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Elemental Gatherers #8
Innovation City: A Portal Cultivation Fantasy Saga
Chaos looms over the beloved realm of Zemia. As Darkness and Light confront their greatest challenge, the Chosen – Aiden, Anthony, and Julia – wield newfound powers to combat the encroaching forces. With a blend of magic, cultivation, and strategic brilliance, the trio must revolutionize armor designs and unlock ancient enchantments. In a world teetering on the brink, 'Innovation City' unfolds a tale of sacrifice, redemption, and the relentless pursuit of salvation. Will Aiden's barony on the edge of the Great Western Forest be enough to stem the tide, or will Chaos consume all?
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 1, 2024
122 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Chris Vines
14 books215 followersI am an Air Force Veteran and graduate of the Air Force Academy. I have wanted to write for the entire of my adult life and finally decided to just do it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 3, 2024
OK but predictable and confusing.
And yet another book ends with the main character, heavily damaged after a nearly impossible fight. This is beginning to become very predictable. And yet there are many parts in the book which are very confusing like for example when he decided to describe the steam train and then later he did it again to the same person, saying oh I didn’t tell you about the train. Then there is the main character constantly being injured in combat because he decides to daydream or just become distracted by what’s going on around him. One would think that would be something they would train out of you in a fighting school. Then there is how many times do you fall for the same trick? “ Come quickly we have an ambush set up for you.”
And yet another book ends with the main character, heavily damaged after a nearly impossible fight. This is beginning to become very predictable. And yet there are many parts in the book which are very confusing like for example when he decided to describe the steam train and then later he did it again to the same person, saying oh I didn’t tell you about the train. Then there is the main character constantly being injured in combat because he decides to daydream or just become distracted by what’s going on around him. One would think that would be something they would train out of you in a fighting school. Then there is how many times do you fall for the same trick? “ Come quickly we have an ambush set up for you.”
February 27, 2024
more means more
Take what has come before; double it; again; now you’re getting there.
A good bit of crafting, some city building, several fights, and the MC somehow getting hurt…again.
The relationships are a bit weak. And everybody is kind of a goober.
I will continue to follow this series. It is interesting and consistent.
Take what has come before; double it; again; now you’re getting there.
A good bit of crafting, some city building, several fights, and the MC somehow getting hurt…again.
The relationships are a bit weak. And everybody is kind of a goober.
I will continue to follow this series. It is interesting and consistent.
March 14, 2024
feels short and too fast
Similar to the last book, this one feels like the entire thing is maybe one or two days of stuff. Sure more time passes, with frequent short time skips to explain why the MC and his crew are getting better. But actual development and interesting stuff really feels minimal.
MC and his crew are even more OP and Mary Sur than they have been in previous books, and I’m not sure if I will continue to read this. I greatly enjoy the idea and general plot outline, but feel like it would have been executed much better if everything wasn’t so truncated.
The author continues to pile on stressors in the form of betrayals, traitors, and the general idea that the MC has little time. This means the MC must grow quickly to combat all these issues. This is where the story goes downhill, as now the already ridiculously fast power up of the MC in the previous books needs to get even faster or he will lose.
Combine all of this with the poorly done harem aspect. Anytime the MC sees one of his three lovers he absolutely must make a comment about but gorgeous they are. Middle of combat, crisis, or random conversation, and still the thought goes through his head. He also constantly wonders why they love him or how he deserves this, and the whole relationship gets old quickly.
My last gripe is that the MC is a paragon of good, and hands out charity to anyone nearby. A random page who is so young he hasn’t even started to gather yet? Give him powders and offer techniques. A random receptionist? Tell her the end of the world is coming, giver her powder, and suddenly she advances past what she thought was the end of her cultivation journey. His telling of secrets that might cause huge amounts of … chaos… to the public if not handled well, and just expecting people to be fine with this, is so naive it’s ridiculous that the king and his mentors would sit back and watch him. Realistically when people start hearing this ‘hero of the kingdom’ spouting about the advance of Chaos and Death, speaking of these gods by name who are on or above the level of Light and Darkness, do you think they will be calm or maybe they will freak the fuck out?
Similar to the last book, this one feels like the entire thing is maybe one or two days of stuff. Sure more time passes, with frequent short time skips to explain why the MC and his crew are getting better. But actual development and interesting stuff really feels minimal.
MC and his crew are even more OP and Mary Sur than they have been in previous books, and I’m not sure if I will continue to read this. I greatly enjoy the idea and general plot outline, but feel like it would have been executed much better if everything wasn’t so truncated.
The author continues to pile on stressors in the form of betrayals, traitors, and the general idea that the MC has little time. This means the MC must grow quickly to combat all these issues. This is where the story goes downhill, as now the already ridiculously fast power up of the MC in the previous books needs to get even faster or he will lose.
Combine all of this with the poorly done harem aspect. Anytime the MC sees one of his three lovers he absolutely must make a comment about but gorgeous they are. Middle of combat, crisis, or random conversation, and still the thought goes through his head. He also constantly wonders why they love him or how he deserves this, and the whole relationship gets old quickly.
My last gripe is that the MC is a paragon of good, and hands out charity to anyone nearby. A random page who is so young he hasn’t even started to gather yet? Give him powders and offer techniques. A random receptionist? Tell her the end of the world is coming, giver her powder, and suddenly she advances past what she thought was the end of her cultivation journey. His telling of secrets that might cause huge amounts of … chaos… to the public if not handled well, and just expecting people to be fine with this, is so naive it’s ridiculous that the king and his mentors would sit back and watch him. Realistically when people start hearing this ‘hero of the kingdom’ spouting about the advance of Chaos and Death, speaking of these gods by name who are on or above the level of Light and Darkness, do you think they will be calm or maybe they will freak the fuck out?
April 23, 2024
Pretty good story, but too much details on alchemy for my taste
The MC is elevated to a baron and is betrothed to 3 women. Assassins and a campaign of fake news plagues him as he attempts to uplift citizens of his country. Of course some entrenched interests see this as a bad thing. The god of death and chaos have their minions and cultists doing all they can to undermine his efforts as well.
I felt that there was too much time spent on cultivation and alchemy theory, which took away from advancing the storyline. In addition, a recap of the characters would be helpful as Im forgetting some of the supporting character's roles. This doesn't include the MC's 3 girlfriends, his bond Sia and his mentor as there is enough background info to refresh our mememories of who they are. Still, this is a very interesting series, I just hope for more storyline and less mysticism. This doesn't mean abandon it, just cut it back to a supporting role in advancing the storyline and maybe some more background on the gods' conflict.
The MC is elevated to a baron and is betrothed to 3 women. Assassins and a campaign of fake news plagues him as he attempts to uplift citizens of his country. Of course some entrenched interests see this as a bad thing. The god of death and chaos have their minions and cultists doing all they can to undermine his efforts as well.
I felt that there was too much time spent on cultivation and alchemy theory, which took away from advancing the storyline. In addition, a recap of the characters would be helpful as Im forgetting some of the supporting character's roles. This doesn't include the MC's 3 girlfriends, his bond Sia and his mentor as there is enough background info to refresh our mememories of who they are. Still, this is a very interesting series, I just hope for more storyline and less mysticism. This doesn't mean abandon it, just cut it back to a supporting role in advancing the storyline and maybe some more background on the gods' conflict.
January 23, 2025
Time for that annoying protag behaving like an immature child.
Of course the protag can't keep a secret to save his life, so he continuously finds a way to tell every stranger he meets that he is from another world.
This has long reached pissing me off territory many books ago. Him continuing to do it just shows how immature the protag is, or that this is marketed towards the gullible YA crowd.
This was so long, and so boring. This was just the idiot protag going around for most of the book spilling his secrets, while some stuff to move the plot along happened.
I don't even know if I want the sequel, having had gone through this.
This was so boring, and the mental dichotomy the protag displays is beyond confusing.
2/5 Stars
Of course the protag can't keep a secret to save his life, so he continuously finds a way to tell every stranger he meets that he is from another world.
This has long reached pissing me off territory many books ago. Him continuing to do it just shows how immature the protag is, or that this is marketed towards the gullible YA crowd.
This was so long, and so boring. This was just the idiot protag going around for most of the book spilling his secrets, while some stuff to move the plot along happened.
I don't even know if I want the sequel, having had gone through this.
This was so boring, and the mental dichotomy the protag displays is beyond confusing.
2/5 Stars
February 29, 2024
From excellent, to amazing, and somehow beyond!
I have loved this story all the way from book one through the present. It does feel a bit like buying myself an amazing present every time a new book in this series is published, so dad joke/pun accomplished! Seriously though if you enjoy stories of cultivators, magic academies, and the like then I strongly encourage you to give this series a try at least to the end of the first book! Heck even if you don't absolutely love those types of tales, I still recommend reading this story. I hope you enjoy it as much or more than I do.
I have loved this story all the way from book one through the present. It does feel a bit like buying myself an amazing present every time a new book in this series is published, so dad joke/pun accomplished! Seriously though if you enjoy stories of cultivators, magic academies, and the like then I strongly encourage you to give this series a try at least to the end of the first book! Heck even if you don't absolutely love those types of tales, I still recommend reading this story. I hope you enjoy it as much or more than I do.
March 11, 2024
Rating 3.0 stars - DNF
This is a weird one. How can it be 3 stars and a DNF? I guess I am rating the whole series. I really liked the earlier books, but I haven't gotten tired of the story the last couple of books. It is the same thing over and over again. It is interesting at first, but a story needs more than that to keep my attention. The characters are really boring. It was easy to overlook that earlier because the crafting and magic system was interesting. Once the novelty wore off it became much more obvious the problems with the book. I got 75% through the story and realized it wasn't worth it anymore. It was taking forever for me to get through it, and I just didn't care.
This is a weird one. How can it be 3 stars and a DNF? I guess I am rating the whole series. I really liked the earlier books, but I haven't gotten tired of the story the last couple of books. It is the same thing over and over again. It is interesting at first, but a story needs more than that to keep my attention. The characters are really boring. It was easy to overlook that earlier because the crafting and magic system was interesting. Once the novelty wore off it became much more obvious the problems with the book. I got 75% through the story and realized it wasn't worth it anymore. It was taking forever for me to get through it, and I just didn't care.
May 23, 2025
Another excellent book in this series!
I've been binge reading this series and have been thoroughly pulled into Aiden's story. I really like that he works very hard to improve his personal strength and abilities, those around him, his countrymen, and those of their three ally countries, too. He can't do all of that alone, of course, and has excellent support from friends, family, etc.
Even so, he still struggles and has a fair amount of near death experiences and being pushed to his limits.
I'm looking forward to the next book. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the major attack along their border and the new city and villages.
I've been binge reading this series and have been thoroughly pulled into Aiden's story. I really like that he works very hard to improve his personal strength and abilities, those around him, his countrymen, and those of their three ally countries, too. He can't do all of that alone, of course, and has excellent support from friends, family, etc.
Even so, he still struggles and has a fair amount of near death experiences and being pushed to his limits.
I'm looking forward to the next book. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the major attack along their border and the new city and villages.
April 8, 2024
This felt more like a side novel, an anthology of short stories and vignettes, some of which felt like abandoned, undeveloped or rushed ideas: the storylines involving Captain Svik, the sporadic appearance of protesters and assassins, the visit to Sia's mother felt so abbreviated as to be pointless or the mayoral interviews. The entire premise of the book seemed to suggest a city-building tangent and in the end, we got a bit of gardening. The only elements that got an overabundance of detail were crafting and cultivating.
I enjoy this series and am hopeful for a more complete next book.
I enjoy this series and am hopeful for a more complete next book.
June 17, 2025
Fantastic Fantasy
Chris has written one of the best series I have read in over 50 years . The world he has built is amazing in it's depth and scope . The characters are fantastic and their personalities intriguing. The authors military background shows in many battle scenes .Bravery , brotherhood , sacrifice are all part of all our heroes. He weaves the content into intriguing actions and results . I have read all this series and I am sure you will enjoy as well . Thanks Mr. Chris Vines and thanks for the journey !
Chris has written one of the best series I have read in over 50 years . The world he has built is amazing in it's depth and scope . The characters are fantastic and their personalities intriguing. The authors military background shows in many battle scenes .Bravery , brotherhood , sacrifice are all part of all our heroes. He weaves the content into intriguing actions and results . I have read all this series and I am sure you will enjoy as well . Thanks Mr. Chris Vines and thanks for the journey !
February 26, 2024
incredibly gripping series
Great continuation of the series that leaves you excited for the next chapter. Each book takes place over a short period of time yet shows constant development. This book demonstrates how easy it is for people to feed on hate and lies to the detriment of everyone.
Great continuation of the series that leaves you excited for the next chapter. Each book takes place over a short period of time yet shows constant development. This book demonstrates how easy it is for people to feed on hate and lies to the detriment of everyone.
March 2, 2024
Climactic
A great continuation of this series. I re-read the first Seven to make sure I didn't miss any of the epic episodes of this series. Don't miss out on a great climax in this book getting ready for more to come. Mr Vines writes with feelings and passion in his stories.
You will enjoy every part. ...
Tom
A great continuation of this series. I re-read the first Seven to make sure I didn't miss any of the epic episodes of this series. Don't miss out on a great climax in this book getting ready for more to come. Mr Vines writes with feelings and passion in his stories.
You will enjoy every part. ...
Tom
March 9, 2024
Don't make me wait another year!!
Like any drug, I need more than once a year.
Please write faster. I know to write a good story takes time but l went a war, and won less than a year.
I truly like your writing, Please keep writing, just faster.
Tomjhogan@charter.net (Tom Doc Hogan USN/Ret
Like any drug, I need more than once a year.
Please write faster. I know to write a good story takes time but l went a war, and won less than a year.
I truly like your writing, Please keep writing, just faster.
Tomjhogan@charter.net (Tom Doc Hogan USN/Ret
April 12, 2024
Another great instalment
There is less action in this instalment, but Aiden's journey is definitely advancing at a good pace. I am looking forward to resolving some of the cliff hangers in the next book and learning more about the different conspiracies in the world the author has built.
There is less action in this instalment, but Aiden's journey is definitely advancing at a good pace. I am looking forward to resolving some of the cliff hangers in the next book and learning more about the different conspiracies in the world the author has built.
February 29, 2024
totally awesome
As with the rest of the story innovation city does not disappoint. Aiden and his friends are continuing their journey and the ending leaves you wanting to immediately start the next book.
As with the rest of the story innovation city does not disappoint. Aiden and his friends are continuing their journey and the ending leaves you wanting to immediately start the next book.
August 13, 2024
decent. ends abruptly
A great deal of setup in this one. Not much happens except minor advancement of the main character and some minor pinpoints inch along. The 4 way relationship is starting to annoy me a bit.
A great deal of setup in this one. Not much happens except minor advancement of the main character and some minor pinpoints inch along. The 4 way relationship is starting to annoy me a bit.
February 25, 2024
Fanfreakingtastic!
Fantastic book! I loved this book! Such amazing character development. I simply can not wait for the next book to come out!
Fantastic book! I loved this book! Such amazing character development. I simply can not wait for the next book to come out!
February 28, 2024
Great Series!
Love this series and a lot of good character development after the fun trip of the last few books. Can’t wait to see where the next one goes!
Love this series and a lot of good character development after the fun trip of the last few books. Can’t wait to see where the next one goes!
February 29, 2024
Great book
Stellar work once again from Chris Vines! Lots of action and adventure, building and magic. Looking forward to the next one.
Stellar work once again from Chris Vines! Lots of action and adventure, building and magic. Looking forward to the next one.
February 29, 2024
My favourite
Love this series the only problem I have with it is the usual the author can't write the next book fast enough to suit me!
Love this series the only problem I have with it is the usual the author can't write the next book fast enough to suit me!
March 25, 2024
Love these books
These books are great. There are some editing errors, but the story is riveting. I can never wait for the next book to come out. Every one is a binge worthy read.
These books are great. There are some editing errors, but the story is riveting. I can never wait for the next book to come out. Every one is a binge worthy read.
March 27, 2024
Cliffhangers suck major gonads!
April 7, 2024
Good
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
May 13, 2024
Cannot explain why I love this series so much. It's my relaxation read. It's my energetic read. I'm in love with the world and the characters. And now I have to wait AGAIN for the next book 😭.
June 9, 2024
Can't wait to see more from Aiden and his family and friends.
December 12, 2024
This series is still climbing
Great pace and character progression. I love the mix of world building components and good old dashing cultivating! Great job!
Great pace and character progression. I love the mix of world building components and good old dashing cultivating! Great job!
December 23, 2024
Great Series
I am looking forward to the next installment of this series. Great characters and interesting plots. I highly recommend this series if you enjoy this genre.
I am looking forward to the next installment of this series. Great characters and interesting plots. I highly recommend this series if you enjoy this genre.
March 24, 2024
great story
The only reason I gave it a four star review instead of a five star one is because of the rather abrupt ending. I think it was intended as a cliffhanger but just wasn’t successful.
The only reason I gave it a four star review instead of a five star one is because of the rather abrupt ending. I think it was intended as a cliffhanger but just wasn’t successful.
December 8, 2025
Aiden is promoted to a baron and with it comes the responsibility for building and managing a territory with the hope of expanding the Kingdom. Before he can do so though there are people to meet, things to arrange and training to undergo. Meanwhile the enemy is not relaxing either.
While I did enjoy the story, I must say that some aspects are grating me a bit. The slice-of-life aspects focussing on training and alchemy are expected even though I feel it might be reduced a bit to get more focus on the main plot (again mostly regulated to the end of the volume). I do have hope for a bit more progress in that regards in the next volume though considering the ending of this one (not a cliff hanger, but still not a clean end). Aiden is an idealist and that is fine, but at times he does come across rather preachy especially since it happens at inappropriate times. His actions are fine where it not for how positive most people react to it. Disciplining a desk worker and complete stranger over expressing hatred towards a whole race in real life is not likely to get that person to reconsider, at best resulting in a business like smile. Similarly, throwing with resources makes sense, but again, is not likely to get a positive reaction from all people.
Regardless, it was an enjoyable read, but I do hope a bit less training and R&D in the next volume.
While I did enjoy the story, I must say that some aspects are grating me a bit. The slice-of-life aspects focussing on training and alchemy are expected even though I feel it might be reduced a bit to get more focus on the main plot (again mostly regulated to the end of the volume). I do have hope for a bit more progress in that regards in the next volume though considering the ending of this one (not a cliff hanger, but still not a clean end). Aiden is an idealist and that is fine, but at times he does come across rather preachy especially since it happens at inappropriate times. His actions are fine where it not for how positive most people react to it. Disciplining a desk worker and complete stranger over expressing hatred towards a whole race in real life is not likely to get that person to reconsider, at best resulting in a business like smile. Similarly, throwing with resources makes sense, but again, is not likely to get a positive reaction from all people.
Regardless, it was an enjoyable read, but I do hope a bit less training and R&D in the next volume.
October 31, 2025
Awesome.
My favorite series and newer books never disappoint. This was no exception. Powering up. Progression is steady and extreme for the MC. Some new revatations about the war and players but mostly just progress on all fronts. Bit of cleanup cliffhang at the end. But next book soon.
My favorite series and newer books never disappoint. This was no exception. Powering up. Progression is steady and extreme for the MC. Some new revatations about the war and players but mostly just progress on all fronts. Bit of cleanup cliffhang at the end. But next book soon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews