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Monk of Black Flame #1
Monk Of Black Flame: A LitRPG Adventure
He thought he was useless. The seven hells proved otherwise.
Branded by fate with the useless [Dormant Hell Monk] Class, Fang grows up shunned in the very temple meant to raise him. But when he is dragged into the depths of the Seventh Hell, he unknowingly fulfills the conditions to awaken that cursed Class. With newfound power, he claws his way back to the world above, wielding strength no youth should possess. To master it, Fang turns his eyes to the great martial academy of the Heavenly Accord.
Bandits, hellspawn, rival students, and traitors in martial robes, Fang must face them all while concealing the true nature of his Class until he grows strong enough to reveal it. And if he can endure the trials ahead, his plan will be to rise beyond both gods and devils, and forge a Path stronger than destiny itself.
Yet the path to defying the heavens is paved with choices no monk should have to make. Fang must decide what kind of man he will become, and what mark he will leave on the world. For when his training ends, he will wield the power to shake the earth itself and face enemies from the bottommost pits of hell.
Monk Of Black Flame is a genre-smashing LitRPG Xianxia fusion perfect for fans of Savage Awakening, Unintended Cultivator, and The Path of Ascension.
Branded by fate with the useless [Dormant Hell Monk] Class, Fang grows up shunned in the very temple meant to raise him. But when he is dragged into the depths of the Seventh Hell, he unknowingly fulfills the conditions to awaken that cursed Class. With newfound power, he claws his way back to the world above, wielding strength no youth should possess. To master it, Fang turns his eyes to the great martial academy of the Heavenly Accord.
Bandits, hellspawn, rival students, and traitors in martial robes, Fang must face them all while concealing the true nature of his Class until he grows strong enough to reveal it. And if he can endure the trials ahead, his plan will be to rise beyond both gods and devils, and forge a Path stronger than destiny itself.
Yet the path to defying the heavens is paved with choices no monk should have to make. Fang must decide what kind of man he will become, and what mark he will leave on the world. For when his training ends, he will wield the power to shake the earth itself and face enemies from the bottommost pits of hell.
Monk Of Black Flame is a genre-smashing LitRPG Xianxia fusion perfect for fans of Savage Awakening, Unintended Cultivator, and The Path of Ascension.
453 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 16, 2026
Great story, good writing, needs an editor. Forgotten words, typos, at least two repeated sections, places where the story may have changed but not in all locations.
February 9, 2026
Proof reading and editing!
Overall this is a very interesting story, entertaining and a good example of a youth learning to be an adult in a fantasy world.
Too bad authorsToday don't seem to prove read or edit their own books Anymore! Simple math seems to be a problem when it comes to adding up stats... sentence structure seems to be missing quite a lot! Take the following example as copied straight from the book...
"Kelsie nodded. “Right. Force one-on-ones. Cassie and should do fine. But…Alren?”"
Just one example of missing words or words in incorrect sequence.
I admit I could never write a story like this , but when i'm reading one I would prefer to not be taken out of the flow with little stupid mistakes like this.
Overall this is a very interesting story, entertaining and a good example of a youth learning to be an adult in a fantasy world.
Too bad authorsToday don't seem to prove read or edit their own books Anymore! Simple math seems to be a problem when it comes to adding up stats... sentence structure seems to be missing quite a lot! Take the following example as copied straight from the book...
"Kelsie nodded. “Right. Force one-on-ones. Cassie and should do fine. But…Alren?”"
Just one example of missing words or words in incorrect sequence.
I admit I could never write a story like this , but when i'm reading one I would prefer to not be taken out of the flow with little stupid mistakes like this.
March 17, 2026
AI or Bad Editing
Overall the book was pretty decent the pacing was good and there was some unique elements. The main thing that jumped out at me was the poor editing (or potential use of AI) particularly around the litrpg elements. In each section with a class up, there is a class that gives over the stat total the novel states (one class gives 105 stats when told to provide 100 etc) this happens two or three times. Additionally towards the end of the book there's a spot where the MC essentially gains the same level twice. I think this would have easily jumped out with any actual editing, so it's likely AI was used in portions of the novel either to generate text or to do the edits. Placeholder 3 stars because there's always the chance the author just didn't have an editor and missed these on a re-read through. If AI was used at all it's an instant 0 (1) star.
Overall the book was pretty decent the pacing was good and there was some unique elements. The main thing that jumped out at me was the poor editing (or potential use of AI) particularly around the litrpg elements. In each section with a class up, there is a class that gives over the stat total the novel states (one class gives 105 stats when told to provide 100 etc) this happens two or three times. Additionally towards the end of the book there's a spot where the MC essentially gains the same level twice. I think this would have easily jumped out with any actual editing, so it's likely AI was used in portions of the novel either to generate text or to do the edits. Placeholder 3 stars because there's always the chance the author just didn't have an editor and missed these on a re-read through. If AI was used at all it's an instant 0 (1) star.
September 7, 2026
4.25/5. Fast and fun paced read The audiobook was very enjoyable. I will continue this series!
February 16, 2026
Good story, needs editing
Was seen engaging story, fun to read. Lots of editing issues; inconsistent stats and repeated levels, occasional spelling errors, and several instances of repeated paragraphs.
Was seen engaging story, fun to read. Lots of editing issues; inconsistent stats and repeated levels, occasional spelling errors, and several instances of repeated paragraphs.
March 31, 2026
This reads like a first draft. It could be so much better!
First, the upsides - it's a nice twist on traditional LitRPG, where the Hells form connected landscapes rather than instanced Dungeons. Most classes seem to focus on Ice magic or physical enhancement, rather than the common tropes of Fireball! The MC is a suitably rebellious back-country Monk, so exposition is clean and propels the story, rather than hindering it.
But now we get to the issues. According to most of the book, the class ranks go Copper, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc, with Class evolutions gained at each Rank up. However the MC starts the story having finally clawed his way to his first Class Evolution at Bronze, only to find no options offered. What happened to his Iron evolution?
Later, when he gains Achievements for defeating foes above his rank, the stats provided are not reflected in his Status - neither are the stats provided by his Class Evolutions correctly applied, and in fact one such Evolution is described to offer 50 stats when it actually adds to 60! (20 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 60, not 50).
Finally, there are sections of text with not just typos, or mis-used words, but directly repeated segments of text, with at most minor changes. It's as if the author wrote the same thing two ways, and was thinking of which worked best, but left both in the final draft.
Get an editor, or at least a copyeditor, and fix these issues, and this would be a great book, full of new worldbuilding, fun characters, and an engrossing tale.
First, the upsides - it's a nice twist on traditional LitRPG, where the Hells form connected landscapes rather than instanced Dungeons. Most classes seem to focus on Ice magic or physical enhancement, rather than the common tropes of Fireball! The MC is a suitably rebellious back-country Monk, so exposition is clean and propels the story, rather than hindering it.
But now we get to the issues. According to most of the book, the class ranks go Copper, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc, with Class evolutions gained at each Rank up. However the MC starts the story having finally clawed his way to his first Class Evolution at Bronze, only to find no options offered. What happened to his Iron evolution?
Later, when he gains Achievements for defeating foes above his rank, the stats provided are not reflected in his Status - neither are the stats provided by his Class Evolutions correctly applied, and in fact one such Evolution is described to offer 50 stats when it actually adds to 60! (20 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 60, not 50).
Finally, there are sections of text with not just typos, or mis-used words, but directly repeated segments of text, with at most minor changes. It's as if the author wrote the same thing two ways, and was thinking of which worked best, but left both in the final draft.
Get an editor, or at least a copyeditor, and fix these issues, and this would be a great book, full of new worldbuilding, fun characters, and an engrossing tale.
September 13, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Media for an ALC of this audiobook.
Monk of Black Flame by J.R. Wales is an intriguing mix of action adventure and politics. The young monk Fang finds himself thrown into a brutal world of a martial academy designed to train the next generation of Helldivers and deeply linked to the most powerful families of the nation. He must navigate the politics of the city he knows nothing about while attempting to gain the power and freedom he has sought his whole life.
While the first 25% of the story felt slow and dragged out to me, going from battle to battle, once Fang made contact with people from the larger world and the plot began to fully kick in, I found myself having a much more enjoyable time. And even before the worldbuilding and politics kicked in, J.R. Wales has an excellent mind and ability to write engaging battle scenes, with none feeling like a copy of another or getting boring. I think this book strikes a good balance of action and plot with enough action to keep things entertaining but enough plot to also keep the reader engaged.
That being said there were aspects I felt that could be explored further, and which I hope will be explored in the future installments of the series, such as further exploration of characters and the intricacies of the kingdom's politics, as well as some more information on the order of monks that Fang is a part of. This book is a good introduction to a new LitRPG world and I am excited to see what comes next.
Monk of Black Flame by J.R. Wales is an intriguing mix of action adventure and politics. The young monk Fang finds himself thrown into a brutal world of a martial academy designed to train the next generation of Helldivers and deeply linked to the most powerful families of the nation. He must navigate the politics of the city he knows nothing about while attempting to gain the power and freedom he has sought his whole life.
While the first 25% of the story felt slow and dragged out to me, going from battle to battle, once Fang made contact with people from the larger world and the plot began to fully kick in, I found myself having a much more enjoyable time. And even before the worldbuilding and politics kicked in, J.R. Wales has an excellent mind and ability to write engaging battle scenes, with none feeling like a copy of another or getting boring. I think this book strikes a good balance of action and plot with enough action to keep things entertaining but enough plot to also keep the reader engaged.
That being said there were aspects I felt that could be explored further, and which I hope will be explored in the future installments of the series, such as further exploration of characters and the intricacies of the kingdom's politics, as well as some more information on the order of monks that Fang is a part of. This book is a good introduction to a new LitRPG world and I am excited to see what comes next.
September 6, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media for the advance audio copy of this story. All thoughts are my own.
Though I’ve devoured DCC, some of He Who Fights with Monsters, and the first Nouscraft book, I still consider myself pretty new to LitRPG as a genre. I was excited to listen to this one, as I play a monk during our weekly D&D game. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s funny, as I just finished The Will of the Many, which also had teenagers at an academy. I guess I inadvertently settled into a theme.
What I Loved
This felt like a D&D game, which was fun. I went into this story halfway expecting to find a Carl or Jason here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Fang, the main protagonist, to be different. There are definitely a few similarities (Fang grows increasingly sassy as the book progresses), but his sensibilities felt fresh. Fang’s growing powers were pretty sick, and I loved his transition from the lowly loser to part of a formidable team. The leveling system was fun.
Audiobook Narration
James Fouhey narrated this one really well. I felt he had a “matter of fact” delivery for the most part, though you could feel the shift when story elements escalated.
Overall
As I said above, I really enjoyed this. I’m looking forward to further installments!
Though I’ve devoured DCC, some of He Who Fights with Monsters, and the first Nouscraft book, I still consider myself pretty new to LitRPG as a genre. I was excited to listen to this one, as I play a monk during our weekly D&D game. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s funny, as I just finished The Will of the Many, which also had teenagers at an academy. I guess I inadvertently settled into a theme.
What I Loved
This felt like a D&D game, which was fun. I went into this story halfway expecting to find a Carl or Jason here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Fang, the main protagonist, to be different. There are definitely a few similarities (Fang grows increasingly sassy as the book progresses), but his sensibilities felt fresh. Fang’s growing powers were pretty sick, and I loved his transition from the lowly loser to part of a formidable team. The leveling system was fun.
Audiobook Narration
James Fouhey narrated this one really well. I felt he had a “matter of fact” delivery for the most part, though you could feel the shift when story elements escalated.
Overall
As I said above, I really enjoyed this. I’m looking forward to further installments!
September 15, 2026
Monk of Black Flame as a LitRPG has a different beginning that I really appreciate. Instead of trying to make some sort of integration scenario, the protagonist Fang, is already in a world where stat progressions are normal. If it did not have stat updates, it would just feel like a standard fantasy with skills learned.
Fang is 15 and is sucked into a level of hell and has to fight to survive. He gains a class of fire magic that is hard to come by, hence the black flame. He then meets some members of an academy and is invited to attend by a noble heir.
Some simple gripes follow. The academy seemed to be pasted on to the theme. It did not feel like it was needed. Also the protagonist acted much older than 15 although I get that he is a monk.
Some points of positive interest. Fang has an enjoyable level of snark for a reforming/deconstructing monk. I like overpowered protagonists and Fang is one. Someone complained about the stat dumps, but the stat dumps in this book are very minor and take less than 1 minute in narration. The lack of foul language, snark of Fang, and academy theme make it very approachable for a middle schooler or up.
Narrator does a good job maintaining multiple voices and accents.
Writing 4/5
Narration 4.5/5
Fang is 15 and is sucked into a level of hell and has to fight to survive. He gains a class of fire magic that is hard to come by, hence the black flame. He then meets some members of an academy and is invited to attend by a noble heir.
Some simple gripes follow. The academy seemed to be pasted on to the theme. It did not feel like it was needed. Also the protagonist acted much older than 15 although I get that he is a monk.
Some points of positive interest. Fang has an enjoyable level of snark for a reforming/deconstructing monk. I like overpowered protagonists and Fang is one. Someone complained about the stat dumps, but the stat dumps in this book are very minor and take less than 1 minute in narration. The lack of foul language, snark of Fang, and academy theme make it very approachable for a middle schooler or up.
Narrator does a good job maintaining multiple voices and accents.
Writing 4/5
Narration 4.5/5
September 14, 2026
I am new to LitRPG as a genre. I was excited to listen to this when I received it and I knew I'd get through this pretty quickly. It was funny and entertaining all the way through. Fang is a very likable character he's not your traditional monk. I enjoyed the leveling system, hearing about the competition in the academy and his power unlocking. The ending has me looking forward to listening to book 2 in the series. Netgalley doesn't give half stars but this is really a 4.5. Highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media for the advance audio copy of this story. All thoughts are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media for the advance audio copy of this story. All thoughts are my own.
September 15, 2026
4/5 ⭐️
Monk of Black Flame is everything you want in a LitRPG, taking the if it isn’t broke don’t fix it approach to storytelling. There is a down on their luck hero finally finding the reason their luck had been so poor… they might just be a little special. Where Wales manages to differentiate his story from so many other LitRPG I’ve read is it reads like an actual novel with good prose and story structure. Less like a cobbled together group of events with overemphasis on exposition. It also helps that the audiobook was very good, which is my bread and butter…. I will be back for more.
Monk of Black Flame is everything you want in a LitRPG, taking the if it isn’t broke don’t fix it approach to storytelling. There is a down on their luck hero finally finding the reason their luck had been so poor… they might just be a little special. Where Wales manages to differentiate his story from so many other LitRPG I’ve read is it reads like an actual novel with good prose and story structure. Less like a cobbled together group of events with overemphasis on exposition. It also helps that the audiobook was very good, which is my bread and butter…. I will be back for more.
December 13, 2025
Takes a monk class and bends it on its ear
This is a great book, takes the monk trope of asceticism and bends it into something unrecognizable but in a good way. Take a martial movie, add in hell beasts, a young master trope and an all powerful overbearing ancient master and you have Monk of Black Flame. The MC constantly punches above his weight class and it awesome. Can’t wait for the second book. Highly recommend.
This is a great book, takes the monk trope of asceticism and bends it into something unrecognizable but in a good way. Take a martial movie, add in hell beasts, a young master trope and an all powerful overbearing ancient master and you have Monk of Black Flame. The MC constantly punches above his weight class and it awesome. Can’t wait for the second book. Highly recommend.
December 30, 2025
No one could know...Just bad writing
This offering started quite well and picked up speed. It stayed extremely interesting. The epilogue was where things went off the wheels. We leave a loose end with a missing character and the last line of the book is 'No one could know' followed by a statement. That's just bad writing. If no one could know, why are we hinted at? Good book but do better!
This offering started quite well and picked up speed. It stayed extremely interesting. The epilogue was where things went off the wheels. We leave a loose end with a missing character and the last line of the book is 'No one could know' followed by a statement. That's just bad writing. If no one could know, why are we hinted at? Good book but do better!
October 8, 2026
Very fun and fast paced LitRPG book. The audio was entertaining, the narrator conveyed emotions well and his voices for each character were distinct, my only issue was that the narrator’s pacing was very slow and I had to put it at x1.5 for it to be remotely bareable. The fights were cool and the monk’s abilities were so interesting. While the action was entertaining, I wasn't particularly invested in the story or its characters.
Thank you to the publisher and author for an ALC via Netgalley!
Thank you to the publisher and author for an ALC via Netgalley!
January 17, 2026
there is always monkey business
Good book. I really like monks. There were some small issues to clean up like the mc wearing sandals, then barefoot, then boots and the like where the author forgot where and what. Yet the overall story was great and the environment unique making this a very enjoyable read.
Good book. I really like monks. There were some small issues to clean up like the mc wearing sandals, then barefoot, then boots and the like where the author forgot where and what. Yet the overall story was great and the environment unique making this a very enjoyable read.
January 27, 2026
Decent story in dire need of an editor. It suffers from huge inflation. A gold is certain death to a bronze, but later our "hero" is fighting 4 of them WITH a greatsword lodged thru his chest. I skipped pages of tedious battle, that contained our hero just trying harder than ANYONE ever, everyone else must just be lazy.
All that said I still finished it
All that said I still finished it
February 3, 2026
Good Book
I enjoyed this book it was a good read.
It had an interesting story and main character.
That said, it did have a few issues. It has an issue with misplaced words and repeating paragraphs. This is especially obvious in the last 30% or so of the book. There were at least 5 or 6 times where entire paragraphs were repeated twice in a row.
I enjoyed this book it was a good read.
It had an interesting story and main character.
That said, it did have a few issues. It has an issue with misplaced words and repeating paragraphs. This is especially obvious in the last 30% or so of the book. There were at least 5 or 6 times where entire paragraphs were repeated twice in a row.
March 2, 2026
DNF. Wow, this was badly written. No real effort made to establish the character or the world before he falls through a portal to Hell and is immediately a superhero. All this at the ripe age of 15, the fact that he’s still a child being never dealt with.
The blurb sounded super cool. The lack of effort in the writing and absence of any editing really took away from it.
The blurb sounded super cool. The lack of effort in the writing and absence of any editing really took away from it.
May 10, 2026
Good book kept me enthralled.
The book was so good that I did not go to sleep, until I finished at 8:30AM I started reading it at 3::00PM. So I spent just over 17 and half hours to finish it cannot wait to start book Two. I'm a bit tired so I'll take a nap before I go to work at 2:30PM.
The book was so good that I did not go to sleep, until I finished at 8:30AM I started reading it at 3::00PM. So I spent just over 17 and half hours to finish it cannot wait to start book Two. I'm a bit tired so I'll take a nap before I go to work at 2:30PM.
January 3, 2026
Good Book.
Liked the MC and the story. The world mechanics were different but easy to understand. Good writing with the story advancing naturally and the MC not doing stupid things to move the story along.
I highly recommend the book and will be reading the next one.
Liked the MC and the story. The world mechanics were different but easy to understand. Good writing with the story advancing naturally and the MC not doing stupid things to move the story along.
I highly recommend the book and will be reading the next one.
January 27, 2026
A good start tempered by overdone politics.
The acadamy is cheap, an empty setting. The political landscape is similar. Just an idea with little merit. Rather than an interesting setting, it is a blunt cudgel. This was a solid idea with cheap theatrics.
The acadamy is cheap, an empty setting. The political landscape is similar. Just an idea with little merit. Rather than an interesting setting, it is a blunt cudgel. This was a solid idea with cheap theatrics.
September 6, 2026
Loved this!!! Couldn’t put it down. Fast paced, quick progression, immersive story. Really enjoyed the character build and learning about the magic system. Will be jumping into the rest of the series ASAP!
December 29, 2025
Immensely compelling and downright amazing to read
January 19, 2026
excellent book
Absolutely a joyful read. One of the best books I’ve read in a long while I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Absolutely a joyful read. One of the best books I’ve read in a long while I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
January 31, 2026
DNF stopped at 7%. Do not waste your time
I did not finish this. It's badly edited and not worth the time. The sentences don't make sense and the writing is just bad
I did not finish this. It's badly edited and not worth the time. The sentences don't make sense and the writing is just bad
February 5, 2026
Great story
Great new take on a mink class. Great story and great character building. The ending was very real. And set a nice path for the next book
Great new take on a mink class. Great story and great character building. The ending was very real. And set a nice path for the next book
February 9, 2026
Enjoyable but in need of thorough editing. Lots of typos and even duplicate paragraphs in a fun story with an engaging MC.
June 6, 2026
Better towards the end.
Lots of words in the wrong place. This needs an editor to improve. The world view is ok and the storyline works but it was a bit stilted.
Lots of words in the wrong place. This needs an editor to improve. The world view is ok and the storyline works but it was a bit stilted.
July 1, 2026
not sure what to think
I enjoyed the majority of the book, but the randomly repeated paragraphs makes it feel like there’s been ai input into this.
I enjoyed the majority of the book, but the randomly repeated paragraphs makes it feel like there’s been ai input into this.
didn-t-like-it
October 6, 2026Note to self: didn't like it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews