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Blessed Time #1
Blessed Time: A LitRPG Adventure
Some disasters can only be avoided if you know they’re coming....
On Karell, you are either blessed by the gods, granted a unique power and the ability to gain experience and levels, or you are forgotten. Micah Silver was a boy picked for greatness. Chosen by the gods to bear a mythic power, he longed to take his place amongst the heroes and legends he grew up reading about.
Unfortunately, his primary blessing only allows him to travel into the past by sacrificing his class, wealth, and levels - a psychological burden that Micah is reluctant to shoulder. But, even if Micah is unwilling, fate has a way of forcing you to face your destiny...and running away can cost you everything.
Over and over again...
Experience the start of a time-looping LitRPG series where a reluctant hero is forced to fight against an impossible catastrophe. Using his talents for enchanting items and summoning creatures, he must retrace his steps and grow stronger in a potentially futile effort to prevent tragedy and protect his family.
On Karell, you are either blessed by the gods, granted a unique power and the ability to gain experience and levels, or you are forgotten. Micah Silver was a boy picked for greatness. Chosen by the gods to bear a mythic power, he longed to take his place amongst the heroes and legends he grew up reading about.
Unfortunately, his primary blessing only allows him to travel into the past by sacrificing his class, wealth, and levels - a psychological burden that Micah is reluctant to shoulder. But, even if Micah is unwilling, fate has a way of forcing you to face your destiny...and running away can cost you everything.
Over and over again...
Experience the start of a time-looping LitRPG series where a reluctant hero is forced to fight against an impossible catastrophe. Using his talents for enchanting items and summoning creatures, he must retrace his steps and grow stronger in a potentially futile effort to prevent tragedy and protect his family.
Audible Audio
First published August 10, 2021
285 people are currently reading
438 people want to read
About the author
Cale Plamann
25 books110 followersA lifelong fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I usually spent my nerdy energy creating overly elaborate homebrew RPG campaigns. As it became harder and harder to juggle schedules for a half dozen players, I eventually made the logical choice and just cut them out of the picture entirely.
Now I write novels. They whine a lot less about critical failures.
Now I write novels. They whine a lot less about critical failures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
September 3, 2021
Well, I'm done, and I'm still annoyed.
This book had potential. The plot was loaded. And I'm a sucker for groundhog day scenario, so it should have been right up my alley.
Unfortunately, it didn't work, for reasons that can be summed up in a single word: disjointed.
It all started pretty well. The MC's gifts appear underwhelming, he's disappointed, blah blah blah. Well written too. And then suddenly the pacing starts breaking down. The author keeps starting subplots and dropping them midway, as if to suggest that "stuff happened in MC's life, but you don't really care about that shit, do you?". We jump ahead days, months, years, without rhyme or reason, and, most irritating of all, we discover the jump incidentally. The first arc with the Lancers is a typical example of this annoying pattern, that almost made me drop the book right there and then.
That alone was grounds for dismissal for me. But for some bizarre reason, reading a scathing spoiler review here made me want to continue. The story got slightly better after the first reset . But the pacing did not. Exactly the same issues, the same disjointed snapshots of the MC's daily existence.
I held on until the third reset.
And then even the story went down the freaking drain.
It got boring.
Reading pages of esoteric rambl... err, inner monologue, on a made-up magic system that also requires nonsense gestures for its magic to work can only make your eyes glaze over. The fact that the author kept adding thick layers of McGuffinery on top of the crumbling edifice finished killing my waning interest in the thing. I started skipping the magic parts.
I realized that I didn't care one way or another what happened to this town because author never bothered to make its citizens relatable in the first place. Nor did I care about MC, because navel-gazers are not interesting protagonists. At some point in time, listening just became a bloody chore. And I don't do chore reading, not since high school.
So yeah. I really don't care how it ends.
This book had potential. The plot was loaded. And I'm a sucker for groundhog day scenario, so it should have been right up my alley.
Unfortunately, it didn't work, for reasons that can be summed up in a single word: disjointed.
It all started pretty well. The MC's gifts appear underwhelming, he's disappointed, blah blah blah. Well written too. And then suddenly the pacing starts breaking down. The author keeps starting subplots and dropping them midway, as if to suggest that "stuff happened in MC's life, but you don't really care about that shit, do you?". We jump ahead days, months, years, without rhyme or reason, and, most irritating of all, we discover the jump incidentally. The first arc with the Lancers is a typical example of this annoying pattern, that almost made me drop the book right there and then.
That alone was grounds for dismissal for me. But for some bizarre reason, reading a scathing spoiler review here made me want to continue. The story got slightly better after the first reset . But the pacing did not. Exactly the same issues, the same disjointed snapshots of the MC's daily existence.
I held on until the third reset.
And then even the story went down the freaking drain.
It got boring.
Reading pages of esoteric rambl... err, inner monologue, on a made-up magic system that also requires nonsense gestures for its magic to work can only make your eyes glaze over. The fact that the author kept adding thick layers of McGuffinery on top of the crumbling edifice finished killing my waning interest in the thing. I started skipping the magic parts.
I realized that I didn't care one way or another what happened to this town because author never bothered to make its citizens relatable in the first place. Nor did I care about MC, because navel-gazers are not interesting protagonists. At some point in time, listening just became a bloody chore. And I don't do chore reading, not since high school.
So yeah. I really don't care how it ends.
August 20, 2021
This is a somewhat difficult book to review. The story starts with Micah (the MC) getting ready for his brother's blessing. This is similar to Aether's Blessing, except you wake up the next morning and you know what you've got.
Of course, if you've got nothing people aren't going to like that.
When it's Micah's turn, he receives a Mythic blessing. I won't say what it is, but it's a good one, although he doesn't understand what the blessing can do for him.
So... he lies about it, and tells the guild he's joining that it's a lesser blessing. He joins the guild with his brother, and they adventure around doing thing. All the while, a danger grows that will force him to use the blessing and start over.
The second time around, he claims the blessing in its entirety. It doesn't go well either, although I don't want to spoil why. This is the kind of book where if you know what's going to happen, I think it strips some of the enjoyment from it.
The third time around he does things on his own, and while it goes better and he nips the threat in the bud, he fails in other ways.
Doesn't sound too bad, does it? And honestly, I enjoyed reading it. There is definitely a Groundhog Day vibe, and if you've read Shawn Inmon's time travel series, it bears a strong resemblance. Still, I had fun reading it.
As with the first Vowron Prime novel (also from Aethon), I had problems with the ending. Micah comes across as the young boy/man that he is. He struggles with females, he doesn't speaking in front of large crowds, and so on. While what he does, especially the third time around is noticeable, it's not enough to warrant what happens at the end.
The notifications are fine, and there aren't so many that you get annoyed by them. There were a few editing errors, but I'd put it on the much better than average scale in comparison. There is an early mention that Micah will go back in time to age 11, when later it is revealed he goes back in time to age 13.
Not a huge deal, but I noticed.
As for book 2... I don't know. The end was incongruous with the rest of the book, and if that continues in book 2 (which it surely will have to) then I'm not sure how much I'm going to enjoy it.
5/5* for the story. I'm not detracting for the ending, although I seriously considered it.
Of course, if you've got nothing people aren't going to like that.
When it's Micah's turn, he receives a Mythic blessing. I won't say what it is, but it's a good one, although he doesn't understand what the blessing can do for him.
So... he lies about it, and tells the guild he's joining that it's a lesser blessing. He joins the guild with his brother, and they adventure around doing thing. All the while, a danger grows that will force him to use the blessing and start over.
The second time around, he claims the blessing in its entirety. It doesn't go well either, although I don't want to spoil why. This is the kind of book where if you know what's going to happen, I think it strips some of the enjoyment from it.
The third time around he does things on his own, and while it goes better and he nips the threat in the bud, he fails in other ways.
Doesn't sound too bad, does it? And honestly, I enjoyed reading it. There is definitely a Groundhog Day vibe, and if you've read Shawn Inmon's time travel series, it bears a strong resemblance. Still, I had fun reading it.
As with the first Vowron Prime novel (also from Aethon), I had problems with the ending. Micah comes across as the young boy/man that he is. He struggles with females, he doesn't speaking in front of large crowds, and so on. While what he does, especially the third time around is noticeable, it's not enough to warrant what happens at the end.
The notifications are fine, and there aren't so many that you get annoyed by them. There were a few editing errors, but I'd put it on the much better than average scale in comparison. There is an early mention that Micah will go back in time to age 11, when later it is revealed he goes back in time to age 13.
Not a huge deal, but I noticed.
As for book 2... I don't know. The end was incongruous with the rest of the book, and if that continues in book 2 (which it surely will have to) then I'm not sure how much I'm going to enjoy it.
5/5* for the story. I'm not detracting for the ending, although I seriously considered it.
August 20, 2021
Listened - I'm not a big fan of time travel but I enjoyed this time loop story. Watching Micah go back and try to fix and improve what happens was interesting. Seeing what changed and what remained the same.
September 10, 2021
Cale Plamann writes a really absorbing "Time Loop" tale!
This is the story of Micah Silver, a boy who receives a gift from the Gods to celebrate his 16th birthday, in fact, most everyone receives a gift when reaching the age of 16. One minute you're a child and the next, upon waking you're an adult and you either have a gift or don't, and not all gifts are the same, it really depends on the whimsy of the gods, but Micah's gift is a bit, ummm, more different than usual...
Just to show you how fickle the gods truly are, Micah's gift is a blessing(?) which he doesn't know how to utilize, a gift that will allow him to go back in time, undoing the last 5 years of his life. Once Micah discovers this fact, he now faces the reality that he has the power to change the past, he goes back to when he was 13 again, this time he's able to make smart, informed decisions in order to change the future, but Fate always seems to twist everything up, with odd and ugly outcomes, each and every time Micah uses his "gift"!
Go grab this book! Better yet, grab the audio version, as it's read by Neil Hellegers (👍), 'cause you don't wanna miss out on this one!
This is the story of Micah Silver, a boy who receives a gift from the Gods to celebrate his 16th birthday, in fact, most everyone receives a gift when reaching the age of 16. One minute you're a child and the next, upon waking you're an adult and you either have a gift or don't, and not all gifts are the same, it really depends on the whimsy of the gods, but Micah's gift is a bit, ummm, more different than usual...
Just to show you how fickle the gods truly are, Micah's gift is a blessing(?) which he doesn't know how to utilize, a gift that will allow him to go back in time, undoing the last 5 years of his life. Once Micah discovers this fact, he now faces the reality that he has the power to change the past, he goes back to when he was 13 again, this time he's able to make smart, informed decisions in order to change the future, but Fate always seems to twist everything up, with odd and ugly outcomes, each and every time Micah uses his "gift"!
Go grab this book! Better yet, grab the audio version, as it's read by Neil Hellegers (👍), 'cause you don't wanna miss out on this one!
August 22, 2021
Another fun time loop novel
I really enjoyed this. It took a little too long to get going, but once I did it was a blast
I really enjoyed this. It took a little too long to get going, but once I did it was a blast
March 2, 2022
This book is being graded on the "LitRPG curve". If you are an actually sophisticated reader I doubt you would enjoy this story. I was able to enjoy it, hence the 4 stars. Still, the story has some flaws, primarily for me was the conclusion. This means I won’t be able to review this book without spoilers so read at your own risk.
