An action-packed LitRPG Adventure featuring a detailed magic system and numbers going way up!
Magic isn’t just a tool. It’s a path to power that few can fully grasp. Alex was just trying to escape his dead-end job and overbearing family. Then the System arrived, bringing with it magic, Rifts, and the chance for ordinary people to become extraordinary.
Unfortunately for Alex, his stats start out as unimpressive as his old life. But when he gains the unique trait [Primordial Will], which only allows him to put his free points into one stat, everything changes.
As he begins to study the art of Mana Threads and creates a revolutionary new magic system with Spell Circles, it becomes clear that mastery of magic is the route to power.
But with the world’s governments struggling to contain the rising number of superhuman threats, Alex will have to navigate more than just monsters, magic, and Rifts. In a world where “might makes right,” who really calls the shots?
Join Alex on his path to power in this action-packed new LitRPG adventure. Featuring high-octane action where the numbers go way up, slow-burn power progression, three-dimensional characters, a detailed magic system, runes, party-building, and so much more!
Speal Weaver is the first book in the LitRPG series by OverXelous.
I've taken a break from reading as extensively as in my past. When I picked up this book I was pleasantly surprised to not meet with disappointment. The pace was enjoyable, although I did find myself wondering if this book would end within a Rift.
Beyond his immediate friend group, and the way in which the introduction of a new system and abilities affects his small worldview much is left unexplained. The world building still has so much room to be explored. Our MC, Alex, is something of a surprise himself. He's not miraculous. He doesn't crush expectations with a mere glance. And there is something of a hint that he's not even the most important character in his own story. Jonathan Reeves gives off more main character energy the handful of times he's mentioned. But that wonderful aspect of mystery and possibility is what makes this book that much more entrancing.
I wonder whether Eura and the main Rift discussed within this book along with the cultivation style civilization inside it, will become a larger portion of the overall series. This is an Epic Rift, but i could not lend myself to believe there will not be Rift's in the Legendary range eventually. Which invites discussion of Rayen and his secret Rift. What kind of person is this man truly? Will he always hold the place of Earth-native adversary to the future our MC wishes to ensure his planet doesn't one day face? What of the civilization inside the Rift he hides, even from his own sister? Are they friend or foe? Can a failed planet integrator be a threat to Earth?
I have so many questions. Which only leaves me excited to learn more. There weren't many errors that I found, but i wasn't really looking. The characters were personable and easy to connect to. I would assuredly read more of this series, and from this author.
Val is a wonderful contrasting addition to the story. But it is Sam that seems to hold a pivotal place in the coming story, as all Healers tend to do.
Annoying main character. He isn’t especially smart and that contributes to his poor emotional intelligence as well. The most disappointing factor is the Alex is just another crass gamer bro who the gods happen to favor. Nothing original or creative about his character. For a book called spell weaver the magic system was okay but genuinely not all the emphasized. Another barely vailed attempt at a cultivation based magic system.
The premise is a well worn one, and I usually like these stories and I’m OK with a main character having doubts or issues, etc., but this goes way beyond that. The main character is essentially a Simp looking for guidance from anyone, trying to please everyone… And essentially unlikable… There’s no reason to relate to the character, especially when he rescues another traumatized Simp. Crazy
It took me a while to realise that none of the powers Alex received, in his power-up journey, were earned. There was no synergy between some special aspect of Alex's character and "the system." I kept waiting for his doodling/art skill to combine with rune/ritualistic magic to create freestyle, on-the-fly spells... or something like that.
I also found the plot to wander. Rather than resolving any one thing, another element was added. It reminded me of taking my dog on a walk. Forget about peeing; "What's that smell over there?", "Is that a squirrel?", or "That car looks suspicious!" [Sigh]
While I forced myself to keep reading after the first chapter. But didn't get past chapter 2. I don't know why authors have to make their MC such hapless losers at the beginning. It is really hard to believe that if the MC could not put the effort in during their "first life", why would I believe they would in their "second life". it may turn out to be a good story, but I personally didn't want to invest any more time in a MC that wasn't going to try but would succeed through the authors use of dues ex.
Now my rant. In the first chapter, the MC describes hiswork as a "boring, dead end" job and then in the next paragraph get upset at his mother for encouraging him to find something with more potential. I get it. Not everyone needs to be ambitious, striving to get better. A quiet slow life is fine for some. This is a personality trait that doesn't change just becausethey receive unearned power. At the end of chapter1, the MC gets mad that his parents are proud of his brother for putting in the effort and earning A promotion at work. He is jealous of his brothers success but unwilling to change his effort. Again, if he is happy with his situation, good for him, but don't be jealous when your brother reaps the benefits of his effort. This just makes the MC look like a self absorbed looser who blames everyone else for his lack of happieness.
I think I’m going to enjoy this series! (Fingers crossed.) Alex is working a dead end job and his family is on his back with misplaced and sometimes overbearing concern. Meanwhile these things called Rifts are popping up across the planet and people are gaining super hero type powers. One day Alex gets a chance to step into this new frontier and so our MC’s journey begins. The storytelling is great but there are a few typos but not so much that it completely ruins the story or flow. The MC isn’t instantly OP or overconfident or a know-it-all. I like the development of the characters as well as the overall theme of this series. I’m going to enjoy seeing where this goes!
I wanted to review this as I have read this on RR and again on the author's Patreon. This is a fantastic Litrpg with an MC that grows weak to *eventually* super strong. Admittedly, I have read all the books available on Patreon but book 1 is a great start. This book portrays a fun and more realistic system integration with an MC who was working a mundane job, very relatable.
Spell Weaver offers a fun and interesting view into magic systems and their creation and seems to reward those who are creative and innovative. There are fun party dynamics and other worlds through the system integration Rifts.
I look forward to the rest of the series being published!
The slow burn was much too slow for me. Halfway through he's still waving kitchen knives around and getting his camping gear together. Maybe if he was a more interesting character, but he's just kind of a dope.
I tried to take it easy on the first book of a new story as in my experience they can be shaky even from tried and true authors. This was pretty good for the first book of the story. The writing was solid. I will admit that I struggled a little bit during the first 100 pages, but then that's not Unusual for me as a number of the stories in this genre feel like there's a beginning obligatory section that you have to get past before the story actually gets a grip. Our main character is honestly kind of weak willed in the beginning. The world is faced with riffs. People who are awakened become aware of the system that give them abilities. It is possible for Humanity to fail the integration. Our main character has a couple of friends and make some new ones along the way. We have a super ugly companion creature that apparently is so ugly it's cute. Our main character gets trapped in a riff for a little bit so that he can really charge up to being a superpowered guy. I'm quite interested to see what happens in book two. This is the first story that I've come across by this author. A lot of what drew me to the book was the reputation of the publisher and then the blurb. I would be interested in the book receiving the audio treatment assuming that it hasn't already gotten that. With that let's have a round of applause for everybody who had a hand in bringing this story to us, the Amazon readers.
OverXelous masterfully created not only a progression story I hoped to engage with, but also a system that explored both LitRPG and Cultivation with natural pacing. I appreciated knowing this was a slowburn progression in advanced, setting up several future possible stories with nuggets layered what seems naturally on the front end of the book. I plan on going back for a second listen to see what I missed the first time. Alex is very likable, easily able to jump into his story. I am really excited to see continued progression, so much more I could say, but spoilers. I hope OverXelous continues to give us many stories in this universe. Alex is very busy and meets many interesting people on his journey. It was a pleasure to listen to Garrett Michael Brown share OverXelous' book. You gave Alex agency through your narration. Thank you for taking the time to give us the beginning of Alex's story. I am very interested in reading and listening within the Spell Weaver universe.
Spell Weaver was exactly the kind of fun, immersive LitRPG read I was hoping for. I laughed out loud more than once and really enjoyed the leveling progression, the rift system, and the overall worldbuilding. The social interactions felt believable, the problem solving was satisfying, and the story kept a great balance between humor and momentum.
The main character has a bit of a “going through the motions” vibe early on, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. The rest of the book delivers so well, from the systems to the side characters to the tone, that the minor quirk was easy to overlook. I’m definitely continuing the series. A fun, engaging LitRPG with plenty of charm and a world I’m excited to return to.
Good Start! One of the allies reminds me of the mother of learning. MC in this story can compartmentalize; he can do the work despite the external or internal distractions.
I still have a few peeves, though: MC is the typical weak-willed male in this kind of story (especially written by authors from the West, these authors can't help themselves with their self-insertion) MC is over 20 years old and still needs his friends to coddle him and his feelings 16 is not a boy, but a young man; treating him as a 7-year-old will not help him grow to be a well-adjusted adult.
The thing that struck me most was the world building. It is an interesting real world setting that has magic due to being able to go to other magical realms via rifts. Not all people have magic but some do. Time is spent in both settings which makes for interesting interactions. Utilizing willpower as a means to become OP is something that I haven’t encountered and it creates an intriguing build. Fun story with some good character development.
Basically a system integration novel, but very slow happening. The best part is it is not cataclysmic or apocalyptic. Yet... still, I enjoyed the book and throughout it we were learning the basics of the system. It didn't come with an announcement or a manual. Still, I suspect there will be a little more drama in the second book.But I enjoyed this one looking forward to the next.
The System comes to Earth with a whisper, allowing a meek graphic designer the chance to Awaken and start the climb to gaining experience and learning magic.
A hint of learning to make your own magic, but this book is more a training montage and a bit of American political breakdown. Maybe next book will be more runes and enchanting and more trying to build a fair society in a might-makes-right System.
It's fine. Nothing super stand out about the plot or the characters but it's pretty decently written and easy reading. Nice found family side plot and a little bound animal companion to boot. I thought they were going to go for an over arching plot involving his stuck will power thing but they never really did so??
It’s rare for a litRPG to actually consider how the MC balances their new abilities with their old lifestyle. Often they just abandon their old life completely, claiming it was going nowhere or whatever. I’ve always seen that as odd. I’m glad someone addressed it (and well!). I enjoyed the writing style and the characterization.
This is genuinely the best new book in the genre. So many new releases in LitRPG/fantasy have inflated ratings because their readers all flock over from Royal Road at the same time. This one should be rated at the top. I read several books in the genre weekly and nothing comes close to this one in terms of writing skill and storyline.
Pretty good start. Overall satisfying. Love the change in the character and his confidence, it doesn’t feel forced. Loved the spiders and his transition from loving with them to escaping. I like the idea of the rift world and how he got trapped in it. Excited to see what he does next.
All in all it's a good story there's definitely highs and lows though. I felt that there were parts in this book that took way longer than they should have and were way more complicated than they needed to be. All in all though it's definitely worth a read.
What started as a slow, rift-monster fighting story similar to Solo Leveling quickly developed into a fun and unique adventure where I didn't mind if the character never made it home because learning more about the rift-world was a fun idea. Love that they're teasing a tournament arc in book 2?!
4.25/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was quite a fun read. For the most part, the MC is pretty likeable and there's lots of action. Along with more than a smattering of humor. Do yourself a favor, and give this book a chance.
absolutely a great read. the plot is well paced and the MC is very well written. I've been really happy with the occasional chapters from different POV as well. if you enjoy the genre, or if you're new to it, this is a great read.
Wow, just finished reading the book! Loved it! This is an excellent and well written world and with rich characters. I am looking forward to reading the second book and see what is next on their adventures.
Pretty good book, some annoyances because MC is young but it's not too bad. There is room for cleaning up side characters that are annoying and do not contribute to the story, aside from being page filler.
I really liked the MC’s progression over the story. He started with some flaws, but they were not super childish, or overly exaggerated like some of the other series similar to this one. I really enjoyed it.
This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Val the flying eel familiar. I anxiously await the author's next novel.