A Trek Through Time

Jake's Magical Market #2

by J.R. Mathews

The long-awaited sequel to Jake’s Magical Market is finally here—and now with more market!

Well, not quite yet. First, Jake has to survive a perilous trek through time if he ever hopes to return home to his friends, his market, and his former world.

The last time we saw our intrepid hero, Jake had barely managed to escape being trapped on a dead version of his own world. Using a combination of his new powers, he threw himself backward through time, back to when the god that trapped him first rose to power. There, Jake snatched divinity from the hands of the ascending god, consuming it for himself without any regard for the consequences of his actions.

In a surprise twist, such a poorly thought-out plan came with some serious downsides!

Now Jake has a big target painted on his back. The jealous gods of this world are hungry for divine power and not afraid to kill another god to get it. Stuck in the past, Jake must learn to navigate a world full of desperate gods, wild monsters, bizarre powers, and weird “cultivating” mortals who claim they can become just as powerful as the gods themselves—as long as they get to sit around contemplating the mysteries of the universe for a few hundred years first.

Join Jake on his next grand adventure as he learns what it means to be a newly ascended divinity, how to survive in such a strange new world, and how he might just have an unexpected edge on everyone and everything that’s out to get him—by learning how to craft his own magical cards!


**With 4.7-stars and over 11,000 reviews on Amazon/Audible, this sequel is a must-read for fans of Gamelit novels, wild adventures, and stories about regular people traveling to strange new worlds. Also, stay tuned for the third book in the series, which is gonna be even bigger, crazier, and full of even more magical cards. And it’s coming out in just a couple of months!**

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Time Travel, Fiction, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

444 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 4, 2024

Reviews

[Nick A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing the fun and adventurous feeling of the 1st

Unfortunately this novel doesn’t seem to posses and of the luster of the first. Instead of a fun magical adventure with a growing main character, we have the viewpoint of someone who battles anxiety, depression, isolationism, and just general sadness. It was not a pleasant read.

The story starts with a complete 180 from the previous book. Leaving literally everything that happened completely behind. It’s more accurate to say that this is the start of a new series. Author seems to have forgotten key aspects of the previous story, like combining cards for increased power. Jake is given powers that he doesn’t seem to use (slime clone). Main character is always stuck in those campy situations where if he just communicated properly things would work out. In fact, that’s the entire backbone of the story’s plot.

Overall, it’s a very depressing read. Fun, levity, and adventurous spirit of the previous novel was missing. Too bad.

[Roberto Flores · Rating 1 out of 5]

Leaves out the market, the only good part from book one.

This takes the worst part of a cultivators book and a time book, and smashes them together. I was extremely disappointed with the direction.

[Mason · Rating 2 out of 5]

spoiler warning

This book was all over the place. And just seemed generally directionless. No character growth at all. MC goes from killing people instantly to feeling bad for pretty girls who try to kill him. Sprinkle in some virtue signaling. In fact, he makes it a point to empower every single female character in his book. They're all super confident and strong characters. That and the MC is just generally effeminate in situations that have no reason for him to be. Not my cup.

[Dawid L Crook · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bom

Enjoyed the first book and looked forward to this volume but I could not finish it. Really, I mean the book just felt Whiney all the way and gave me a literary TMJ.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think author completely forgot the market aspect and has fully invested himself down the crafting path. I don't have a problem with it, but the book is not called Jake the Crafty God... In hindsight it should have been. Hope the Author turns down the WHINEY attitude a little bit. MC is absolutely pitiful, he takes an Oath to do anything and everything to protect his world, and yet chickens out when it comes to killing God, who has killed him a couple of times, only coz she's Pretty?? What happened to EVERYTHING POSSIBLE?

[Chitalu Andrew Kabalika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Directionless.

In a word that is what I will describe this book as. I really enjoyed the first book despite popular opinion being that the second half fell off. I can see that most readers were right because I feel that book 2 continues to meander with Jake lacking clear direction.

Honestly, he shouldn't have confused the plot with all the talk of magic, cultivation etc. J.R. Matthews has the technical ability to write, but he should work on his plot construction, story pacing and character writing.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would recommend only reading the first chapter.

If you fail to take my advice, be prepared for irrationality and pure stupidity from the MC. He does over and over again. He could have a) moved to a new city and strengthened himself in secret or b) rememberes the gods and goddesses of this world are trying to kill him and respond accordingly.

The first book is about cards powering the MC, the second book is about cultivation, and I am left to wonder what new source of power will be introduced in the third book.

[Jan-Richard Thommesen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not only did the mc travel back in time his personality did too, all the growth from the previous book is wiped out. Hard to listen to a mc whine that much. Audiobook probably made it worse.

[Wilhelm Eyrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems to abandon everything that made the first book good, well… just abandoned everything. Didn’t seem to care about anything that was happening because it doesn’t seem like there are stakes and you’re just waiting for him to get back home.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake is back to pick up where book one left off. In a whole new world, all alone, just taking on the powers of a god. And while this is a continuation of Jake's story in all other ways this is practically a new start. The setting has changed, the characters are gone, even the magic system is completely different. Such a shift is a big risk and I don't think it paid off. Going back to the start but with none of the charm, novelty, or fun. I don't think it's as bad as some reviewers say, and there are some concerning views in those reviews, though I do think it was as step down.

I liked most of the new characters, would have been good to flesh them our more. The MC is honestly the character I liked least, having learned very little and repeating mistakes. Sure, real people are like that but I expect character growth in my books. If you liked the first book, give this one a try. I'll pick up the final book to see how it ends, but I'm concerned how it will all be wrapped up in one book.

[Randy Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

I’m very disappointed in this book I was very much hoping that we would continue to see growth in Jake’s character. But it feels like it the beginning of this book a big reset button was pushed, and his intelligence and his personal growth was reverted to the first day of the first book. It is like all of training and adaptability was lost. It feels like the author is trying to reenact Jake’s growth from the first book.

[unknown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Answers the question: what if the main character of a cultivation novel was an idiot?
Not very enjoyable.

[Devan · Rating 4 out of 5]

CardLit + Cultivation

I really enjoyed this. The way the author blended CardLit and cultivation was extremely interesting.

I hate stupid MCs though. A goddess successfully kills you over and over, but when you finally beat her you don’t kill her? Despite her swearing she will never stop trying to kill you? That’s just dumb. 4 stars.

[Ashley Scow · Rating 5 out of 5]

11/14/24 - Easily one of my favorite series. Listening to Jake’s adventure again has been wonderful and just as satisfying as before!

2/28/24 - I listened as quickly yet methodically as possible; I didn’t want the book to end! I am enthralled and enraptured with Jake’s adventurous journey and all his companions he meets along the way. I adore this series can’t wait to see what else JR Mathews has in store!

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but it kinda suffers from the same issue as the first book, where it doesn't really know what it is and it has very little to do with first book.

Interesting to read though.

[Katie Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Series Review:

This series took me on quite the journey over three quite long books. All of the reviews that say these books are chaotic and all over the place are correct. However, it really worked for me here. The journey Jake takes us on is whacky and ever evolving. What I loved about this series was the personal evolution and growth Jake experiences. This is a world where insane things happen and anything is on the table, but Jake is just a normal guy trying to find his way. He desperately holds on to people and things that hinder his daily life. He is forced to learn to let go of the past in order to make the most of the present. I think this was a lesson I needed to hear from this book at the time I read it. If you are willing to let a book take you on a journey, even when it goes off the rails, then I highly recommend this! Book 3 gave me a good cry and has the sweetest messages about friendship and trust for those of us that struggle with self isolation. Depression is a major theme of this series and something I thought was very accurately depicted and dealt with in a way that made me give much thought to the relationships in my own life. All in all, if you want a story about a guy running a magical market this may not be for you. However, if you are open to a thematic journey discussing depression, relationships, and loss, give this story a try. It was quite beautiful :)

[Jon Svenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book two starts with Jake fighting gods. Or more specifically, Jake getting trampled by gods. I did struggle with the first 10% of the book because of this, but once the story begins it gets better.

Jake is on a proto-Earth before everything that happened in book one occurred. He wants to destroy the nine gods who destroyed Earth (and all other Earths in the multiverse) but to do that he needs to get stronger. Jake is strong, but not god strong.

I won't spoil what comes next. The editing is fine but not great, and the stats are plenty and detailed for people who enjoy them. Jake is very reactive in book two, which isn't usually how most adventure stories go. Stuff happens and then Jake has to figure out how to deal with it, and it might take him two or three times before he does.

As some other reviewers have mentioned, book two isn't as good as book 1. Book two comes across as more polished, but it looses the charm and creativity book one had. I hope we get that back in book three. 5/5*

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

ADHD, the LitRPG series continues.

The first book began with Jake opening a magic store in the aftermath of a system apocalypse. This book starts with Jake as a newly minted god in the distant past of the first book.

The plot here makes more sense than the plot in the first book, but it still doesn't advance in any sensible way. In part, that's because of the time traveling nature of the book, but only in part. The author seems to not be interested in narrative flow. And that's without considering branching timelines.

Fortunately, the individual sections of the book are written well enough. Mathews writes good combat scenes and does a decent job of writing power grinding without too much tedium. And it looks as though this is just a three-book series, so the next book should close out all of the hanging storylines.

I would not recommend this book unreservedly, but it's a decent choice for LitRPG fans.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. It's a great story but completely different than the first. I'm not a huge fan of time travel stories but it was better than I expected. I thought the narrator did a great job of picking up where Travis left off. I had a hard time rating this because although the story is great, it's not what I wanted from this series. I will still read the third though.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two

I've been waiting for this one to come out for awhile.
I remember in my review of book one I said that I wasn't sure what the author could do since making the MC a god had felt like a dead end to me.
I was wrong. Watching the MC as he grows into his power is pretty impressive.
There are parts where I thought that the story dragged a bit, but I was always interested in what was coming next.

7/10 Remember that this is just my opinion and yours might be different.

[William Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

good stuff

Honestly, almost too much. I liked it, but it may not be to everyone’s taste.

MC remains OP and somewhat obtuse; social interactions are not his forte. He has too many advantages and too many different power sets, often overlooking simple answers for complicated.

A lot of crafting, but mostly by handwavium and not technical skill.

While there are hints of ‘adult’ stuff, there’s nothing risqué.

I am very interested in seeing where this leads.

[Rasheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new VA performed really well and stayed true to the previous guy. Overall a great squeal to the story but I am not sure why the mc is trying to relive the past when his present sounds so much more interesting.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. This book was much more detailed than the first. Instead of flying through multiple ordeals, the MC was essentially dealing with one quest. Unfortunately for me, I found the focus a little less interesting than some of the quests from the first book. I will continue to book 3

[A.R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series keeps getting weirder. It can't decide if it's a cultivation novel, a litrpg, or something else. Jake also is a bit of an idiot, but entertaining. Overall a solid read.

[Holger Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying it's a good book and if you'd liked the first, you will probably enjoy this one as well.

I also want to say that I am not one who wants authors to write the story I prefer, but the one they want to write.

That said, I kind of hated the last quarter for the simple reason the MC decided not to kill someone. I could understand if he was against violence or killing, but that's not true. The character in question literally killed the MC before, they are insane and have something, the MC needs. He killed earlier for less and later for basically the same reasons that would apply here.

It felt like this decision needed to happen for reasons in the third book without making any sense in this one... I really disliked it. Not the decision against killing, but the lack of a reason, coherent or not.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abandoned the LitRPG comedy and went cultivation in this one. New world building and “rules” just keep getting thrown on top of the last.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being honest... The first book lacked pacing and oftentimes skipped over world-building to prioritize pushing the plot along... That's bad... but not unforgivable...

This book though? This book reads like the author wrote down every power system commonly implemented in other popular litrpg's and decided that he would implement all of the system's into his book to power up his MC. The result? About half the book is about describing power systems rather then meaningfully progressing the plot, which is whiplash from the first book imho. It also doesn't help that the character got significantly more "wishy-washy" in his motivations and convictions, which just makes the character seem... meh.

I didn't really enjoy the read, so I guess I will probably just drop it rather then pick up the final.

[Mr. J · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, the new narrator was perfectly fine. It's been a few years since the first book was released, no harm no foul.
That said, this seems like a completely separate book than the first book. The first book was a wholesome slice of life, deck building isekai litRPG. This became something completely different. I suppose the deck building was still there in a minor, but it felt more like an afterthought to keep some connection to the first book.
Maybe as a stand-alone book, it would be great. As a follow-on to a first book that set some expectations about the story, it falls flat.

[Ace Bowls · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm disappointed in this sequel. It throws out all the charm of the first book and becomes a hodgepodge of power sources that obscures any sense of scale or power gain of the MC. Cards, energy manipulation, God's and divinity, cultivators... The mix is not handled well. The MC stops being clever and instead bumbles around like an idiot. Who writes down all their powers with notes on weaknesses and short comings along with your ignorance in a world that very clearly told you has a God that can instantly know everything written down.

[JD Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

i really enjoyed the first book. alot.

but the second and third books i would describe as magically schizophrenic.

the powers are from the cards.
no wait, the runes.
no wait, being oathbound.
no wait, cultivating.
no wait, using mage chaos energy.
no wait... it goes on and on.