What do you think?
Rate this book
Earthen Contenders #5
Unrestrained Healer
The developmental world of Tarth is under attack by the Adversary…
After barely surviving an attack by an Adversarial entity, Thaden helps pick up the pieces of the Guild he’d previously joined. Unfortunately, the outlook for Guilded Glory is bleak, as many important Contenders were lost during the unexpected attack, leaving the future of the Guild uncertain at this point in time.
Of course, helping to run a Guild was never Thaden’s responsibility, nor did he really want a leadership position when he joined in the first place. Even more, with his recent need to increase his Level, he’s no longer able to participate in Guild activities because he is entirely too powerful to join a Raid Party with his fellow Guild members. As a result, he finds himself largely on his own again, or at least with only his squirrel companion, Sadia, by his side; this result is perfectly fine with Thaden, though, because now he isn’t restrained by any responsibilities. In other words, he can finally use his newly evolved Class to investigate higher-difficulty Intermediate dungeons, challenging himself in ways he never thought possible – and all without worrying about accidentally killing his Raid Party in the process.
But the Adversary isn’t quite done yet with Tarth. The entity that Thaden fought previously was just the beginning of a world-wide infiltration; the threat is serious enough that the System decides to fight back with some agents of its own.
Unrestrained by the responsibilities of his Guild and with the freedom and power to basically do what he wants, will Thaden choose to face this growing threat? Or will he be pulled into the fight, regardless of his wishes?
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
After barely surviving an attack by an Adversarial entity, Thaden helps pick up the pieces of the Guild he’d previously joined. Unfortunately, the outlook for Guilded Glory is bleak, as many important Contenders were lost during the unexpected attack, leaving the future of the Guild uncertain at this point in time.
Of course, helping to run a Guild was never Thaden’s responsibility, nor did he really want a leadership position when he joined in the first place. Even more, with his recent need to increase his Level, he’s no longer able to participate in Guild activities because he is entirely too powerful to join a Raid Party with his fellow Guild members. As a result, he finds himself largely on his own again, or at least with only his squirrel companion, Sadia, by his side; this result is perfectly fine with Thaden, though, because now he isn’t restrained by any responsibilities. In other words, he can finally use his newly evolved Class to investigate higher-difficulty Intermediate dungeons, challenging himself in ways he never thought possible – and all without worrying about accidentally killing his Raid Party in the process.
But the Adversary isn’t quite done yet with Tarth. The entity that Thaden fought previously was just the beginning of a world-wide infiltration; the threat is serious enough that the System decides to fight back with some agents of its own.
Unrestrained by the responsibilities of his Guild and with the freedom and power to basically do what he wants, will Thaden choose to face this growing threat? Or will he be pulled into the fight, regardless of his wishes?
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2025
452 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Brooks
82 books488 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 10, 2025
Too many stats, too much levelling minutiae and boring dungeons and loot. It's all pretty pointless.
April 13, 2025
If you've read this far in the series, you're probably going to continue. Installment #5 isn't very interesting, though.
Mostly it's about how Thaden stands next to monsters and they die because of his automatic combination of spells. After which he gets rewarded with eleventy billion stat upgrades. At this point, he's acquired so many special bonuses that every reward gets at least a 9x upgrade. It's hard to care about his numbers getting bigger and bigger.
One thing that's baffling is that his main "glitch," his infinite mana, has long since fallen to the wayside in importance, so you'd think he'd be operating by normal game rules. Yet he easily defeats a group of not-exactly-players who are about 100 levels higher than he is. It's not clear why Thaden is still so much more powerful than everyone else. Beyond maybe his abnormal number of "first in the world" achievements. It feels off.
Eventually, at the end of the book, he faces off against an enemy that he can't just instantly kill, and he wins because he's got that special infinite mana glitch, not because of any action he's actually taken.
Thaden's story has succumbed to a common problem with power fantasies, he's become so absurdly powerful that he's almost never in any danger, and when he is, it requires a world-ending threat to provide even a little tension.
Mostly it's about how Thaden stands next to monsters and they die because of his automatic combination of spells. After which he gets rewarded with eleventy billion stat upgrades. At this point, he's acquired so many special bonuses that every reward gets at least a 9x upgrade. It's hard to care about his numbers getting bigger and bigger.
One thing that's baffling is that his main "glitch," his infinite mana, has long since fallen to the wayside in importance, so you'd think he'd be operating by normal game rules. Yet he easily defeats a group of not-exactly-players who are about 100 levels higher than he is. It's not clear why Thaden is still so much more powerful than everyone else. Beyond maybe his abnormal number of "first in the world" achievements. It feels off.
Eventually, at the end of the book, he faces off against an enemy that he can't just instantly kill, and he wins because he's got that special infinite mana glitch, not because of any action he's actually taken.
Thaden's story has succumbed to a common problem with power fantasies, he's become so absurdly powerful that he's almost never in any danger, and when he is, it requires a world-ending threat to provide even a little tension.
March 25, 2025
Lost its way. Pace and story drag out.
This will be the last book in this series for me. The story really lost its way, becoming more filler and explaining the nuance of the game system. The character motivation and plot really became second position. The author's expanding the world and you just don't really care. The pace is slow and it feels so tedious to have to read all the nuance of leveling up this character. It's at a point now where it's not worth the effort to read. There's no thrill, no urgency or feeling left to the character to make you care. First four books were enjoyable. This one lost me and I'm done with the series.
This will be the last book in this series for me. The story really lost its way, becoming more filler and explaining the nuance of the game system. The character motivation and plot really became second position. The author's expanding the world and you just don't really care. The pace is slow and it feels so tedious to have to read all the nuance of leveling up this character. It's at a point now where it's not worth the effort to read. There's no thrill, no urgency or feeling left to the character to make you care. First four books were enjoyable. This one lost me and I'm done with the series.
March 28, 2025
A great Solo Adventure
I’m extremely happy with this book. It looked like the author was edging towards getting rid of the solo aspect in the last novel, but he definitely reeled it in and returned to the solo roots with this one. It is great and I’m excited to read the next book. My only cautions is being carful with the power scaling and having it make sense. I love a OP character and I think the author has done great having the MC adversaries align well with his growth. I just think the end scale of this novel is where you start seeing a lot of other authors struggle, so I’m excited to see if it’s done well.
I’m extremely happy with this book. It looked like the author was edging towards getting rid of the solo aspect in the last novel, but he definitely reeled it in and returned to the solo roots with this one. It is great and I’m excited to read the next book. My only cautions is being carful with the power scaling and having it make sense. I love a OP character and I think the author has done great having the MC adversaries align well with his growth. I just think the end scale of this novel is where you start seeing a lot of other authors struggle, so I’m excited to see if it’s done well.
April 3, 2025
Another good book, albeit it bogs down repeatedly in stat dumps. That's a feature of the author's work, so my rating takes that into account. This one moves things ahead a great deal, so I suspect we're hitting the apogee of this story arc.
The MC's potential relationship interests seem to be going nowhere, but he seems disinterested anyway so I'm not seeing the point of including that in the books. The man swapped a succubus for a giant squirrel after all. It leaves on the right level of cliffhanger, so I'm interested to see the power dynamics in the next book.
The MC's potential relationship interests seem to be going nowhere, but he seems disinterested anyway so I'm not seeing the point of including that in the books. The man swapped a succubus for a giant squirrel after all. It leaves on the right level of cliffhanger, so I'm interested to see the power dynamics in the next book.
May 7, 2025
Very engrossing story, difficult to put down
Even I started this LitRPG series, the whole concept was new to me. I enjoyed the read outs and accomplishments of the main character. After I read me of the series, I got lost in everything the character could do. The author's written summary evaluating each spell, achievement and artifact went along way to keeping me enthralled with the story. The series is fast paced, dynamic in plot. A very difficult series of books to put down.
Even I started this LitRPG series, the whole concept was new to me. I enjoyed the read outs and accomplishments of the main character. After I read me of the series, I got lost in everything the character could do. The author's written summary evaluating each spell, achievement and artifact went along way to keeping me enthralled with the story. The series is fast paced, dynamic in plot. A very difficult series of books to put down.
May 7, 2025
fun
Those who monitor the training world are set the task of investigating the healer. The healer is trying to get powerful and facing his feelings for another character. He finds that invading monsters and the monitors alike sense him as something other and dangerous. He befriends the monitors, clears his name, and holds off the BBEG, but the cost is he’s blasted to where he shouldn’t be, and has opened his area to monsters the other players aren’t ready for yet. Book ends
I am loving the series. This is a great installment but definitely not a standalone. Please enjoy
Those who monitor the training world are set the task of investigating the healer. The healer is trying to get powerful and facing his feelings for another character. He finds that invading monsters and the monitors alike sense him as something other and dangerous. He befriends the monitors, clears his name, and holds off the BBEG, but the cost is he’s blasted to where he shouldn’t be, and has opened his area to monsters the other players aren’t ready for yet. Book ends
I am loving the series. This is a great installment but definitely not a standalone. Please enjoy
August 28, 2025
I'm still enjoying this series, but the overpowered main cascade of stats that are just more op is getting old. The author does a good job trying to come up with new ways it matters, but.
Also, why does his special armor keep adding new penalties to personality?
Regardless - I am still blowing through the books pretty quick, so I must be enjoying the story line. I am intrigued where it's going and the overall what's going to happen. The three star ratings isn't meant to indicate it's bad in anyway, I'd still call this above average.
Also, why does his special armor keep adding new penalties to personality?
Regardless - I am still blowing through the books pretty quick, so I must be enjoying the story line. I am intrigued where it's going and the overall what's going to happen. The three star ratings isn't meant to indicate it's bad in anyway, I'd still call this above average.
March 24, 2025
Miss
The previous book had the MC finally linking up with others and beginning to get some dialogue going. Unfortunately this book hits the reset on that and the "story" such as it is returned to just an endless list of environment descriptions and fever pitched overpowered ramblings. Definitely not worth reading and I won't be back for any more. The author had a chance to grow the series into something good but sadly failed to capitalise on it. Save your money.
The previous book had the MC finally linking up with others and beginning to get some dialogue going. Unfortunately this book hits the reset on that and the "story" such as it is returned to just an endless list of environment descriptions and fever pitched overpowered ramblings. Definitely not worth reading and I won't be back for any more. The author had a chance to grow the series into something good but sadly failed to capitalise on it. Save your money.
March 25, 2025
Too many numbers
Over half of the novel is full of endless statistics, so it is necessary to skip over them to find the story. The MC is ridiculously overpowered so the only way to create tension is to occasionally create ridiculously overpowered opponents, but even then the MC always survives. The number of plot holes is beyond counting. Despite all these problems there is an addictive aspect to Brooks' writing which means I got some pleasure from speed reading it.
Over half of the novel is full of endless statistics, so it is necessary to skip over them to find the story. The MC is ridiculously overpowered so the only way to create tension is to occasionally create ridiculously overpowered opponents, but even then the MC always survives. The number of plot holes is beyond counting. Despite all these problems there is an addictive aspect to Brooks' writing which means I got some pleasure from speed reading it.
April 10, 2025
Thaden's Talent for Creating Glitches Is Working Overtime!
Despite his well considered plan to avoid causing problems for himself, his Guild, his Region, and his world, Thaden just can't avoid making a bigger mess. To be fair, it isn't ALL his fault—the System's glitch made him what he is and his successful efforts to survive have simply amplified his ability to sow chaos in his wake.
This series is an excellent read for those who enjoy the LitRPG Fantasy genre.
Despite his well considered plan to avoid causing problems for himself, his Guild, his Region, and his world, Thaden just can't avoid making a bigger mess. To be fair, it isn't ALL his fault—the System's glitch made him what he is and his successful efforts to survive have simply amplified his ability to sow chaos in his wake.
This series is an excellent read for those who enjoy the LitRPG Fantasy genre.
March 23, 2025
Exciting
The ridiculously overpowered Thaden is at it again. There are many pages dedicated to increased stats and rewards after every victory, which I tend to mostly skip over, but the story is excellent and hard to stop reading. Once again, I find myself disappointed that the book has ended, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.
The ridiculously overpowered Thaden is at it again. There are many pages dedicated to increased stats and rewards after every victory, which I tend to mostly skip over, but the story is excellent and hard to stop reading. Once again, I find myself disappointed that the book has ended, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.
March 24, 2025
I'm Out
Thaden keeps being isolated, the world keeps trying to die, the baddies keep up the serial killer dialogue ("we will free you by killing you!"), and the System in charge keeps glitching. Which all puts the focus on the ridiculous plot, the unlikable main character, and the arbitrary game mechanics.
Do not recommend.
Thaden keeps being isolated, the world keeps trying to die, the baddies keep up the serial killer dialogue ("we will free you by killing you!"), and the System in charge keeps glitching. Which all puts the focus on the ridiculous plot, the unlikable main character, and the arbitrary game mechanics.
Do not recommend.
March 26, 2025
Just okay. A lot happens quickly.
Our hero has a very creepy experience in this book. Too much happens too quickly. I barely followed it and I still have questions. The last fight especially was glossed over and not exactly explained so that we are all confused.
Even though I have enjoyed the series, this book left a lot to be desired.
Good luck!
Our hero has a very creepy experience in this book. Too much happens too quickly. I barely followed it and I still have questions. The last fight especially was glossed over and not exactly explained so that we are all confused.
Even though I have enjoyed the series, this book left a lot to be desired.
Good luck!
April 18, 2025
Unrestrained Healer
The adversary is invading the developmental world of Tarth. Thaden barely survived the last encounter and the guild is in shambles. He had to massively increase his level to do so and that stops him from being able to help the guild by doing raids. That doesn’t mean he can’t solo some dungeons though.
I always appreciate the way Jonathan Brooks does his books. There is a summery of previous books at the beginning and all the heavy stat sections are their own chapters. You can listen or not, your choice. This litrpg adds quite a few fun new dungeons for Thaden to explore. While I am disappointed that this story doesn’t include the guild more, he does get some more people to interact with. Miles Meili does an excellent job with the narration!
Content Warning: language
The adversary is invading the developmental world of Tarth. Thaden barely survived the last encounter and the guild is in shambles. He had to massively increase his level to do so and that stops him from being able to help the guild by doing raids. That doesn’t mean he can’t solo some dungeons though.
I always appreciate the way Jonathan Brooks does his books. There is a summery of previous books at the beginning and all the heavy stat sections are their own chapters. You can listen or not, your choice. This litrpg adds quite a few fun new dungeons for Thaden to explore. While I am disappointed that this story doesn’t include the guild more, he does get some more people to interact with. Miles Meili does an excellent job with the narration!
Content Warning: language
July 27, 2025
Surviving ground zero
Alternate universe, magic, LitRPG, OP MC, save the world
Thaden, our MC, has his work cut out for him. Things come to a head as the System tasks Wardens to actively find him while also rooting out corrupted dungeons of enemy beings. Still a lot of mysteries to solve. Excellent editing. I'm in for book 6 when it comes out.
Alternate universe, magic, LitRPG, OP MC, save the world
Thaden, our MC, has his work cut out for him. Things come to a head as the System tasks Wardens to actively find him while also rooting out corrupted dungeons of enemy beings. Still a lot of mysteries to solve. Excellent editing. I'm in for book 6 when it comes out.
October 3, 2025
Player who seems to embody Murphys law continues struggles
I like this story and its continued use of highly improbable events...both good and bad.
The story continues its spiral towards apocalypse, with those "in charge" continuing to deny the events could be occurring.
Will our MC figure out what is really going on and what to do about it?
Tune in to the last book to see.
I like this story and its continued use of highly improbable events...both good and bad.
The story continues its spiral towards apocalypse, with those "in charge" continuing to deny the events could be occurring.
Will our MC figure out what is really going on and what to do about it?
Tune in to the last book to see.
March 25, 2025
Crazy healing
Thalen can't help his survival instinct and somehow he finds and participates in creating even more region shattering problems. A support classes healer who somehow outstrips the power of all opponents continues his climb to something.
Thalen can't help his survival instinct and somehow he finds and participates in creating even more region shattering problems. A support classes healer who somehow outstrips the power of all opponents continues his climb to something.
March 30, 2025
Not as long as it appears
Still an interesting story, but far too much of the book is taken up with listings of abilities and PICK received. The couple of chapters from the wardens point of view were a welcome respite from this.
Still an interesting story, but far too much of the book is taken up with listings of abilities and PICK received. The couple of chapters from the wardens point of view were a welcome respite from this.
April 23, 2025
Another solid entry. I love that we get a thorough recap at the beginning. It helps so much when starting a new book. The plot definitely seems to be evolving and moving towards the end scenario. The MC is still super OP and super socially inept. All around it was a fun book.
May 8, 2025
A Must Read!
It amazes me how this series can get better and better with each book in the series! The ending and hints of the wider world were so crazy and had me on the edge of my seat. This is one of my favorite series of all time and I can’t wait for more to come!
It amazes me how this series can get better and better with each book in the series! The ending and hints of the wider world were so crazy and had me on the edge of my seat. This is one of my favorite series of all time and I can’t wait for more to come!
March 19, 2025
Still a lot of fun even if it's bit of a Stat overload. Still not a huge fan of the assistant/familiar introduced in the previous book but Thaden remains a great character.
March 19, 2025
awesome
This was a great book and would 100% recommend to anyone that loves the litrpg genre. Author did a great job of making an excellent story to complement the litrpg aspect
This was a great book and would 100% recommend to anyone that loves the litrpg genre. Author did a great job of making an excellent story to complement the litrpg aspect
March 20, 2025
Excellent Read
This book keeps you engaged and wanting more. More secrets are explained and discovered. Love this series! Don't want to give anything away.
This book keeps you engaged and wanting more. More secrets are explained and discovered. Love this series! Don't want to give anything away.
March 21, 2025
What a ride!
I love this series it is such a fun read. I can't wait for the next book. Such a cliffhanger on this one ... Write fast... Please!
I love this series it is such a fun read. I can't wait for the next book. Such a cliffhanger on this one ... Write fast... Please!
March 21, 2025
great book
This is a good series I read and finished in under 24 hours a great read. I would recommend this for anybody.
This is a good series I read and finished in under 24 hours a great read. I would recommend this for anybody.
March 23, 2025
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action and an OP MC.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action and an OP MC.
March 24, 2025
Good Stuff
This story of an overpowered socially inept guy cruising through the System tutorial was a very interesting entertaining fast paced adventure read.
This story of an overpowered socially inept guy cruising through the System tutorial was a very interesting entertaining fast paced adventure read.
March 27, 2025
Now book six.
A very involved story that'll keep you reading until the very end and then still want more. Well written and enjoyable.
A very involved story that'll keep you reading until the very end and then still want more. Well written and enjoyable.
March 31, 2025
So, who are the bad guys?
That is the question. We don't get a complete answer, but we move closer to finding out what is going on.
That is the question. We don't get a complete answer, but we move closer to finding out what is going on.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews