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Ultimate Level 1 #4
Ultimate Level 1: New Dreams
The dream of every adventurer became real as Max, Tanila, Fowl and Batrire entered the tower. Before they can finish the first floor they learn that not only is the tower going to challenge them in a variety of new ways but that the bosses that spawn are much harder than what the dungeons had.
New skills, powerful equipment and growing stats await if they can conquer the challenges.
Cordellia, an elven archer, has joined their party. But the secret of Max's Consume must be kept from her, even while in close contact.
Max needs to show off his skills in front of others, all while keeping his secret. Skills like Epic Crafting require new identities and clever ruses to be able to use.
Every dream has the chance to become a nightmare, especially when some still want you dead. Can Max grow strong enough to finally be safe and protect his friends and family?
New skills, powerful equipment and growing stats await if they can conquer the challenges.
Cordellia, an elven archer, has joined their party. But the secret of Max's Consume must be kept from her, even while in close contact.
Max needs to show off his skills in front of others, all while keeping his secret. Skills like Epic Crafting require new identities and clever ruses to be able to use.
Every dream has the chance to become a nightmare, especially when some still want you dead. Can Max grow strong enough to finally be safe and protect his friends and family?
485 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2024
898 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
April 17, 2025
liked it
Much better pacing in this one. Hoping the next one reveals more of the backstory and moves on to the next level.
Much better pacing in this one. Hoping the next one reveals more of the backstory and moves on to the next level.
September 13, 2024
gets boring fast
The book is a bore. There is no danger, although it tries to pretend there is. You know that at the end of the day nothing bad will happen to the MC and his friends because of copious amounts of plot armor.
The MC is somehow a saint of such willpower that gods and other entities like his skill are confused he doesn’t just want to get strong like everyone else they have dealt with.
The new party member is constantly confused by his generosity, and the way the party acts is so repetitive. The same jokes, the same comments, the same shock that the MC is strong, or when he comes up with a seemingly ‘unique’ way to take out enemies. How is it odd to try and climb a wall and cheat a maze? But only the MC could come up with it. Somehow.
If it wasn’t for the interesting premise of the world, I would not have been able to finish it. The plot armor is thicker than Fowl’s shield in this book, and there is a severe lack of descriptions. So many time skips, you sometimes get one or two conversations to describe an entire floor of a dungeon, or implying the MC did something ridiculous without ever showing it.
Highly doubt I will try the next one, unless I forget how frustrated I was at this book by the time the next one comes out.
The book is a bore. There is no danger, although it tries to pretend there is. You know that at the end of the day nothing bad will happen to the MC and his friends because of copious amounts of plot armor.
The MC is somehow a saint of such willpower that gods and other entities like his skill are confused he doesn’t just want to get strong like everyone else they have dealt with.
The new party member is constantly confused by his generosity, and the way the party acts is so repetitive. The same jokes, the same comments, the same shock that the MC is strong, or when he comes up with a seemingly ‘unique’ way to take out enemies. How is it odd to try and climb a wall and cheat a maze? But only the MC could come up with it. Somehow.
If it wasn’t for the interesting premise of the world, I would not have been able to finish it. The plot armor is thicker than Fowl’s shield in this book, and there is a severe lack of descriptions. So many time skips, you sometimes get one or two conversations to describe an entire floor of a dungeon, or implying the MC did something ridiculous without ever showing it.
Highly doubt I will try the next one, unless I forget how frustrated I was at this book by the time the next one comes out.
September 7, 2024
nothing really happened
Let me preface by saying I like this book and loved the previous ones. This just felt like middle padding. Wasn’t bad aside from some spelling errors, a couple names being mismatched, and conversational quotation marks would sometimes signal and end but not a beginning of the next. My main issue with this is that the dungeon diving is feeing drawn out and kinda uninteresting as odd as that sounds for a book focused on dungeons. People have stopped chasing him (disappointing drop of a side plot), and the world outside the tower feels empty. But overall nothing really happened this book. New member who doesn’t know his secret yet, he told it to guild master, and they got stronger. Just felt a bit uninspired overall.
Let me preface by saying I like this book and loved the previous ones. This just felt like middle padding. Wasn’t bad aside from some spelling errors, a couple names being mismatched, and conversational quotation marks would sometimes signal and end but not a beginning of the next. My main issue with this is that the dungeon diving is feeing drawn out and kinda uninteresting as odd as that sounds for a book focused on dungeons. People have stopped chasing him (disappointing drop of a side plot), and the world outside the tower feels empty. But overall nothing really happened this book. New member who doesn’t know his secret yet, he told it to guild master, and they got stronger. Just felt a bit uninspired overall.
November 3, 2024
I like the series, but there are times when it also annoys me, e.g., the almost complete lack of information on sources of materials for craftsmen, e.g., blacksmiths. Everyone collects alechemical raw materials, but who collects metals, wood, herbs .... and from where?
The system also seems quite broken e.g..
A craftsman for producing a legendary item with which, the elites of the world would be interested gets 10exp and would have to make 100 of them to advance to level 2. It is unrealistic for such a character to be able to develop on his own, especially since skills cannot be developed by using them, nor can new ones be gained even if one has sacrificed to learn and use them.
The system also seems quite broken e.g..
A craftsman for producing a legendary item with which, the elites of the world would be interested gets 10exp and would have to make 100 of them to advance to level 2. It is unrealistic for such a character to be able to develop on his own, especially since skills cannot be developed by using them, nor can new ones be gained even if one has sacrificed to learn and use them.
October 6, 2024
Overall for the 4 books of this series to date, a 4.5. Very good overall with an interesting and developing story/characters, at this point I find it not moving as smoothly as I wish it did.
Lots of fights, and an increasing amount of tower/dungeon time as things progress. While these are well executed, I found them starting to drag by book 4. It could be because I am binging them, but with a month until book 5 comes out, I'll see if story fatigue was an issue in finding this last book a bit less engaging.
Lots of fights, and an increasing amount of tower/dungeon time as things progress. While these are well executed, I found them starting to drag by book 4. It could be because I am binging them, but with a month until book 5 comes out, I'll see if story fatigue was an issue in finding this last book a bit less engaging.
December 14, 2024
one of my favorite series
This installment was awesome. Shawn Wilson introduced a crafting element to this book which is totally my jam!
Also loved the Tower Climbing. Can’t wait to learn more about the nuances of the Tower next book.
This installment was awesome. Shawn Wilson introduced a crafting element to this book which is totally my jam!
Also loved the Tower Climbing. Can’t wait to learn more about the nuances of the Tower next book.
July 29, 2025
Wow! This series has great pacing, character development and an interesting story progression! I look forward to what’s next!
September 23, 2025
5/5 🌟Absolutely fantastic story, action packed and superb character development. Try to ignore some grammar/word choice errors.
December 8, 2024
The fights and awe at items gets repetitive fast but the overarching story is interesting enough to keep going
July 7, 2025
Not as good as I hoped
I liked this series at the outset but feel the characters aren't progressing into characters I care about and the humor of the first book hasn't changed... at all. The same T&A and sex jokes are told chapter after chapter, book after book. We still know almost nothing about Corellia. She's a cardboard cutout and despite being a ranger (not an archer), she has yet to scout or track or do anything extraordinary that would qualify her to be the special member Everett promised. The author clearly likes Max and Fowl best because 90% of the content is about them. Where are Batrire's shining moments and new spells? Tanila at least gets some time, mostly to show how Max's skills eclipse hers. He can be amazing without taking anything away from how special his companions are. The first 2 books seemed to know this.
I liked this series at the outset but feel the characters aren't progressing into characters I care about and the humor of the first book hasn't changed... at all. The same T&A and sex jokes are told chapter after chapter, book after book. We still know almost nothing about Corellia. She's a cardboard cutout and despite being a ranger (not an archer), she has yet to scout or track or do anything extraordinary that would qualify her to be the special member Everett promised. The author clearly likes Max and Fowl best because 90% of the content is about them. Where are Batrire's shining moments and new spells? Tanila at least gets some time, mostly to show how Max's skills eclipse hers. He can be amazing without taking anything away from how special his companions are. The first 2 books seemed to know this.
January 23, 2025
I like the series, but I enjoy it more when it's the protag by himself doing things. Like how book one started.
The protag forgetting about his sister and calling the party "family" is weird. We will see how this goes.
No matter how much the protag wishes, the "party" will never be as strong as him. Him sacrificing stuff that was clearly there for him for others will never make them catch up. Only the hot elf princess would be able to do that.
I guess I will pick up the sequel.
3/5 Stars
The protag forgetting about his sister and calling the party "family" is weird. We will see how this goes.
No matter how much the protag wishes, the "party" will never be as strong as him. Him sacrificing stuff that was clearly there for him for others will never make them catch up. Only the hot elf princess would be able to do that.
I guess I will pick up the sequel.
3/5 Stars
February 17, 2025
I don't get much out of battles/fights themselves. If they develop the plot or characters, then great. In this case, the reader could skip to the end of most tower fights and just read the skill-ups and gear looted. I did find the assassination attempts and political wrangling outside of the tower to be interesting. Also, the protagonists are still relatable... so I'm relatively content to continue.
March 5, 2025
Overall I've been enjoying this story a lot. I feel this was a bit weaker since the grind was so heavy with combat and the slice of life was a good bit less. I do have some general issues though.
The author will write the story in such a way that things will be ambiguous. I believe he does this so that he leaves himself open to pull a magic trick out the bag in the future. It also decreases the chances of him writing himself into a corner but it can be very annoying because it means he purposely doesn't flesh out the world. One of the things that I really liked in the earlier books was the world building. For example we don't know the third skill Tanila or Batrire got. And what happened to the black magic? Hers is at minimum uncommon since it's stronger than Max's but we have only seen one spell. I can understand not using it if we knew the other effects weren't worth it. But it hasn't been fleshed out so god knows what it does. And speaking about spells don't you get more spells every rank up? Why does each rank only seem to make your current ones stronger? I feel another tragedy is batrires class. We don't know what she got as her second and third skill at 25 and 50. Max should have the healer class but it feels like the author is bending backwards to not give it to him. So when Consume was at rare rank the chances of consuming a magic skill was low. So the author had healers as mobs occasionally early on with the goblins. And also the rare ogre in book 2. The author then just didn't give healers to mobs. Then when he finally bought them back with his evolved consume Max purposely doesn't shoot the healer dryad??? The healer class not being fleshed out bothers me a lot. Batrire should have more than an over time heal, regular heal and special heal. The protective dome came from a potion so we aren't counting that. Another ambiguous thing is economy. This was not an issue in the early books. I understand getting paid to keep dungeon spawn monsters down, getting power for their races god and powering the skill stone. What happened to all that? For the longest time we haven't known how much the squad makes. They were doing 40-50 dungeons so the rewards should have correlated. But the author just stopped writing about it. When max borrowed money I was thinking it probably wasn't even necessary. They should have been rolling in dough.
Another thing I find annoying is inefficiency when it comes to combat. It feels like the author will just forget a skill a character has. Like Max has weakness. He should be using that at the beginning of every fight since just about every boss has more strength than the main character. And what happened to enchanting weapons? It scales with your intelligence so it literally doesn't fall off. And the ice one slows.
Another thing is the magic system. All a skill is, is pre downloaded knowledge into your brain. By that logic anybody should be able to be a mage. You just need to be taught how to do it. Just like how you can swing a weapon better. It's weird how that's not a thing. Another thing is freeform magic. It's weird how mages don't create their own spells. We know freeform magic is possible since Max used his wind magic to push an object.
It's never explained why they have healing and stamina potions but no mana potions. That is just weird and never explained.
My last gripe is Max being old and passing away in 60-80 years. The reason people die of old age is because your body becomes so weak it can't go on and you're not as resilient to disease and injury. Let's just take Max when they entered the tower at 50. You have over 130 in constitution and strength. It should be hundreds of years for old age to take you. I can understand a level 19 librarian passing at 80 or 100. But a level 50 adventurer should be living significantly longer. Especially when Tanila has very little in strength and Constitution. That alone should close the gap significantly. It just makes sense to me. Unless there is a hard cut off where your heart just stops beating the logic doesn't work. And if there is an age where magically you go to sleep and don't wake up then say that and explain why it works like that.
The author will write the story in such a way that things will be ambiguous. I believe he does this so that he leaves himself open to pull a magic trick out the bag in the future. It also decreases the chances of him writing himself into a corner but it can be very annoying because it means he purposely doesn't flesh out the world. One of the things that I really liked in the earlier books was the world building. For example we don't know the third skill Tanila or Batrire got. And what happened to the black magic? Hers is at minimum uncommon since it's stronger than Max's but we have only seen one spell. I can understand not using it if we knew the other effects weren't worth it. But it hasn't been fleshed out so god knows what it does. And speaking about spells don't you get more spells every rank up? Why does each rank only seem to make your current ones stronger? I feel another tragedy is batrires class. We don't know what she got as her second and third skill at 25 and 50. Max should have the healer class but it feels like the author is bending backwards to not give it to him. So when Consume was at rare rank the chances of consuming a magic skill was low. So the author had healers as mobs occasionally early on with the goblins. And also the rare ogre in book 2. The author then just didn't give healers to mobs. Then when he finally bought them back with his evolved consume Max purposely doesn't shoot the healer dryad??? The healer class not being fleshed out bothers me a lot. Batrire should have more than an over time heal, regular heal and special heal. The protective dome came from a potion so we aren't counting that. Another ambiguous thing is economy. This was not an issue in the early books. I understand getting paid to keep dungeon spawn monsters down, getting power for their races god and powering the skill stone. What happened to all that? For the longest time we haven't known how much the squad makes. They were doing 40-50 dungeons so the rewards should have correlated. But the author just stopped writing about it. When max borrowed money I was thinking it probably wasn't even necessary. They should have been rolling in dough.
Another thing I find annoying is inefficiency when it comes to combat. It feels like the author will just forget a skill a character has. Like Max has weakness. He should be using that at the beginning of every fight since just about every boss has more strength than the main character. And what happened to enchanting weapons? It scales with your intelligence so it literally doesn't fall off. And the ice one slows.
Another thing is the magic system. All a skill is, is pre downloaded knowledge into your brain. By that logic anybody should be able to be a mage. You just need to be taught how to do it. Just like how you can swing a weapon better. It's weird how that's not a thing. Another thing is freeform magic. It's weird how mages don't create their own spells. We know freeform magic is possible since Max used his wind magic to push an object.
It's never explained why they have healing and stamina potions but no mana potions. That is just weird and never explained.
My last gripe is Max being old and passing away in 60-80 years. The reason people die of old age is because your body becomes so weak it can't go on and you're not as resilient to disease and injury. Let's just take Max when they entered the tower at 50. You have over 130 in constitution and strength. It should be hundreds of years for old age to take you. I can understand a level 19 librarian passing at 80 or 100. But a level 50 adventurer should be living significantly longer. Especially when Tanila has very little in strength and Constitution. That alone should close the gap significantly. It just makes sense to me. Unless there is a hard cut off where your heart just stops beating the logic doesn't work. And if there is an age where magically you go to sleep and don't wake up then say that and explain why it works like that.
September 26, 2025
A solid series with lots of combat and delving. Native MC, OP MC, Dungeon and party relationships focused.
I like that the MC is OP. I don’t think that’s a bug in this genre, it’s a feature. I like his party and the few expanding side characters. They are not carbon copies of each other. I like the focus on combat and delving, to a degree, but the variety of this combat does make it more engaging. I also like the hints at the larger plot going on.
But the larger plot is barely given word count through the first five books I’ve read. And that is unfortunate because I need more breaks from delving. As despite the variety of it, there aren’t real stakes as the entire party has plot armor, and they are always gonna come out on top or in rare cases escape and survive. Though the stakes feel decent for this overall plot, it’s simply not engaged enough in my opinion. I would like to see more fights with people outside of the dungeon.
MCs path, and the schtick of the series, is that his special skill means he doesn’t level like other people, he is always level one. The uniqueness of this gimmick really only serves as a teaser for the series to grab potential readers’ attention. And even that, the title is kind of vague on that point. I’d have named the series Stuck at Level 1, or Always Level 1, something like that. Apart from that, it really only blurs the progression of the MC in practice. It’s difficult at any point to say where his stats would truly land him as a conventional person. We only know when it’s occasional guesstimated by the characters.
But all of that, I wouldn’t count off for when considering my rating. There’s a lot of variance in this genre, and there’s room for this specific style as well.
I count of for character inconsistency and lack of realism. I don’t like how some of the party characters always repeat the same interactions with the MC, like say when it’s time to open a chest, but this does get better after the first few books. I am also sick of the emotional swings. One minute MC is in his feels about killing someone or letting his maniacal skill take over, the next minute he’s slaughtering dozens of people and giving over control to his skill and it’s no big deal. “Had to be done.” The skill part of this makes sense eventually as it’s revealed the skill is adjusting to the MCs personality and has less of a problem with him not being a min/max psychopath. Another weirdness of this series is how all these side characters are constantly gassing up the MC for being the best person they have ever met. Like seriously, no one talks like this. Maybe that’s my American culture, but you talk about people like this at their weddings and funerals. At most, the vast majority of people would think of him as such a person but only tell him at most, he’s a good person and they trust him, etc.
I also count off points for context breaks. That is the characters using English idioms despite this not being Isekai. Another is encountering tower levels based on other worlds in this universe that the characters should have no context for. Yet they know what a bike is; they know what a gun is, they know what a plane is; they know what an alarm sounds like (not the action of raising one or a bell but an electric buzzer). This is something some authors do, unconsciously, and it’s immersion breaking and frankly sloppy.
After five books, I am honestly finding myself skimming the tower/dungeon levels to get to the chest openings and any stat/skill gains. As I said, it’s all repetitive as this isn’t the kind of series killing off party members, so far at least. And I really wouldn’t want it to be. There’s plenty of series like that, but this one is a good guys win story and killing off characters after five books would seem less like a narrative atmosphere and more like contrived drama.
All in all a decent series. I may have gone on at length about my issues with it, but I’m only counting off one star for them. I hope that once the tower focus of the series is finally past us, we can get to the interesting stuff, at least interesting for me. And when that happens I may put this series in my recommend list on my profile.
I like that the MC is OP. I don’t think that’s a bug in this genre, it’s a feature. I like his party and the few expanding side characters. They are not carbon copies of each other. I like the focus on combat and delving, to a degree, but the variety of this combat does make it more engaging. I also like the hints at the larger plot going on.
But the larger plot is barely given word count through the first five books I’ve read. And that is unfortunate because I need more breaks from delving. As despite the variety of it, there aren’t real stakes as the entire party has plot armor, and they are always gonna come out on top or in rare cases escape and survive. Though the stakes feel decent for this overall plot, it’s simply not engaged enough in my opinion. I would like to see more fights with people outside of the dungeon.
MCs path, and the schtick of the series, is that his special skill means he doesn’t level like other people, he is always level one. The uniqueness of this gimmick really only serves as a teaser for the series to grab potential readers’ attention. And even that, the title is kind of vague on that point. I’d have named the series Stuck at Level 1, or Always Level 1, something like that. Apart from that, it really only blurs the progression of the MC in practice. It’s difficult at any point to say where his stats would truly land him as a conventional person. We only know when it’s occasional guesstimated by the characters.
But all of that, I wouldn’t count off for when considering my rating. There’s a lot of variance in this genre, and there’s room for this specific style as well.
I count of for character inconsistency and lack of realism. I don’t like how some of the party characters always repeat the same interactions with the MC, like say when it’s time to open a chest, but this does get better after the first few books. I am also sick of the emotional swings. One minute MC is in his feels about killing someone or letting his maniacal skill take over, the next minute he’s slaughtering dozens of people and giving over control to his skill and it’s no big deal. “Had to be done.” The skill part of this makes sense eventually as it’s revealed the skill is adjusting to the MCs personality and has less of a problem with him not being a min/max psychopath. Another weirdness of this series is how all these side characters are constantly gassing up the MC for being the best person they have ever met. Like seriously, no one talks like this. Maybe that’s my American culture, but you talk about people like this at their weddings and funerals. At most, the vast majority of people would think of him as such a person but only tell him at most, he’s a good person and they trust him, etc.
I also count off points for context breaks. That is the characters using English idioms despite this not being Isekai. Another is encountering tower levels based on other worlds in this universe that the characters should have no context for. Yet they know what a bike is; they know what a gun is, they know what a plane is; they know what an alarm sounds like (not the action of raising one or a bell but an electric buzzer). This is something some authors do, unconsciously, and it’s immersion breaking and frankly sloppy.
After five books, I am honestly finding myself skimming the tower/dungeon levels to get to the chest openings and any stat/skill gains. As I said, it’s all repetitive as this isn’t the kind of series killing off party members, so far at least. And I really wouldn’t want it to be. There’s plenty of series like that, but this one is a good guys win story and killing off characters after five books would seem less like a narrative atmosphere and more like contrived drama.
All in all a decent series. I may have gone on at length about my issues with it, but I’m only counting off one star for them. I hope that once the tower focus of the series is finally past us, we can get to the interesting stuff, at least interesting for me. And when that happens I may put this series in my recommend list on my profile.
September 4, 2024
The 15 foot tall goblin bashed the dwarf tank's shield.
"I've got this" said Maximum Protagonist as he killed the goblin with his shield.
"I've got hairy balls" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but to laugh.
The 20 foot tall goblin attacked the archer. "I've got this" said Maximum Protagonist as he shot the goblin 10 times with two arms. "Thanks" said the archer. "I've got a hairy chest" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
The 25 foot tall goblin attacked the lovely elf mage girlfriend. Max was angry! How dare a monster in a dungeon attack his lovely girlfriend. "I've got this" said Max as he fireballed the goblin with his other two arms. "Thanks love" says the lovely girlfriend, "I love you!". "I've got hairy feet" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
The 30 foot tall goblin attacked the healer, who was sitting in a chair reading a book. "I've got this" said Max as he healed the goblin to death. "Thanks" said the healer. "I've got hairy toes" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Then the 60 foot tall boss goblin attacked Max. He took out his sword, his axe, his shield, his halberd, his dagger, and his club and killed the boss to death. "Thanks" said everyone looking on from their chairs on the sidelines. "I've got hairy knees" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
A giant treasure chest appeared. The dwarf flung it open. "I've got a +5 shield, I've never seen anything so powerful" said the shocked dwarf, tears streaming from his eyes. "I've got a +5 bow, I've never never seen anything so powerful" said the shocked archer, tears streaming from her eyes. "I've got a +5 magic staff, I've never seen anything so powerful" said the lovely shocked mage, tears streaming lovingly from her lovely eyes. "I've got a +5 stethoscope, I've never even heard of anything so powerful" said the shocked healer, tears streaming from her eyes. "I've got a +10 pepper mill" said Max, "you might all want to protect your eyes." "I've got hairy eyeballs" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
"Also I have a secret to share with you" said Max Protagonist, "I'm the protagonist!". "Really, we couldn't tell. You've been so great at hiding it!" said shocked everybody, tears streaming from their eyes.
"Also I have a lovely secret to share with you, my love" said the lovely elf girlfriend. "I too have hairy balls". Everybody couldn't help but laugh. "I know" said Max, tears streaming from his eyes.
"I've got this" said Maximum Protagonist as he killed the goblin with his shield.
"I've got hairy balls" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but to laugh.
The 20 foot tall goblin attacked the archer. "I've got this" said Maximum Protagonist as he shot the goblin 10 times with two arms. "Thanks" said the archer. "I've got a hairy chest" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
The 25 foot tall goblin attacked the lovely elf mage girlfriend. Max was angry! How dare a monster in a dungeon attack his lovely girlfriend. "I've got this" said Max as he fireballed the goblin with his other two arms. "Thanks love" says the lovely girlfriend, "I love you!". "I've got hairy feet" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
The 30 foot tall goblin attacked the healer, who was sitting in a chair reading a book. "I've got this" said Max as he healed the goblin to death. "Thanks" said the healer. "I've got hairy toes" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Then the 60 foot tall boss goblin attacked Max. He took out his sword, his axe, his shield, his halberd, his dagger, and his club and killed the boss to death. "Thanks" said everyone looking on from their chairs on the sidelines. "I've got hairy knees" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
A giant treasure chest appeared. The dwarf flung it open. "I've got a +5 shield, I've never seen anything so powerful" said the shocked dwarf, tears streaming from his eyes. "I've got a +5 bow, I've never never seen anything so powerful" said the shocked archer, tears streaming from her eyes. "I've got a +5 magic staff, I've never seen anything so powerful" said the lovely shocked mage, tears streaming lovingly from her lovely eyes. "I've got a +5 stethoscope, I've never even heard of anything so powerful" said the shocked healer, tears streaming from her eyes. "I've got a +10 pepper mill" said Max, "you might all want to protect your eyes." "I've got hairy eyeballs" yelled the dwarf. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
"Also I have a secret to share with you" said Max Protagonist, "I'm the protagonist!". "Really, we couldn't tell. You've been so great at hiding it!" said shocked everybody, tears streaming from their eyes.
"Also I have a lovely secret to share with you, my love" said the lovely elf girlfriend. "I too have hairy balls". Everybody couldn't help but laugh. "I know" said Max, tears streaming from his eyes.
August 11, 2025
I'm liking where this series is going. The progression is fast and reasonable, the characters are fun and interesting in their own way, and the series plot is becoming a bigger and bigger part of each book. The couple of things I didn't enjoy, or was worried about in the first couple books have all worked out and thankfully this seems to be an author I can trust to tell a good story. The writing may not be the best, it is not the most complex, but it is a good story and that's all I'm ever looking for at the end of the day.
A main character who is broken in the system, and his group who is also broken makes for all the best fight scenes which challenge them, but where the outcome is going to be positive. It turns into a matter of how they will do it, not if they will do it. There's enough failures sprinkled in to still allow the reader to ask the question, but you know more than likely it is going to be just what you want if you read these types of books. Some monster ass kicking, then some joking around afterwards followed by some drinks and down time for the rest of the plot points to catch up.
One small thing that I'm finding unique in this series is how the characters actually talk to one another when there is a problem. In 99% of all other books some misunderstanding or internal issue will lead to chapters of BS that could be fixed if two characters just talked about the issue. Here they do this and there is none of this silly unrealistic emotional crap that is completely avoidable. This allows more kicking of the asses and progression to occur, and that’s what I’m here for.
I hope there is more of where this came from, if so this will be one of those series that I always return to for new books. I may not mark down release dates on my calendar, but it will always be one I pick up when it comes out.
A main character who is broken in the system, and his group who is also broken makes for all the best fight scenes which challenge them, but where the outcome is going to be positive. It turns into a matter of how they will do it, not if they will do it. There's enough failures sprinkled in to still allow the reader to ask the question, but you know more than likely it is going to be just what you want if you read these types of books. Some monster ass kicking, then some joking around afterwards followed by some drinks and down time for the rest of the plot points to catch up.
One small thing that I'm finding unique in this series is how the characters actually talk to one another when there is a problem. In 99% of all other books some misunderstanding or internal issue will lead to chapters of BS that could be fixed if two characters just talked about the issue. Here they do this and there is none of this silly unrealistic emotional crap that is completely avoidable. This allows more kicking of the asses and progression to occur, and that’s what I’m here for.
I hope there is more of where this came from, if so this will be one of those series that I always return to for new books. I may not mark down release dates on my calendar, but it will always be one I pick up when it comes out.
October 22, 2025
Finally entering the tower was as satisfying as I thought it would be.
The difference between each floor is fascinating. The puzzles are put together well and the monsters are well written. This author sure does have a special interest in the height of each monster, though. I've noticed that every time he describes a "big bad", he always makes sure to mention that they're 10, 15, 25 ft tall. Not a bad thing, just noticeable.
Cordellia joining the group was a bit quick, and I hope this isn't gonna be one of those situations where she pretends to be cool and goes back to the Elves to spill the beans. It would certainly add tension but for how quickly the party accepted her, I'd be kinda upset if she betrayed them.
The skills Max has been gaining are really adding some depth to both combat and PvE stuff. I like that the author is also coming up with combos for the skills and also using the non-combat ones fairly often as well. Excited to read more.
The difference between each floor is fascinating. The puzzles are put together well and the monsters are well written. This author sure does have a special interest in the height of each monster, though. I've noticed that every time he describes a "big bad", he always makes sure to mention that they're 10, 15, 25 ft tall. Not a bad thing, just noticeable.
Cordellia joining the group was a bit quick, and I hope this isn't gonna be one of those situations where she pretends to be cool and goes back to the Elves to spill the beans. It would certainly add tension but for how quickly the party accepted her, I'd be kinda upset if she betrayed them.
The skills Max has been gaining are really adding some depth to both combat and PvE stuff. I like that the author is also coming up with combos for the skills and also using the non-combat ones fairly often as well. Excited to read more.
September 5, 2024
excellent book good progression, a must read.
A very excellent story. Great character, good worldbuilding, and excellent progression. A good storyline and very likable MC. All the side characters are fun and the team as a whole. A very loyal and loving to each other in my opinion, that’s what a story needs to have a loving loyal MC who takes care of his own. In a lot of books I’ve read lately. You have MC that only look out for themselves and use side characters for their own enrichment. The only issue I have with the story is it’s transitions from seeing to seen, they are a little bit jarring, for example, they are sitting eating in a restaurant for dinner then in the next paragraph they’re in a dungeon, there are no intermediate transitions from place to place. besides that I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
A very excellent story. Great character, good worldbuilding, and excellent progression. A good storyline and very likable MC. All the side characters are fun and the team as a whole. A very loyal and loving to each other in my opinion, that’s what a story needs to have a loving loyal MC who takes care of his own. In a lot of books I’ve read lately. You have MC that only look out for themselves and use side characters for their own enrichment. The only issue I have with the story is it’s transitions from seeing to seen, they are a little bit jarring, for example, they are sitting eating in a restaurant for dinner then in the next paragraph they’re in a dungeon, there are no intermediate transitions from place to place. besides that I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
May 15, 2025
fourth book in the series, and it sticks closely to the tone and style that fans of the earlier books will recognize and enjoy. If you liked the previous ones, you’ll definitely have a good time with this one too.
The writing remains fun and fast-paced. The main character is starting to lean a bit into the cheesy side, but it’s done with humor and self-awareness, so it doesn’t cross the line into cringey – it actually adds a bit of charm.
There is a bit of repetition, especially with the loot scenes – they’re starting to feel formulaic. Also, it’s still unclear why the group keeps hiding loot stats from each other if they keep saying they’re “family.” That part feels inconsistent.
Still, the plot developments are engaging, and I’m especially curious to see where things go with Max’s evolving powers. Looking forward to the next book!
4/5
The writing remains fun and fast-paced. The main character is starting to lean a bit into the cheesy side, but it’s done with humor and self-awareness, so it doesn’t cross the line into cringey – it actually adds a bit of charm.
There is a bit of repetition, especially with the loot scenes – they’re starting to feel formulaic. Also, it’s still unclear why the group keeps hiding loot stats from each other if they keep saying they’re “family.” That part feels inconsistent.
Still, the plot developments are engaging, and I’m especially curious to see where things go with Max’s evolving powers. Looking forward to the next book!
4/5
October 1, 2024
Engaging dungeon diving story
The MC is a pawn in the machinations between various gods. He is OP and those around him also level unbelievably fast. But he has powerful enemies so he must push himself to grow. The cult started by his elven lover's sister sends assassins, and an unknown adversary sent a poisoner, plus he's hiding his identity from the 2 queens that rule the land. The monsters are certainly interesting and creative as they dive the tower dungeon. My only suggestion is for more storyline away from dungeon diving. Though creative Im kinda getting tired of jumping from dungeon to dungeon, monster to monster. I'd like to see more real word activities, assassins, advesarial factions, vengeful nobles and/or minions of the gods.
The MC is a pawn in the machinations between various gods. He is OP and those around him also level unbelievably fast. But he has powerful enemies so he must push himself to grow. The cult started by his elven lover's sister sends assassins, and an unknown adversary sent a poisoner, plus he's hiding his identity from the 2 queens that rule the land. The monsters are certainly interesting and creative as they dive the tower dungeon. My only suggestion is for more storyline away from dungeon diving. Though creative Im kinda getting tired of jumping from dungeon to dungeon, monster to monster. I'd like to see more real word activities, assassins, advesarial factions, vengeful nobles and/or minions of the gods.
June 20, 2025
The boss fights are getting a little repetitive. Change the color of the monster, and the pointy thing on the end of the stick, but you can only do so much that is different.
There were a a few change ups in this story that grabbed the reader's attention. Two "new" characters were introduced. And two reveals were made. One expected, it was just a matter of time. One, a pleasant surprise for the reader.
Still some distracting proofreading errors that didn't get caught. Not as many as in the last book. But even if this is a Kindle publication, I think it should be treated as professional quality writing, and deserves more careful editing.
There were a a few change ups in this story that grabbed the reader's attention. Two "new" characters were introduced. And two reveals were made. One expected, it was just a matter of time. One, a pleasant surprise for the reader.
Still some distracting proofreading errors that didn't get caught. Not as many as in the last book. But even if this is a Kindle publication, I think it should be treated as professional quality writing, and deserves more careful editing.
Read
September 5, 2024Great book, but the editor needs to review more thoroughly.
Love the story line and the writing, demolished it within 48 hours of purchase! However, the editor needs someone to [Intimidation] them as there are quite a lot of grammatical and sentence issues, such as additional words or finishing sentences with "and".
All normal stuff when in the creative flow, these things will happen, but the book needs someone thorough to review and ensure these bits are tidied up.
Can't wait for the next stage of the story with Max and the gang!
Love the story line and the writing, demolished it within 48 hours of purchase! However, the editor needs someone to [Intimidation] them as there are quite a lot of grammatical and sentence issues, such as additional words or finishing sentences with "and".
All normal stuff when in the creative flow, these things will happen, but the book needs someone thorough to review and ensure these bits are tidied up.
Can't wait for the next stage of the story with Max and the gang!
September 10, 2024
Great story - editing is atrocious
The story deserves four stars. The editing deserves one. Whoever proofread the first three books must not have been available for this one. There are an uncommon number of sentences that make no sense at all!! There are spelling errors and punctuation errors that should never exist in a story whose previous quality we've come to expect and which should have been maintained in this one.
I'm disappointed.
Regarding the tale itself... Fun! As usual.
I look forward to the next installment. I hope your editor is up to the task.
The story deserves four stars. The editing deserves one. Whoever proofread the first three books must not have been available for this one. There are an uncommon number of sentences that make no sense at all!! There are spelling errors and punctuation errors that should never exist in a story whose previous quality we've come to expect and which should have been maintained in this one.
I'm disappointed.
Regarding the tale itself... Fun! As usual.
I look forward to the next installment. I hope your editor is up to the task.
December 8, 2024
It keeps getting better
Lit RPG adventures can usually become bogged down with stat sheets. What Shawn Wilson has done with this series Ultimate Level 1 is nothing short of a masterpiece. The MC continues to grow from weak to strong, enemies continue to pursue him from all sides, and as usual, the Gods have their own games that they play at the expense of mere mortals. The story pulls you in, and holds your attention page after page from start to finish. On to the next story (book 5). 🙂
Lit RPG adventures can usually become bogged down with stat sheets. What Shawn Wilson has done with this series Ultimate Level 1 is nothing short of a masterpiece. The MC continues to grow from weak to strong, enemies continue to pursue him from all sides, and as usual, the Gods have their own games that they play at the expense of mere mortals. The story pulls you in, and holds your attention page after page from start to finish. On to the next story (book 5). 🙂
March 16, 2025
Boring
I kept hoping the books wouldn’t better but sadly it’s just the same over and over and over….
There is maybe 10% story in each of the books, the rest is just grinding tower floors. Literally I have started skipping HUGE chunks of the books because it’s just the same boring crap over and over. MC fights, mc kills, stat gains, skills gains, and then when you’re ready to fall asleep from boredom a nugget of actual story shows up.
This has become one of the most boring series I have ever read.
I kept hoping the books wouldn’t better but sadly it’s just the same over and over and over….
There is maybe 10% story in each of the books, the rest is just grinding tower floors. Literally I have started skipping HUGE chunks of the books because it’s just the same boring crap over and over. MC fights, mc kills, stat gains, skills gains, and then when you’re ready to fall asleep from boredom a nugget of actual story shows up.
This has become one of the most boring series I have ever read.
September 4, 2024
Losing steam
This book was entirely one flight after another intermixed with the same patterns of speech, the same dialogue, the same jokes. It seems like the author is trying to create a running gag and it's not working. It's growing stale.
Maybe if the series had something more going for it..
3 stars is quite generous. I did enjoy books 1 and 2. It's iffy whether I read the next installment.
This book was entirely one flight after another intermixed with the same patterns of speech, the same dialogue, the same jokes. It seems like the author is trying to create a running gag and it's not working. It's growing stale.
Maybe if the series had something more going for it..
3 stars is quite generous. I did enjoy books 1 and 2. It's iffy whether I read the next installment.
December 10, 2024
An in between book
Nothing really happens per se in this book storyline wise. Yes, we see the party enter the tower, but it is roughly the same style as any dungeon the party has been in before... Not even tougher really.
Some new truths are revealed but overall, just an in between book getting the heroes stronger.
Much improved sentence structure and rarely a grammatical error. Much better editing!!
Have fun!!!
Nothing really happens per se in this book storyline wise. Yes, we see the party enter the tower, but it is roughly the same style as any dungeon the party has been in before... Not even tougher really.
Some new truths are revealed but overall, just an in between book getting the heroes stronger.
Much improved sentence structure and rarely a grammatical error. Much better editing!!
Have fun!!!
April 27, 2025
Ok, well, in this one, loads of things are happening. Max gets to let more people in on his secret, finds out who some of his enemies are, and of course, conquers more levels than anyone expects. All of this of course, while realizing there's some really strong enemies out there, and they aren't being shy about coming after him.
It makes for an excellent read, so if you're liking the series, keep right on with this book, you won't be disappointed.
It makes for an excellent read, so if you're liking the series, keep right on with this book, you won't be disappointed.
June 30, 2025
Pay for an editor
Quality continues to decline. Very sad as it’s just horrible stuff that could have been prevented by any reading of the book before publishing. Along with the terrible grammar and random paragraphs ending or missing, now includes random sentences ending, repeating words, and plot points missing context that feels like important text was removed and never replaced. By 40% through it becomes almost unreadable. Do better.
Quality continues to decline. Very sad as it’s just horrible stuff that could have been prevented by any reading of the book before publishing. Along with the terrible grammar and random paragraphs ending or missing, now includes random sentences ending, repeating words, and plot points missing context that feels like important text was removed and never replaced. By 40% through it becomes almost unreadable. Do better.
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