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The Portal Scout
I can’t believe it! I’ve really been accepted into the Royal Scouts? For real?
It’s a dream come true for a farm boy like myself, to gain access to the Portal Halls and be able to explore the worlds beyond. More than that, it means I can finally provide for my family. After all, they’re the ones who put their savings on the line so I could get a chance to join this prestigious guild. And if I may be at a disadvantage compared to other recruits, as all I know is how to grow beans, I plan on boosting my skills as soon as possible.
You see, our mission as Scouts is dive into one of the many portals lining up the halls of the Portalway, map the area and get out of there before the timer runs out. But the reason we’re charting those realms in the first place is to locate Eon Stones – stones that grant the wearer magical powers, from the ability to regrow a limb to giving you near invisibility. And if I can sell my surveys for cash, I can also use those stones to empower myself and move up the ranks!
There’s the thing though… No one knows exactly which portal leads where until someone dives in first. It could be a strange land where the physics run differently than here; it could be lush or desolate, beautiful or terrifying, with dangerous fauna or even monsters the stuff of nightmares…
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m still a Browncloak, or a newbie if you like, and so I’m confined to the first floor until I get some experience under my belt. So it shouldn’t be too hard. Or should it? They wouldn’t want to send a novice to his death now, would they?
*Unlocks portal*
Here goes nothing!
It’s a dream come true for a farm boy like myself, to gain access to the Portal Halls and be able to explore the worlds beyond. More than that, it means I can finally provide for my family. After all, they’re the ones who put their savings on the line so I could get a chance to join this prestigious guild. And if I may be at a disadvantage compared to other recruits, as all I know is how to grow beans, I plan on boosting my skills as soon as possible.
You see, our mission as Scouts is dive into one of the many portals lining up the halls of the Portalway, map the area and get out of there before the timer runs out. But the reason we’re charting those realms in the first place is to locate Eon Stones – stones that grant the wearer magical powers, from the ability to regrow a limb to giving you near invisibility. And if I can sell my surveys for cash, I can also use those stones to empower myself and move up the ranks!
There’s the thing though… No one knows exactly which portal leads where until someone dives in first. It could be a strange land where the physics run differently than here; it could be lush or desolate, beautiful or terrifying, with dangerous fauna or even monsters the stuff of nightmares…
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m still a Browncloak, or a newbie if you like, and so I’m confined to the first floor until I get some experience under my belt. So it shouldn’t be too hard. Or should it? They wouldn’t want to send a novice to his death now, would they?
*Unlocks portal*
Here goes nothing!
- GenresFantasy
502 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 29, 2024
365 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 20, 2024
If you're looking for a book about a poor waif sticking it to the rich over lords, then this book is not for you. This is a simple story about an optimistic boy who tries to make the best of a bad situation. It's not overly complicated by an author with a poor understanding of economics. It's not written like someone who has never engaged with society. I think we'll see the author grow in skill as the MC grows in this world and I'm down for that journey.
March 10, 2024
Nope.
A foolish boy with a hero complex mucking about in plot armor. This is neither fun or original. The supporting cast is too flimsy a.m.the main character is unbelievable.
A foolish boy with a hero complex mucking about in plot armor. This is neither fun or original. The supporting cast is too flimsy a.m.the main character is unbelievable.
April 15, 2024
Good concept
The concept for this book is great and there are no grammar/spelling issues. It's an easy read. Some spoilers follow.
The writing itself, including plot and characterisation is okay but could do with some work. Characters lack depth and there are no meaningful relationships between characters, part of this may be a plot device (as the royal scouts persue a doctrine of isolation and independence), but we don't see much depth in the MC either. The plot jumps very quickly from mission to mission and the set backs in those missions can feel somewhat contrived. The power system doesn't feel well integrated into those challenges either (eg on the final plane, we don't get a sense of enhanced recovery from injury, though the powers are paid lip service). Finally, the MCs background seems to have zero connection through to aptitude; survival skills are paid some lip service, but the MC picking up sword fighting in just a couple of training sessions (even with an enchanted sword) stretches belief, and even if this is technically fine (eg if we lean heavily on the enchantment), it doesn't feel like the MC has had to work for his abilities. And, these don't tie into the progression and eon stone mechanics at all.
I do think this concept could be very successful, but the story telling could benefit significantly from: 1) a greater focus on character interactions, 2) a better progression mechanic where we feel the MC has worked / earnt his powers, or consider some kind of downside to the powers, 3) Better world building and integration of the portals into the world (eg economically... Stones seem common, so it would make sense that scouts would retrieve lots of stones and sell these into their home worlds economy), 4) Better threading to connect the plots through the various portals (eg first half of the book seems to concentrate on the MC intervening in worlds for justice, the second half on trying to restore the scouts... But the ultimate successes in the plot (especially discovering the new portals) seem to be caused by the MC randomly stumbling into situations. It doesn't feel earnt or worked for. This overall means the book isn't a compelling read, but this author and this concept has strong potential. I don't know if I would read a direct sequal (hard to recover the MC at this point!) but I could certainly see a non direct sequal, eg set 25-30 years in the future, with a new cast of main characters (old MC can feature as a side character), working well.
Hopefully that's helpful!
The concept for this book is great and there are no grammar/spelling issues. It's an easy read. Some spoilers follow.
The writing itself, including plot and characterisation is okay but could do with some work. Characters lack depth and there are no meaningful relationships between characters, part of this may be a plot device (as the royal scouts persue a doctrine of isolation and independence), but we don't see much depth in the MC either. The plot jumps very quickly from mission to mission and the set backs in those missions can feel somewhat contrived. The power system doesn't feel well integrated into those challenges either (eg on the final plane, we don't get a sense of enhanced recovery from injury, though the powers are paid lip service). Finally, the MCs background seems to have zero connection through to aptitude; survival skills are paid some lip service, but the MC picking up sword fighting in just a couple of training sessions (even with an enchanted sword) stretches belief, and even if this is technically fine (eg if we lean heavily on the enchantment), it doesn't feel like the MC has had to work for his abilities. And, these don't tie into the progression and eon stone mechanics at all.
I do think this concept could be very successful, but the story telling could benefit significantly from: 1) a greater focus on character interactions, 2) a better progression mechanic where we feel the MC has worked / earnt his powers, or consider some kind of downside to the powers, 3) Better world building and integration of the portals into the world (eg economically... Stones seem common, so it would make sense that scouts would retrieve lots of stones and sell these into their home worlds economy), 4) Better threading to connect the plots through the various portals (eg first half of the book seems to concentrate on the MC intervening in worlds for justice, the second half on trying to restore the scouts... But the ultimate successes in the plot (especially discovering the new portals) seem to be caused by the MC randomly stumbling into situations. It doesn't feel earnt or worked for. This overall means the book isn't a compelling read, but this author and this concept has strong potential. I don't know if I would read a direct sequal (hard to recover the MC at this point!) but I could certainly see a non direct sequal, eg set 25-30 years in the future, with a new cast of main characters (old MC can feature as a side character), working well.
Hopefully that's helpful!
March 25, 2024
Cool premise
I do like the premise of the book and I like the mc. However, I don't like the scouts and how the MC has the answer that they need to work together. Just kind of feels like he's a special guy who has such a great perspective that no one ever thought of which doesn't seem to fit with bunch of adults around who could also understand the same things. If everyone doesn't want to be a scout anymore there would be a way larger review of current processes by any kind of business that I've heard of. That said, I do like the actual portal investigations though the MC is almost naive to a fault. He helps the people who are actively betraying him and actively trying to kill him. And he doesn't seem to learn from them having tried to kill him. He continues to try to help.. which doesn't imply that he's growing or evolving at all. I don't need him to be ruthless, I just want an MC to be growing and for his personality to take into account betrayals and for that to inform his decision making.
I do like the premise of the book and I like the mc. However, I don't like the scouts and how the MC has the answer that they need to work together. Just kind of feels like he's a special guy who has such a great perspective that no one ever thought of which doesn't seem to fit with bunch of adults around who could also understand the same things. If everyone doesn't want to be a scout anymore there would be a way larger review of current processes by any kind of business that I've heard of. That said, I do like the actual portal investigations though the MC is almost naive to a fault. He helps the people who are actively betraying him and actively trying to kill him. And he doesn't seem to learn from them having tried to kill him. He continues to try to help.. which doesn't imply that he's growing or evolving at all. I don't need him to be ruthless, I just want an MC to be growing and for his personality to take into account betrayals and for that to inform his decision making.
April 28, 2024
This is a straightforward story of a young man who is able to live his dream of joining the Royal Scouts and enter through portals to other worlds to map and hopefully find stones that provide magical abilities. He soon learns that the Royal Scouts do quite live up to his dreams.
It is full of adventure and seems like it would be a good read for teenagers or someone not looking for something too complicated. There is some politics at the end but it is not gone into in any depth and the solution is quickly found. There isn't much depth in the characters and the magical system could be more developed. It wasn't what I was looking for right now.
It is full of adventure and seems like it would be a good read for teenagers or someone not looking for something too complicated. There is some politics at the end but it is not gone into in any depth and the solution is quickly found. There isn't much depth in the characters and the magical system could be more developed. It wasn't what I was looking for right now.
March 5, 2024
More of this, and soon, please! A fantastic read..
Scouting for he portalways sounds simple... But is it? This book started out at an easy pace and ramped up quickly to a grand adventure. At the end it was teasing me with an even bigger adventure and I definitely want to read it.
The eon stones are unique, and I kind of love the companion eggs and hope we get to see more of those in the future. The book was beautifully written and it was fun to immerse myself in it for a couple days. Can't wait to read more!
Scouting for he portalways sounds simple... But is it? This book started out at an easy pace and ramped up quickly to a grand adventure. At the end it was teasing me with an even bigger adventure and I definitely want to read it.
The eon stones are unique, and I kind of love the companion eggs and hope we get to see more of those in the future. The book was beautifully written and it was fun to immerse myself in it for a couple days. Can't wait to read more!
April 7, 2024
The Portal Scout has nearly everything you need in a LitRPG tale. It's a bit different, in that skills are learned from external items, not just granted by the all powerful all knowing system, so it's a refreshing take on the genre. I liked this story, (because there was quite a bit of exploring), and I'd expect that to continue into the next book when it's available. Highly recommended
March 31, 2024
Interesting Sci-Fi story with portals instead of spaceships.
First book I've read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm not waiting ... I'm getting book 2 as soon as I finish this review.
MC is just starting out exploring at 18. Unfortunately, what he dreamed of the organization (Scouts) being, turns out to be far from the truth. He makes some friends & explores fun, exciting and dangerous places. But he wants changes to be made!
First book I've read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm not waiting ... I'm getting book 2 as soon as I finish this review.
MC is just starting out exploring at 18. Unfortunately, what he dreamed of the organization (Scouts) being, turns out to be far from the truth. He makes some friends & explores fun, exciting and dangerous places. But he wants changes to be made!
January 5, 2025
Cute but hollow
DNF at 33%
A teenage bean farmer becomes portal scout. Despite being utterly uneducated the author makes him wiser than the average modern Western teenager. Thanks to convenient plot armor he overcomes all odds and helps where he can.
While the plot was interesting the story was too stereotypical and the characters too flat for my taste.
Unfortunately, the book is written for young teenagers and was not for me..
DNF at 33%
A teenage bean farmer becomes portal scout. Despite being utterly uneducated the author makes him wiser than the average modern Western teenager. Thanks to convenient plot armor he overcomes all odds and helps where he can.
While the plot was interesting the story was too stereotypical and the characters too flat for my taste.
Unfortunately, the book is written for young teenagers and was not for me..
March 4, 2024
I enjoyed this but it is a strange book. It is LitRPG but not really hard LitRPG and it feels aimed at teens instead of YA or even older readers. The ending seemed a satisfying conclusion, if slightly rushed, but then there was the hint at a sequel. I really like the idea behind the book but question the execution to a certain extent.
March 11, 2024
tedious and over complicated
I couldn’t not find a reason to keep reading past the middle of the book. It just read like a bunch of comic books turned into descriptive text for no reason. Even when the raison d'etre for the plot is introduced it is still disconnected from the main characters
I couldn’t not find a reason to keep reading past the middle of the book. It just read like a bunch of comic books turned into descriptive text for no reason. Even when the raison d'etre for the plot is introduced it is still disconnected from the main characters
June 9, 2024
this was a nice change.
Lit rpg aspect. However different. New world. The main character didn’t really change much, but that’s okay, the universe that was created seems amazing. I would love to see the next one with his friends joining his side and developing with him, and maybe even a love life. Also it would be great if his family’s life became incorporated.
Lit rpg aspect. However different. New world. The main character didn’t really change much, but that’s okay, the universe that was created seems amazing. I would love to see the next one with his friends joining his side and developing with him, and maybe even a love life. Also it would be great if his family’s life became incorporated.
March 11, 2024
Not for me
Good story easy to read but the character was just too nice , instead of doing his job he helped wherever he could. I personally don't like those types of people so why should I read about it
Good story easy to read but the character was just too nice , instead of doing his job he helped wherever he could. I personally don't like those types of people so why should I read about it
March 20, 2024
Exploring new places
I like the originally and new way of
Exploring different places.
A few small details were missing,
I.E. he collected water for sampling
On is 1st portal but no follow up
or explanation,
But overall looking forward to the next book
I like the originally and new way of
Exploring different places.
A few small details were missing,
I.E. he collected water for sampling
On is 1st portal but no follow up
or explanation,
But overall looking forward to the next book
March 22, 2024
good read
It was a good story and I was always interested to find what power each won stone provided. I only gave it a 4 because there was no Leveling or exp points. But it was a good story overall.
It was a good story and I was always interested to find what power each won stone provided. I only gave it a 4 because there was no Leveling or exp points. But it was a good story overall.
April 9, 2024
A Fun Read
As I get older, I am finding it more difficult to find stories that are enjoyable and challenging to read. This is a good book with wonder filled transitions. I think you will enjoy this book.
As I get older, I am finding it more difficult to find stories that are enjoyable and challenging to read. This is a good book with wonder filled transitions. I think you will enjoy this book.
June 11, 2024
wow
I loved the way this book, flowed.. it wasn't one trip here and then new book, it was a whole story with a twist.. some parts were mundane and lacked passion.. or it got tedious at points, but overall the book was good and im interested to see if there is a second coming!
I loved the way this book, flowed.. it wasn't one trip here and then new book, it was a whole story with a twist.. some parts were mundane and lacked passion.. or it got tedious at points, but overall the book was good and im interested to see if there is a second coming!
October 21, 2024
This is 6th or 7th grade reading. Good simple story
This was just very simple. It is very low grade reading. Very young adult. The story and plot were fine. Simple, but fine easy reading. A 12 year old would really appreciate this.
This was just very simple. It is very low grade reading. Very young adult. The story and plot were fine. Simple, but fine easy reading. A 12 year old would really appreciate this.
March 18, 2024
Great Read!
I really hope there is a sequel to this book. I found myself enjoying the MC’s attitude and how he wouldn’t let things get him down.
I really hope there is a sequel to this book. I found myself enjoying the MC’s attitude and how he wouldn’t let things get him down.
March 21, 2024
EntrrtenIng. I cant w1it for the next book. The MC is likable, the universe weird AND interesting.
April 3, 2024
Great one sitting 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!
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!
April 14, 2024
Interesting book
Kind of Litrpg because it has status. But people get powers. A lot goes on in this book, and it was not stretched over 10 books, so it was very fast-paced
Kind of Litrpg because it has status. But people get powers. A lot goes on in this book, and it was not stretched over 10 books, so it was very fast-paced
May 29, 2024
Fun read and interesting world
This is a well written story with a cool premise that leaves lots of room for growth. It will be fun to see where the author goes from here.
This is a well written story with a cool premise that leaves lots of room for growth. It will be fun to see where the author goes from here.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews