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Warmaster #7
Warmaster 7: The Ivory Palace: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
Aderyn’s courage and skills are put to the test when she and her friends travel to the Southlands on a quest to repel an invasion of vicious orcs—a quest that requires Aderyn to find and command an army. But in a land where politics can be deadlier than warfare, military strategy soon becomes the least of her concerns.
When threats emerge from unexpected quarters, the team must brave the legendary Ivory Palace, a dungeon whose reputation for horror is matched only by its beauty. With time running out for both her team and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect, Aderyn discovers the dangers of the surface world are nothing compared to what lurks within the ocean’s depths.
When threats emerge from unexpected quarters, the team must brave the legendary Ivory Palace, a dungeon whose reputation for horror is matched only by its beauty. With time running out for both her team and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect, Aderyn discovers the dangers of the surface world are nothing compared to what lurks within the ocean’s depths.
- GenresFantasy
444 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 27, 2025
11 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Melissa McShane
94 books860 followersMelissa grew up a nomad, following her family all over the United States, and ended up living in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains with her husband, four kids, and three very needy cats. Her love of reading was always a constant during those uncertain years, and her love of writing grew out of that. She wrote reviews and critical essays for many years before turning to fiction, and was surprised at how much she liked it. She loves the fantasy genre and how it stretches the imagination.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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June 5, 2025Another absorbing, delightfully enticing entry in this series!
This volume centers more tightly around my fave of the characters, though everybody on the team gets at least one chance to shine. My favorite bits are three: without going into spoiler territory, the System is slowly becoming the Paul Lynde* of computer personalities.
Second, the entire visit south. The worldbuilding was just a delight.
Third, the arc of a certain general, and the battle payoff. (That ought to be sufficiently spoiler free.)
I'm looking forward to the next adventure!
* if the name is unfamiliar, he was Uncle Arthur on BEWITCHED.
This volume centers more tightly around my fave of the characters, though everybody on the team gets at least one chance to shine. My favorite bits are three: without going into spoiler territory, the System is slowly becoming the Paul Lynde* of computer personalities.
Second, the entire visit south. The worldbuilding was just a delight.
Third, the arc of a certain general, and the battle payoff. (That ought to be sufficiently spoiler free.)
I'm looking forward to the next adventure!
* if the name is unfamiliar, he was Uncle Arthur on BEWITCHED.
Read
April 23, 2025I read this twice recently--the first time was to review the audio files, and the second was for a final check before setting up the preorder. And I found a HUGE mistake. Really. It's the sort of mistake where half the readers won't notice and the other half will take to their keyboards to tell me exactly why things wouldn't have happened the way they did. And after I went to a lot of trouble over this section, too.
I was going to reveal the mistake here (as a spoiler) but then I thought, what if it's not as obvious as I believe? And if I mention it, people will notice who wouldn't have noticed otherwise? So I'm going to leave it and wait for the "um, actually" messages.
This book is inspired by my life in southern India. I drew heavily from sights and foods and customs to create the Southlander kingdom, and had a great time doing it. Some elements from real life include:
* the little vehicles called tuktuks that in my book are pedaled by wiry old men and in reality are motorized cars with three wheels that really do go tuktuktuk
*parotta (yum!)
*eating with the fingers of the right hand only
*the punkah fan
*the culture of hospitality (which I toned down for this book)
I'm sure there's more. Anyway, southern India is a great place everyone should visit. My husband has this wonderful plan for "retirement visas" for people who want an inexpensive place to spend their waning years.
This is also the book where Aderyn's skills as a WARmaster come into play. I am not good at planning and executing fictional wars, so I did a lot of reading and... I am still not good at it. I tried to keep things close to Aderyn's perspective, and there's really only one battle in this book because Other Things interrupt the fighting, which leads to the titular Ivory Palace dungeon. It's underwater. That was a challenge.
Some other stuff: both Livia and Isold have personal crises, both of which will spill over into the following books. I borrowed a chunk of Robert Heinlein's book Space Cadet for Aderyn's military testing. That's my favorite of his juveniles, and his scene blew my young mind. I think of my borrowing as an homage.
The wereshark on the cover has arms and legs that are hard to see because of the typography. I asked for those even though in the book, weresharks are never in the half-human form; they're either sharks or deformed humans. I thought it looked cooler that way. And then it didn't matter. Oh well.
The original concept for this book ended up being way, way too long, not in pages but in density of content. So the war, and the Crush the Horde quest, aren't completed until book 8, Charnel Keep. As excited as I am for readers to get this one, I'm even more eager to present the next book, in which many things I have been nurturing are resolved.
I was going to reveal the mistake here (as a spoiler) but then I thought, what if it's not as obvious as I believe? And if I mention it, people will notice who wouldn't have noticed otherwise? So I'm going to leave it and wait for the "um, actually" messages.
This book is inspired by my life in southern India. I drew heavily from sights and foods and customs to create the Southlander kingdom, and had a great time doing it. Some elements from real life include:
* the little vehicles called tuktuks that in my book are pedaled by wiry old men and in reality are motorized cars with three wheels that really do go tuktuktuk
*parotta (yum!)
*eating with the fingers of the right hand only
*the punkah fan
*the culture of hospitality (which I toned down for this book)
I'm sure there's more. Anyway, southern India is a great place everyone should visit. My husband has this wonderful plan for "retirement visas" for people who want an inexpensive place to spend their waning years.
This is also the book where Aderyn's skills as a WARmaster come into play. I am not good at planning and executing fictional wars, so I did a lot of reading and... I am still not good at it. I tried to keep things close to Aderyn's perspective, and there's really only one battle in this book because Other Things interrupt the fighting, which leads to the titular Ivory Palace dungeon. It's underwater. That was a challenge.
Some other stuff: both Livia and Isold have personal crises, both of which will spill over into the following books. I borrowed a chunk of Robert Heinlein's book Space Cadet for Aderyn's military testing. That's my favorite of his juveniles, and his scene blew my young mind. I think of my borrowing as an homage.
The wereshark on the cover has arms and legs that are hard to see because of the typography. I asked for those even though in the book, weresharks are never in the half-human form; they're either sharks or deformed humans. I thought it looked cooler that way. And then it didn't matter. Oh well.
The original concept for this book ended up being way, way too long, not in pages but in density of content. So the war, and the Crush the Horde quest, aren't completed until book 8, Charnel Keep. As excited as I am for readers to get this one, I'm even more eager to present the next book, in which many things I have been nurturing are resolved.
May 23, 2025
I love this series. I loved this book.
About the series:
This is the 7th book in the series, but if you find this review first, this is what you should know. It's LitRPG, if you're not familiar, it's like a Role Playing Game, where players have powers and skills that advance as they battle monsters and dungeons. The main character, Aderyn, is a Warmaster, and she and her team battle monsters and dungeons to gain levels and try to achieve their ultimate quest. The books and audiobooks are both great! However you prefer to read, they are really entertaining.
About this book:
1) The environment is immersive and interesting.We're transported with Aderyn's team to the Southlander Kingdom, vibrant with architecture, food, and customs that are new to the team. The teams experience is based on the author's experience of being an American living in India, which added a layer of interest for me.
2) The focus is tightly fixed on Aderyn this book. I really enjoy how her mind works and the things that she is able to do because of her Warmaster vision. The rest of the team are still prominently featured, but Aderyn is my favorite, so I liked watching her grow in this one.
3) The Ivory Palace. I love that each book includes the titular dungeon as a prominent feature. I always look forward to reading the dungeon chapters. The Lonely Tor was basically the whole book, but usually, the dungeon is just a portion. Each one has been a unique challenge, and every good video game has a water world that everyone loves to hate! They are notorious for being exceptionally challenging, and The Ivory Palace fit the mold just right! It was detailed and easy to follow the path the team took through, and the monsters they faced were terrifying.
4) New villains! I won't get into spoilers, but this book has several new baddies that stand out at this point in the series as the worst of the worst. I won't spoil anything by saying that not everyone gets their just desserts in this book, and I love an elusive villain.
I could go on and one, but I will leave it at that so you can spend less time reading a review and more time reading the book!
I appreciate the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About the series:
This is the 7th book in the series, but if you find this review first, this is what you should know. It's LitRPG, if you're not familiar, it's like a Role Playing Game, where players have powers and skills that advance as they battle monsters and dungeons. The main character, Aderyn, is a Warmaster, and she and her team battle monsters and dungeons to gain levels and try to achieve their ultimate quest. The books and audiobooks are both great! However you prefer to read, they are really entertaining.
About this book:
1) The environment is immersive and interesting.We're transported with Aderyn's team to the Southlander Kingdom, vibrant with architecture, food, and customs that are new to the team. The teams experience is based on the author's experience of being an American living in India, which added a layer of interest for me.
2) The focus is tightly fixed on Aderyn this book. I really enjoy how her mind works and the things that she is able to do because of her Warmaster vision. The rest of the team are still prominently featured, but Aderyn is my favorite, so I liked watching her grow in this one.
3) The Ivory Palace. I love that each book includes the titular dungeon as a prominent feature. I always look forward to reading the dungeon chapters. The Lonely Tor was basically the whole book, but usually, the dungeon is just a portion. Each one has been a unique challenge, and every good video game has a water world that everyone loves to hate! They are notorious for being exceptionally challenging, and The Ivory Palace fit the mold just right! It was detailed and easy to follow the path the team took through, and the monsters they faced were terrifying.
4) New villains! I won't get into spoilers, but this book has several new baddies that stand out at this point in the series as the worst of the worst. I won't spoil anything by saying that not everyone gets their just desserts in this book, and I love an elusive villain.
I could go on and one, but I will leave it at that so you can spend less time reading a review and more time reading the book!
I appreciate the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 29, 2025
The quest continues!
The team is now deep in the south and I really enjoyed not only the set up for what was going on (politics and monsters and generals, oh my) but the contrast of the culture and set up for the continent. There's careful attention to detail here, and it makes the world breathe.
Speaking of breathing, the Ivory Tower takes out adventurers into the watery depths - not a spoiler since it's on the cover - and this was really well done. The dungeon was never just treated like an above ground dungeon but wet, but all the concerns of water and moving around and breathing are important to the party's success or failures.
Again, Aderyn's Warmaster talents take a very important place in the plot, without making her friends unnecessary or without their own strengths. A delicious addition to the series!
The team is now deep in the south and I really enjoyed not only the set up for what was going on (politics and monsters and generals, oh my) but the contrast of the culture and set up for the continent. There's careful attention to detail here, and it makes the world breathe.
Speaking of breathing, the Ivory Tower takes out adventurers into the watery depths - not a spoiler since it's on the cover - and this was really well done. The dungeon was never just treated like an above ground dungeon but wet, but all the concerns of water and moving around and breathing are important to the party's success or failures.
Again, Aderyn's Warmaster talents take a very important place in the plot, without making her friends unnecessary or without their own strengths. A delicious addition to the series!
June 2, 2025
Melissa McShane's Warmaster series continues with Warmaster 7: The Ivory Palace. This time Aderyn, Owen and their team of adventurers break their usual rule and deliberately involve themselves in local politics. They have traveled to the Southlands, where their long-term quest leads them to seek a leadership role in the upcoming war with the Orcs.
But it isn’t enough for them to seek and receive an important role in fighting this horrible enemy. Oh, no! They also have to rescue the kingdom’s queen from a murderous political opponent who has imprisoned her in a particularly dangerous dungeon.
This series just keeps getting better and better. I am now going to be restlessly awaiting the next book in the series. Highly recommended!
But it isn’t enough for them to seek and receive an important role in fighting this horrible enemy. Oh, no! They also have to rescue the kingdom’s queen from a murderous political opponent who has imprisoned her in a particularly dangerous dungeon.
This series just keeps getting better and better. I am now going to be restlessly awaiting the next book in the series. Highly recommended!
May 29, 2025
Another fun installment of the Warmaster series! I’m really enjoying how each book is very different; this one explores how the team would go about leading an army and a country-although still in the lit-RPG style-while still managing to fit in the signature dungeon adventure. New monsters and challenges keep the storyline interesting, and the characters’ relationships continue to mature and develop. I’m enjoying this series much more than I thought I would (as I’m not really a gamer), and I’m looking forward to the next installment!
I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC, but the decision to leave a review, and all opinions, are my own.
I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC, but the decision to leave a review, and all opinions, are my own.
June 17, 2025
Disappointing
The story is still well written and enjoyable. However, the opportunity to see the Warmaster use her skill tactically was built up and then thrown away for yet another slow dungeon crawl. A quarter of the book takes place in a dungeon, and it just becomes the same thing, same style, same pace as all the other dungeons we have read about so far. The secondary plot with the Queen is thrown in because it seems expected to be there and then hastily wrapped up. Warmasters aren't uselessly, but the writting is definitely not showing their importance fully, let alone anything creative or fun. Tactics. Strategy. Warmastering. Be nice for something in this area.
The story is still well written and enjoyable. However, the opportunity to see the Warmaster use her skill tactically was built up and then thrown away for yet another slow dungeon crawl. A quarter of the book takes place in a dungeon, and it just becomes the same thing, same style, same pace as all the other dungeons we have read about so far. The secondary plot with the Queen is thrown in because it seems expected to be there and then hastily wrapped up. Warmasters aren't uselessly, but the writting is definitely not showing their importance fully, let alone anything creative or fun. Tactics. Strategy. Warmastering. Be nice for something in this area.
June 1, 2025
Fun romp
A fast and enjoyable read. Hard to put down. Aderyn comes into a more central role in this book, and she (and several other characters) also face some contextually appropriate growth.
A fast and enjoyable read. Hard to put down. Aderyn comes into a more central role in this book, and she (and several other characters) also face some contextually appropriate growth.
September 10, 2025
This series has very good pacing, good action, and the dungeons and enemies are always interesting. 👍🏽👍🏽
June 6, 2025
The Ivory Palace is the most recent addition to the Warmaster Series. I have to say that I love this entire series. Reading the series really is like being a fly on the wall for a group of friends running a long term RPG campaign and takes me back to the long ago days when I was sitting around that table every weekend.
This book focuses on Aderyn with much less action around the rest of her party. She has always been pivotal to the success of the party, but in this story she stands front and center and has to have faith in her abilities on her own. It has been nice to see the development of her confidence and self-assurance since the beginning of the series.
The action and plot are engaging and entertaining with a decent amount of suspense, but never the anxiety of being afraid something truly horrific will happen to a favorite character. There is something to be said these days for knowing that everything will work out in the end. Some books/series are just warm and comfortable (I hate the word cozy at this point!) and this series fits the bill.
I can't wait to see where the party goes next!
This book focuses on Aderyn with much less action around the rest of her party. She has always been pivotal to the success of the party, but in this story she stands front and center and has to have faith in her abilities on her own. It has been nice to see the development of her confidence and self-assurance since the beginning of the series.
The action and plot are engaging and entertaining with a decent amount of suspense, but never the anxiety of being afraid something truly horrific will happen to a favorite character. There is something to be said these days for knowing that everything will work out in the end. Some books/series are just warm and comfortable (I hate the word cozy at this point!) and this series fits the bill.
I can't wait to see where the party goes next!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews