Climbing the Ranks II

Climbing the Ranks #2

by Tao Wong

Arthur's cleared the first floor of the dungeon. More than that, with his new ally in Cassie Chin, he's got a real chance of building his Clan. The problem is, his alliance is contingent on them pushing ahead fast to allow the Chin to make full use of their Clan Halls.

The Benevolent Durians are on a speed run, but in a Tower where levels are multi-kilometers long at times, with cultivation requirements and new enemies all around, how fast is too fast?

Climbing the Ranks is a LitRPG Cultivation series set in a tower, similar to the Tower of Gods and Solo Leveling. Written by bestselling author Tao Wong, his other series include the System Apocalypse, A Thousand Li, Hidden Universe and Adventures on Brad series.

Genres: Litrpg, Fantasy

869 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2024

About the author

Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books.

When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

[Tao Wong]

Thank you all for continuing to read Climbing the Ranks. I know it's not exactly what most people expect from a tower climber or cultivation series, especially if you'd read A Thousand Li. On the other hand, I hope the addition of the Benevolent Durians has added some interesting new aspects of the world, as we'll be seeing more of them in book 3 and, importantly, the second arc (4+).

I recently took up a spear workshop, that taught a bunch of new spear techniques to me. It's fascinating learning about various martial arts, and how the length of a spear and just general intended use has changed styles and training philosophies.

Not surprisingly, Arthur's mostly trained in Chinese spear techniques, and the shorter spears rather than the long ones. Extra long spears are great for working in an army, shoulder-to-shoulder with another; but not as useful when you're alone. Short spear techniques are similar, somewhat, to staff techniques with more stabs, quick direction changes and methods of extracting stuck spears.

I'll probably bring more detailed spear fighting techniques in future books. Not surprisingly, the next few chapters are going to feature the final climb; including what I hope to be somewhat interesting biomes and a real 10th floor challenge.

Psst... did you know you can read Climbing the Ranks for free on Starlit Publishing?

Once you're done Book 2, start Book 3 now: https://starlitpublishing.com/blogs/c...

[Courtney Lake]

This was an enjoyable sequel to the first book.

I give this one four starts instead of five because I felt like the plot kind of stalled out. While it was still a good read, and the description of the battles, learning the tower skills and techniques, and general progression of the characters skills was beautiful and relevant, overall we didn't make as much headway in the tower as I was hoping.

The enemies in this version were new and descriptive, and I appreciate that for the most part there's only ever 3 or so things to keep track of bad-guy wise in one section. As we keep adding new characters, that's the current challenge to keep up with. Also the cultivation scenes, while still present, aren't as lengthy, meaning we see more of the action, which I appreciated!

We see Arthur and his team racing to the top of the tower to set a record, while having to balance the need the build a solid foundation for the clan long term. I felt like in this book, Arthur really started to understand the impact his choices were having on the others, and how the ripples would continue to spread both inside and outside of the tower. We're starting to get into Game of Thrones level planning and scheming, how do you forge ahead, while ensuring you can trust those you leave behind. How do you communicate when there's only a one way flow? Very engaging!

It was good to see Arthur having to depend on himself again, and validating his own skills as a solo adventurer, not as part of a team. At some times, you start to wonder if he's really skilled, or if he's riding the coat tails of the others, but he does actually have his own strengths other than sassiness to bring.

The only part that didn't sit right with me was when they ran into his "Seniors". That whole dynamic felt… off. It might be due to not be familiar with Malay culture and the respect/deference that goes along with elder siblings or classmates. I'm generally feeling very suspicious of them.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this books straight after reading book one as I was invited to read book two as an advanced reading copy for free and felt I should start at the beginning. You probably don't need to do that, the books are fairly generic so if you've read other lit RPG, played the video games, or watched the anime you can understand this book without needing to read the much slower book one of the series...which might be a good idea as this book is better.

There are still major flaws with the book and the characters, the MC is annoying with his weird thing about rhyming (which he's not even good at) and I'm finding the "we have to be smart about things" talks just before he does something dumb but somehow always comes out on top very grating, but at least it's moving fast now since they are on the speedrun. I'm also happy that the author hasn't tried to explain the Towers and how or why they work, not sure there is a way that wouldn't seem forced or stupid, it's maybe better for there to be that mystery around them

If there was the option to give 3.5 that's where I'd put this. It's an easy and enjoyable enough read, and I'll be happy to read the next book in the series to find out more about where the story goes from here and in the hope the next book is better again.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Climbing the Ranks book 2 picks up where book 1 left off, and it does a pretty good job of following the main character, and his efforts to build a clan in the tower, and overall, the story was fairly decent, I honestly thought it fell far short of the first book. Too much political maneuvering, too many paying off idiots that blocked their way instead of finding solutions to work around said idiots, taking 145 chapters to move up 2 or three floors, and behaving not at all like they did in the first book. I'll probably read the next one in the series, but honestly, I'm not really caring all that much about whether or not they manage to clear the tower or not at this point.

[William Hoyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second installment in Tao Wong's "Climbing the Ranks" series is a thrill a minute. Tight writing, a breathless pace, and an ever-increasing amount complexity to manage for the main character. Group dynamics, time pressure, and all flavors of politics make for a relentless balancing act that keeps the story on a knife's edge.

You need to read book one before you read this one, but you should absolutely do that, and then grab this. You'll be glad you did!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Aaron Sher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting expansion

The first book was pretty typical LitRPG fare, if well done. This one, in addition to exposing more of the Tower and its secrets, starts expanding into politics and even hinting at things to come beyond this Tower. It's an interesting world and one I'm looking forward to seeing more of.

[Tony Fecteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2nd in the series does not disappoint. We have tower climbing friends along with Clan business mixed in. Lots of politics and lots of fighting in the tower. A speed run through a dangerous tower? Why not! A very enjoyable read.

[Shaft · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with this series is that at least for me it is too grindy. The fights go on and on. Almost every fight here feels like a boss fight in other books. It is also very tedious in places, which yes is an easy thing for a litrpg series but I was perhaps hoping for more from Tao Wong.

[Johnie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read

I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action.