This is a very fun new take on the 'fallen into another realm' story, our hero is the epitome of success on earth: Wealthy, Young, Good looking, build a business he sold that let's him retire young. Raised as an orphan he has only one friend from childhood, and resents the absence of his parents despite having made peace with it.
Then, he is ripped from his apartment and dropped…. into a dungeon. Well not really, its a prison. And from there he just does everything right to succeed. This is one of the only issues I have with this authors writing, our hero always know exactly what to do and they never make mistakes. Sometimes he takes actions that don't have the best outcome, but it always works out. However, this is fiction, we are reading for fun, so I let it go. If this bothers you however, its pretty obvious and it will require you to actually get over it.
The world building of the story is wonderful, our character uses a claim of amnesia to explain how he doesn't know anything and gets others to fill him in. It's a very tenuous explanation as to how he speaks the language but again, get over it, just enjoy the story.
The way the magic works in the world is different than anything I've read in other stories, and it was so interesting to learn about it alongside our hero. The idea of refining a core of magic in oneself to increase power makes sense, its not some arbitrary "just practice until you're good" there's an inertia to it, a build up of ability and power that can be drawn on.
The intrigue, the layers of different storylines and character relationships all makes for a very engaging and re-readable story. There's very little dragging of the plot line, something is usually moving forward.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.