Rise of the Living Forge

Rise of the Living Forge #1

by Actus

Betrayed by his guild... Left for dead...
He'll become stronger than they ever imagined.
Ever since Arwin was summoned as a child, all he has known is war. And now, to claim the demon queen's life and end the war, he has to sacrifice himself.

But, as he deals the final blow, the Hero of Mankind is betrayed.

Caught in a magical explosion thought to end him, Arwin awakens a month later to find that everyone has already moved on. His [Hero] class has changed to a unique blacksmith Class called [The Living Forge] that is empowered by consuming magical items, but some of his old passive [Titles] remain, giving him the power to forge his new future exactly the way he wants to.

Arwin isn't going to settle for anything less than completely surpassing the powers he wielded as the Hero.

After all, you are what you eat – and Arwin’s diet just became legendary.

Don't miss the next epic LitRPG Saga from Actus, bestselling author of Return of the Runebound Professor. With nearly 7-million views on Royal Road, this definitive edition is perfect for fans of Seth Ring, Jonathan Brooks, Michael Chatfield and lovers of all things Progression Fantasy and Crafting.

About the Features a healthy mix of crafting and combat, a strong-to-stronger MC, power progression, a detailed magic system, item enchantment, smithing, unforgettable characters, and much more!

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Crafts, Demons, Fiction

777 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2024

About the author

Actus has been writing fantasy stories since the age of twelve, and he's been telling them since he could talk. He's currently working on three main series - Morcster Chef, Steamforged Sorcery, and My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror. You can find his works on RoyalRoad & Patreon as well as on Amazon.

In addition to his passion for writing, Actus is capable of clearing a two story building with a single jump. That isn't true, but writing about himself in third person gives Actus delusions of grandeur.

Reviews

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good series. It's a cozy lit-RPG? But with fighting. And romance. It's just fun. It reads like a D&D campaign and I enjoy it greatly. Very comfy.

[Junior · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too long

This has a terrible case of webnovelitis. Kindle shows it at 777 pages. It should have been cut down to 450ish or less. Just pointless filler and unnecessary detail throughout.

Add in that it doesn't have an ending, it just stops and I'm feeling generous to give it 3 stars.

NTS: do not continue series

[Dave Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 65% two and a half stars

A good book carries you along. It takes off, and you hold on for the ride. Not this clunky misfire, this thing is a brick.
The real bummer is that this could have been triumph. The premise is genuinely clever, and I was interested to see if it would get better as it went along. This book has all the elements of a hit, but they would need a different writer to pull it off.
I kept slogging along trying to like it until the a huge WTF gave me just cause to jettison this turkey.
I could say more but it would just make me feel mean.

[Liam Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not worth reading (unless you’re really into lobotomies because that’s what you’ll need to stop this “story” from eating at the rest of your brain) it is incredibly contradictory with itself and a lot of the writing is just lazy. The protagonist used to be ‘the hero’ who was raised in isolation to kill the demon queen. During their battles the demon queen and the hero each killed each other’s friends and companions and with each of their dieing breaths they plunged their swords into one anothers hearts. despite this the two seem perfectly capable of breaking bread with one another and even develop a love interest because apparently they want to live a peaceful life but as soon as some random thief kid they only just met called zeek dies they literally give up all hopes of peace and declare was on some other thieves. It doesn’t make any sense and all the emotions feel so fake, not to mention that there is absolutely no emotional investment in almost anything that takes place. The setting is so unclear that I literally cannot imagine it whatsoever. The city is apparently large enough to hold multiple large guilds and whole abandoned streets as well as a kingdom’s worth of thieves but so small that the king doesn’t bother taxing the local lord who has a massive mansion. This does not make sense. Also there’s a super threatening dragon thing and their immediate response is I need to get stronger and make more stuff so that we can go kill it ourselves. Why not tell someone, there are much stronger people in the city/town. It comes through very clearly that the author is of lower intelligence. Furthermore the author continues to repeat patterns over and over, like watching power rangers with all the reused footage. Let me write an example and maybe someone can tell me how many variations of this line that occurs within what is generously called an audiobook; “ i heat the forge with soul flames I smack the metal with my hammer I wake up 3 days later from my trance to see my work then I’m happy and go across the road where everyone is waiting we have some food and go on A little adventure come back and ooh time to heat the forge with soul flames I guess” by the way if the author is reading this review you can reuse what I wrote if you want, make a whole book out of it if you really want, oh wait, you did book 2. I do not have a single good thing to say about this, it is, simply put, the worst book I have ever read in my entire adult life. I literally got half way through and like the masochist I am decided that I would listen to the rest so that I could give my most honest review, that is not a lie or an exaggeration, and my most honest opinion is this; this book does nothing well, does everything poorly and is frankly frustrating to even think about. I have left more reviews on other platforms with both suggestions on how to write better and further critique and criticism on this book. Do not read.

With much disrespect
A patient reader

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long, too slow, honestly I can't tell you why I finished this one. Except I have the flu or something and it was the book I started. Good enough to finish when you're at death's door. Hopefully I'll remember to read book 2 when it's released, but probably not. I just finished this one and I've already forgotten most of it.

[Dantegideon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, it’s OK. Bit plodding and obvious, drags on occasion. Mostly fine.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like a knock off of a novel I read before. Person gets strong, party betrays him to take power for themselves, he gets a second chance and comes after them. I think it was a Japanese / Korean progression book. Can't recall.

I'm less than a quarter way through, and this is meh so far. A smith class that has to eat magical items to stay alive? Nothing interesting happened so far. We will see what comes.

I'm halfway through the book, and I'm still not enjoying it. I will finish the book, but I don't think I will read any sequels if there are any.

Yeah. This was a yawn fest. The story went just as expected. I will not pick up the sequel, and I did not enjoy this. The story was boring and the characters uninteresting. This was a slog to complete, and a waste of my time.

The need to consume magical items was a stupid plot device to push the protag forward, and didn't mean much when the protag can easily print magical items like candy.
Then the worth of Gold in this is ridiculous. I think the author just threw a bunch of stuff together and tried to make something from it.

I might have given this a better score, but it was needlessly long, and made me put in all that effort for zero pay off. I'm not even slightly curious what happens next.

1.5/5 Stars

[Shonari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crafting fantasy done right. Rise of the Living Forge strikes a great balance of crafting, action, and adventure with a bit of emotional depth mixed in. While the pacing stumbles during a subplot where the emotional weight doesn’t fully land given the short timeframe, the story as a whole remains compelling. With its inventive premise and satisfying progression, it’s an excellent start to a series that promises even more to come.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A toss up

This book was interesting but at the same time it wasn’t. I felt like I had to slog through finishing this book for some reason. The characters just didn’t grab me and pull me along.

The world is interesting and I want to know more but I think the MC is fairly boring. Even his new super class just seems more like a way for the author to drive the plot instead of an actual class.

[CHRISTOPHER robert SCHULER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting but good!

I was expecting a necromancy book and what I got was a wonderful spin on adventure/slice of life. Just finished the first one and I'm excited to pick up the rest of them.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun read. Kept me thinking back to Midnight Bounties and I hope it spends more time on following books on the rebuilds and the unique classes.

Definitely picking up the next one.

[Cody Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the same author's Return of the Runebound Professor but bounced off his My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror: The Complete Series: (A LitRPG Series Bundle).

I was curious as to how I'd find this one, and the answer is...pretty good?

There's a fairly obvious super slow-burn enemies to lovers subplot going on (two and a half books in and I think it's progressed to them kissing each other on the cheek and blushingly admitting they're dating; it's *very* slow-burn) that's quite enjoyable. The world building and litrpg system is pretty generic.

The plot is interesting although I struggled to get too invested in it. As rapidly becomes clear, the protagonist was a puppet used for some nefarious purposes for years, before the inevitable betrayal and murder. For some reason it didn't stick, so the protagonist needs to recover, regain power, and figure out the who/what/why of the plot, figure out why he didn't die, find allies, etc. It's pretty good, but somehow I found myself more interested in the characters than the big world shaking mysteries on the horizon.

The characters are cute, there's enough humour that you'll make an amused snorting sound at least once every couple of chapters. It's...pleasant. And while I loved the Runebound professor series by the same author, the writing in book 1, especially, was a bit clunky. That problem isn't present here; Actus is clearly an experienced, competent writer at this point.

I guess if I have a criticism, it's that I'm about 2.5 books in (read the two books published as of review time, and then a bunch of additional chapters on Royal Road), and things seem to be progressing a little slowly. It's like the author tried to split the difference between a plot driven story and a cozy slice of life, but didn't *quite* nail either half?

Nonetheless, while I wouldn't put this in my top 10 favourite stories by any means, I would certainly recommend reading it.

[Bert Babb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written story of betrayal and redemption in an RPG universe

The MC and his nemesis were destroyed together after a final epic battle. But they came back at a distant location, yet their paths soon crossed again. Yet they were no longer the same. Now a downgraded blacksmith with a need to eat enchanted items and a tavern keeper with a darkness affinity. They discovered that they'd both been betrayed and realized they could and should work together to become strong enough to find out the truths. Of course they have to deal with current problems, especially when a hit is called down on the MC for sperioulis reasons. They missed, but got someone else, which the MC and his cohorts did not appreciate.

The story was well written though the monetary system didnt make sense to me as the value of gold in this world feels way off. Denizens of a slum wouldn't have access to gold, more likely, bronze, copper or at most silver. Paying 20 gold for a rickety cart is ludicrous. In 2025 gold is $3,000/ oz. So the cart costs $60,000, the price of a new SUV. Historically, an oz of gold is the value of a high quality men's suit. Even in 1970's pricing of $35/ oz that's $700. The cart at most should be a silver, or about $30 which is the current spot price of silver.

The book was quite long, and at the end though interesting, I was glad to be done with it. I'll read the next installment, but not right away as I need a break.

[Cmoore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Actus pulls out another great litRPG and Peter Berkrot is perfect bringing it to life with his great narration! And I can't wait for the next book, absodamnlutely can't wait! This book allows the Hero of Man and the Demon Queen to actually take a look at themselves in a whole new light, and of each other. To stop being bitter enemies on the battlefield ready to kill each other. But with their new class' in place it allows them to be just an Innkeeper and a Smithy, something that previously had only been a dream, a Smithy and a possible client.?. And maybe, just maybe even a friend!?! So yeah grab the book to find out if the Smithy, an Innkeeper, a Warden, a Warrior and a Healer can join forces to form their own guild!

Here's a couple of quotes that amused me:

“I remember that there were some pretty big lizard things, though.” “Lizards? Sounds like those could be useful.” “Did you miss the big part?” “Big means there are more spots to stab,”

I’m going to eat you, and I’m going to like it. That isn’t a threat. It’s a promise. Oh, who am I kidding. It’s also a threat.

“I ain’t no robber!” Arwin raised an eyebrow. “I’m a reallocator of goods.”

[Stephen Morley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Predicable

The start of the book is the hardest part to get through. Its three genres slap dashed together. Litrpg, Isekai, and reversed hero story.

It gets better but then it just gets predictable. Nothing really new or groundbreaking.

My biggest issue is the actual smithing. The author doesn’t know much about smithing so he just fills in everything with magic to make it work. Except it doesn’t. Suspended reality is needed when reading fiction but some basic rules have to exist for the magic to feel real. This book basically says nah everything is can be bridged with a sprinkle of magic fire and need. The protagonist gets what he needs every time. And to make it sound smithy like the author writes that he quenched the metal a few times.

The fights are boring. The dramatic storylines are boring. The guild has 5 people but only one guy does any of the fighting until the author needs a way to make it interesting and then one of the other characters join in.

The book had potential and some interesting concepts but the story really is just a rough draft of a D&D campaign.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. LITRPGS come in many flavors and colors, good, bad, funny, and adventurous to name a few.

This book was one I simply couldn’t put down. I felt something reading it. The return from death experience, combined with heavy crafting, slice of life, and action elements was a fantastic blend that I think most LITRPG readers will find enjoyable.

While not terribly crunchy number crunching, it passes my test. Namely: would it be possible to write a better book without the litrpg elements? I don’t think so in this case. The litrpg advances the story in meaningful ways throughout and help with readability. Further more, the standard elements (skills, items, etc) complement the character journey where appropriate.

In summary, I was surprised, happy, angry, sad, and empathetic with each of the characters in this book, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for their first craft heavy LITRPG.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hero of the Human kingdom (empire? whatever) has been attempting to lead the human forces to victory over the Demon army. The book begins with the hero and the commander of the demons running each other through, followed by some sort of explosion.

Immediately thereafter, the hero wakes up in a new place, with all his memories intact, but without his previous powers. Using his new class, Living Forge, he attempts to make a new life for himself, without the stress of being the last great hope.

The premise isn't especially novel, but the writing is good. The plot does a good job of varying between political machinations in the city and dungeon exploration. The main characters are varied and interesting, and the author creates quite a bit of sympathy for them and their various situations.

This is a nice, solid, if run-of-the-mill LitRPG, and I'd recommend it to fans of the genre.

[Leslie Baptiste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, could use a little bit more power, progression, excellent.

Succinctly five stars because, a smart excellent MC Secondarily, a good side cast of characters. Three an excellent storyline with an overarching mystery. Four a possible love story, hopefully. Slow at the beginning, like most books start off, but the story becomes more engrossing as you progress, it is a story and a book you will continuously read to finish to find out what happens. There are some funny moments, tearjerking moments, just a fun great read. A little bit of profanity, but not that much. I was eagerly awaiting this book and now unfortunately I have to wait for the next one. Read it I don’t think you will be disappointed in my opinion.

[Devan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story. The MC/hero fights the last battle with the demon queen. After a titanic explosive last clash which he thought would be his last. The MC wakes up in a town in the boonies with a completely reset character sheet and a unique new Living Forge class. The story that followed was a great mix of crafting and dungeon diving that I thoroughly enjoyed.

To quote and simultaneously butcher Brandon Sanderson. The best stories/heroes aren’t the ones with the most OP powers, but the most interesting weaknesses that they have to overcome. That’s what I enjoyed about this book. The MC is granted a cool unique class with an equally unique detrimental weakness. It was fun to see how the MC handled it and I am curious to see where the story goes in book 2.

[Fat Frog · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 92%

I like the main idea of getting reborn as a crafter. But the execution of the book leaves a lot to be desired.

The 2nd half of the book feels VERY slow. I started skimming.

Too much yapping. Too many details that I don't care about.

Very cheezy dual reincarnation with the "good" demon queen. The idea that the hero and the demon queen were both "tricked" into killing hundreds of people, doesn't really track. The top most powerful people on both sides of a war, both completely hoodwinked for 10 years of combat... yea right.

Power levels don't make sense. They go to a dungeon 2 times, and it is so hard, that they can barely win against a couple enemies and don't get much exp. Then they go the 3rd time, and suddenly they breeze through the dungeon........ but WHEN did they gain all this power. It makes no sense. They did nothing between run 2 and 3 that gained them much of anything.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow fun

So, it's more game-lit than litrpg. That said, it's set in a world where their magic system is called the mesh. The MC was abducted from Earth by summoning and made into a hero. Then he fell, and that is where the book takes over. The characters in this book are really well developed, and the author tries to let you crawl in some of their heads. The progression part of the fantasy is a bit slow, and the character certainly has unique abilities and problems. I did find the achievement system to be a bit nebulous and arbitrary, but since there are no actual stats to speak of, it doesn't really make too much of a problem. I am, however, looking forward to the next book.

[Zalfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.25/5 (Rounded up, because first book in series) - Recommend, will continue the series. High potential for future books

The good:
Grammar
The MC feels real and pretty consistent. The struggles he underwent. The PTSD he gained from them. His and the demon queen's interactions. It does not feel forced.
The side characters are memorable
Liked the mystery elements
I very much enjoyed the MC and Demon queen's relationship and dynamic

The bad (Honestly, these are very minor):
I disliked the crafting chapters, they were less interesting than the character interactions or the fight scenes.
I did not find the main villain very interesting

[Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story with a fun, slight twist to typical litrpg class systems. Pacing was good, character development was fine and I loved that Actus did not pull punches. If you want a solid fantasy book, you will likely enjoy Rise of the Living Forge.

It is unlikely though that I will continue with the story. I found many of the jumps in logic to be too soon, or perhaps some reveals of why the characters made those jumps took too long to come out. Also, this barely classifies at litrpg. I enjoy the numbers and skills discussed in a more traditional litrpg.

Peter Berkrot was fine as a narrator.

[Charles Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Hero Story With a Deep Mystery at Its Heart.

Most LitRPG stories have a heavy dose of other genres leavening their plot lines. This novel has a heavy dose of Mystery to its plot; as the main characters learn of certain facts which appear to have been hidden from the entire world.

One of the main characters is an Isekai, brought to the world as a ten year old child, but has few memories of their life on Earth.

This is a good read, and the Mystery elements have intrigued me enough to want to read the subsequent novels to learn the truth behind the lies told to an entire world.

Well worth reading if you like LitRPG, Fantasy, or Mystery novels.

[Nagendra Kumar Yadav T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read from this author and I liked it. While Return of the Runebound Professor was interesting with cheating of the death, it hooked me pretty early on. But Rise of the living forge took it's sweet time to hook me into it. Especially with the forging and eating magical powers to stay alive, but by the end of the book, I liked all the characters and their interactions. I cared for them. Now I honestly can't decide which amongst the two books I've read I liked more.
Anyways, I am looking for more from the author.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of what happens after a character hits the level cap, fights the final boss, and (maybe?) wins. Unlike some games, the credits don’t roll, and we don’t fade to black. Instead, the main character gets an unusual new class, and a chance to start over with some new friends. The writing was a bit clunky, the inevitable fight scenes could get repetitive and predictable, and the whole thing could have been edited down by a couple hundred pages or so. But the premise was interesting, and for fans of the LitRPG genre, it’s worth checking out.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was really good until about 85%. By really good, I mean there was a plot, conflict, resolution, movement, growth. All the things that make a story really good. The last 15% was a pointless dungeon dive, along with a multi-chapter battle of the 300 foot high ubermonster. There was some character arc shoe-horned in, but it really turned me off on finishing the book and reading the next installment.

[Tobias Granberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most Actus books they follow a similar pattern, 1 male and one female lead. One side character tied to the male lead and a side character pairing. This time in a litrpg setting with an interesting premise and, as normal for Actus, a novel magic system and somewhat formulaic story beats with some "twists" and turns. But said twisty turns are so heavily foreshadowed that a blind deaf person would see it coming miles away.

Still a enjoyable experience and I look forward to the next one.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betrayed Hero and Demon Queen start anew

Starting a whole new adventure - when they were at the end of their battle against each other in classic good against evil (each thinking they were the good ones) an explosive spell sends the two on a new adventure where they both have to start over in a new class, and help each other to survive to someday repay whoever had played them.
Lots of intelligent and fun writing.
Can't wait to get to the next episode.