from the slog fest of Book 2 but still suffers from poor narrative structure. We open with the conclusion of the political thriller from Book 2 but the sudden and jarring ending leaves for an unsatisfying read. The political drama starring the golden lily and the Redleafs end like a deflated balloon, a proper fight not even narrated or written.
Maybe a future rewrite can cut the messy Academy/Tournament arc and include an expansion on the Redleaf/Golden Lily thriller while weaving The Hand and Team 34 within the narrative.
Book three successfully recovers from the poor pacing with an awkward transition to action adventure that made Book 1 stellar. Well written systems and abilities make for a fun read and a marvelous conclusion to Book 3. Engaging side characters, mysterious locations and dungeons, and nail biting fights bring the rest of Book Three to redemption.
February 4, 2024
Among the best LitRPG series I've read so far. It has all the tropes. OP character development, dungeons, power levelling, mysterious races, a racist 'might is right' world, and lots and lots of fighting.
To remember for the next book:
Ilea has gone north to get away from the war and especially the revenge killing she and her Hand team did for Trian.
Eve is dead. Killed by an unknown Golden Lily assassin.
Kyrian is lost in a Taleen dungeon.
Claire is now part of the Shadow Hand administration. She's invested thousands of Ilea's money.
Trian is with his remaining family.
Elfie is an Elven historian, who is now cursed and part of the Elven hunters that hate the Taleen.
Terok is a Dwarven rune master friend. And Goliath a spirit smith.
Ilea is expected to travel south with the charming, many thousand year old former King Maro Invalar. He's still married and a powerful necromancer.
I'm sure there will be a summery.
To remember for the next book:
Ilea has gone north to get away from the war and especially the revenge killing she and her Hand team did for Trian.
Eve is dead. Killed by an unknown Golden Lily assassin.
Kyrian is lost in a Taleen dungeon.
Claire is now part of the Shadow Hand administration. She's invested thousands of Ilea's money.
Trian is with his remaining family.
Elfie is an Elven historian, who is now cursed and part of the Elven hunters that hate the Taleen.
Terok is a Dwarven rune master friend. And Goliath a spirit smith.
Ilea is expected to travel south with the charming, many thousand year old former King Maro Invalar. He's still married and a powerful necromancer.
I'm sure there will be a summery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2025
Писнало ли ви е от заплетени, претенциозни фентъзита, пълни с интриги, сложни човешки взаимоотношения и връзки, тайнствени и древни загадки, мрачни пророчества и други отдавна издишали клишета на жанра?
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
June 13, 2025
Pretty good continuation of the story. I just picked up the next one in the series, so will probably start on that in the next few weeks. Liked this portion of the story, since it often went directions I didn't expect, and, whether I like it or not, that's always a good thing in my book, because it means I'm surprised by where the story goes, and story surprises are usually a good thing. But in any case, the main character makes some new friends, probably creates more enemies, helps get revenge, discovers a long lost kingdom, and levels a lot (did I mention I really like the levels). I like this story arc so far, and certainly hope the story keeps delivering the laugh out loud moments I've come to associate with this series.
December 26, 2023
Ilea's story continues, first with an arc about revenge both of new and old friends and later about exploration and growing stronger without all the baggage that comes with the politics of humans in the human lands. I like the series for its characters, its decent representation of a system and intriguing world building. It is clearly a web novel in origin though and sometimes chapters keep dragging on and there is not always a plot beyond the slice-of-life of getting stronger including a rather long arc at the end. I wouldn't mind slightly shorter volumes though. O well, a very good read even if it took me some time finish it.
January 15, 2024
Ilea finds a new group of friends to fight in dungeon with & she faces Praetorians
This story revolves aroud Ilea going north to get stronger and fight monsters insted of humans. She finds new friends of all spiecies and reach the three hundreds in level before facing Pretorians again in battle.
I liked all the new characters: Elfie, the smith, the fox, the dwarf and his robot armour and the necromancer king with his high charisma.
Great fun! I recommend this book for reader that like main character that fights almost all the time, Ilia is a battle fanatic through & through!
She even manages to meet with a shadow Elder after she reaches above 300 in level!
This story revolves aroud Ilea going north to get stronger and fight monsters insted of humans. She finds new friends of all spiecies and reach the three hundreds in level before facing Pretorians again in battle.
I liked all the new characters: Elfie, the smith, the fox, the dwarf and his robot armour and the necromancer king with his high charisma.
Great fun! I recommend this book for reader that like main character that fights almost all the time, Ilia is a battle fanatic through & through!
She even manages to meet with a shadow Elder after she reaches above 300 in level!
February 9, 2024
I can't believe it my first +10★ read I have never even considered giving a 10 before but this was truly amazing. Definitely my favorite read.
This was one of those books that you never want to end. I was so happy when I was 64% in and there were still 6:45 hours to go! This was so good! Incredibly fun. Nothing compares. The world building was amazing.
Characters 10
Writing 10
Plot 10
Entertainment 10
Bonus for world building +1
10.3★
Quotes:
”Do not underestimate the hate one species can hold for another, the hate one can hold for the unknown.” - Caetlyn’s
”There are always two people in a relationship.” - Ilea
This was one of those books that you never want to end. I was so happy when I was 64% in and there were still 6:45 hours to go! This was so good! Incredibly fun. Nothing compares. The world building was amazing.
Characters 10
Writing 10
Plot 10
Entertainment 10
Bonus for world building +1
10.3★
Quotes:
”Do not underestimate the hate one species can hold for another, the hate one can hold for the unknown.” - Caetlyn’s
”There are always two people in a relationship.” - Ilea
February 11, 2024
The quality of each book in this series has declined, mainly due to the repetitive nature of the storytelling. The protagonist, Ilea, consistently battles monsters that are significantly stronger than her level, allowing her to level up rapidly and undergo class evolutions. These evolutions come with increasingly random prerequisites but offer better rewards. However, despite being presented with multiple evolution options, the narrative always selects the final option, rendering the discussion of alternatives pointless. This predictability extends from the plot to the characters, who have become more one-dimensional over time.
October 23, 2024
Third book in a fantasy LitRPG series with light isekai and system elements. One of the very few LitRPG series I have read with a female protagonist. In the first half of the book Ilea is focused on helping friends get justice and the second half of the book focuses on Ilea going to a new area by herself, grinding for levels, and making new friends. I did like the grinding parts since she has multiple reasons for getting stronger. I like that Ilea continues to make friends in strange places including with races that are generally not friendly to humans. I'm addicted to this series at this point and I don't want it to end.
September 10, 2025
Plot!? Did anyone find the plot?!
The book is split in two parts.
Part one has a small plot involving getting her group back and helping one get revenge. It was slow and filled with politics that drove Ilia crazy.
Part two had a more esoteric plot of running away from current problems and fighting one's fear. The second part was most of the book and for the most part SO boring!! It introduced new characters and beings that were never hinted at in the other books. We were also introduced to a war that MIGHT be in later books? Otherwise that part of the book didn't seem to hold much value except to piss off our main character.
Anyway, I hope you have fun!!
The book is split in two parts.
Part one has a small plot involving getting her group back and helping one get revenge. It was slow and filled with politics that drove Ilia crazy.
Part two had a more esoteric plot of running away from current problems and fighting one's fear. The second part was most of the book and for the most part SO boring!! It introduced new characters and beings that were never hinted at in the other books. We were also introduced to a war that MIGHT be in later books? Otherwise that part of the book didn't seem to hold much value except to piss off our main character.
Anyway, I hope you have fun!!
November 10, 2025
Azarinth Healer 3 by Rhaegar is a book cut in two. The first third or so is spent wrapping up the earlier arc, while the remaining two-thirds are their own thing in the lands far to the north. I will say there is a lot to like about Ilea hanging out in what was supposed to be a no man's land, but after a certain point the setting seemed to lose some of its uniqueness. We also encounter our first Elf, and then a few more, that are not psychopathic killers, so that was fun. Overall, its fun. Very shounen in some ways, but that's not a bad thing. Some of the characters are a bit too stupid for me though, and many of the awakened are far too weak for the setting they are in. Still, enjoyable.
December 28, 2025
Read this book on my Kindle.
Pros: The combat- the world- the progress. It's what it's all about. The main character, when confronted with problems, gets stronger until she can confront the problems. She breaks down walls, makes things happen, and if she stops being invested? She leaves and does something else. I love it. More worldbuilding, more lore, more fun characters with their own hopes and dreams.
Cons: Could have been tightened up a bit, but not by much.
All in all, I'm here for it.
Would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy combat and a female main character who does not stop.
Will read again.
Pros: The combat- the world- the progress. It's what it's all about. The main character, when confronted with problems, gets stronger until she can confront the problems. She breaks down walls, makes things happen, and if she stops being invested? She leaves and does something else. I love it. More worldbuilding, more lore, more fun characters with their own hopes and dreams.
Cons: Could have been tightened up a bit, but not by much.
All in all, I'm here for it.
Would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy combat and a female main character who does not stop.
Will read again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews