From Plum Parrot, the bestselling author of Victor of Tucson, comes book 2 in a new apocalyptic LitRPG progression fantasy about found family, desperate courage, and carving hope out of chaos.
Plum Parrot is the pen name of author MC Gallup, who grew up in Southern Arizona and spent much of his youth wandering around the Sonoran Desert, hunting imaginary monsters and building forts. He studied creative writing at the University of Arizona and, for a number of years, attempted to teach middle schoolers to love literature and write their own stories. If he's not out walking his Airedale Terrier, you can find Gallup writing, reading his favorite authors, or playing D&D with friends and family.
I thought this book was mediocre. Not terrible, but not all that great either.
Part of this is that a lot of it is about Andy fighting, and I don't find how he fights all that interesting. He's a spear fighter with a few magic spells, so it's mostly "Andy stabbed a lot" or "Andy used his breath attack." It doesn't help that some of his smoke magic, like his "smoke vision" or "smoke jumping" doesn't seem like something that smoke would do for you.
Most of the book is about Andy and his group entering a dungeon full of giant humanoid rats. I really didn't buy for a moment that their little band of 5 was able to take on groups of 20-30 man-sized opponents and win. Andy's now supernaturally fast, but it seems like the other 4 are much more ordinary and should have gotten swarmed and killed.
After that's resolved, the trailer park gets visited by some Fae, who pretend to be friendly but turn out to be *extremely* murderous. I found how that was resolved very easy and unsatisfying, even if it's somewhat in keeping with the reputation of the Fae.
Still, it was a not-awful adventure novel for all the things I didn't like about it.
I like the premise for a System apocalypse story, but so often it feels like everyone becomes a total sociopath and I end up not liking any of the characters. I don't enjoy books where I have no characters to cheer on. PlumParrot doesn't fall into that trap with our MMC Andy. Andy is a 24 guy from the trailer park who is dealing with the Apocalypse the best he can, and his first thoughts are not of himself but others. Just as in book 1, Andy continues to grow his community, trying to save everyone he can.
Like the first, this is a tale of hope and a growing community amidst utter devastation, working together to survive. There's plenty of great fighting and adventure, from the caves and dungeon under the Mesa, to the Elves who arrive by airship, but what makes this story a riveting must read is how Andy and those around him are not just surviving, but trying to build a future in new world they've been thrust into.
I really can't say how much I love this series enough. System apocalypse stories are often hit or miss for me, usually because it feels like everyone becomes a total sociopath. This is a story with hope and community amidst utter devastation. There's plenty of great fighting and adventure, but I think what makes this exceptional is how the main character and the people around him are truly trying to build a future in this new world.
PlumParrot is also an amazing storyteller, creating a vivid world with rich characters so far beyond the rpg gaming stats and one-dimensional throwaway side characters. He creates a tremendously rich world to immerse yourself in and I can't get enough!
This book is better than the first. The powers and classes are better, the world has expanded quite a bit, and they had a proper adventure. Each character is really growing including at least one I wasn't expecting. I would say the climax felt a little off in that there were two so after the first I was wondering where the book was going. The first was a big battle type of climax and the second was more a reveal of information. Andy was strong enough that the danger from the second climax wasn't really a worry at all.
In the end it's a fun book where the MC isn't a stoic loner and the powers and world are slowly ramping up.
Once again the author has crafted a work that stands head and shoulders above the general run of LitRPG novels. Andy is a compelling character, and his progression is paced to keep him realistic in his community. That community is part of what makes these so enjoyable. Andy is not single handedly responsible for saving the world(s), he’s working with others to protect and provide for neighbours.
My only complaint is that the end came too soon … and the next book is too long a wait.
All ratings start at 3 stars and change from there. Honestly, read as part of a vacation run and I'm a bit behind on writing the actual reviews and I'm not sure I remember everything I might want to say.
Not sure I have anything to say that wasn't said in my review of 1 (since it sort of strayed into stuff from this book). Still enjoying, read in a day or just over. Like the main character and that counts for a lot. World build up continues, some long range threats and or opportunities develop. I sort of like that there's more to do then our MC can deal with alone.
This book finished too fast. So much fun with the progress of the Mesa, the System, and the hint of the wider world encroaching. Best praise I can give this, is that it kept me from re-reading the latest Quest Academy book. Hoping we’ll get more perspectives in book 3 with all the new characters and what he learned in this one that brings opportunities for his group.
I like how realistic these books are and that Andy is an ordinary guy until after the system arrived. Introducing the Far onto the story brought an interesting plot that I liked. The storage ring is a neat piece also.
This book just wasn’t as good as the first one. Ending wasn’t very exciting either. The lepricons wasn’t as very interesting end but there was some interesting buildup and growth for the future.
It was a very good book It had great action, great characters, a good system and great fantasy elements. It Is also clean. No sex and only mentions nudity in a non graphic way.
It does have profanity though. Not as much as the first book but still present.