Threads of Fate

Ascend Online #4

by Luke Chmilenko

When a Hero falls, who rises up to catch them?

Once more, and against all odds, Marcus and the rest of Virtus have managed to snatch victory from the jaws of total defeat, capturing not only Carver but also destroying the orc advance completely.

Yet there is no peace in store for the exhausted victors, for not only must they pay the price for their desperate triumph, but they must also rise up once more to meet a new terror that has revealed itself.

A terror that, if left unchecked, will consume the world.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

660 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2024

About the author

Born in 1987, Luke Chmilenko grew up in the city of Mississauga, Ontario spending the majority of his life within the city. Always a fan of writing and storytelling, Luke continuously wrote small short stories over the years, but never embarked on writing a full novel until much later in life, thinking it was something beyond his ability.

With his interesting in writing waxing and waning as the years passed, Luke focused on his studies, eventually finding a job in the field of IT Security and working between various jobs for several years. It wasn't until after he was married and with his wife's encouragement that he finally decided to try writing a novel, this time deciding to focus on a new genre that he had just discovered called LitRPG.

Diving into his work, Luke wrote his first book over the course of several months, releasing the book as a web serial chapter by chapter for free online, garnering valuable feedback and confidence from his readers. By the time Luke finished his first book and published it on amazon, he already had a hungry audience waiting for next installation, to which he immediately threw himself into working tirelessly at his newfound passion.

Today, Luke now writes full time with his wife and two cats in their Burlington home, working away on his next issue of his Ascend Online series and a brand new science fiction series named Starfall.

Books of Ascend Online:
Ascend Online (Book 1) (2016)
Ascend Online: Hell to Pay (Book 1.5) (2017)
Ascend Online: Legacy of the Fallen (Book 2) (2018)
Ascend Online: Glory to the Brave (Book 3) (Forthcoming 2019)

Books of Starfall:
Starfall (Book 1) (Forthcoming 2019)

Reviews

[Timo Van-Kissing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 3.5? There isn't anything bad about this book in the series, but it's also somehow not as exciting as previous ones.

[Kiba Snowpaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Threads of Fate (Ascend Online #4) – Review by Kiba Snowpaw

Introduction:
Yo, paws and claws out—it's Kiba, your battle-hardened alpha ice wolf, back from the tundra with another deep-dive into the icy wilderness of LitRPG. Threads of Fate by Luke Chmilenko (published November 2024 by Aetherworld Productions) is the latest hack-and-slash, loot-fest in the Ascend Online saga. 660 pages of MMO dungeon crawling, dungeon-busting, and way more action than plot, if we’re being blunt. Does this entry spin a new web of glory or does it get tangled up in its own threads? Let’s tear it apart, fang-first.

Plot Summary:
This book howls out of the last cliffhanger—Virtus barely survives, the orc threat’s smashed, and Carver’s bagged, but the grind never ends. Instead of a breather, Marcus/Lyrian and his pack get dragged north to a fresh, unexplored region for what’s basically a non-stop mega-dungeon crawl. The core? It’s survival and teamwork in a whole new setting, where the stakes are technically high, but the tension feels weirdly muted. There’s lots of puzzle-solving, room-clearing, and power-ups, but little sense of real danger. As always, the real world takes a back seat—blink and you’ll miss it. The result? Action for days, but story and soul sometimes lost in the snowstorm.

The Author:
Chmilenko, still the Canadian litRPG workhorse, gives you everything you expect: big numbers, deep stat progression, endless class combos, and a universe that’s more about systems than feels. His prose is serviceable but functional—imagine a tank charging through deep powder: not elegant, but gets you there. Typos and clunky lines still bite, and this wolf thinks the editing team must have gone into hibernation. That said, few authors can match his grind-game energy or his raw MMO vibes.

Characters:
Here’s the real blizzard. Marcus/Lyrian is the ultimate guild leader, always juggling new powers, dungeon puzzles, and guild drama—but honestly, after four (five?) books, I still can’t smell his real scent. He bounces between archetypes like a wolf chasing his own tail: sometimes he’s the clever tactician, sometimes a brawler, sometimes… just there. The rest of Virtus? Their personalities are as thin as frost on glass—almost interchangeable, no real tension or rivalry. Even romance and friendships are footnotes, not bite-marks. By now, even I’m struggling to care who’s talking unless Luke Daniels switches up the audiobook accents.

Structure:
Threads of Fate is organized like a raid log: linear, action-packed, and very heavy on the dungeon-crawl. You get puzzles, traps, monster fights, and not much downtime. The pacing is relentless at first—then it blurs. Chapters merge into one big loot run, and narrative variety gets frozen out. If you want deep, organic arcs or flashbacks to the old world, you’ll be howling at the moon. There’s a strong sense of “bridge book” here—just pushing the party from one raid to the next without much meat in between.

Themes & Analysis:
On paper, this is about resilience, teamwork, facing the unknown, and the grind of leadership. In practice? It’s more about “Can we survive this next room?” than any deep philosophical musings. The whole ‘immortality in the game world’ concept kills real stakes—perma-death isn’t a thing, and the world is so “gamey” that risk feels abstract. Teamwork and progression still rule, but true character arcs and consequences get left behind like shed fur.

Scenes (Sex, Harem, Romance):
You want heat? Sorry, pup. This is one cold hunt. Romance gets lip service (Lyrian and Freya still exist as a couple), but it’s buried under piles of loot and monster guts. No harem drama, no real love triangles, nothing to get your tail wagging—just occasional reminders that people like each other, mostly off-screen. If you’re here for feels or spice, head to another den.

World-Building:
If there’s one thing Chmilenko does right, it’s building a game world with teeth. The new region is full of lore, dungeons, and danger, with deep systems, puzzles, and class options. It’s immersive if you love classic MMOs—think D&D meets Elder Scrolls, all processed through a stat-heavy lens. But this time, the focus is so tight on the dungeon that the outside world (both in-game and out) gets ignored. If you loved Aldford and the wider sandbox in earlier books, you might miss it here.

Praise & Critique:
Praise:
- Top-tier MMO dungeon crawling—endless puzzles, traps, monster fights
- Systems, crafting, and class-building are detailed and crunchy
- Pacing is never boring, action is always rolling
- Recaps and progressions are handled well for returning readers

Critique:
- Character depth? Still MIA.
- Stakes and drama feel artificial—too “gamey,” not enough real threat
- Editing mistakes and typos break immersion constantly
- Story progression is minimal—feels like a 600-page bridge to the next arc
- Real-world subplot is nearly extinct
- Emotional engagement and variety are left out in the cold

Comparison:
Compared to earlier entries, this one narrows its focus. If you’re all about the grind and don’t care about deep storylines or character moments, you’ll be in heaven. Against other LitRPG series, Chmilenko still rules at crunchy, system-driven world-building, but writers like Travis Bagwell or Aleron Kong are better at character or emotional arcs. This is pure action with little heart.

Personal Evaluation:
As a strategic alpha, I like a good raid—but I want to care about my pack. Here, the fights are fun, the loot is fat, but I kept wishing for more depth, more bite, more downtime. I got confused more than hyped, losing track of who was who and why I should care. The wolf in me respects the grind, but the heart wanted more warmth.

Conclusion:
Threads of Fate is a wild, relentless dungeon crawl that does exactly what it says on the tin—more action, more loot, more level-ups. If that’s your jam, drop in and feast. But if you want story, stakes, or heart, you’ll find the den a little empty. Still, I’d recommend it to any hardcore LitRPG pup who lives for that raid life. Final verdict? 6.5/10 icy pawprints—fun for the action junkies, but hope the next book brings back the soul.

Stay frosty, keep your nose sharp, and don’t get lost in the dungeon fog. Kiba out.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This continuation of the Ascend Online series has its virtues. The action is compelling, the scene descriptions are done well, and the plot isn't bad. And we finally get some progression in some of the major game-character problems.

But the characters are two-dimensional sketches defined by their powers, not their personalities, and the world is generic Euro-fantasy. And while the climax is decent, the denouement is the most annoying sort of cliff-hanger.

Further, this book badly needed at least one more editing pass: "agonizing explosion of fire and agony" rather pulls the reader out of the story. (And there are many such indications of sloppy or non-existent copy-editing.)

I like the overall story, but I'm slowly starting to drift away from the series. I'll probably read the next book, but it won't be a high priority.

[Kayden Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting for this for a long time, so worth it!

[Travis Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I remember these characters, but I didn't care much about the adventures they were on this go around. Hopefully the age of heroes arc will be more exciting. Here's hoping. 👍🏽

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This one felt more dungeon driven then the previous ones. Less story time.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad. It’s junk litrpg. The series had some promise (despite its glaring flaws) early on, but with this one, the promise is pretty much all gone.

[Bellator · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series is going downhill. The author is excellent at describing a diverse, detailed world that I can't find it in myself to care about.

All characters, including the MC are paper thin. 5 books into the series, I still don't know what kind of person Marcus is. He switches between the cunning tactician, fearless brawler, and comedic coward so quickly I can't figure out the throughline of a personality. All relationships between the MC and his friends and his .... girlfriend(?) are footnotes in the story, and I know nothing about them as people other than their names. There is never interpersonal strife or conflict. Everyone gets along with one another always. It's so very.... boring. There is absolutely no character development whatsoever, every character is exactly the same person they were in book 1.

The author has gone to great efforts to paint an intricate and moderately interesting history of the game world over the past 5 books, and this is probably his strongest storytelling skill. However, no matter how detailed the world I can't find myself caring about it. The past has little impact on modern day events. Every book can be summed up as "The MC finds a new ruin, wakes it up, and deals with the minor consequences before getting ready to repeat in the next book, only in a new location". If the author wants us to care about a world, he has to make us like the people living in it first, and that crucial element is missing in this series.

I think the weak characters and story setting have one crucial commonality. There are no real risks or dangers in the storyline. Death results in an inconvenient respawn, and you aren't given enough time to care about the NPCs who are the only character vulnerable to real death. At the end of the day, if the MC lost to his enemies on all fronts, he forfeits nothing other than his time spent in-game from the past few weeks. The MC can simply create a new game character and start again. There is no compelling reason to follow the story at all, other than an interest in watching someone else experience a role-playing game. In the second and third books the MC develops some real-world success when his guild is sponsored for their success. I originally believed this was the Author's efforts to establish stakes for the MC to lose, however he never develops this detail in any way other than superficially.

I really had high hopes for this series from the first two or three books, but it's clear that 5 books in that the author isn't interested in growing his story in any way other than by repeating the combat and trials in a new setting.

I won't be continuing this series anymore, and I hope that Luke takes criticism to heart in his next series.

[Alex Holz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I totally lost the plot of this one compared to the others, no uldford (aldford), Luke Daniels changing the accents of a few important characters makes it really hard to keep track of everyone. Yeah Mark is a workaholic but they took all the work away from him. He's a guild leader he should be leading the guild a bit more, starting the book with a week vacation while the crew travels 2 weeks north to another region we've never heard of to do the same type of dungeon crawls as the other books but at a higher level. The stakes of the dungeon they were in at the end seem real low because it's in the city they are soul bound in. Yeah it's hard but no one barely gets a scratch until they are tpk'd. We went from swords and bows to that plus bombs in like a week, i know he picked up artificing but he shouldn't have had anything like that so early after learning the skill. First 3 books were amazing. This one is just ok. Also hardly anything in reality, there's a mention of freya going to a meeting with the stream producers but we hardly get anything

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Maybe the best of all of the books of this series to date.
That said, truly I have enjoyed a majority of the books in this series (still not sure how I feel about book 1.5.). Definitely a series of fantasy and science fiction that I would like to come into being in the future. Which is most likely one of the reasons I enjoy the series. Besides the fact they bring back great childhood memories of D&D, Zelda and the Elder Scrolls (etc.)
This book had lots of action, surprises, and character developments that made it a fun ride. I definitely will read the next in the series when available.
Strongly recommend this series to any one who enjoys a fun romp away from reality.

[Jason Bogle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story and characters.

I enjoyed the story and characters. However, if this had been book one in the series, I may have stopped reading. I lost count of the number of typos I reported via Kindle. It was too many and I didn't even bother with punctuation.

So, yes, I liked the story and characters, but it was painful to read at times. I waited a long time for this book come out because the first four books in the series are the ones that got me back into reading a lot, but I don't recall them having so many errors. Hopefully the typos get fixed and some commas get added in the next edition and Kindle version.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I really enjoyed the lower-level, increasing-power books more than this later LitRPG. There's probably nothing explicitly wrong with this new book, except that I keep losing focus or care for what's happening.

The story was better in the past. This isn't quite as grounded as before.

That being said, I wanted to enjoy it a lot more than I did.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

[Fate's Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story remains engaging without being particularly good. The characters are railroaded from one major plot event to the next to the point where even they are exhausted by it, but there's no particular character development or relationship building or conflict, they just shrug and fight the next world boss or whatever. I genuinely can't remember anything at all of the previous books, but it didn't matter at all, so you can see how flimsy the overall plot actually is.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truthfully, I've really enjoyed much of this series, but I kind of felt that the writing quality of this one wasn't quite up to par. I felt I was missing something several times (maybe I'm not enough of a D&D kind person or something). Was it decent? Yes. Was it enjoyable? Yes. But was it as compelling as other books in the series? No. Would I read another installment... maybe, it left in such a place that it could go pretty radically diferent.

[Crissy Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one long dungeon crawl. Mostly fighting, a few puzzle solving, and a little interpersonal stuff. But most of the crafting, kiting armor, etc, happens off screen. It also felt like it was a bridge between the last book and the next section of the series. Good, but not my favorite. Looking forward to the next one though.

[Aaron Eichler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the wait

This book was a long time coming. I read/listened to the last book in 2020, and I re-listened to them all the get ready for this book. I loved the recap for those who did not take the time first the first 4 books. I loved how the main team was getting stronger, but the best part was Ameranth getting stronger and talking.

[Al Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story

I really enjoyed reading book 5 of the continuing adventures of Lyrian and his fellow adventurers. Next book looks just as exciting as this one. I did notice that the final character sheet showed Lyrian to be 34 not 35 like he's supposed to be at the end. Hopefully that will be fixed before next book.

[Patrick Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spellcheck is not an editor

From literally page one, there are word omissions, wrong words, etc. that break the immersion of reading the book as one is forced to read and reread sentences to try to glean their meaning. Read your own book once before pushing it out the door at least.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally out

It's taken a while, but we get our next book and a nice new quest for our team. This did take me a while to get back into the events, but it was a reminder why Luke does so well with this series. No spoilers, but the events turn very interesting.

[Daniel Nissim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun mindless read.

Just a page turner. No literary value but that’s not why I read it.
Note to author, start developing other characters. Lyr is a member of a team, show us the team!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this series, and maybe it is more that this is the first time that I’ve read two volumes back to back, but I really didn’t enjoy much in this one….the new settings, the antagonists, the “science,” the character progression. Glad I now have an enforced break.

[Joseph Mahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exciting adventure

Lyrics and friends have a grand adventure! Good pacing with several twists and turns. I enjoyed the teamwork and new pc.

[Mike Tibstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good return to form on this series. Liked the progression and character changes. Hope to read the next one soon!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Stellar work once again from Luke Chmilenko! Lots of action and adventure, magic and monsters. Looking forward to the next one!

[Ole Nørby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely perfect continuation

[Sean Petrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for book 6

Good read. I feel like I waited forever for this book, now another wait for more. Hope it comes soon.

[Jean Sicotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series with good progression

Its a classic lit-rpg formula from an OG lit-rpg author. Nothing new or revolutionary but flawlessly executed. It's a very entertaining read