First, the author makes his MC generally intelligent but incredibly stupid in one instance. The MC is given the power to go back in time five years, repeatedly, and immediately decides it is a worthless gift. The MC is only 16 at the time, but time travel is such an obvious benefit even 16 year olds would figure it out.
After a couple of years of adventuring the MC encounters a “Durgh” (think orcs with their own honor system) ambush. The Durgh ambush kills MC’s brother and lady love so the MC finally uses his “reset button”. The second time around the MC joins a powerful guild in the hope this guild will be able to stop the Durgh invasion. The MC intelligently decides to keep his true power secret so instead the MC pretends he can see the future to gain admission to the powerful guild. The powerful guild sells MC to the crown for brownie points essentially. This sequence of events stops the Durgh invasion that otherwise would have killed the MCs friends and family but leaves the MC a slave so MC hits the reset a second time.
The MC, with all the knowledge he has gained, is now quite formidable. As a result on his third time through this particular 5 year stretch the MC decides he must stop the Durgh invasion by himself and takes up demon summoning. The MC preemptively invades the Durgh and succeeds in preventing the invasion, but only just barely. This is the part that made no sense to me. The MC knew when and where the invaders would attack. MC could have just attacked the invading force from behind with his summoned demons, thereby not having to do everything himself since the city’s defenders would help. This would have likely given the MC an actual victory as MC would have had the element of surprise and been able to pin the invaders between his demons and the city.
While attacking the Durgh the MC eventually comes up against the main Durgh army and is seriously outclassed. Out of recognition of the MCs honor and accomplishments to date the Durgh leader agrees that if the MC can survive the battle for a half hour the Durgh won’t invade. MC survives and leaves Durgh lands with a truce.
The MC, however, has become saturated with demon otherworldliness which basically makes him toxic. So the book ends with the MC biding his time until he can hit “reset” for the third time. However, when the MC does so he is granted an audience with three gods. With this audience the author changes his story from that of an MC trying to protect his home and family to an MC being considered for godhood and, frankly, the former are always better than the latter. If you don’t believe that you should read Joe Abercrombie in general and “Red Country” in particular.
First, the author makes his MC generally intelligent but incredibly stupid in one instance. The MC is given the power to go back in time five years, repeatedly, and immediately decides it is a worthless gift. The MC is only 16 at the time, but time travel is such an obvious benefit even 16 year olds would figure it out.
After a couple of years of adventuring the MC encounters a “Durgh” (think orcs with their own honor system) ambush. The Durgh ambush kills MC’s brother and lady love so the MC finally uses his “reset button”. The second time around the MC joins a powerful guild in the hope this guild will be able to stop the Durgh invasion. The MC intelligently decides to keep his true power secret so instead the MC pretends he can see the future to gain admission to the powerful guild. The powerful guild sells MC to the crown for brownie points essentially. This sequence of events stops the Durgh invasion that otherwise would have killed the MCs friends and family but leaves the MC a slave so MC hits the reset a second time.
The MC, with all the knowledge he has gained, is now quite formidable. As a result on his third time through this particular 5 year stretch the MC decides he must stop the Durgh invasion by himself and takes up demon summoning. The MC preemptively invades the Durgh and succeeds in preventing the invasion, but only just barely. This is the part that made no sense to me. The MC knew when and where the invaders would attack. MC could have just attacked the invading force from behind with his summoned demons, thereby not having to do everything himself since the city’s defenders would help. This would have likely given the MC an actual victory as MC would have had the element of surprise and been able to pin the invaders between his demons and the city.
While attacking the Durgh the MC eventually comes up against the main Durgh army and is seriously outclassed. Out of recognition of the MCs honor and accomplishments to date the Durgh leader agrees that if the MC can survive the battle for a half hour the Durgh won’t invade. MC survives and leaves Durgh lands with a truce.
The MC, however, has become saturated with demon otherworldliness which basically makes him toxic. So the book ends with the MC biding his time until he can hit “reset” for the third time. However, when the MC does so he is granted an audience with three gods. With this audience the author changes his story from that of an MC trying to protect his home and family to an MC being considered for godhood and, frankly, the former are always better than the latter. If you don’t believe that you should read Joe Abercrombie in general and “Red Country” in particular.
August 27, 2021
A fantastic story start to finish looking forward to book 2
November 4, 2021
Well, unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. Dragged down by bland characters, a lack of tension, and some grammar problems, I had a hard time enjoying this despite the handful of interesting things the story attempted.
Character 4/10, Plot 7/10, World/Game Mechanics 5/10, Writing 5/10, Enjoyment 5/10
I don't want to beat this to death, so suffice to say that the characters were all plain and forgettable and tended to merely serve a purpose for the plot rather than seem like real people who also had wants, needs, and goals in life. The MC in particular was very basic and little more than his circumstance rather than a personality. This was a pretty big problem for me since the MC is the only real character that stayed with us through the entire book.
The plot was the strongest part of the story for me since I am a sucker for time loops. The problem is that the time loops are an opportunity and tool for characterization, but in this case, I never felt like the character ever escaped cookie cutter place-holder for me. The only thing that kept me going for the entire book was the desire to see how the plot panned out. While that was enough to get me to hang around, it wasn't sufficient to provide an enjoyable experience.
The world and game mechanics were fairly bland from the standpoint of skills and the fact that this was a very soft gamelit that didn't go too in depth with how the mechanics worked. On the other hand, I mildly appreciated the attempt to do something different by having the different patron gods as well as the different mana types. I never really got the sense that it mattered though. While certain mana supposedly worked better or worse for particular spells, this never actually played a role in the story or affected a scene in any way.
The writing was a bit of a problem for me. First, I do need to say that there were only a handful of basic mistakes like typos. So I would say that this book belongs to what I consider the "New Generation" of gamelit where people actually use editing software and don't leave a bunch of typos. The problems then were matters of technique. Mainly, a ridiculous overuse of adverbs. (I typed methodically while smiling weakly)
If you use more than one adverb in a single sentence, you definitely have a problem. As they say, "If you feel that you need to use an adverb, you chose the wrong verb."
There were also lots of confused subject/actor verb agreements where the author used pronouns to refer to the subject of a previous paragraph even though a new subject had been introduced. So it would say "his spear" referring to the MC even though a Durkhe (or whatever the name for an orc was in this story) was the new subject in the sentence.
There was also an undeniable problem of tension in scenes. I literally didn't care about various characters or what was happening since the MC wasn't developed enough to make me care. Later in the story, there was a scene where a lot of characters have names even though they are obviously throwaway characters who aren't going to outlive the scene. In a movie, they would have been credited as Church goon #'s 1-5. I skimmed most of that scene because it didn't matter and wasn't told in a way that made me care.
So all in all, I didn't enjoy this story much. Time loops are a bit of a challenge in that regard since the author has to put a bit more work in to create tension and stakes in a scene. The usual element of danger just doesn't do it because the MC has plot armor and the other characters don't matter since a new loop is inevitable.
I might still recommend this to gamelit readers looking for something a little different and a lot of people may even enjoy this. One person's 3-star is another person's 4 or 5-star. Personally, I was disappointed and don't feel any desire to read the next book at all.
Character 4/10, Plot 7/10, World/Game Mechanics 5/10, Writing 5/10, Enjoyment 5/10
I don't want to beat this to death, so suffice to say that the characters were all plain and forgettable and tended to merely serve a purpose for the plot rather than seem like real people who also had wants, needs, and goals in life. The MC in particular was very basic and little more than his circumstance rather than a personality. This was a pretty big problem for me since the MC is the only real character that stayed with us through the entire book.
The plot was the strongest part of the story for me since I am a sucker for time loops. The problem is that the time loops are an opportunity and tool for characterization, but in this case, I never felt like the character ever escaped cookie cutter place-holder for me. The only thing that kept me going for the entire book was the desire to see how the plot panned out. While that was enough to get me to hang around, it wasn't sufficient to provide an enjoyable experience.
The world and game mechanics were fairly bland from the standpoint of skills and the fact that this was a very soft gamelit that didn't go too in depth with how the mechanics worked. On the other hand, I mildly appreciated the attempt to do something different by having the different patron gods as well as the different mana types. I never really got the sense that it mattered though. While certain mana supposedly worked better or worse for particular spells, this never actually played a role in the story or affected a scene in any way.
The writing was a bit of a problem for me. First, I do need to say that there were only a handful of basic mistakes like typos. So I would say that this book belongs to what I consider the "New Generation" of gamelit where people actually use editing software and don't leave a bunch of typos. The problems then were matters of technique. Mainly, a ridiculous overuse of adverbs. (I typed methodically while smiling weakly)
If you use more than one adverb in a single sentence, you definitely have a problem. As they say, "If you feel that you need to use an adverb, you chose the wrong verb."
There were also lots of confused subject/actor verb agreements where the author used pronouns to refer to the subject of a previous paragraph even though a new subject had been introduced. So it would say "his spear" referring to the MC even though a Durkhe (or whatever the name for an orc was in this story) was the new subject in the sentence.
There was also an undeniable problem of tension in scenes. I literally didn't care about various characters or what was happening since the MC wasn't developed enough to make me care. Later in the story, there was a scene where a lot of characters have names even though they are obviously throwaway characters who aren't going to outlive the scene. In a movie, they would have been credited as Church goon #'s 1-5. I skimmed most of that scene because it didn't matter and wasn't told in a way that made me care.
So all in all, I didn't enjoy this story much. Time loops are a bit of a challenge in that regard since the author has to put a bit more work in to create tension and stakes in a scene. The usual element of danger just doesn't do it because the MC has plot armor and the other characters don't matter since a new loop is inevitable.
I might still recommend this to gamelit readers looking for something a little different and a lot of people may even enjoy this. One person's 3-star is another person's 4 or 5-star. Personally, I was disappointed and don't feel any desire to read the next book at all.
August 20, 2021
The main MC is morally bankrupt and the authors attempt to humanize him or make him look like a good guy is just sad. Also the sad attempt to toss wanna be romantic relationships in the mix is just distracting and does nothing for the plot. What little of one.
Bottom line, the MC is not likeable and has heavy plot armor on him and their is way too much expose going on, along with also no world building.
Bottom line, the MC is not likeable and has heavy plot armor on him and their is way too much expose going on, along with also no world building.
July 16, 2022
The first and second books are amazing and I absolutely loved them. They are essentially one long book split into two. The third book however was not as good in my opinion. I will most likely read the rest of the series, hoping that with later books, it gets better again.
August 20, 2021
Meh. I wasn't particularly impressed by this one. I know the Gods are par for the course and the timeshifting was quite a well-handled framing device for the MC to get better, but I could take it or leave it.
December 21, 2021
Great premise with terrible execution
Great premise with terrible execution. Main character is a coward who thinks that it's noble when nonhumans murder children but he let's their non combatants go? I guess it makes sense with the author trying to promote his lgbtq agenda by randomly making one of the main characters gay and having him try to get it on with his team members...
Great premise with terrible execution. Main character is a coward who thinks that it's noble when nonhumans murder children but he let's their non combatants go? I guess it makes sense with the author trying to promote his lgbtq agenda by randomly making one of the main characters gay and having him try to get it on with his team members...
May 12, 2022
I despise time travel as a concept in stories. Between paradoxes and the havoc it plays on things like continuity and the stakes of a story, I think it just never works... with one exception; time loop stories.
Whether it's the whacky/heartwarming fun of something like Ground Hog Day, a play on the gaming save-point idea, or a really long, in-depth fantasy story like Mother of Learning, time loop stories have a lot of potential. I think that where it steps away from the problems of time travel is with the concept of a hard reset. It's not creating paradoxes because going back in time completely resets the possible future for the entire world save for one person, and from that, you get loss and therefore stakes.
This story takes that concept and bumps it up a notch because this time loop has a fixed setpoint of five years, and then has a 5-year cool down before it can be used again. This means that every time the protagonist decides to trigger the time loop, he is making a serious sacrifice and he is also left without his 'Deus ex Machina because he has five years before he can use it again and therefore he can still be hurt/killed, keeping the stakes in place.
This was a fascinating idea, giving the character a really strong power to work with, but one with such a high cost that it is hard to imagine a scenario where he would actually use it. However, the author did manage to find a scenario worthy of using it, and more than that, he sold me on the fact that using it was the right thing to do each time.
The other thing that the five-year rule gave to this story was a quick pace. In the name of getting multiple time restarts, the story has to cover a lot of years quite quickly so the narrative never gets bogged down or slow. However, neither did it feel rushed. The author found a really good pace, and this story's pages flew by.
On top of all this, the characters were well written, the story was engaging, and this book delivers on most of the major story ingredients you want in a good book. Maybe the descriptions could have been a little better and the world-building could have been developed a little more, but they are minor gripes in what was otherwise a highly enjoyable book.
For fans of time-loop stories, then I definitely recommend this book. It's a fresh take on a familiar concept, and I had a great time reading it.
Whether it's the whacky/heartwarming fun of something like Ground Hog Day, a play on the gaming save-point idea, or a really long, in-depth fantasy story like Mother of Learning, time loop stories have a lot of potential. I think that where it steps away from the problems of time travel is with the concept of a hard reset. It's not creating paradoxes because going back in time completely resets the possible future for the entire world save for one person, and from that, you get loss and therefore stakes.
This story takes that concept and bumps it up a notch because this time loop has a fixed setpoint of five years, and then has a 5-year cool down before it can be used again. This means that every time the protagonist decides to trigger the time loop, he is making a serious sacrifice and he is also left without his 'Deus ex Machina because he has five years before he can use it again and therefore he can still be hurt/killed, keeping the stakes in place.
This was a fascinating idea, giving the character a really strong power to work with, but one with such a high cost that it is hard to imagine a scenario where he would actually use it. However, the author did manage to find a scenario worthy of using it, and more than that, he sold me on the fact that using it was the right thing to do each time.
The other thing that the five-year rule gave to this story was a quick pace. In the name of getting multiple time restarts, the story has to cover a lot of years quite quickly so the narrative never gets bogged down or slow. However, neither did it feel rushed. The author found a really good pace, and this story's pages flew by.
On top of all this, the characters were well written, the story was engaging, and this book delivers on most of the major story ingredients you want in a good book. Maybe the descriptions could have been a little better and the world-building could have been developed a little more, but they are minor gripes in what was otherwise a highly enjoyable book.
For fans of time-loop stories, then I definitely recommend this book. It's a fresh take on a familiar concept, and I had a great time reading it.
July 31, 2023
The author needs to polish and organize this story better. The side stories, back stories are like capsules, pills, (beginning, middle and end) that don't necessarily contribute to push the story along. Micah (main character) discovers that he can redo, reset or time loop the experiences and events of his lifetime, the thing is, if a time-loop story is not organized, then this story loses focus, without focus, the story goes all over the place, it becomes convoluted, contradictory and then hard to understand. I think the author should have created the timeline of this fantasy novel series like that video from Coldplay to their song "The Scientist", they start it at the end and end at the beginning of the story, this way the author visualizes the anecdotes/experiences needed to tell his story better.
Because this story is all over the place, the back and forth in time is confusing and includes a lot of irrelevant information and unnecessary explanations. Another example could be the Benjamin Button movie, if told out of order, if not precise with the timeline, then the story would be disorganized, a lot of incomprehensible mush.
Not providing an organized and cohesive fantasy novel series and then jumping into a multi-volume story is crass and arrogant. This first volume should have been the trunk of the tree, the subsequent volumes the different branches of that same tree. The author doesn't even include the dates, like if it were diary entries of Micah's life. So, that the readers could keep track of the timeline and try to understand if this was now, was before, was way before, or part of a restart/redo/reset of the time loops. Alternate realities are already complicated enough, to have an author like this one, place experiences and moments from all over the place. There is no point if the story is not organized or moves forward in a cohesive manner.
The book does not have maps, character summaries or inside illustrations. Because time loop stories are a dime a dozen, if not done right like this one, it's just one big miss. I do not recommend this fantasy-timeloop-redo-reset novel series.
Because this story is all over the place, the back and forth in time is confusing and includes a lot of irrelevant information and unnecessary explanations. Another example could be the Benjamin Button movie, if told out of order, if not precise with the timeline, then the story would be disorganized, a lot of incomprehensible mush.
Not providing an organized and cohesive fantasy novel series and then jumping into a multi-volume story is crass and arrogant. This first volume should have been the trunk of the tree, the subsequent volumes the different branches of that same tree. The author doesn't even include the dates, like if it were diary entries of Micah's life. So, that the readers could keep track of the timeline and try to understand if this was now, was before, was way before, or part of a restart/redo/reset of the time loops. Alternate realities are already complicated enough, to have an author like this one, place experiences and moments from all over the place. There is no point if the story is not organized or moves forward in a cohesive manner.
The book does not have maps, character summaries or inside illustrations. Because time loop stories are a dime a dozen, if not done right like this one, it's just one big miss. I do not recommend this fantasy-timeloop-redo-reset novel series.
August 27, 2021
Unique World Building
Micah is reaching the age where he will receive a blessing. A blessing can come from the major or minor gods and the blessing itself can be ‘ranked’ as well. For example a major blessing from a minor god may be worse than a minor blessing from a major god.
When his brother got his blessing he had a dream during the night of his age. During the night of Micah’s, he is given a choice of blessings. One of them is mythic. Then something he had never heard of before happened, one god changed his blessing to mythic as well. He had two mythic blessings to choose from and both were from major gods. One, however, was the dark god, who thought dungeons and challenges made you stronger.
Micah does not go with the dark god. Once he chose, he couldn’t wait to see what it was. His primary blessing can be used once in 5 years to go back in time. The theory is that he can right the wrongs or try to fix things. The other blessing is a place that magically takes notes and allows him to learn things 20% faster. When he awakens the next morning, he just tells people about the scribe ability and so begins the story.
The author really had a unique world building story and the ending is a surprise as well. Check it out
Micah is reaching the age where he will receive a blessing. A blessing can come from the major or minor gods and the blessing itself can be ‘ranked’ as well. For example a major blessing from a minor god may be worse than a minor blessing from a major god.
When his brother got his blessing he had a dream during the night of his age. During the night of Micah’s, he is given a choice of blessings. One of them is mythic. Then something he had never heard of before happened, one god changed his blessing to mythic as well. He had two mythic blessings to choose from and both were from major gods. One, however, was the dark god, who thought dungeons and challenges made you stronger.
Micah does not go with the dark god. Once he chose, he couldn’t wait to see what it was. His primary blessing can be used once in 5 years to go back in time. The theory is that he can right the wrongs or try to fix things. The other blessing is a place that magically takes notes and allows him to learn things 20% faster. When he awakens the next morning, he just tells people about the scribe ability and so begins the story.
The author really had a unique world building story and the ending is a surprise as well. Check it out
May 6, 2022
More like 2.5/5, but I can't give half stars.
I'm always down for a good time travel book, especially when we're looking at well-done Groundhog's Day scenarios. Blessed Time doesn't spend too much time rehashing things that have already happened (which is good), but does a poor job fleshing out the important character moments that are supposed to make us feel attached to the bit players in Micah's story. The book takes its time at the start doing some world building, but then strings together a series of awkwardly disjointed story vignettes that are supposed to make us feel attached to the side characters.
Fortunately the story flows more smoothly after the first reset, but this is largely because it stops focusing on character development and barrels head-first into character sheets and spell mechanics. This seems to be where the author prefers to spend the bulk of their time, because he's put a lot of thought into the gamification of the world, compared to the choppy character moments from the earlier parts of the book.
That said, I'm likely going to pick up the next book just because the author has left some solid dangling threads for the main character that I'm very interested in seeing how they wrap up.
I'm always down for a good time travel book, especially when we're looking at well-done Groundhog's Day scenarios. Blessed Time doesn't spend too much time rehashing things that have already happened (which is good), but does a poor job fleshing out the important character moments that are supposed to make us feel attached to the bit players in Micah's story. The book takes its time at the start doing some world building, but then strings together a series of awkwardly disjointed story vignettes that are supposed to make us feel attached to the side characters.
Fortunately the story flows more smoothly after the first reset, but this is largely because it stops focusing on character development and barrels head-first into character sheets and spell mechanics. This seems to be where the author prefers to spend the bulk of their time, because he's put a lot of thought into the gamification of the world, compared to the choppy character moments from the earlier parts of the book.
That said, I'm likely going to pick up the next book just because the author has left some solid dangling threads for the main character that I'm very interested in seeing how they wrap up.
September 1, 2021
I enjoyed this story, almost enough to give it five stars. The protagonist was sympathetic, the pacing was tight, and the world-building (at least by the end) was original and compelling. If book two had been available I would have happily continued without a break.
I'm a fan of time looping or reincarnation novels. This is a good example of the sub-genre. Micah, the protagonist, is facing a challenge that would be impossible to overcome with normal means. He must utilize his knowledge of the future as well as skills gained over multiple loops to make it past even the first obstacle. That's what I like... Using a hidden cheat for moral ends.
It's also refreshing to see the main character make mistakes, both large and small. So much of modern fantasy is hampered by perfect heroes that simply represent the author's wish-fulfillment. In fact, one of Micah's whole repeats is a mistake, which he can only try to out-last. For the reader, this loop served as a glimpse of the corruption beneath the surface of his society. Adding to the sense of veracity.
I can't wait to see where this leads.
I'm a fan of time looping or reincarnation novels. This is a good example of the sub-genre. Micah, the protagonist, is facing a challenge that would be impossible to overcome with normal means. He must utilize his knowledge of the future as well as skills gained over multiple loops to make it past even the first obstacle. That's what I like... Using a hidden cheat for moral ends.
It's also refreshing to see the main character make mistakes, both large and small. So much of modern fantasy is hampered by perfect heroes that simply represent the author's wish-fulfillment. In fact, one of Micah's whole repeats is a mistake, which he can only try to out-last. For the reader, this loop served as a glimpse of the corruption beneath the surface of his society. Adding to the sense of veracity.
I can't wait to see where this leads.
September 6, 2021
Forced
There were things to like about this book. But there were some serious problems, also.
The bad: The world building is forced, and clumsy because of it. The sexuality discussions were more of a distraction than a complementary addition, the aquarium was anachronistic, and though economic issues were explained they were poorly considered.
The good: Quite well written, with good prose and a focused narrative. Consistent characters and a comprehensive system.
It’s good, but it’s also bad. You can tell that this was polished and carefully crafted. But I feel that some parts were grafted on to the narrative to expand the world building.
The 5-yr long loops make for an unwieldy mechanic that drag the pace down without truly improving the character. He still acts exactly the same as he did the first time. Fifteen years of life experience and the MC seems to have learned nothing.
I did finish it. The ending brings a lot of things together. But I don’t feel I can recommend this.
There were things to like about this book. But there were some serious problems, also.
The bad: The world building is forced, and clumsy because of it. The sexuality discussions were more of a distraction than a complementary addition, the aquarium was anachronistic, and though economic issues were explained they were poorly considered.
The good: Quite well written, with good prose and a focused narrative. Consistent characters and a comprehensive system.
It’s good, but it’s also bad. You can tell that this was polished and carefully crafted. But I feel that some parts were grafted on to the narrative to expand the world building.
The 5-yr long loops make for an unwieldy mechanic that drag the pace down without truly improving the character. He still acts exactly the same as he did the first time. Fifteen years of life experience and the MC seems to have learned nothing.
I did finish it. The ending brings a lot of things together. But I don’t feel I can recommend this.
April 29, 2024
2.5 stars. Started out good, but went downhill due to the MC making obviously stupid decisions, missing easy alternative solutions. Seems like the decisions were forced to try and reach the conclusion the author wanted, rather than it happening naturally.
April 3, 2025
I may be giving this a 5 star mainly because I just LOVE stories like this, but who cares? The fact is, I love stories like this, and while it isn't my top-favorite among the time-loop infinite training LitRPG books, it IS still a time-loop infinite training LitRPG and I'm ALL for it.
You know, Groundhog Day tales. In this case, it's a 5 year loop, so even if the first one is kinda average, the second and third loops are quite impressively OP and fascinating. Some of these choices, or the choices forced upon him, are rather nasty. Still, EXPERIENCE.
And now, by the end of the first book, I've changed my mind about it being a solid 4 to a solid, extremely fun 5.
My synesthesia smells the sweat of hard effort and sulfur. Damn those demons and chronomancy. :)
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.
Arctunn.com
You know, Groundhog Day tales. In this case, it's a 5 year loop, so even if the first one is kinda average, the second and third loops are quite impressively OP and fascinating. Some of these choices, or the choices forced upon him, are rather nasty. Still, EXPERIENCE.
And now, by the end of the first book, I've changed my mind about it being a solid 4 to a solid, extremely fun 5.
My synesthesia smells the sweat of hard effort and sulfur. Damn those demons and chronomancy. :)
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.
Arctunn.com
August 22, 2021
Not worth your time, it's a book made of parts to fit Litrpg recipe.
1) Story is bad, obvious ending
2) Romance is just plain add on with no character or story growth.
3) LGBTQ is added as an afterthought to be "inclusive" and it has no addition to story.
4) MC is just not worth connecting to, he has no redeeming qualities and you read a lot of stuff happening and hope MC will do right after reset. And after all the attempts the time wasted in learning about any characters is just that, time wasted. These are fillers for the book.
5) In the end it doesn't follow any story path that is engaging or something to look forward to. Honestly I just finished it to leave a review, I didn't want to leave a review without actually reading fully. Otherwise I would have stopped reading after the 20% mark.
1) Story is bad, obvious ending
2) Romance is just plain add on with no character or story growth.
3) LGBTQ is added as an afterthought to be "inclusive" and it has no addition to story.
4) MC is just not worth connecting to, he has no redeeming qualities and you read a lot of stuff happening and hope MC will do right after reset. And after all the attempts the time wasted in learning about any characters is just that, time wasted. These are fillers for the book.
5) In the end it doesn't follow any story path that is engaging or something to look forward to. Honestly I just finished it to leave a review, I didn't want to leave a review without actually reading fully. Otherwise I would have stopped reading after the 20% mark.
September 1, 2021
What's that you say? A litrpg time loop? Why, yes please!
As a huge fan of both loop stories and gamelit stories, this is right up my alley. It's got a good mix of light fluffy character moments, dark and serious worldbuilding that doesn't hold back on making our hapless little MC's life miserable, leveling fun, magic exploration fun, and just all the things I love.
It's one of those stories where the game system is basically the same as the magic system, there's no actual 'game' to it, just people in a world where levels and stats and skills are a thing. It's a lot of fun following the looper as he grows and learns and tries again and again to do it right.
I am thoroughly impressed. Highly recommended if you're a fan of loops or gamelit. If either of those is a turn-off, though, this may not be the story for you. :)
As a huge fan of both loop stories and gamelit stories, this is right up my alley. It's got a good mix of light fluffy character moments, dark and serious worldbuilding that doesn't hold back on making our hapless little MC's life miserable, leveling fun, magic exploration fun, and just all the things I love.
It's one of those stories where the game system is basically the same as the magic system, there's no actual 'game' to it, just people in a world where levels and stats and skills are a thing. It's a lot of fun following the looper as he grows and learns and tries again and again to do it right.
I am thoroughly impressed. Highly recommended if you're a fan of loops or gamelit. If either of those is a turn-off, though, this may not be the story for you. :)
December 22, 2021
I'm taking a gamble with this one. The blurb read like Mother of Learning in a way. Time travel books are rarely well written. I hope this proves me wrong
I was right. This draws heavily from Mother of Learning, and added in some of the litrpg stat systems.
The Starting chapter of this book was cringey. Then after the first "rewind", the book got a lot more tolerable.
This book was "okay". If certain parts were handled better, this book could have been more enjoyable. I might pickup the sequel. We will see.
3/5 Stars
I was right. This draws heavily from Mother of Learning, and added in some of the litrpg stat systems.
The Starting chapter of this book was cringey. Then after the first "rewind", the book got a lot more tolerable.
This book was "okay". If certain parts were handled better, this book could have been more enjoyable. I might pickup the sequel. We will see.
3/5 Stars
September 28, 2021
This is a review for the audiobook. Easy 5/5. This was an interesting listen as we follow the main character through time on his goal to eliminate the threat to his village. At first I didn’t really find anything to amazing with the story but a quarter way through I started to get invested into the characters. As with all time loop stories there were some pretty grim scenarios and a dash of love/emotional scenes to even the playing field. Through it all the main character grew and you could see the development in both his mindset and interactions as he tried to find meaning in each time loop. I would definitely recommend.
July 14, 2022
Picked this up as a recommendation on KU. DNF @ about 30% ish
I wanted to like this - it has an interesting system and the beginnings of some interesting world building. However, I just couldn't get into it. Each chapter is a little story in itself, and whilst that works for some books (e.g. The Menocht Loop ), here it just felt disjointed and made the time breaks difficult to follow. The chapters are just too short and disconnected
Gave up when I couldn't follow the logic of the protagonist's choices
I wanted to like this - it has an interesting system and the beginnings of some interesting world building. However, I just couldn't get into it. Each chapter is a little story in itself, and whilst that works for some books (e.g. The Menocht Loop ), here it just felt disjointed and made the time breaks difficult to follow. The chapters are just too short and disconnected
Gave up when I couldn't follow the logic of the protagonist's choices
July 31, 2024
It's a pretty ok book, somewhere between 3 and 4 for me, but I had a couple of issues with it.
First, a lot of the plot is moved by MC grabbing the idiot ball from time to time.
When he gets an obviously OP power, he immediately starts whining about how useless it is, then decides to never use the OP part.
Then, instead of hiding his power, he basically trusts the government, and that goes as well as you'd expect.
Then, he decides to jump head first into a demon dimension.
My second issue is with the ending of the book, which while internally consistent, destroyed most of my interest in the sequel. It makes sense, but I'm not really happy with any book, where gods can just casually decide to pop in and change everything.
Overall, it was not bad. If I ever run out of new things to listen to, I might give the sequel a chance
First, a lot of the plot is moved by MC grabbing the idiot ball from time to time.
When he gets an obviously OP power, he immediately starts whining about how useless it is, then decides to never use the OP part.
Then, instead of hiding his power, he basically trusts the government, and that goes as well as you'd expect.
Then, he decides to jump head first into a demon dimension.
My second issue is with the ending of the book, which while internally consistent, destroyed most of my interest in the sequel. It makes sense, but I'm not really happy with any book, where gods can just casually decide to pop in and change everything.
Overall, it was not bad. If I ever run out of new things to listen to, I might give the sequel a chance
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2021
Okay so this started out pretty damn slow. It was interesting enough for me to finish it but I can't say it really impressed me all that much the entire magic system was so limited might as well have copy pasted a multitude of other books. The author is honestly very lacking in world building and detailed descriptions of things. Also the book was very predictable. There where no surprises or twists in the plot at all.
I'd say if you're a fan of litrpg and can't find anything else to read/listen too give it a shot.
I'd say if you're a fan of litrpg and can't find anything else to read/listen too give it a shot.
November 18, 2021
Since I'm a big sucker for time loops, I found this book quite enjoyable - at least in the beginning. The setup and premise were interesting, but I couldn't help but feel like it never really led anywhere. Same with the characters. We don't get to explore any character, not even the main character really. The ending kinda killed the series for me, for multiple reasons. Didn't like how the cosmology turned out and the "new" end goal for the MC was straight up garbage. Also the power growth for our MC was a bit out there. Wont pick up the next instalment.
January 24, 2022
I loved it! Highly recommended!
It's very rare that I find a story so well written that I just can't stop reading it. This book was a wild ride. I really liked the attention to detail on the magic systems and the personalities of the characters. The fighting descriptions were really good as well, and reminded me of fighting from Legend of Drizzt. All in all, I recommend this book to anyone hoping to read a well written LitRPG with an interesting an smart main character who gets more mature the further into the book you go.
It's very rare that I find a story so well written that I just can't stop reading it. This book was a wild ride. I really liked the attention to detail on the magic systems and the personalities of the characters. The fighting descriptions were really good as well, and reminded me of fighting from Legend of Drizzt. All in all, I recommend this book to anyone hoping to read a well written LitRPG with an interesting an smart main character who gets more mature the further into the book you go.
April 1, 2022
It is...fine.
Despite being surrounded by family (usually a good sign of adding character depth), I never felt there was much to the protagonist beyond the basic "more fighting -> more powers -> more fighting" loop. I suppose there was the also the bits where he goes "date girl -> break up -> time loop -> date girl" but I kept thinking if you know you aren't a good match why do you keep doing this.
Having the antagonists all having the depth of "we are the bad guys because we are EVIL bwa-ha-ha" doesn't help.
Book 4 is labelled as the final book, so I do appreciate a finite series.
Despite being surrounded by family (usually a good sign of adding character depth), I never felt there was much to the protagonist beyond the basic "more fighting -> more powers -> more fighting" loop. I suppose there was the also the bits where he goes "date girl -> break up -> time loop -> date girl" but I kept thinking if you know you aren't a good match why do you keep doing this.
Having the antagonists all having the depth of "we are the bad guys because we are EVIL bwa-ha-ha" doesn't help.
Book 4 is labelled as the final book, so I do appreciate a finite series.
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