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UpStream: The Knight Rising — Volume 4: Urban LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
The story beloved by many readers continues.
Follow the adventures of Alexander White - a man who, by a twist of fate, finds himself at the center of events that forever changed the human world.
In a modern reality infused with magic, he becomes one of the gifted - a Knight capable of traveling between worlds. Despite holding the lowest, black-tier license, Alexander has long surpassed his limits thanks to a unique system that allows him to level up his abilities like an RPG character.
The second Arc starts here.
In this volume, you can
New questNew skillsNew worldsNew enemies (including unicorn, insects, Cthulhu, rabbits, as well as "cyclops", "Minotaur", "harpies", "mermaids", "Cerberus", and more)
This novel will appeal to fans
Solo Leveling, The Beginning After the End, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, , and Arise from the Shadow.
Follow the adventures of Alexander White - a man who, by a twist of fate, finds himself at the center of events that forever changed the human world.
In a modern reality infused with magic, he becomes one of the gifted - a Knight capable of traveling between worlds. Despite holding the lowest, black-tier license, Alexander has long surpassed his limits thanks to a unique system that allows him to level up his abilities like an RPG character.
The second Arc starts here.
In this volume, you can
New questNew skillsNew worldsNew enemies (including unicorn, insects, Cthulhu, rabbits, as well as "cyclops", "Minotaur", "harpies", "mermaids", "Cerberus", and more)
This novel will appeal to fans
Solo Leveling, The Beginning After the End, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, , and Arise from the Shadow.
531 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 7, 2026
In this book, the story got better.
The protagonist's intelligence and wisdom are still "unreliable", but a wee bit better.
One line of dialog between the characters sum things up well:
"“My previous master…” The giant took a deep breath before continuing. “Was much smarter than you.”"
All I can say is that while the story is all over the place like pinballs in an 1960s style pinball machine, it is still entertaining. I will probably buy book number 5 if there ever is such a release.
*UPDATE*
Well, I am almost to the end of the book.
The author has made the classic moralistic nonsense mistake of having the protagonist's enemies try to kill him, and then having the (none-too-bright) main character let all of his enemies live. Was this series written for ages 6 through 12?
Other than that foolishness, it was a good story. *sigh*
*This reminds me of the 1950s American Westerns where the "hero" shoots the guns out the hands of the 3 or 5 guys he/she is in a shoot out with on Main Street.
Apparently, that nonsense did not die in the 1950s like I thought it did. Who comes up with this stuff? This is the year 2026, right?
BTW: The Cover Artwork is AWESOME! Kudos to the artist(s).
The protagonist's intelligence and wisdom are still "unreliable", but a wee bit better.
One line of dialog between the characters sum things up well:
"“My previous master…” The giant took a deep breath before continuing. “Was much smarter than you.”"
All I can say is that while the story is all over the place like pinballs in an 1960s style pinball machine, it is still entertaining. I will probably buy book number 5 if there ever is such a release.
*UPDATE*
Well, I am almost to the end of the book.
The author has made the classic moralistic nonsense mistake of having the protagonist's enemies try to kill him, and then having the (none-too-bright) main character let all of his enemies live. Was this series written for ages 6 through 12?
Other than that foolishness, it was a good story. *sigh*
*This reminds me of the 1950s American Westerns where the "hero" shoots the guns out the hands of the 3 or 5 guys he/she is in a shoot out with on Main Street.
Apparently, that nonsense did not die in the 1950s like I thought it did. Who comes up with this stuff? This is the year 2026, right?
BTW: The Cover Artwork is AWESOME! Kudos to the artist(s).
August 21, 2026
Another 5 star read, exciting, fun, humorous in places, and an all round enjoyable read, just like the previous 3. Glad it was a longer book than the previous ones, a point that the author has already addressed which is good.
Couple of points I would like to make though. Firstly, the author constantly refers to the main character as "the man" in sentences which is very confusing as you automatically assume he is talking about someone else, a more normal phrasing would be to refer to him by name or if you already know it refers to him then just with "he said" rather than "the man said".
For instance - this is just one occasion its used - "He turned and was surprised to find himself standing alone on the upper steps of the staircase, right next to the collapse. Realising what had happened, the man immediately looked back down." This is a sentence referring to Alex so "the man" should be either "he" or "Alex" - sorry, small gripe but it was just so jarring, every time I read it it took me out of the story.
Second point as a personal foible rather than a problem with the story but I always feel that taking the main character out of the main story location for an extended period of time in the book messes with the flow and inserting small vignettes of other characters just to keep them up to date messes with it even more.
That said, awaiting the next instalment with great expectations
P.S - still wish the stats updates came with an indication of what the increases were rather than a double showing of the stats with having to flick back between them, showing Strength 19->21 is so much clearer.
P.P.S Sorry if any of my comments come across as criticisms, they arent, just points I feel could improve an already great read. Just my opinion which could differ greatly from everyone else :-)
Couple of points I would like to make though. Firstly, the author constantly refers to the main character as "the man" in sentences which is very confusing as you automatically assume he is talking about someone else, a more normal phrasing would be to refer to him by name or if you already know it refers to him then just with "he said" rather than "the man said".
For instance - this is just one occasion its used - "He turned and was surprised to find himself standing alone on the upper steps of the staircase, right next to the collapse. Realising what had happened, the man immediately looked back down." This is a sentence referring to Alex so "the man" should be either "he" or "Alex" - sorry, small gripe but it was just so jarring, every time I read it it took me out of the story.
Second point as a personal foible rather than a problem with the story but I always feel that taking the main character out of the main story location for an extended period of time in the book messes with the flow and inserting small vignettes of other characters just to keep them up to date messes with it even more.
That said, awaiting the next instalment with great expectations
P.S - still wish the stats updates came with an indication of what the increases were rather than a double showing of the stats with having to flick back between them, showing Strength 19->21 is so much clearer.
P.P.S Sorry if any of my comments come across as criticisms, they arent, just points I feel could improve an already great read. Just my opinion which could differ greatly from everyone else :-)
September 28, 2026
Good book
This is book 4 and the first of the second arc. Alex grows in powers a lot in this book. I am looking forward to him taking over Detroit.
This is book 4 and the first of the second arc. Alex grows in powers a lot in this book. I am looking forward to him taking over Detroit.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews