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1% Lifesteal #1
1% Lifesteal: Book One
An action-packed LitRPG Apocalypse perfect for fans of The Primal Hunter, Road to Mastery, and The Ten Realms.
In a world of countless enemies, Freddy's unique power will help him thrive.
Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he's spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman.
His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself in possession of 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses
With every dead enemy, he becomes a bit stronger, a little wiser, and a lot more ruthless. And no matter how much damage he takes, he can always put himself back together. Physically, at least.
But on his path to power, after having to look at the rotting guts of archhuman society again and again, can his talent keep his mind and soul as pristine as his body?
Or will that part of him simply remain broken...
Experience the start of this action-packed LitRPG Adventure from Robert Blaise set two hundred years after a reality-altering apocalypse. Featuring a weak-to-strong Brawler MC who never backs down, a unique power system, apocalyptic elements and more!
In a world of countless enemies, Freddy's unique power will help him thrive.
Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he's spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman.
His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself in possession of 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses
With every dead enemy, he becomes a bit stronger, a little wiser, and a lot more ruthless. And no matter how much damage he takes, he can always put himself back together. Physically, at least.
But on his path to power, after having to look at the rotting guts of archhuman society again and again, can his talent keep his mind and soul as pristine as his body?
Or will that part of him simply remain broken...
Experience the start of this action-packed LitRPG Adventure from Robert Blaise set two hundred years after a reality-altering apocalypse. Featuring a weak-to-strong Brawler MC who never backs down, a unique power system, apocalyptic elements and more!
604 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 18, 2025
3031 people are currently reading
986 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
March 19, 2025
DNf 35%
If you love a Mary sue MC who cries all the time. Has no skills. Is a push over. And is absolutely useless. Then this is the book for you! Spend your time reading about someone who is absolutely worthless and feel great about yourself because your life isn’t as pathetic as his 👍
If you love a Mary sue MC who cries all the time. Has no skills. Is a push over. And is absolutely useless. Then this is the book for you! Spend your time reading about someone who is absolutely worthless and feel great about yourself because your life isn’t as pathetic as his 👍
May 29, 2025
1% life steal? 100% boring.
I cannot being to explain how boring and dumb this was. I am genuinely surprised that it was written by R.Blaise. My major problem with the series is that every character stinks. I am talking about the main character, side character, antagonist and protagonist. For some reason, the world is populated with immature bullies and elitist. You got people with a modicum of power and they feel like they are kings. Even the non-powered people act high and mighty to anyone lower than them.
The main character, is just a loser. I don't mean he stops being a loser just because he gets his powers. I mean if he became super rich, becomes superman, and wears a magic charm to attract women like honey...he still would be a whiny baby. He walks around confused and makes poor decision. Gets angry when people take advantage of him. Doesn't realize that at the end of the day, he made his poor decision with ignorance. The world and story seems boring too.
Trust me, the series is not worth it. I can already picture the rest of the story. The character gets screwed over, gets angry, rages like an angry baby, makes dumb decisions and rages again.
I cannot being to explain how boring and dumb this was. I am genuinely surprised that it was written by R.Blaise. My major problem with the series is that every character stinks. I am talking about the main character, side character, antagonist and protagonist. For some reason, the world is populated with immature bullies and elitist. You got people with a modicum of power and they feel like they are kings. Even the non-powered people act high and mighty to anyone lower than them.
The main character, is just a loser. I don't mean he stops being a loser just because he gets his powers. I mean if he became super rich, becomes superman, and wears a magic charm to attract women like honey...he still would be a whiny baby. He walks around confused and makes poor decision. Gets angry when people take advantage of him. Doesn't realize that at the end of the day, he made his poor decision with ignorance. The world and story seems boring too.
Trust me, the series is not worth it. I can already picture the rest of the story. The character gets screwed over, gets angry, rages like an angry baby, makes dumb decisions and rages again.
Read
April 8, 2025DNF at 17%
I could not deal with the pace of this. Glaciers could outrun it.
It packs in repetitive details about how much his life sucks and is stinky and wretched and all that— and then circles around to do it again. And again.
Overwritten and underbaked. Pass.
I could not deal with the pace of this. Glaciers could outrun it.
It packs in repetitive details about how much his life sucks and is stinky and wretched and all that— and then circles around to do it again. And again.
Overwritten and underbaked. Pass.
March 26, 2025
DNF 11%
This novel reads like typical Russian LitRPG... set in a corrupt dystopia, with a rampant wealth disparity, and a down-trodden protagonist. When bullied or marginalised Freddy would come up with scathing retorts which went unsaid while he grovelled at their feet. Distasteful.
This novel reads like typical Russian LitRPG... set in a corrupt dystopia, with a rampant wealth disparity, and a down-trodden protagonist. When bullied or marginalised Freddy would come up with scathing retorts which went unsaid while he grovelled at their feet. Distasteful.
April 2, 2025
What I would have liked to have known ahead of time
About part way through the book I went and took a look at the reviews which has a rule I try to avoid as they can sometimes spoil a book. The reviews below five stars were far more accurate. My understanding is that stories are about exceptional people or about normal people an exceptional circumstance. This book is the latter. I've never read anything by this author before. I do try and take it easy on the first book of any new series. That said the beginning of this book started out like any other. A main character who has less than a stellar life with no indication that it will ever change until something happens. For me this is usually where the real story starts. Unfortunately the book continues as if that special thing didn't really have an effect. If I was to be generous I would classify the book as a Slow Burn. There is however usually some sort of satisfactory conclusion with such stories. I found the story unbelievably boring. I did actually finish the story in large part because I have greatly enjoyed the stories published by athon. That is largely the reason why I picked up the book in the first place. I am also willing to give new Authors or perhaps I should say authors that are new to me a shot because I have subscribed to Kindle unlimited. If after reaching the end I find that I like the book and the book has received the audio treatment then that is where I will buy in completely. It is very rare that I give an author less than four stars. Perhaps one of the other people who left a review is correct and the sequel will turn out better once it is released, but I have serious doubts. I thought perhaps maybe we would get something of a Count of Monte Cristo type ending where the payoff is literally at the end, but that just wasn't the case. The overall theme throughout the book tended to be one where there was very little character development. The additional characters introduced were crappy people in one way or the other. The few who seem like they might have been good people turned out to be garbage and the ones who seem like they might have been bad people never developed an ultimately became irrelevant. The language in the book was crude, and there was a particularly unpleasant torture scene for lack of a better description that was tempered only because I suspect the author felt that a full castration would be a step too far. At the end of the day I cannot recommend this to anybody.
About part way through the book I went and took a look at the reviews which has a rule I try to avoid as they can sometimes spoil a book. The reviews below five stars were far more accurate. My understanding is that stories are about exceptional people or about normal people an exceptional circumstance. This book is the latter. I've never read anything by this author before. I do try and take it easy on the first book of any new series. That said the beginning of this book started out like any other. A main character who has less than a stellar life with no indication that it will ever change until something happens. For me this is usually where the real story starts. Unfortunately the book continues as if that special thing didn't really have an effect. If I was to be generous I would classify the book as a Slow Burn. There is however usually some sort of satisfactory conclusion with such stories. I found the story unbelievably boring. I did actually finish the story in large part because I have greatly enjoyed the stories published by athon. That is largely the reason why I picked up the book in the first place. I am also willing to give new Authors or perhaps I should say authors that are new to me a shot because I have subscribed to Kindle unlimited. If after reaching the end I find that I like the book and the book has received the audio treatment then that is where I will buy in completely. It is very rare that I give an author less than four stars. Perhaps one of the other people who left a review is correct and the sequel will turn out better once it is released, but I have serious doubts. I thought perhaps maybe we would get something of a Count of Monte Cristo type ending where the payoff is literally at the end, but that just wasn't the case. The overall theme throughout the book tended to be one where there was very little character development. The additional characters introduced were crappy people in one way or the other. The few who seem like they might have been good people turned out to be garbage and the ones who seem like they might have been bad people never developed an ultimately became irrelevant. The language in the book was crude, and there was a particularly unpleasant torture scene for lack of a better description that was tempered only because I suspect the author felt that a full castration would be a step too far. At the end of the day I cannot recommend this to anybody.
May 1, 2025
Book one
I almost dropped this book early on due to just how nasty the MC is. I realize that the author was just trying to make the MC as pathetic as humanly possible, but I think he took it to far. I'm surprised that the MC could even read because he couldn't do anything else. Dirty crusty sheets, running around in nasty smelling clothes, black mold on his walls. I was surprised when he took a shower and brushed his teeth.
The other major problem I had was the constant crying by two grown ass men. Maybe it's just because I'm gen X, but men aren't supposed to cry about every little thing. Rub some dirt on it and keep getting on with whatever.
This is being written on Royalroad so if you hurry you can read more there.
5/10 As I was writing this review I wanted to drop the stars to two because of that nasty MC in the early chapters.
I almost dropped this book early on due to just how nasty the MC is. I realize that the author was just trying to make the MC as pathetic as humanly possible, but I think he took it to far. I'm surprised that the MC could even read because he couldn't do anything else. Dirty crusty sheets, running around in nasty smelling clothes, black mold on his walls. I was surprised when he took a shower and brushed his teeth.
The other major problem I had was the constant crying by two grown ass men. Maybe it's just because I'm gen X, but men aren't supposed to cry about every little thing. Rub some dirt on it and keep getting on with whatever.
This is being written on Royalroad so if you hurry you can read more there.
5/10 As I was writing this review I wanted to drop the stars to two because of that nasty MC in the early chapters.
March 27, 2025
Did not finish, only made it halfway through. So firstly, there is nothing action packed about this. It had a glacial start with a broken main character. It takes the first third before it even begins the weak to strong power creep. There is no action ever. It is all behind the scenes emotional baggage. The description does not remotely fit the actual reading experience.
April 16, 2025
DNF at 65%. The MC is unbearable. His personality is all over the place without any growth. One second he is scared and whiney, the next he is cocky and blood thirsty but at the end of the day he is a slimy, spineless turd.
April 7, 2025
DNF
Too depressing, annoying Mc and not a fan of torture fantasy
Too depressing, annoying Mc and not a fan of torture fantasy
August 8, 2025
I've had this on my radar for a while since it's one of the newer buzzworthy titles in the gamelit community. I'm happy to say the hype was warranted and I enjoyed this quite a bit.
Plot - 8/10, Characters - 8/10, Setting & Magic - 9/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 10/10
Plot
The story follows Freddy Stern, a 21-year-old orphan spending most of his waking hours working as a cashier while trying to eke out a living in a dystopian society. A few hundred years ago, rifts leading to various parallel dimensions began appearing on Earth. Technologies stopped working because of ether exposure, but if a person was lucky when killing a rift creature, a spiritual construct called a vestige might manifest and present the opportunity to gain special abilities. These people, who become known as Arch humans, are the new elite as they grow in strength and can harvest fantastical materials from the other dimensions.
The overall plot is similar to the Rise of a Street Rat style of story mixed with a spin on the cultivation systems fused with dungeon/rift delving. It was a fun mix that worked well for me.
Characters
Our point of view character for 95% of the book is Freddy, who felt like a pretty good representation of a come-from-nothing person who's just trying to stay afloat in a society that couldn't care less about him. Something I appreciated was the fact that the author firmly grounded Freddy as someone who still clung to the idea that he could genuinely lift himself by the bootstraps and make it somewhere in the world. All too often, people living in hopeless conditions develop a day-by-day mentality and live for the moment, making impulsive and self-destructive choices. Freddy is clinging to a future that will never be, and with each passing week, the part of him privy to this fact becomes harder to ignore. But, through a twist of fate, he is at ground zero when a rift breaks and creatures flood into the streets. This kick-starts a series of events that will kindle Freddy's hopes of becoming something while exposing him to a whole new world of difficulty.
The supporting cast are varied and mostly play smaller (though important) roles, and I didn't mind that. I usually enjoy stories that stay firmly locked in a single person's perspective. Many of the characters we meet are representations of the setting and the attitudes people have while living in this world.
Setting & Magic
The setting was what you would expect from a dystopian society with the typical urban sprawl of low-income people trying to get by, with clusters of wildly affluent society living with fantastical things like self-propelled carriages and such.
The magic/cultivation is a fun hybrid that sets itself apart from other stories in the genre while incorporating familiar elements. Basically, a person can acquire a vestige, which is a little ball with a face on it that can talk and it represents a spiritual container of sorts for a magical power. The vestige, depending on its rarity, will also provide one or more affinities that determine the nature of a person's abilities (water, fire, metal, blood, etc)
Once a person decides to absorb the power of a vestige, they become a one-star Arch human with a single ether core inside them that collects essence and stores constructs that represents the abilities the person develops. Over time, with training and collecting ether and essence from defeating creatures, a person will grow their star until their power overflows and allows them to create an additional star. I'm not sure what the upper limit is, but we see a handful of four-star Arches in the story and each one is either the lord of a city or leader of a clan family.
There's also a spiritual plane that exists called the Netherecho and an Arch can spiritually project themselves into it at any point with a meditative state. While in the Netherecho, they can gather essence to refill their ether star. It's almost like a minigame because the essence might also take the form of creatures that exist only in the Netherecho. An Arch can use their projection to defeat the stronger creatures to reap more essence, or capture the creature to serve as a building block for a new ability, but there's always a chance they might run into a creature so strong they have to leave the Netherecho immediately or risk their projection being torn apart. While that wouldn't cause death, I believe it causes a degree of soul trauma that's exquisitely painful and a new projection is very difficult and time-consuming to recreate, leading to a long period of limited essence gathering.
Writing
Overall, the writing was functional and clear. I don't remember any glaring syntax or grammar issues that popped out. There were times that the writing felt a little verbose and purple, like the author was trying a little too hard for no real reason, but it either toned down over time or I simply got used to it. As far as overwriting goes in gamelit, this was far from the worst I've seen, so easily ignored.
That being said, there were some genuinely great bits here and there to show the author really put some effort into the character and world-building. I think snark is overdone in many gamelit stories and often the default mode for writers trying and failing to be funny. The author here does a great job of grounding Freddy with a certain degree of self-awareness while allowing him to flounder a bit in unfamiliar situations. So while he may justifiably be ignorant and do dumb things, he has enough sense to know when things start going sideways, as exemplified by fun lines like: It was so bad that one of the nearby girls asked her friend whether she thought he had a disability or something. He couldn’t even get mad at that, since he was beginning to ask himself the same thing.
Enjoyment
I was genuinely surprised to see the number of low ratings for this. Everyone's entitled to their perspective and I've definitely been on the opposite side of the fence for certain books as well. So I guess I would advise prospective readers to keep in mind that this isn't your standard OP MC crushing everybody story. The character makes bad decisions often, due to his lack of experience and knowledge, which to me was expected and justified given his background.
I'll be the first to say that realism doesn't always make for a fun story, but this one worked for me. And the ending went bonkers. I've already grabbed Book 2 and can't wait to see where this series goes next.
Plot - 8/10, Characters - 8/10, Setting & Magic - 9/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 10/10
Plot
The story follows Freddy Stern, a 21-year-old orphan spending most of his waking hours working as a cashier while trying to eke out a living in a dystopian society. A few hundred years ago, rifts leading to various parallel dimensions began appearing on Earth. Technologies stopped working because of ether exposure, but if a person was lucky when killing a rift creature, a spiritual construct called a vestige might manifest and present the opportunity to gain special abilities. These people, who become known as Arch humans, are the new elite as they grow in strength and can harvest fantastical materials from the other dimensions.
The overall plot is similar to the Rise of a Street Rat style of story mixed with a spin on the cultivation systems fused with dungeon/rift delving. It was a fun mix that worked well for me.
Characters
Our point of view character for 95% of the book is Freddy, who felt like a pretty good representation of a come-from-nothing person who's just trying to stay afloat in a society that couldn't care less about him. Something I appreciated was the fact that the author firmly grounded Freddy as someone who still clung to the idea that he could genuinely lift himself by the bootstraps and make it somewhere in the world. All too often, people living in hopeless conditions develop a day-by-day mentality and live for the moment, making impulsive and self-destructive choices. Freddy is clinging to a future that will never be, and with each passing week, the part of him privy to this fact becomes harder to ignore. But, through a twist of fate, he is at ground zero when a rift breaks and creatures flood into the streets. This kick-starts a series of events that will kindle Freddy's hopes of becoming something while exposing him to a whole new world of difficulty.
The supporting cast are varied and mostly play smaller (though important) roles, and I didn't mind that. I usually enjoy stories that stay firmly locked in a single person's perspective. Many of the characters we meet are representations of the setting and the attitudes people have while living in this world.
Setting & Magic
The setting was what you would expect from a dystopian society with the typical urban sprawl of low-income people trying to get by, with clusters of wildly affluent society living with fantastical things like self-propelled carriages and such.
The magic/cultivation is a fun hybrid that sets itself apart from other stories in the genre while incorporating familiar elements. Basically, a person can acquire a vestige, which is a little ball with a face on it that can talk and it represents a spiritual container of sorts for a magical power. The vestige, depending on its rarity, will also provide one or more affinities that determine the nature of a person's abilities (water, fire, metal, blood, etc)
Once a person decides to absorb the power of a vestige, they become a one-star Arch human with a single ether core inside them that collects essence and stores constructs that represents the abilities the person develops. Over time, with training and collecting ether and essence from defeating creatures, a person will grow their star until their power overflows and allows them to create an additional star. I'm not sure what the upper limit is, but we see a handful of four-star Arches in the story and each one is either the lord of a city or leader of a clan family.
There's also a spiritual plane that exists called the Netherecho and an Arch can spiritually project themselves into it at any point with a meditative state. While in the Netherecho, they can gather essence to refill their ether star. It's almost like a minigame because the essence might also take the form of creatures that exist only in the Netherecho. An Arch can use their projection to defeat the stronger creatures to reap more essence, or capture the creature to serve as a building block for a new ability, but there's always a chance they might run into a creature so strong they have to leave the Netherecho immediately or risk their projection being torn apart. While that wouldn't cause death, I believe it causes a degree of soul trauma that's exquisitely painful and a new projection is very difficult and time-consuming to recreate, leading to a long period of limited essence gathering.
Writing
Overall, the writing was functional and clear. I don't remember any glaring syntax or grammar issues that popped out. There were times that the writing felt a little verbose and purple, like the author was trying a little too hard for no real reason, but it either toned down over time or I simply got used to it. As far as overwriting goes in gamelit, this was far from the worst I've seen, so easily ignored.
That being said, there were some genuinely great bits here and there to show the author really put some effort into the character and world-building. I think snark is overdone in many gamelit stories and often the default mode for writers trying and failing to be funny. The author here does a great job of grounding Freddy with a certain degree of self-awareness while allowing him to flounder a bit in unfamiliar situations. So while he may justifiably be ignorant and do dumb things, he has enough sense to know when things start going sideways, as exemplified by fun lines like: It was so bad that one of the nearby girls asked her friend whether she thought he had a disability or something. He couldn’t even get mad at that, since he was beginning to ask himself the same thing.
Enjoyment
I was genuinely surprised to see the number of low ratings for this. Everyone's entitled to their perspective and I've definitely been on the opposite side of the fence for certain books as well. So I guess I would advise prospective readers to keep in mind that this isn't your standard OP MC crushing everybody story. The character makes bad decisions often, due to his lack of experience and knowledge, which to me was expected and justified given his background.
I'll be the first to say that realism doesn't always make for a fun story, but this one worked for me. And the ending went bonkers. I've already grabbed Book 2 and can't wait to see where this series goes next.
March 22, 2025
Disclaimer:
Due to the nature of Goodreads’ aggregate review system, I only leave 5-star reviews. Please note that a 5-star rating does not mean the book is perfect; it simply means I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. I will try to specify in my review the type of reader who might enjoy the book.
Negative reviews are not something I typically write.
I primarily listen to audiobooks, so I’m not concerned with punctuation or minor editing errors. However, I may comment on the quality of the narration.
Review:
This book is fantastic. I enjoyed it so much that I binged the rest on Royal Road and will continue following it for future updates. While the beginning isn’t necessarily slow, it does take some time to build up and develop the characters before diving into the main action. The latter half of the book, and the rest of the series, explores a lot of dark and heavy themes. I’d recommend this to fans of stories like Path of the Berserker. If you enjoy protagonists who are willing to take hard hits to hit back even harder, and who overcome skill gaps with sheer determination, then this story will be right up your alley. The narration is excellent, too
Due to the nature of Goodreads’ aggregate review system, I only leave 5-star reviews. Please note that a 5-star rating does not mean the book is perfect; it simply means I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. I will try to specify in my review the type of reader who might enjoy the book.
Negative reviews are not something I typically write.
I primarily listen to audiobooks, so I’m not concerned with punctuation or minor editing errors. However, I may comment on the quality of the narration.
Review:
This book is fantastic. I enjoyed it so much that I binged the rest on Royal Road and will continue following it for future updates. While the beginning isn’t necessarily slow, it does take some time to build up and develop the characters before diving into the main action. The latter half of the book, and the rest of the series, explores a lot of dark and heavy themes. I’d recommend this to fans of stories like Path of the Berserker. If you enjoy protagonists who are willing to take hard hits to hit back even harder, and who overcome skill gaps with sheer determination, then this story will be right up your alley. The narration is excellent, too
March 18, 2025
amazing!!!
one of the best stories ive read!!! truly amazing piece of work, enjoid the storyline, characters and the writing is pure gold
one of the best stories ive read!!! truly amazing piece of work, enjoid the storyline, characters and the writing is pure gold
December 20, 2025
Going into this book, I was genuinely hyped for several reasons. One of my friends had been trying to get me to read this series for a long time after he read it on RoyalRoad and said it became one of his favourites. At the time I passed on it because there was no audiobook available and I only listen to audiobooks. Later on, when I was asking for recommendations again, he told me the audiobook was finally out and that I should give it a try. That was when I hesitated. I have issues with Daniel Wisniewski’s narration style. For some reason, every protagonist he narrates ends up sounding the same to me. Whiny, arrogant, self absorbed, and generally insufferable. Because of that, I almost skipped this book entirely. What finally tipped the scales for me to give it a fair shot was seeing that it landed in Audible’s top 10 fantasy series of the year. That raised my expectations quite a bit.
Too bad that did not last long.
This review will contain spoilers.
The first 8 hours of this book were glacial in both pace and tone. Freddie is extremely unlikable early on, and that is putting it lightly. After the passage event, I could mostly understand the trauma and excitement surrounding it. That part worked well enough. But once we got to the vestige selling section, it turned into a masterclass in dumbassery from almost every character involved.
I can somewhat excuse Freddie here because he is in shock and clearly a fish out of water, but everyone else involved is either outright evil or just a miserable asshole. Well maybe not evil in the strictest sense, but absolutely unpleasant. The two men we are introduced to during the trading house section were especially awful.
I mean, come on. Freddie is being taken for a complete fool. The guy outright tells him he is a fool. He throws way more items at him than Freddie ever expected. The moment Freddie tries to walk away, the man panics and nearly shits himself. And somehow none of these massive red flags clue Freddie in that something is very wrong. It is honestly baffling.
Then we get to the Madam Home arc, which also doubles as a pseudo training arc. If the story was barely moving before, now it feels like it completely stalls. We finally get a training arc and it mostly turns into a gym routine. That was incredibly disappointing. The only genuinely interesting thing to come out of this entire section is the revelation that Freddie’s talent works on plants. That is it.
Madam is unlikable. Marc is just an objectively terrible person. At this point, it really feels like the author only knows how to write asshole characters. I will say that Marc briefly felt more than one dimensional when it became clear he was dealing with something like PTSD. Those moments almost made him interesting. Then he gets scratched by some death attuned creature and immediately turns into just another asshole again. Later, when we learn what he did to secure his sister’s education, I felt completely vindicated in my initial dislike of him.
Then we enter the torture and prison section. By this point, well over ten hours of book time have passed, and only three meaningful things have happened. The rift break. Getting a vestige/remnant. Training at Madam’s house. That is it.
If you thought the story was slow before, this is where it completely nosedives. It feels like the narrative actively decides to move backwards. We get six months of torture followed immediately by being thrown into an “inescapable” prison. What is the actual plot here. How long am I supposed to sit through the suffering of an insufferable brat with no agency.
Since when did books casually start throwing in torture porn like this. Nothing is happening. The protagonist is constantly being taken advantage of, trapped by people with dubious motives, stripped of agency, tortured, imprisoned, and made powerless over and over again. That is not a story. That is stagnation.
The prison arc is clearly meant to be a comeback or rebirth moment for Freddie, but instead we watch him transform from a clueless and naïve arch-human into an arrogant jackass arch-human. That is the character development. One extreme straight into another.
Quick rant.
I hate when authors expect you to like their story when the protagonist has nothing about them that is likable. The protagonist’s job is to move the story forward, and whether or not a story works often depends entirely on who that protagonist is. In this book, why would I like anything about the story when Freddie has absolutely no redeeming qualities. He is naïve, oblivious, stupid, whiny, arrogant, self absorbed, and deeply unlikable. The one friend he manages to make turns out to be a terrible person. Every other character introduced is also an asshole. The only character I found remotely likable, Bloodshed, is missing for about 98% of the book. So here is the question. Why would you write a protagonist with no redeeming traits, surround him with awful people, and expect readers to enjoy the story.
The ending is the only part I genuinely liked. For the first time, something actually happens. The fight with the Blood Patriarch was cool, bordering on great. The payoff with Freddie’s power was decent. But by the time I finished the book, I did not care.
I did not care that the main character got a massive power up. I did not care about his future. The only thing I wanted to learn more about was the power structure itself, which is actually a unique and interesting take on LitRPG progression. Everything else failed to hook me.
The world is intriguing, but it means nothing to the protagonist. The characters are almost universally uninteresting and unappealing unless you enjoy assholes. And Freddie himself is the single biggest problem in the entire book. He is the reason I have so many issues with this story.
This book has an interesting world and a unique power system that could have been worth investing time into. Unfortunately, everything surrounding those ideas is deeply unappealing.
What a terrible shame.
Too bad that did not last long.
This review will contain spoilers.
The first 8 hours of this book were glacial in both pace and tone. Freddie is extremely unlikable early on, and that is putting it lightly. After the passage event, I could mostly understand the trauma and excitement surrounding it. That part worked well enough. But once we got to the vestige selling section, it turned into a masterclass in dumbassery from almost every character involved.
I can somewhat excuse Freddie here because he is in shock and clearly a fish out of water, but everyone else involved is either outright evil or just a miserable asshole. Well maybe not evil in the strictest sense, but absolutely unpleasant. The two men we are introduced to during the trading house section were especially awful.
I mean, come on. Freddie is being taken for a complete fool. The guy outright tells him he is a fool. He throws way more items at him than Freddie ever expected. The moment Freddie tries to walk away, the man panics and nearly shits himself. And somehow none of these massive red flags clue Freddie in that something is very wrong. It is honestly baffling.
Then we get to the Madam Home arc, which also doubles as a pseudo training arc. If the story was barely moving before, now it feels like it completely stalls. We finally get a training arc and it mostly turns into a gym routine. That was incredibly disappointing. The only genuinely interesting thing to come out of this entire section is the revelation that Freddie’s talent works on plants. That is it.
Madam is unlikable. Marc is just an objectively terrible person. At this point, it really feels like the author only knows how to write asshole characters. I will say that Marc briefly felt more than one dimensional when it became clear he was dealing with something like PTSD. Those moments almost made him interesting. Then he gets scratched by some death attuned creature and immediately turns into just another asshole again. Later, when we learn what he did to secure his sister’s education, I felt completely vindicated in my initial dislike of him.
Then we enter the torture and prison section. By this point, well over ten hours of book time have passed, and only three meaningful things have happened. The rift break. Getting a vestige/remnant. Training at Madam’s house. That is it.
If you thought the story was slow before, this is where it completely nosedives. It feels like the narrative actively decides to move backwards. We get six months of torture followed immediately by being thrown into an “inescapable” prison. What is the actual plot here. How long am I supposed to sit through the suffering of an insufferable brat with no agency.
Since when did books casually start throwing in torture porn like this. Nothing is happening. The protagonist is constantly being taken advantage of, trapped by people with dubious motives, stripped of agency, tortured, imprisoned, and made powerless over and over again. That is not a story. That is stagnation.
The prison arc is clearly meant to be a comeback or rebirth moment for Freddie, but instead we watch him transform from a clueless and naïve arch-human into an arrogant jackass arch-human. That is the character development. One extreme straight into another.
Quick rant.
I hate when authors expect you to like their story when the protagonist has nothing about them that is likable. The protagonist’s job is to move the story forward, and whether or not a story works often depends entirely on who that protagonist is. In this book, why would I like anything about the story when Freddie has absolutely no redeeming qualities. He is naïve, oblivious, stupid, whiny, arrogant, self absorbed, and deeply unlikable. The one friend he manages to make turns out to be a terrible person. Every other character introduced is also an asshole. The only character I found remotely likable, Bloodshed, is missing for about 98% of the book. So here is the question. Why would you write a protagonist with no redeeming traits, surround him with awful people, and expect readers to enjoy the story.
The ending is the only part I genuinely liked. For the first time, something actually happens. The fight with the Blood Patriarch was cool, bordering on great. The payoff with Freddie’s power was decent. But by the time I finished the book, I did not care.
I did not care that the main character got a massive power up. I did not care about his future. The only thing I wanted to learn more about was the power structure itself, which is actually a unique and interesting take on LitRPG progression. Everything else failed to hook me.
The world is intriguing, but it means nothing to the protagonist. The characters are almost universally uninteresting and unappealing unless you enjoy assholes. And Freddie himself is the single biggest problem in the entire book. He is the reason I have so many issues with this story.
This book has an interesting world and a unique power system that could have been worth investing time into. Unfortunately, everything surrounding those ideas is deeply unappealing.
What a terrible shame.
March 25, 2025
Too mean spirited. Too bleak.
I got tired waiting for the main character to turn his life around. He said things to his friends that were undeserved, and he was a slob in the beginning. It made me lose patience.
I got tired waiting for the main character to turn his life around. He said things to his friends that were undeserved, and he was a slob in the beginning. It made me lose patience.
April 6, 2025
Can’t wait for book 2
Amazing first time read for new litRPG beginners I recommend if you’re looking for an interesting book with an underdog
Amazing first time read for new litRPG beginners I recommend if you’re looking for an interesting book with an underdog
May 11, 2025
Pesimo libro, no hay logica en lo que plantea el autor. El MC es de lo peor que he encontrado en mi vida. No vale la pena leer este libro.
June 2, 2025
Overrated grimdark fantasy.
The protagonist never has any agency over the plot. Literally: 0%. He's like a fish being carried away by another fish, only for the fish to be caught by a bird, who is then eaten by a bigger bird and so on. The fish somehow survives the ordeal, because he can instantly heal when the plot demands it, but at no point does he have any semblance of an impact on what's going to happen to him.
Add to that the senseless torture scenes and the completely missing payoff? Yeah, it's rough.
Basically, it's complete misery porn. The protagonist fails at everything, the world hates him, literally everybody betrays him at some point and he never, ever gets revenge for any of it. Even the ending is just kind of... lame? Usually he doesn't even know what's happening in the background: it's all spoiled to the reader in these constant, nonsensical foreshadowing-scenes where we get to see the "plot" developing from the perspective of one of the many, many, many antagonists. There, they plot how they will betray and kill the unwitting protagonist, who never ever figures out what's happening.
In general: the protagonist is just kind of dumb and goes along with whatever people throw at him. At every turn he makes the most obviously nonsensical choice he could. His decision making skills are that of a 14-year-old. Calling him "unlikable" would be a massive understatement. I get that he's supposedly been burned by everybody (I mean, it keeps happening, so I get it), but making your protagonist an edgy teenager who lacks even basic human decency, is just not a great decision IMO.
The side characters are, without fail, assholes. Every last one. There genuinely isn't a single character that is in any way redeemable. I get that this is supposed to be grimdark (I hope it was supposed to be that, because it most definitely is), but the author just kind of overdid it. I have no interest in reading about any of the myriad of asshole side characters introduced in the book, because every last one of them is garbage.
It's a seriously depressing read. Not just the torture, murder and betrayal, but mostly the lacking agency of the protagonist and his glacial advance that is constantly reset again by circumstances beyond his control. I could live with all the other flaws, but the protagonist not having any impact on the plot is just... lame.
The plot is basically arbitrary. Anything can happen at any point for no reason whatsoever. The entire plot of the protagonist being hunted is nonsensical to begin with, but it's literally all the plot that fuels the story. There's nothing more to it...
I'm seriously disappointed, because it started so well.
The protagonist never has any agency over the plot. Literally: 0%. He's like a fish being carried away by another fish, only for the fish to be caught by a bird, who is then eaten by a bigger bird and so on. The fish somehow survives the ordeal, because he can instantly heal when the plot demands it, but at no point does he have any semblance of an impact on what's going to happen to him.
Add to that the senseless torture scenes and the completely missing payoff? Yeah, it's rough.
Basically, it's complete misery porn. The protagonist fails at everything, the world hates him, literally everybody betrays him at some point and he never, ever gets revenge for any of it. Even the ending is just kind of... lame? Usually he doesn't even know what's happening in the background: it's all spoiled to the reader in these constant, nonsensical foreshadowing-scenes where we get to see the "plot" developing from the perspective of one of the many, many, many antagonists. There, they plot how they will betray and kill the unwitting protagonist, who never ever figures out what's happening.
In general: the protagonist is just kind of dumb and goes along with whatever people throw at him. At every turn he makes the most obviously nonsensical choice he could. His decision making skills are that of a 14-year-old. Calling him "unlikable" would be a massive understatement. I get that he's supposedly been burned by everybody (I mean, it keeps happening, so I get it), but making your protagonist an edgy teenager who lacks even basic human decency, is just not a great decision IMO.
The side characters are, without fail, assholes. Every last one. There genuinely isn't a single character that is in any way redeemable. I get that this is supposed to be grimdark (I hope it was supposed to be that, because it most definitely is), but the author just kind of overdid it. I have no interest in reading about any of the myriad of asshole side characters introduced in the book, because every last one of them is garbage.
It's a seriously depressing read. Not just the torture, murder and betrayal, but mostly the lacking agency of the protagonist and his glacial advance that is constantly reset again by circumstances beyond his control. I could live with all the other flaws, but the protagonist not having any impact on the plot is just... lame.
The plot is basically arbitrary. Anything can happen at any point for no reason whatsoever. The entire plot of the protagonist being hunted is nonsensical to begin with, but it's literally all the plot that fuels the story. There's nothing more to it...
I'm seriously disappointed, because it started so well.
April 24, 2025
That was a lot of blood! I had fun!
June 15, 2025
This book had potential. The main character was great. The overall story/plot was great. Some of the scenes were even great. The problem is that the storyline did not follow a path, annd was all over the place instead.
We had Freddy in the slums. This part of the story was interesting and compelling. Then the story diverted to Freddy as a participant on a talk show. This part of the story, although an odd divergence from the plot, was still interesting. Then there is a long prison and torture section of the book. Then story diverges again, and now we are on a mining colony. WTF? I'm not even sure what happened to the talk show part of this book. Maybe I missed it, but we jumped from the talk show section to the torture section to the mining colony, and I'm not even sure what happened to the talk show host. Maybe she was killed or bought off, but I missed it.
Overall, Freddy has this amazing, bad-ass remnant (Bloodshed) that the entire world is after, and yet Bloodshed is absent from this book for virtually the entirety of this book. Imagine learning that the MC has $100M dollars, but yet the MC is begging for food the entire book, rather than spending some of the money. We keep hearing about Bloodshed and how rare and amazing Bloodshed is; yet, Bloodshed is kept locked in a closet despite Freddy desperately needing help.
I feel like this had the makings of a good story, but it's utter lack of direction killed the novel. Alternatively, the author intends this to be a 17 book plotline, which is entirely too much for me.
We had Freddy in the slums. This part of the story was interesting and compelling. Then the story diverted to Freddy as a participant on a talk show. This part of the story, although an odd divergence from the plot, was still interesting. Then there is a long prison and torture section of the book. Then story diverges again, and now we are on a mining colony. WTF? I'm not even sure what happened to the talk show part of this book. Maybe I missed it, but we jumped from the talk show section to the torture section to the mining colony, and I'm not even sure what happened to the talk show host. Maybe she was killed or bought off, but I missed it.
Overall, Freddy has this amazing, bad-ass remnant (Bloodshed) that the entire world is after, and yet Bloodshed is absent from this book for virtually the entirety of this book. Imagine learning that the MC has $100M dollars, but yet the MC is begging for food the entire book, rather than spending some of the money. We keep hearing about Bloodshed and how rare and amazing Bloodshed is; yet, Bloodshed is kept locked in a closet despite Freddy desperately needing help.
I feel like this had the makings of a good story, but it's utter lack of direction killed the novel. Alternatively, the author intends this to be a 17 book plotline, which is entirely too much for me.
March 24, 2025
Original system and style, but in the middle of the book, it takes a turn into torture porn and gore.
didn-t-like-it
March 25, 2025Note to self: didn't like the narrator's voice.
February 28, 2025
It sort of feels like the characters mostly speak the same way.
Really tough to get through that .
Really tough to get through that .
November 6, 2025
chaotic fever dream
This series is interesting but it could never be called fun or enjoyable. The protagonist isn’t anything good and the other characters are just as awful. The author likes the tragically stupid obsessed motivations for everyone. If a character can do the wrong thing that is most likely the way it’s going to go. I don’t think the author has much joy inside his own soul and it comes out in the writing.
Book 1 review
The whole book is an expression of dial it to 10 in every way that’s not a story line.
You have progression fantasy
You have futuristic elements
Strange spiritual / ghost like stuff / cradle like
And then sprinkle Alice in wonderland on acid descriptions of stuff.
The MC life is beyond F’d. The author enjoys describing the level of misery and torture his existence actually is. There are no good or moral characters. It’s grim dark.
The magic system is everything ever found in other books but the MC has lovecraft’en inspired gifts.
This series is interesting but it could never be called fun or enjoyable. The protagonist isn’t anything good and the other characters are just as awful. The author likes the tragically stupid obsessed motivations for everyone. If a character can do the wrong thing that is most likely the way it’s going to go. I don’t think the author has much joy inside his own soul and it comes out in the writing.
Book 1 review
The whole book is an expression of dial it to 10 in every way that’s not a story line.
You have progression fantasy
You have futuristic elements
Strange spiritual / ghost like stuff / cradle like
And then sprinkle Alice in wonderland on acid descriptions of stuff.
The MC life is beyond F’d. The author enjoys describing the level of misery and torture his existence actually is. There are no good or moral characters. It’s grim dark.
The magic system is everything ever found in other books but the MC has lovecraft’en inspired gifts.
April 20, 2025
FYI, I have read up to book 3.
Book 1 is great. The MC starts off at an extreme disadvantage, gets a good ability, and then works his butt off to achieve greatness. Warning, the MC suffers, a LOT this book.
Book 2 was decent, but IMHO, not as good as Book 1.
Book 3 was absolutely amazing, especially the end. It is my favorite of the three so far. Even if you somewhat disliked Book 2, keep with it for book 3!
Book 1 is great. The MC starts off at an extreme disadvantage, gets a good ability, and then works his butt off to achieve greatness. Warning, the MC suffers, a LOT this book.
Book 2 was decent, but IMHO, not as good as Book 1.
Book 3 was absolutely amazing, especially the end. It is my favorite of the three so far. Even if you somewhat disliked Book 2, keep with it for book 3!
April 9, 2025
nothing original or likeable in this one IMO.
made myself finish it cuz of the high praise on a few reddit threads & didnt hate it, but if i could tell my younger self i would say "Skip this one".
made myself finish it cuz of the high praise on a few reddit threads & didnt hate it, but if i could tell my younger self i would say "Skip this one".
December 18, 2025
Great Concept and World-Building, Undermined by a Frustrating Protagonist
I picked up the audiobook for 1% Lifesteal after seeing quite a few recommendations. While the premise is strong and the world-building is genuinely intriguing, the execution suffers from significant pacing issues and a protagonist who is difficult to root for.
The Magic System & World: The core concept of the "Lifesteal" power is fascinating. Initially, I appreciated the limitations placed on the ability, specifically that the drain isn't instantaneous. It felt like a fair check on the character's power. However, the narrative consistency creates a problem: the author establishes strict rules, only to bend or break them for the sake of the plot in the final act. The "rules" of the magic system felt firm until the last fight, where they were sidelined for narrative convenience.
The Tone: "Misery Fatigue" The story leans heavily into a cycle of torture, self-pity, and training montages. While a certain amount of emotional damage and worry is realistic given the protagonist’s situation, especially early on, the book eventually crosses the line into gratuitous suffering. It stops feeling like a story with forward momentum and starts to feel like "misery porn," where the character is punished simply for the sake of it.
The Protagonist Problem: My biggest issue lies with the main character, Freddy. A protagonist doesn't need to be perfect, but they do need to be compelling. Freddy lacks agency; he never seems driven to investigate his world or take control of his fate. Instead, he is passively carried along by events, praying to get stronger without taking proactive steps.
Furthermore, his characterization is grating. He feels less like a genuine representation of socio-economic struggle and more like a negative caricature, specifically, what a detached observer might think poor people are like. He is reactive, quick to anger, anti-social, and makes poor financial decisions despite claiming to be frugal. He embodies a stereotype of "why the lower class stays low class," which made it difficult to sympathize with his struggle.
The Verdict: Despite these frustrations, the passive protagonist, the "broken" magic rules in the finale, and the relentless bleakness, the world itself was interesting enough to keep me hooked. I was compelled enough to continue to the next two books (where the story reportedly improves), but Book 1 is a rough ride carried largely by its potential rather than its execution.
I picked up the audiobook for 1% Lifesteal after seeing quite a few recommendations. While the premise is strong and the world-building is genuinely intriguing, the execution suffers from significant pacing issues and a protagonist who is difficult to root for.
The Magic System & World: The core concept of the "Lifesteal" power is fascinating. Initially, I appreciated the limitations placed on the ability, specifically that the drain isn't instantaneous. It felt like a fair check on the character's power. However, the narrative consistency creates a problem: the author establishes strict rules, only to bend or break them for the sake of the plot in the final act. The "rules" of the magic system felt firm until the last fight, where they were sidelined for narrative convenience.
The Tone: "Misery Fatigue" The story leans heavily into a cycle of torture, self-pity, and training montages. While a certain amount of emotional damage and worry is realistic given the protagonist’s situation, especially early on, the book eventually crosses the line into gratuitous suffering. It stops feeling like a story with forward momentum and starts to feel like "misery porn," where the character is punished simply for the sake of it.
The Protagonist Problem: My biggest issue lies with the main character, Freddy. A protagonist doesn't need to be perfect, but they do need to be compelling. Freddy lacks agency; he never seems driven to investigate his world or take control of his fate. Instead, he is passively carried along by events, praying to get stronger without taking proactive steps.
Furthermore, his characterization is grating. He feels less like a genuine representation of socio-economic struggle and more like a negative caricature, specifically, what a detached observer might think poor people are like. He is reactive, quick to anger, anti-social, and makes poor financial decisions despite claiming to be frugal. He embodies a stereotype of "why the lower class stays low class," which made it difficult to sympathize with his struggle.
The Verdict: Despite these frustrations, the passive protagonist, the "broken" magic rules in the finale, and the relentless bleakness, the world itself was interesting enough to keep me hooked. I was compelled enough to continue to the next two books (where the story reportedly improves), but Book 1 is a rough ride carried largely by its potential rather than its execution.
June 9, 2025
Slop that must have been boosted by bots or "Anonymous" people who five star.
Save yourself the time and don't bother reading this. How this ever got into the top 10 of anything either speaks extremely poorly of the genre or says something about how ratings work on Kindle.
To say this book was a massive disappointment is an understatement. I usually try to avoid leaving reviews less than three stars unless they REALLY deserve it. And boy does this make the cut.
The premise for this story is phenomenal, the magic system and structure for the world building of the setting is slightly genius and if the author were to switch focus and become someone who helps other authors think of ideas for their book they would do amazing.
Sadly the story is ruined by abysmal dialogue, poorly explained world building and a general lack of basic world knowledge the reader is supposed to assume on their own. Couple that with arguably the worst MC I've ever read in a novel which includes trashy smut and parody comedy, as well as terrible pacing and you have this book that should be used as a lesson on what not to do for future authors.
Genuinely the worst part of this book is how often you think this poorly made MC, who you feel like is the authors self insert, is going to finally get himself together and the whining and bemoaning and constant misrepresentation of what people think social anxiety is will be over and you'll see some REAL character growth. Spoiler alert you never do. It just gets worse and worse.
The next is a tie between how little anything is explained at all about the world the novel is in as well as how bare bones the magic system is explained. The magic system I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt due to mostly sticking to the MC's perspective and since he knows very little it's reasonable to assume we also know very little and will figure it out as we continue the story. This never happens especially since other important figures you meet and important places and events are never explained and written as if the reader should already know about it. Leaving said reader assuming and confused trying to piece together a story that feels more like a hodgepodge of great ideas that were never fully fleshed out or planned and then penned down in a half baked story.
Do yourself a favor and do not read this and spare your time and sanity.
Save yourself the time and don't bother reading this. How this ever got into the top 10 of anything either speaks extremely poorly of the genre or says something about how ratings work on Kindle.
To say this book was a massive disappointment is an understatement. I usually try to avoid leaving reviews less than three stars unless they REALLY deserve it. And boy does this make the cut.
The premise for this story is phenomenal, the magic system and structure for the world building of the setting is slightly genius and if the author were to switch focus and become someone who helps other authors think of ideas for their book they would do amazing.
Sadly the story is ruined by abysmal dialogue, poorly explained world building and a general lack of basic world knowledge the reader is supposed to assume on their own. Couple that with arguably the worst MC I've ever read in a novel which includes trashy smut and parody comedy, as well as terrible pacing and you have this book that should be used as a lesson on what not to do for future authors.
Genuinely the worst part of this book is how often you think this poorly made MC, who you feel like is the authors self insert, is going to finally get himself together and the whining and bemoaning and constant misrepresentation of what people think social anxiety is will be over and you'll see some REAL character growth. Spoiler alert you never do. It just gets worse and worse.
The next is a tie between how little anything is explained at all about the world the novel is in as well as how bare bones the magic system is explained. The magic system I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt due to mostly sticking to the MC's perspective and since he knows very little it's reasonable to assume we also know very little and will figure it out as we continue the story. This never happens especially since other important figures you meet and important places and events are never explained and written as if the reader should already know about it. Leaving said reader assuming and confused trying to piece together a story that feels more like a hodgepodge of great ideas that were never fully fleshed out or planned and then penned down in a half baked story.
Do yourself a favor and do not read this and spare your time and sanity.
November 16, 2025
DNF @ 26%
I'm not a very demanding reader. This might be the first fiction book I DNF.
In my opinion a book can be enjoyable due to either: the plot, the writing, or the characters. This book fails on all 3.
It's a very slow and it's very grim but that in itself is not necessarily bad. I enjoyed Fairy Tale by Stephen King which was arguably even darker and slower at its start. But if reading a book is going on a road trip, well you can either get me to my destination, or you can make the drive itself enjoyable.
This book is a road trip going at 10mph down a bumpy road with a talkative redditor for a driver, who also won't tell you where they're taking you. After a couple of hours you're bound to start question whether getting into this car was a smart idea.
So, going back to the 3 elements: Plot. Writing. Characters.
The plot comes closest to being good. It's an intriguing concept and the world building is solid. But it just goes nowhere. I've read 150 pages and the most exciting thing that's happened is the main character moving from a studio to a 1 bedroom apartment. There's been a single fight scene and it lasted about 5 minutes and ended with the main character being disappointed the government won't compensate him for experiencing it (me too, Freddy, me too).
The writing is so bad that it just doesn't feel like a professional writer. I'm not knowledgeable enough to critique it more accurately but it feels like a story you'd read someone relaying in a facebook post or on some forum, not in a book. The characters talking this way I can tolerate (though I don't like) but even the narrator sounds like a redditor.
And finally the characters. Others have said plenty so I'll keep it short. No discernible personality in any of them. And the worst sin is the main character. He lives in absolute poverty and his life is supposedly a struggle but he acts more spoiled than a nepo baby. He's not physically strong and he's not mentally strong and he's not interesting or kind and it just leaves you wondering "why would I care what happens to this guy?".
In summary, it's not just a bad book, but for me it's a book with no redeeming qualities. If there was anything enjoyable about the ride or exciting about the destination I would have forced myself to sit through for it. But there wasn't, so it can join "Concurrency for C++" and "Spanish in 3 months" as the first fiction book on the shelf of shame
I'm not a very demanding reader. This might be the first fiction book I DNF.
In my opinion a book can be enjoyable due to either: the plot, the writing, or the characters. This book fails on all 3.
It's a very slow and it's very grim but that in itself is not necessarily bad. I enjoyed Fairy Tale by Stephen King which was arguably even darker and slower at its start. But if reading a book is going on a road trip, well you can either get me to my destination, or you can make the drive itself enjoyable.
This book is a road trip going at 10mph down a bumpy road with a talkative redditor for a driver, who also won't tell you where they're taking you. After a couple of hours you're bound to start question whether getting into this car was a smart idea.
So, going back to the 3 elements: Plot. Writing. Characters.
The plot comes closest to being good. It's an intriguing concept and the world building is solid. But it just goes nowhere. I've read 150 pages and the most exciting thing that's happened is the main character moving from a studio to a 1 bedroom apartment. There's been a single fight scene and it lasted about 5 minutes and ended with the main character being disappointed the government won't compensate him for experiencing it (me too, Freddy, me too).
The writing is so bad that it just doesn't feel like a professional writer. I'm not knowledgeable enough to critique it more accurately but it feels like a story you'd read someone relaying in a facebook post or on some forum, not in a book. The characters talking this way I can tolerate (though I don't like) but even the narrator sounds like a redditor.
And finally the characters. Others have said plenty so I'll keep it short. No discernible personality in any of them. And the worst sin is the main character. He lives in absolute poverty and his life is supposedly a struggle but he acts more spoiled than a nepo baby. He's not physically strong and he's not mentally strong and he's not interesting or kind and it just leaves you wondering "why would I care what happens to this guy?".
In summary, it's not just a bad book, but for me it's a book with no redeeming qualities. If there was anything enjoyable about the ride or exciting about the destination I would have forced myself to sit through for it. But there wasn't, so it can join "Concurrency for C++" and "Spanish in 3 months" as the first fiction book on the shelf of shame
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2025
I bought the first two books at once since I was going of the grid for a while and already read both.
-I like that the story doesn't shy away from less than happy endings. Not everything will turn out OK in this one. There are a few issues that make the book an uncomfortable read.
-The setting is somewhat fantasy but it very believable and extremely poorly explained most of the time. Things like internal combustion engines not being possible anymore because the laws of physics are changed. How? Fire doesn't work anymore? Engines are super simple, but this civilization can somehow build futuristic skyscrapers and other tech.
-We are going dystopian, sure. But EVERY character including the MC (at least in the first book) is so intensely focused on themselves, no matter the cost to anyone else, that it is very hard to care about any person at all. Literally nobody in this world has any friends or family they care about.
-The plot is kinda whimsical and doesn't make a lot of sense.
-The writer likes to refer to people by their sex instead of their names. Often this can be confusing as for example in a scenario with multiple men he wrote something like the men shoved the other man and I am just wondering who is shoving who. Also it just feels off somehow, like you are reading about animals, not humans.
-The writer is obviously pretty bad with math and money in general. IMO it would have been better to not mention every dollar earned and spent if you are not keeping track of it anyways and maybe not let the characters inexplicably know mid combat exactly what percentage of essence(mana) they have remaining and how how much anything they do costs in essence per second.
-The main character is human garbage; gross, egotistical, unmotivated, unlikable, and unpleasant in general. For some reason it needs to be mentioned again and again and again how dirty and smelly he is and how crusty his apartment and clothes are. I remember one time he randomly screamed at the top of his lungs in the face of some elderly lady in the street for no reason. Who does that? Why put that in your book?
That all said the first book is not a good read, I certainly would've dropped it if I brought any other book. It does get somewhat better in the second one though. If you are waiting for the start of some emotional development of the main character it takes until the end of book 2.
-I like that the story doesn't shy away from less than happy endings. Not everything will turn out OK in this one. There are a few issues that make the book an uncomfortable read.
-The setting is somewhat fantasy but it very believable and extremely poorly explained most of the time. Things like internal combustion engines not being possible anymore because the laws of physics are changed. How? Fire doesn't work anymore? Engines are super simple, but this civilization can somehow build futuristic skyscrapers and other tech.
-We are going dystopian, sure. But EVERY character including the MC (at least in the first book) is so intensely focused on themselves, no matter the cost to anyone else, that it is very hard to care about any person at all. Literally nobody in this world has any friends or family they care about.
-The plot is kinda whimsical and doesn't make a lot of sense.
-The writer likes to refer to people by their sex instead of their names. Often this can be confusing as for example in a scenario with multiple men he wrote something like the men shoved the other man and I am just wondering who is shoving who. Also it just feels off somehow, like you are reading about animals, not humans.
-The writer is obviously pretty bad with math and money in general. IMO it would have been better to not mention every dollar earned and spent if you are not keeping track of it anyways and maybe not let the characters inexplicably know mid combat exactly what percentage of essence(mana) they have remaining and how how much anything they do costs in essence per second.
-The main character is human garbage; gross, egotistical, unmotivated, unlikable, and unpleasant in general. For some reason it needs to be mentioned again and again and again how dirty and smelly he is and how crusty his apartment and clothes are. I remember one time he randomly screamed at the top of his lungs in the face of some elderly lady in the street for no reason. Who does that? Why put that in your book?
That all said the first book is not a good read, I certainly would've dropped it if I brought any other book. It does get somewhat better in the second one though. If you are waiting for the start of some emotional development of the main character it takes until the end of book 2.
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