What do you think?
Rate this book
Accidental Champion #3
Accidental Champion 3
Book 3 of a new action-packed apocalyptic LitRPG by Todd Herzman, with levels, a detailed System, classes, skills, towers, loot, & everything you love about progression fantasy.
- GenresFantasy
590 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 8, 2025
730 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 10, 2025
My least favorite one so far
The MC has gotten too far ahead of the pack. None of his allies are "companions", he's just carrying around sidekicks. This was getting a bit annoying in book 2 and I was hoping earth would be more interesting. Instead pretty much nothing had happened on earth yet. No factions, no competition, no leftover corrupt governments. Only level 1 humans while our MC is sitting at level 100.
The tower was interesting as a tutorial area for book one, but no matter how well the combat and the progression are written, zones with no impact on the story and only throwaway characters can only stay interesting for so long. By book 2 it had overstayed its welcome for me and now it looks like we're going back for book 4, so I'm not a fan of where this series is going.
The MC has gotten too far ahead of the pack. None of his allies are "companions", he's just carrying around sidekicks. This was getting a bit annoying in book 2 and I was hoping earth would be more interesting. Instead pretty much nothing had happened on earth yet. No factions, no competition, no leftover corrupt governments. Only level 1 humans while our MC is sitting at level 100.
The tower was interesting as a tutorial area for book one, but no matter how well the combat and the progression are written, zones with no impact on the story and only throwaway characters can only stay interesting for so long. By book 2 it had overstayed its welcome for me and now it looks like we're going back for book 4, so I'm not a fan of where this series is going.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2025
I was honestly hoping that some of the mistakes of book 2 would have ironed themselves out, that maybe the author would have read some of the more critical reviews and learned something from them. But no.
The MC is pretty dumb and glaringly selfish. Why anyone would follow this kid around is beyond me. The only thing, and I mean ONLY thing, he has going for him is that he got lucky in the beginning of book one (or was it fate? pfft) and then for the rest of that book and the next one he used his friends to get a leg up on everyone else, while leaving them far far behind, under the dubious auspices of a "true progenitor".
Why is there so much thinking? I'm not talking about characters simply thinking about actions or remembering or having brief internal monologue. I'm talking about this:
Characters puts hand on doorknob to open door. Spends four or five good long paragraphs thinking about everything thing that could exist or happen on the other side of that door. Opens door. Nothing happens.
Character gets asked a question. Spends many, many long paragraphs agonizing over every single way they could reply, and all of the possible permutations of responses to their reply, and finally gives a one word answer, several pages later, which is not responded to.
There is a lot of that. The constant struggle to just act, just to move the plot forward. But no (again). Every character must analyze every potential solution or outcome of every decision ad nauseum.
This same methodology is extended to fight scenes that are too long, and interrupted with other unrelated scenes. Two chapters of fight, one or two chapters of ... something else. Another two chapters of fight.
I'm not even going to get into how absolutely boring all the skill discussions and calculations were, and often were repeated.
Then there are just the blatantly dumb mistakes.
For example:
I made it through to the end but there were just so many eyerolls (mine and the characters) that I don't think I can go back for a fourth helping.
The MC is pretty dumb and glaringly selfish. Why anyone would follow this kid around is beyond me. The only thing, and I mean ONLY thing, he has going for him is that he got lucky in the beginning of book one (or was it fate? pfft) and then for the rest of that book and the next one he used his friends to get a leg up on everyone else, while leaving them far far behind, under the dubious auspices of a "true progenitor".
Why is there so much thinking? I'm not talking about characters simply thinking about actions or remembering or having brief internal monologue. I'm talking about this:
Characters puts hand on doorknob to open door. Spends four or five good long paragraphs thinking about everything thing that could exist or happen on the other side of that door. Opens door. Nothing happens.
Character gets asked a question. Spends many, many long paragraphs agonizing over every single way they could reply, and all of the possible permutations of responses to their reply, and finally gives a one word answer, several pages later, which is not responded to.
There is a lot of that. The constant struggle to just act, just to move the plot forward. But no (again). Every character must analyze every potential solution or outcome of every decision ad nauseum.
This same methodology is extended to fight scenes that are too long, and interrupted with other unrelated scenes. Two chapters of fight, one or two chapters of ... something else. Another two chapters of fight.
I'm not even going to get into how absolutely boring all the skill discussions and calculations were, and often were repeated.
Then there are just the blatantly dumb mistakes.
For example:
I made it through to the end but there were just so many eyerolls (mine and the characters) that I don't think I can go back for a fourth helping.
July 11, 2025
Needed another round of editing. I hoped the editing would get better but there are still some minor mistakes, such as using the wrong names. At one point a character was called Jack and I am sure I have never seen that name before in the book. I was excited that we were finally getting out of the tower and back to earth but this book sadly felt weaker than the first two. I'm worried the author wrote himself into a wall. Xavier becomes too strong too fast and nothing seems challenging. When something does challenge him, it's because he made a stupid decision. I'll be taking a break from this series and maybe come back to it after reading something else.
July 23, 2025
This third installment is pretty bad: poorly thought out, poorly written, with only a few very good action scenes (one in particular) standing out.
This is due to questionable narrative choices (endless interior monologues, incessant point-of-view shifts, "galactic" plots completely devoid of any interest, characters whose purpose we don't understand, like Adrianal or Melissa). To the point of losing all contact with the main character's statistical progression in the last two hundred pages. A real shame in a LitRPG. Moreover, the last third of this book is a complete failure: so boring!
In conclusion, a very poor transitional volume. The fourth installment, back in the Champions' Tower, should right the ship. But I have serious doubts about the author's ability to sustain his series over the long term.
This is due to questionable narrative choices (endless interior monologues, incessant point-of-view shifts, "galactic" plots completely devoid of any interest, characters whose purpose we don't understand, like Adrianal or Melissa). To the point of losing all contact with the main character's statistical progression in the last two hundred pages. A real shame in a LitRPG. Moreover, the last third of this book is a complete failure: so boring!
In conclusion, a very poor transitional volume. The fourth installment, back in the Champions' Tower, should right the ship. But I have serious doubts about the author's ability to sustain his series over the long term.
April 8, 2025
Lost 2 stars for NOT writing a Recap.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.
June 30, 2025
Least favorite so far and doubt I’ll continue, even with that attempted cliffhanger.
He’s just too far away and constantly carrying his party is boring tbh, can’t see how returning to the tower will be very entertaining without somehow skipping over hundreds of floors.
He’s just too far away and constantly carrying his party is boring tbh, can’t see how returning to the tower will be very entertaining without somehow skipping over hundreds of floors.
January 29, 2025
Interesting and fun
The book takes place away from the tower and mostly on Earth. We finally get to see the micro stories of the archer and the murderer come into play. There seems to be some weird politics at play that doesn't make a lot of sense as we are seeing it from the eyes of Xavier. We get to see some fights on a whole new level from before.
However! The author needs to be slapped big time. Upside the head, across his face, wherever it takes; because he messed up big time. Examples: He was talking about how Xavier spent six months on floor ten of the tower; it was floor five and had been mentioned previously already. Xavier is E grade so he should be earning E grade mastery points which is worth more than F grade points even though he earns less E grade points; when he kills D grade characters, it mentions he is earning D grade points... This should have propelled his levels a lot faster and higher than the author credited. The author treated the D grade points as if they were the same as the E grade points Xavier needed; based on the author's own setup, this should not be the case.
And then we find all of the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Civilization is English, the author used Civilisation a few times which confused me, so I looked it up and learned that is the French way of spelling it; you have now learned a new French word.
Have fun and good luck!
The book takes place away from the tower and mostly on Earth. We finally get to see the micro stories of the archer and the murderer come into play. There seems to be some weird politics at play that doesn't make a lot of sense as we are seeing it from the eyes of Xavier. We get to see some fights on a whole new level from before.
However! The author needs to be slapped big time. Upside the head, across his face, wherever it takes; because he messed up big time. Examples: He was talking about how Xavier spent six months on floor ten of the tower; it was floor five and had been mentioned previously already. Xavier is E grade so he should be earning E grade mastery points which is worth more than F grade points even though he earns less E grade points; when he kills D grade characters, it mentions he is earning D grade points... This should have propelled his levels a lot faster and higher than the author credited. The author treated the D grade points as if they were the same as the E grade points Xavier needed; based on the author's own setup, this should not be the case.
And then we find all of the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Civilization is English, the author used Civilisation a few times which confused me, so I looked it up and learned that is the French way of spelling it; you have now learned a new French word.
Have fun and good luck!
May 26, 2025
This book was not as good as the previous two, primarily because the author spent a lot more time this book telling us what happened instead of showing us what happened. Large sections of plot were handled by a couple of sentences.
Just not written to the same caliber as the prior two installments.
Just not written to the same caliber as the prior two installments.
January 9, 2025
Synopsis: Extremely arrogant man does stupid things.
None of it makes any sense. If you think about the book for more than 2 minutes, you will have endless issues with everything that is happening.
The MC CAN'T protect all of the world in his current state. Yet he announces himself to the universe as an E class. He can barely protect 100 square miles. No way can he protect people around the globe. He has almost no reach.
As soon as he announced himself to the universe as an E class, the Invaders all know they can safely send through E class soldiers. They could easily kill most of the Earth population, while the MC runs around near his base. All the E class level 100+ invaders would first clear all the dungeons around the world, which are the supposed resources of Earth.
A million other things don't make sense. Everything seems fully contrived to produce some sort of action for the MC. All is done to set up the "special" "true" "progenitor" to fight against all of the universe, and some hidden threat.
None of it makes any sense. If you think about the book for more than 2 minutes, you will have endless issues with everything that is happening.
The MC CAN'T protect all of the world in his current state. Yet he announces himself to the universe as an E class. He can barely protect 100 square miles. No way can he protect people around the globe. He has almost no reach.
As soon as he announced himself to the universe as an E class, the Invaders all know they can safely send through E class soldiers. They could easily kill most of the Earth population, while the MC runs around near his base. All the E class level 100+ invaders would first clear all the dungeons around the world, which are the supposed resources of Earth.
A million other things don't make sense. Everything seems fully contrived to produce some sort of action for the MC. All is done to set up the "special" "true" "progenitor" to fight against all of the universe, and some hidden threat.
July 14, 2025
just OK, this one has issues that I miissed because of the exciting world building.
Previously, the series did a solid job of maintaining a clear separation between the massive power scaling and the distinct power grades. This book starts to blur those lines, struggling to keep that scaling consistent while still trying to feel fun.
Unfortunately, this installment had very few tense moments or exhilarating scenes. Nothing that really got the adrenaline going. Even though I’m still enjoying the worldbuilding, it’s getting harder to feel motivated to continue the series.
There are other problems, too. The inner monologue of almost every POV character is incredibly annoying. Sometimes, inner monologue is great even useful or necessary but other times, the story needs actual dialogue between characters to move the scene forward. Instead, we get long internal rants. That’s not how it should be handled IMO.
And the foreshadowing of the antagonists? It feels clumsy and hollow.
Previously, the series did a solid job of maintaining a clear separation between the massive power scaling and the distinct power grades. This book starts to blur those lines, struggling to keep that scaling consistent while still trying to feel fun.
Unfortunately, this installment had very few tense moments or exhilarating scenes. Nothing that really got the adrenaline going. Even though I’m still enjoying the worldbuilding, it’s getting harder to feel motivated to continue the series.
There are other problems, too. The inner monologue of almost every POV character is incredibly annoying. Sometimes, inner monologue is great even useful or necessary but other times, the story needs actual dialogue between characters to move the scene forward. Instead, we get long internal rants. That’s not how it should be handled IMO.
And the foreshadowing of the antagonists? It feels clumsy and hollow.
April 25, 2025
And just like the magician who pulls a rabbit outta their hat, Todd Herzman pulls off another great litRPG! And I totally believe that Todd Herzman is living out his own fantasy! 'Cause Xavier Collins was a budding sf&f writer when the system came! And now Xavier/Todd gets to wield magic. 😆 How cool is'zat! With the first 10 floors of the tower completed Xavier and his 3 cohorts are finally back on earth facing their biggest challenge yet! They need to get earth stronger, so earth humans will be able to defend themselves against what might happen when the Champions are recalled back to the Tower. And their time is limited!!! But first they hafta rescue some human slaves...
So yeah grab the book and enjoy!
Here's a quote for y'all:
"A minute could stretch out to an eternity—or several Dragon Ball Z episodes—while in the middle of an intense fight."
So yeah grab the book and enjoy!
Here's a quote for y'all:
"A minute could stretch out to an eternity—or several Dragon Ball Z episodes—while in the middle of an intense fight."
January 12, 2025
This is a great book
Really enjoyed the book. Really enjoy the characters. Really enjoyed the plot. If you like the previous books in the series, you're really going to enjoy this more of everything you like. Good battles, good character development. Some story threads are finally tied together. Some good conclusions. Some nice rewards, just overall a great book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series. I apologize for any spelling errors. I'm writing this review with voice to text. I tried to tell you more about the plot but I feel that would really take away from the book for you
Really enjoyed the book. Really enjoy the characters. Really enjoyed the plot. If you like the previous books in the series, you're really going to enjoy this more of everything you like. Good battles, good character development. Some story threads are finally tied together. Some good conclusions. Some nice rewards, just overall a great book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series. I apologize for any spelling errors. I'm writing this review with voice to text. I tried to tell you more about the plot but I feel that would really take away from the book for you
March 6, 2025
The only bad thing about this book is that book 4 hasn't been written yet. This was a fun and addictive read, I would stay up very late at night and read this rather than watch TV. And with all of the Trump crap, I don't want to watch TV at the moment particularly the news. So this book entertained me, kept my mind off of the US disaster in the making, and helped me enjoy life. The battles were engaging, and kind of awesome, and while there is a hint of a coming romance it hasn't emerged yet (I'm starting to feel sorry for the hero in that regard). Overall, a great read and I can hardly wait until the next book!
January 13, 2025
Absolutely love this series.
This is such a great series. It’s got parts of some of the best series in this genre, some unique elements all on its own, a giant universe and a lot of potential. On top of all that, add a great supporting cast and MC. Unlike a lot of other books in the genre, the MC is not a sociopath. He is very strong but also has a good idea of right and wrong and sticks to his morals. The character interactions are also written quite well.
This is such a great series. It’s got parts of some of the best series in this genre, some unique elements all on its own, a giant universe and a lot of potential. On top of all that, add a great supporting cast and MC. Unlike a lot of other books in the genre, the MC is not a sociopath. He is very strong but also has a good idea of right and wrong and sticks to his morals. The character interactions are also written quite well.
February 26, 2025
This is getting annoying now. The MC is too overpowered and has no real relationships to anyone. He says he appreciates his party members but until this book really does nothing to help them catch up. He doesn't really know them nor do they know him. The magic system is good, the world building is interesting however there wasn't any real plot other than the MC showing all the invaders how powerful he is.
I'd really like this story to get somewhere....and soon.
I'd really like this story to get somewhere....and soon.
January 12, 2025
fantastic
I've come from reading on royal road. this guy deserves all the accolades and awards you could possibly imagine for fantasy writing. his system is unique but easy to identify and understand. characters are well fleshed out, and definitely not static [strength out personality]. this is on my just read list.
I've come from reading on royal road. this guy deserves all the accolades and awards you could possibly imagine for fantasy writing. his system is unique but easy to identify and understand. characters are well fleshed out, and definitely not static [strength out personality]. this is on my just read list.
January 12, 2025
Todd Herman at his best!
Although a fair amount of time passed between my finishing of the 2nd book in this series, and starting this, the 3rd, it took no time at all to remember the amazing deep characters and wonderful storyline.
This was my first venture into the world of LitRPG, and now I can't get enough.
Biting my nails until book 4 is available!
Although a fair amount of time passed between my finishing of the 2nd book in this series, and starting this, the 3rd, it took no time at all to remember the amazing deep characters and wonderful storyline.
This was my first venture into the world of LitRPG, and now I can't get enough.
Biting my nails until book 4 is available!
August 1, 2025
Unfortunately, I’m dropping this series. The MC is the biggest fence sitter I’ve ever read. He also constantly makes the worst possible decisions at any given time. Specifically his continual ignoring of system messages like when he met Alister and received a quest notification. He then lets him get away because he’s so unfathomably dimwitted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2025
It's a bit childish, with a lot of exclamation points and onomatopoeia, but that's expected in this young genre. Still annoying and made me take a star off. Especially onomatopoeia weren't as prevalent in the first couple of books so I don't know why the author decided to start now. Very lame.
In addition, there's the fact that his fortress is linked to his health which makes zero sense both inside the story and objectively. It will obviously be used against him later on which is lazy writing. Another star off for that.
Still, the story is great, although not as good as before. I'll still continue the series.
The author keeps messing up his own story. Sometimes the MC's sensory skill was 100 meters, and sometimes 100 feet, and it switched often. I don't think the author knows the difference. Evidence points that way, at least.
Previously, the MC needed to have 100 30-level Denizens to grant the System Shop to his base, but in this book apparently that never happened, even though it did very much happen earlier. But NOW he has access to the System Shop but who knows if the author changes it again?
What about the business man elf on earth?
Lots of stuff missing, some plot holes, many inconsistencies, bad editing, and at this point they are glaring mistakes.
In addition, there's the fact that his fortress is linked to his health which makes zero sense both inside the story and objectively. It will obviously be used against him later on which is lazy writing. Another star off for that.
Still, the story is great, although not as good as before. I'll still continue the series.
The author keeps messing up his own story. Sometimes the MC's sensory skill was 100 meters, and sometimes 100 feet, and it switched often. I don't think the author knows the difference. Evidence points that way, at least.
Previously, the MC needed to have 100 30-level Denizens to grant the System Shop to his base, but in this book apparently that never happened, even though it did very much happen earlier. But NOW he has access to the System Shop but who knows if the author changes it again?
What about the business man elf on earth?
Lots of stuff missing, some plot holes, many inconsistencies, bad editing, and at this point they are glaring mistakes.
January 15, 2025
A good read!
… with moments of great a a few where it seemed the Author’s brain fell out.
As always, professional editing would have helped, but the cost is high and the AI editors are just not there yet.
… with moments of great a a few where it seemed the Author’s brain fell out.
As always, professional editing would have helped, but the cost is high and the AI editors are just not there yet.
February 18, 2025
How earth survives.
I enjoyed the plot of this book. A little philosophy, lots of action, new characters both good and evil and a gradual direction change for the series. The mystery adds to the quality of the story so I look forward to the next book in April!
I enjoyed the plot of this book. A little philosophy, lots of action, new characters both good and evil and a gradual direction change for the series. The mystery adds to the quality of the story so I look forward to the next book in April!
March 31, 2025
Wow 🤯 - well worth the read
Todd Herzman is truly an epic storyteller. From world creation, character development, fight scenes, to system lore. This story is an Epic masterpiece in the LitRPG genre. Looking forward to book 4.
Todd Herzman is truly an epic storyteller. From world creation, character development, fight scenes, to system lore. This story is an Epic masterpiece in the LitRPG genre. Looking forward to book 4.
May 6, 2025
WOW
This is the third book of this series. I just got done with reading this book and I would like that people who have been reading this series say if they don't like it or if they want to see what happens next.
This is the third book of this series. I just got done with reading this book and I would like that people who have been reading this series say if they don't like it or if they want to see what happens next.
May 30, 2025
Xavier is really coming into his own. He seems to have everything planned on how to gain more power. Is he doing this for Earth, or for his own purposes? I think it may be both. Xavier and his team are amazing.
June 28, 2025
Kick it up a notch!
Very interesting. I definitely enjoyed this latest entry in Herzman's series. It was fun to see Xavier kind of come into his own outside of the tower, but I'm looking forward to the next book, where he will once again head back into the tower.
Very interesting. I definitely enjoyed this latest entry in Herzman's series. It was fun to see Xavier kind of come into his own outside of the tower, but I'm looking forward to the next book, where he will once again head back into the tower.
November 15, 2025
Good book and series
This book is a good installment in the series. It does a good job of providing a view of earth's development under the system and a glimpse of the system of need for the MC.
This book is a good installment in the series. It does a good job of providing a view of earth's development under the system and a glimpse of the system of need for the MC.
October 12, 2024
This has satisfied my thirst for Lit RPG while waiting for the next dungeon crawler Carl book. Fast paced and easy to read.
January 10, 2025
Solid Read
Another fun entry into Xavier’s journey. I enjoyed getting to follow his adventures on earth. Well written and fast paced, looking forward to the next.
Another fun entry into Xavier’s journey. I enjoyed getting to follow his adventures on earth. Well written and fast paced, looking forward to the next.
January 10, 2025
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression types 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 types of books with lots of action.
January 16, 2025
Worth the time I like the characters
I really like these books
They’re good Reid and I finished them pretty quickly, which is all I have to say about the quality
I really like these books
They’re good Reid and I finished them pretty quickly, which is all I have to say about the quality
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews