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Ajax's Ascension #3
The Baron
Ajax’s life in the capital takes a new twist as he joins the Academy.
Everyday interactions with the most talented members of his own generation. The chance to delve the dungeons present in the capital with some regularity, testing himself against the strongest challenges the kingdom has to offer. Experiments with alchemy?
As his family prepares to move to the capital. Will everything continue smoothly? Or will he face difficulties in his climb through society?
Everyday interactions with the most talented members of his own generation. The chance to delve the dungeons present in the capital with some regularity, testing himself against the strongest challenges the kingdom has to offer. Experiments with alchemy?
As his family prepares to move to the capital. Will everything continue smoothly? Or will he face difficulties in his climb through society?
469 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
July 10, 2025
I will volunteer to be an editor…
I am currently 4% through this book. I am almost at the point where I want to stop reading because of the mixed up words being used. I know what the words are meant to be, but come on… Just a simple reread of your work would have you finding these errors. I’m here for the story though, so I’m going to struggle on. I’ll update my stars when I’m done struggling through the rest of the book.
I am currently 4% through this book. I am almost at the point where I want to stop reading because of the mixed up words being used. I know what the words are meant to be, but come on… Just a simple reread of your work would have you finding these errors. I’m here for the story though, so I’m going to struggle on. I’ll update my stars when I’m done struggling through the rest of the book.
July 13, 2025
please read your own book
On the plus side, this was definitely not AI written. On the down side, neither the author nor anyone who loves the author has ever read this book. I found and highlighted 65 errors. Now imagine if I read every page and highlighted every error. Twice the character Hatchet was spelled Hatched that I found. Judy was spelled July and then the whole section where dessert the yummy kind was spelled desert the sandy kind.
Other than the massive missed edits, the book could use a little more adventure and more intense action scenes. The story is good overall but the stupid school setting, the so-so crafting, and not intense politics dragged it down to a ‘I’m not compelled to read more than a chapter a day’ kind of book.
On the plus side, this was definitely not AI written. On the down side, neither the author nor anyone who loves the author has ever read this book. I found and highlighted 65 errors. Now imagine if I read every page and highlighted every error. Twice the character Hatchet was spelled Hatched that I found. Judy was spelled July and then the whole section where dessert the yummy kind was spelled desert the sandy kind.
Other than the massive missed edits, the book could use a little more adventure and more intense action scenes. The story is good overall but the stupid school setting, the so-so crafting, and not intense politics dragged it down to a ‘I’m not compelled to read more than a chapter a day’ kind of book.
July 14, 2025
4 Star Story, 2 star editing
I am not sure if an unedited draft was accidentally uploaded instead of a final version or what, but it nearly ruined the book for me.
The story was enjoyable, but the multitude of run on sentences, grammatical errors, missing or misused commas, autocorrected/incorrect words, missing/extra words, irregularities in tense, and occasionally missing POV headers were enough to be seriously distracting.
Hopefully, the author/publisher will pay attention to the feedback enough to fix this. It was tough to push through all of the errors to finish an otherwise good book.
I am not sure if an unedited draft was accidentally uploaded instead of a final version or what, but it nearly ruined the book for me.
The story was enjoyable, but the multitude of run on sentences, grammatical errors, missing or misused commas, autocorrected/incorrect words, missing/extra words, irregularities in tense, and occasionally missing POV headers were enough to be seriously distracting.
Hopefully, the author/publisher will pay attention to the feedback enough to fix this. It was tough to push through all of the errors to finish an otherwise good book.
October 6, 2025
As many also stated it needs so much editing. This was a royal road port so there had to have been suggested edits that were just ignored.
Liked the power fantasy portion but there is so many issues with the world building and editing.
For instance the story is built around the character rather than a character in the worlds. Take skills. What does it mean for them to get higher level? Never explained they just go up. They get brought up but what does a higher level mean. Does a level increase mean some aspect increases or is it the other way around? What is a trait and why are they never really mentioned? The MC has a punishment for “bullying” that reduces exp for killing lower levels or helping others kill higher levels but… how does a hunter level? If they are level 15 and hunt level 2 rabbits all day wouldn’t there be no way to level and be constantly punished? Why does no one warn each other of these common punishments?
There’s a lot to say about this series and it definitely needs someone to read and edit.
Liked the power fantasy portion but there is so many issues with the world building and editing.
For instance the story is built around the character rather than a character in the worlds. Take skills. What does it mean for them to get higher level? Never explained they just go up. They get brought up but what does a higher level mean. Does a level increase mean some aspect increases or is it the other way around? What is a trait and why are they never really mentioned? The MC has a punishment for “bullying” that reduces exp for killing lower levels or helping others kill higher levels but… how does a hunter level? If they are level 15 and hunt level 2 rabbits all day wouldn’t there be no way to level and be constantly punished? Why does no one warn each other of these common punishments?
There’s a lot to say about this series and it definitely needs someone to read and edit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2025
A good read, but in need of proofreading
Thoroughly enjoyed the story but kept finding grammatical and spelling mistakes. It seemed this book had more errors than the previous two books. Strongly suggest the author retain a beta group or a proofreader.. That would certainly enhance the story.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story but kept finding grammatical and spelling mistakes. It seemed this book had more errors than the previous two books. Strongly suggest the author retain a beta group or a proofreader.. That would certainly enhance the story.
July 29, 2025
5 stars for the 1st 2 Boks... 3 for this 1
Everyone's a critic And the ones that can't do Are the worst. I gave 5 stars for the 1st 2 books in the series However this book got 3. It appears that he dictated the whole story and just like on our phones and devices when you dictate it replaces words with others. Do you know how irritating it is to be stuck in a story and then suddenly have your mind glitch because of a weird word ? This happened over and over and over in this book, Scores of examples, words left out, 1 word replacing a different 1 that means totally different things, etcetera.
"50 golden Is a fair prince. ".
"What can I help you?"
"I can't afford to get beside!"
Over half the book pages had 1 or more glitches like this. Totally ruins of great story.
Everyone's a critic And the ones that can't do Are the worst. I gave 5 stars for the 1st 2 books in the series However this book got 3. It appears that he dictated the whole story and just like on our phones and devices when you dictate it replaces words with others. Do you know how irritating it is to be stuck in a story and then suddenly have your mind glitch because of a weird word ? This happened over and over and over in this book, Scores of examples, words left out, 1 word replacing a different 1 that means totally different things, etcetera.
"50 golden Is a fair prince. ".
"What can I help you?"
"I can't afford to get beside!"
Over half the book pages had 1 or more glitches like this. Totally ruins of great story.
July 14, 2025
Ajax Goes Somewhere Boring, unfortunately. Bunch of tedious dungeon crawls, no challenges. And yeah, the same old problem with mixed-up words, missing parts of sentences, jumping between tenses. It doesn’t bother me too much but the story was dull this time.
July 16, 2025
The disdain the author must have
This would be a four star book if it wasn’t a rough draft written without a word processor. The wrong word, the wrong form of the word, and missing words are so jarring it kills the flow.
This would be a four star book if it wasn’t a rough draft written without a word processor. The wrong word, the wrong form of the word, and missing words are so jarring it kills the flow.
July 12, 2026
Solid plot. Massive editing problems
Author, you need some better early readers and a qualified editor.
Editing has not improved. The problems with grammar are just different in each volume.
I gave up reporting editing problems at the 65% mark with nearly 200 issues. It's just bad. Minor spoiler for one skill below.
*
*
*
*
Here is one egregious example. A single sentence run on paragraph with 9 grammatical issues. Multiple run on sentence construction, verb tense and just plainly painful to read.
As it turns out, Ajax’s natural talent for archery is lower than his talent for blades, not only that, but in order to unlock cursed slash he can release the cursed mana at any point before the slash makes contact, for his cursed shot to work the timing needs to be much cleaner coinciding perfectly with the moment the arrow is released.
Author, you need some better early readers and a qualified editor.
Editing has not improved. The problems with grammar are just different in each volume.
I gave up reporting editing problems at the 65% mark with nearly 200 issues. It's just bad. Minor spoiler for one skill below.
*
*
*
*
Here is one egregious example. A single sentence run on paragraph with 9 grammatical issues. Multiple run on sentence construction, verb tense and just plainly painful to read.
As it turns out, Ajax’s natural talent for archery is lower than his talent for blades, not only that, but in order to unlock cursed slash he can release the cursed mana at any point before the slash makes contact, for his cursed shot to work the timing needs to be much cleaner coinciding perfectly with the moment the arrow is released.
September 29, 2026
Nice story with a likable MC who doesn’t constantly make dumb or illogical decisions. The first two books were especially enjoyable.
Unfortunately, after that I started to feel that the story was losing its pulse. The MC rarely faces any real setbacks or meaningful obstacles. Even high nobles and kings start to “feed” him, which is fine on its own, but there needs to be some kind of counterbalance—something that actually challenges him and gives him something to struggle against.
Without that, the story starts to feel like a steady climb to the top with very little resistance. The progression is satisfying at first, but when everything keeps going the MC’s way, the tension and excitement gradually disappear.
I still like the story and the MC, but I hope the future books give him some real challenges to overcome. That would bring back some of the shine the first two books had.
Unfortunately, after that I started to feel that the story was losing its pulse. The MC rarely faces any real setbacks or meaningful obstacles. Even high nobles and kings start to “feed” him, which is fine on its own, but there needs to be some kind of counterbalance—something that actually challenges him and gives him something to struggle against.
Without that, the story starts to feel like a steady climb to the top with very little resistance. The progression is satisfying at first, but when everything keeps going the MC’s way, the tension and excitement gradually disappear.
I still like the story and the MC, but I hope the future books give him some real challenges to overcome. That would bring back some of the shine the first two books had.
May 27, 2026
Flawed Obstacle of Punishments for Bullying...
Without going into specifics, this series presents the idea that some impartial observer can levie punishments for breaking system rules. Of course, the system only cares about a few things and "bullying" is one of them. This means if the MC fights and kills below their level, they get progressively worse outcomes. However, the society doesn't seem to reflect this reality. Nobles bullying is a repeated concern. Also, beasts and monsters aren't restricted apparently. Finally, farmers would all get hit because they raised some animals for food. Plus the entire profession of hunting doesn't work if you have to kill things at our above your level.
Do better...
Without going into specifics, this series presents the idea that some impartial observer can levie punishments for breaking system rules. Of course, the system only cares about a few things and "bullying" is one of them. This means if the MC fights and kills below their level, they get progressively worse outcomes. However, the society doesn't seem to reflect this reality. Nobles bullying is a repeated concern. Also, beasts and monsters aren't restricted apparently. Finally, farmers would all get hit because they raised some animals for food. Plus the entire profession of hunting doesn't work if you have to kill things at our above your level.
Do better...
November 27, 2025
good story, spelling mistakes, don’t like the changes of POV‘s
I believe I previously mentioned in one of my reviews my only issue is the constant change of POV‘s, and the fact that the economy of scale is very expensive in this book everything is gold that doesn’t seem to be any coin less valuable in my humble opinion I think the change of POV‘s takes away from the main characters development, there’s less pages developed to the MC and his growth as opposed to other characters opinions in the book. That’s my only issue with this series. The story is still interesting and we’ll go on to read the next one.
I believe I previously mentioned in one of my reviews my only issue is the constant change of POV‘s, and the fact that the economy of scale is very expensive in this book everything is gold that doesn’t seem to be any coin less valuable in my humble opinion I think the change of POV‘s takes away from the main characters development, there’s less pages developed to the MC and his growth as opposed to other characters opinions in the book. That’s my only issue with this series. The story is still interesting and we’ll go on to read the next one.
July 18, 2025
Enjoyable series. The books end on a weird note lending itself to the idea that the series is not finished even though the author says it is. I enjoyed the changes of perspective despite the characters only giving their interperetations of what the MC experienced from a slightly different viewpoint. The numerous spelling/editing issues took me out of it and made it less immersive. I did like the story line though and would definitely read more if I had nothing else in the queue at the moment. Though, this will not be a series I would choose to read again.
September 7, 2025
movin’ on up…
Hard to tell if the greatest advantage Ajax possesses is his reincarnation with all his Terran memories or the trait he was born with that allows him to pick up skills so easily.
Too bad he still has to join the monarchy to progress, rather than bringing egalitarian ideals to this world, but maybe as he progresses, he will be able to change the system from within.
Maybe he’ll also gain enough power to renegotiate the human pact forged in the depths of time, if he really wants to make an impact.
Hard to tell if the greatest advantage Ajax possesses is his reincarnation with all his Terran memories or the trait he was born with that allows him to pick up skills so easily.
Too bad he still has to join the monarchy to progress, rather than bringing egalitarian ideals to this world, but maybe as he progresses, he will be able to change the system from within.
Maybe he’ll also gain enough power to renegotiate the human pact forged in the depths of time, if he really wants to make an impact.
October 10, 2026
Honestly, the series is barely above average. Yet, it embodies elements that a good amount of people in the genre enjoy reading. A combo of no real stakes, consistent level-ups, and the affirmation that MC is the cause of everything positive in the story, rather directly or indirectly. Still, poor pacing, too much slice-of-life fluff with not development until last few chapters has been consistent with just about each book.
But...the audiobook is a decent a time killer, with decent narrators, and a palate cleanser.
But...the audiobook is a decent a time killer, with decent narrators, and a palate cleanser.
July 11, 2025
Great story, but…
I looked forward to this book and really enjoyed how the characters developed (Ajax gets over much of his paranoia and actually makes friends!) However, it needs a solid proofreading, particularly the second half of the book. There are enough errors that it messes with the flow quite a bit.
As a side note, please figure out Kate’s relationship status. She went from girlfriend to wife back to fiancée in this book. Just a peeve of mine there.
I looked forward to this book and really enjoyed how the characters developed (Ajax gets over much of his paranoia and actually makes friends!) However, it needs a solid proofreading, particularly the second half of the book. There are enough errors that it messes with the flow quite a bit.
As a side note, please figure out Kate’s relationship status. She went from girlfriend to wife back to fiancée in this book. Just a peeve of mine there.
July 13, 2025
Good but too many typos
Overall this was an entertaining story. It could use a bit more character development. Ajax’s family barely have any emotional voice. Some of the handicaps built into the system also seem a bit contrived. Why would there be a penalty for killing weaker monsters? Why is there a dungeon break if you fail to clear a floor before exiting. These things don’t make much sense. Also there are a ton of typos, more so than any book I’ve read recently.
Overall this was an entertaining story. It could use a bit more character development. Ajax’s family barely have any emotional voice. Some of the handicaps built into the system also seem a bit contrived. Why would there be a penalty for killing weaker monsters? Why is there a dungeon break if you fail to clear a floor before exiting. These things don’t make much sense. Also there are a ton of typos, more so than any book I’ve read recently.
July 13, 2025
Politics and power gains!
Lots of good stuff here as Ajax goes through his first year of the academy. Things move a bit faster than he expects, but he keeps on rolling with the punches! He's got to quickly get up to speed on his politics and some of his social skills to deal with things. And then there's everything happening in the background that he's really not aware of yet lol. Definitely a fun continuation, although it could definitely use a much better editing pass.
Lots of good stuff here as Ajax goes through his first year of the academy. Things move a bit faster than he expects, but he keeps on rolling with the punches! He's got to quickly get up to speed on his politics and some of his social skills to deal with things. And then there's everything happening in the background that he's really not aware of yet lol. Definitely a fun continuation, although it could definitely use a much better editing pass.
September 22, 2025
The Baron is another great addition to the series. I was quite disappointed when I finished because I already knew what was coming next and want to read it now! The amount of times going over the MC's stats has decreased, thankfully. The author is treading a fine line between not enough information and just enough. Many aspects to this point were not detailed, but I don't think they needed to be. Part of fiction books is to be fun. It doesn't have to be an Excel spreadsheet of calculations.
November 14, 2025
Unreadable
I wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed the first two. But the constant grammatical errors and spelling mistakes make it impossible. I hope the author gets someone who speaks English as their first language and has passed a high school English class to edit this book. Honestly, it’s like they used a Temu translator and this is the fourth language it was translated to. So disappointing.
I wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed the first two. But the constant grammatical errors and spelling mistakes make it impossible. I hope the author gets someone who speaks English as their first language and has passed a high school English class to edit this book. Honestly, it’s like they used a Temu translator and this is the fourth language it was translated to. So disappointing.
May 15, 2026
Solid Story Progress. Needs Human Editing
The story and writing continue to be interesting, but the editing needs to happen. The mistakes become frequent and distracting - grammar and simply the wrong words, elements a spellcheck wouldn’t catch. I would have lowered rating to 3 stars if there hadn’t been a 4th book waiting for me to coast into without pause.
Please have a human read and correct as it’s embarrassing at times.
The story and writing continue to be interesting, but the editing needs to happen. The mistakes become frequent and distracting - grammar and simply the wrong words, elements a spellcheck wouldn’t catch. I would have lowered rating to 3 stars if there hadn’t been a 4th book waiting for me to coast into without pause.
Please have a human read and correct as it’s embarrassing at times.
May 24, 2026
Please proofread.
I don't believe I'm especially sensitive to grammatical errors, but this book....yikes! Every few pages something pops up that cause a pause. The story is good, the writing is annoying. Bad edits, redundancy, first and third person narrative errors in the same paragraph, gibberish sentences. It's like riding in a luxury vehicle down a street full of potholes. This is why I gave it three stars.
I don't believe I'm especially sensitive to grammatical errors, but this book....yikes! Every few pages something pops up that cause a pause. The story is good, the writing is annoying. Bad edits, redundancy, first and third person narrative errors in the same paragraph, gibberish sentences. It's like riding in a luxury vehicle down a street full of potholes. This is why I gave it three stars.
May 29, 2026
Dissapointing
So many missed opportunities. When I started this series, I was very excited because the main character, magic structure, and leveling system reminded me of that from Primal Hunter. However, NOTHING unexpected happens. The main character is NEVER in danger, or forced to overcome insurmountable odds. The final event was a total let down… I don’t know if I’m going to read the next book.
So many missed opportunities. When I started this series, I was very excited because the main character, magic structure, and leveling system reminded me of that from Primal Hunter. However, NOTHING unexpected happens. The main character is NEVER in danger, or forced to overcome insurmountable odds. The final event was a total let down… I don’t know if I’m going to read the next book.
July 12, 2025
I could not finish this book due to the absolutely intolerable amount of typos, missing words, spontaneous gender swaps, etc. This is an embarrassment. This is a shame, as I did enjoy the first two books and was looking forward to continuing Ajax's story. I just can't... please hire an editor. Or follow your word processor app's spelling and grammar checks.
July 14, 2025
Many errors
I like the story but there are a lot of mistakes. The author used “food” when the correct word was foot in a least two places. The name Hatchet was misspelled as Hatched several times. The word desert was used instead of dessert. Marriage was used instead of mirage. There’s other mistakes as well. A good editor is needed.
I like the story but there are a lot of mistakes. The author used “food” when the correct word was foot in a least two places. The name Hatchet was misspelled as Hatched several times. The word desert was used instead of dessert. Marriage was used instead of mirage. There’s other mistakes as well. A good editor is needed.
July 17, 2025
Good Book and Action
On the whole, this is a really good series. Good character builds, but I can only give 4 stars due to poor grammar, spelling, and really incorrect use of periods and commas that crop up in the middle sentences. This is easily a 5 star book of these errors are corrected.
On the whole, this is a really good series. Good character builds, but I can only give 4 stars due to poor grammar, spelling, and really incorrect use of periods and commas that crop up in the middle sentences. This is easily a 5 star book of these errors are corrected.
July 22, 2025
I can't believe that the error fests that books one and two are could be so overshadowed by this the third part of the series. Its like a bad joke.. It seems practice is not making perfect in this case.
Can Not Recommend! Avoid!
The author/publisher ought to pull this and do a rework. This is bad enough I won't touch anything by Royal Guard Publishing without great suspicion again.
Can Not Recommend! Avoid!
The author/publisher ought to pull this and do a rework. This is bad enough I won't touch anything by Royal Guard Publishing without great suspicion again.
October 17, 2025
I would give it 3.5 if I could.
Fun read, entertaining story but the grammar and spelling errors were many and kept knocking me out of the story.
Could also transition from scene to scene a bit better. Most of the time it was well done but some times the story noise jumps and you are left trying to figure out where you are and what’s happening. “Did I skip a page?”
Fun read, entertaining story but the grammar and spelling errors were many and kept knocking me out of the story.
Could also transition from scene to scene a bit better. Most of the time it was well done but some times the story noise jumps and you are left trying to figure out where you are and what’s happening. “Did I skip a page?”
January 25, 2026
I'm sort of harping on what other reviews have already said about this. The overall story is fine, but the writing is awful and the editing didn't help much. The poor grammar really takes you out of the story. I'll continue to read the series for now, but if I drop it after the next book that will be why.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews