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Warmaster #10
Warmaster 10: Winterforge: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
Aderyn and her companions have followed the Fated One’s Destiny quest across vast and dangerous lands. Now only two cryptic words remain to guide them: Enter Winterforge.
They must cross a frozen, hostile wilderness to reach a mythic dungeon guarded by creatures born of legend and nightmare. In this high-risk zone, every step could be their last—especially with a ruthless rival team pursuing them, led by a Fated One who will kill without hesitation.
As their ultimate trial pushes the team to its limits, testing every ounce of skill, courage, and unbreakable bond, Aderyn and Owen draw closer to the shattering truth behind the Fated One’s Destiny quest—a secret powerful enough to change the world.
But when the system’s guidance vanishes, Aderyn is forced to rely on the skills she has no ranks in… if she can discover what they are before time runs out.
Experience the adventure’s thrilling conclusion in WARMASTER 10: WINTERFORGE today!
They must cross a frozen, hostile wilderness to reach a mythic dungeon guarded by creatures born of legend and nightmare. In this high-risk zone, every step could be their last—especially with a ruthless rival team pursuing them, led by a Fated One who will kill without hesitation.
As their ultimate trial pushes the team to its limits, testing every ounce of skill, courage, and unbreakable bond, Aderyn and Owen draw closer to the shattering truth behind the Fated One’s Destiny quest—a secret powerful enough to change the world.
But when the system’s guidance vanishes, Aderyn is forced to rely on the skills she has no ranks in… if she can discover what they are before time runs out.
Experience the adventure’s thrilling conclusion in WARMASTER 10: WINTERFORGE today!
- GenresFantasy
567 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 26, 2026
About the author
Melissa McShane
87 books862 followersMelissa grew up a nomad, following her family all over the United States, and ended up living in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains with her husband, four kids, and three very needy cats. Her love of reading was always a constant during those uncertain years, and her love of writing grew out of that. She wrote reviews and critical essays for many years before turning to fiction, and was surprised at how much she liked it. She loves the fantasy genre and how it stretches the imagination.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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June 21, 2026Read on a long train ride. Actually, devours on a long train ride, with bonus extra two hours worked in (I lost those two hours on the way east three weeks ago). Continue to list as fantasy rather than create another category for LitRPG which I'm not likely to fill with any more books, as game fiction is not my thing.
But what kept me glued to this series is not only the inventiveness of the various quests, dungeons, monsters, and the adventurers our team encounters on the way, it's the splendid way that the author handles relationships over the course of a series. The romance part was over relatively quickly; what followed was a totally satisfying deepening of that relationship as Aderyn and Owen figure out what it means to be a couple in it for the long term.
I also became fond of most of the teammates, and watched their evolution with interest. The spark that really drew me into this particular books was Aderyn's delving into questions about monster paradigm. Yessss!
Just, overall good reading, and I finished with a fond farewell; I think the only thing I wished we could get (skip for wishes past the ending) would be a glimpse of their kid adventurers in future. But everything was quite fine, and now I look forward to what genre we will be exploring next!
But what kept me glued to this series is not only the inventiveness of the various quests, dungeons, monsters, and the adventurers our team encounters on the way, it's the splendid way that the author handles relationships over the course of a series. The romance part was over relatively quickly; what followed was a totally satisfying deepening of that relationship as Aderyn and Owen figure out what it means to be a couple in it for the long term.
I also became fond of most of the teammates, and watched their evolution with interest. The spark that really drew me into this particular books was Aderyn's delving into questions about monster paradigm. Yessss!
Just, overall good reading, and I finished with a fond farewell; I think the only thing I wished we could get (skip for wishes past the ending) would be a glimpse of their kid adventurers in future. But everything was quite fine, and now I look forward to what genre we will be exploring next!
May 30, 2026
SERIES FINALE - A bit of a grind, but the ending makes up for it
Most of this novel was the heroes grinding the Winterforge dungeon. Since they’d reached the level cap and couldn’t gain XP, skill ranks, or spells, there wasn’t a whole lot of sense of achievement. This hurt the story because advancement and achievement was always a major part of its appeal to me. I won’t spoil the ending, but it more than makes up for having to endure the grind.
I also didn’t expect this to be the series finale. I’m a bit sad to see it end, but the author does a great job of wrapping everything up and ending on a positive note. What a great series!
Recommended. I give it 4/5 stars.
Most of this novel was the heroes grinding the Winterforge dungeon. Since they’d reached the level cap and couldn’t gain XP, skill ranks, or spells, there wasn’t a whole lot of sense of achievement. This hurt the story because advancement and achievement was always a major part of its appeal to me. I won’t spoil the ending, but it more than makes up for having to endure the grind.
I also didn’t expect this to be the series finale. I’m a bit sad to see it end, but the author does a great job of wrapping everything up and ending on a positive note. What a great series!
Recommended. I give it 4/5 stars.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Warmaster 10: Winterforge, by Melissa McShane, is the 10th and final installment of the Warmaster series, and what a series it has been. You might think it wouldn’t have been a good fit for this reader, as it is based on Role Playing Games. I have never played a Role Playing Game in my life. Or, for that matter, many other kinds of games beyond Canasta. But I love fiction. My favorite genre is romance, and my second favorite is fantasy. Although the romance takes place in the first few books, I think it would be fair to say that this series fits into the romantasy genre. Aderyn, the female main character, and Owen, the male main character, fall in love over the arc of the first few books, and after that it is a pleasure to see their love deepen with time and experience.
This is a series in which adventuring teams pursue various quests, most involving monsters of various sorts, accumulating points and experience enabling them to take on ever more complex challenges and dangerous monsters. Winterforge has been their long-term goal: a deeply mysterious and dangerous dungeon which can be reached and entered only at the end of a long and successful quest chain.
The new monsters introduced in this book make me wonder if Ms. McShane could ever run out of monstrous inventions. Probably not; she is extremely creative. The most fascinating part of the series for me has been the slow but building tendency of Aderyn to question the mindless slaughtering of monsters. She begins to find something few teams even suspect: some of the monsters are intelligent beings pursuing their own versions of moral existence and deserve at least the attempt to reach out to them in friendship.
I could not begin to summarize this long, complex novel. I will just say that it is a fitting end to a fascinating series. I bid goodbye to Aderyn and Owen with regret. Well done, Melissa McShane! If you like any of the genres mentioned above, give this one a try. Relatively few of the books are truly stand-alone, so I suggest that you begin at the beginning and enjoy the series. I envy you the journey and will doubtless make it again myself in a few years.
This is a series in which adventuring teams pursue various quests, most involving monsters of various sorts, accumulating points and experience enabling them to take on ever more complex challenges and dangerous monsters. Winterforge has been their long-term goal: a deeply mysterious and dangerous dungeon which can be reached and entered only at the end of a long and successful quest chain.
The new monsters introduced in this book make me wonder if Ms. McShane could ever run out of monstrous inventions. Probably not; she is extremely creative. The most fascinating part of the series for me has been the slow but building tendency of Aderyn to question the mindless slaughtering of monsters. She begins to find something few teams even suspect: some of the monsters are intelligent beings pursuing their own versions of moral existence and deserve at least the attempt to reach out to them in friendship.
I could not begin to summarize this long, complex novel. I will just say that it is a fitting end to a fascinating series. I bid goodbye to Aderyn and Owen with regret. Well done, Melissa McShane! If you like any of the genres mentioned above, give this one a try. Relatively few of the books are truly stand-alone, so I suggest that you begin at the beginning and enjoy the series. I envy you the journey and will doubtless make it again myself in a few years.
June 17, 2026
I’m not really a five star reviewer most of the time; I keep five stars for the very best of the best. And not to give faint praise, but this isn’t a book I would individually give five stars to (a solid 4.5?). Still, I felt the five star rating was appropriate to give to a satisfying final end of a thoroughly enjoyable series. The characters stayed true to themselves, but also grew as people as they grew in skills. All of them contributed to the story and the action. I didn’t feel like any of them were self-insert all-powerful childish fantasies. Nothing in these books gave me painful secondhand embarrassment (a feeling I despise and yet unfortunately encounter in too many books). I really enjoyed a lot of the details of the world and the various monsters and people the characters encountered.
I strongly dislike romance plots because of the second hand embarrassment and I get really annoyed by the “will they / won’t they” stuff. There is a little romance early in the series but it didn’t annoy me and after that the characters are just in a loving and healthy relationship. No weird obsessions, no insane jealousy, no destructive insecurity. It’s nice. It’s real. It’s how folks live, not the focus of the story. I wish there had been a few more queer characters but it was fine.
The audiobook narrator did a great job, too.
I will miss this series, and look forward to reading whatever the author writes next.
I strongly dislike romance plots because of the second hand embarrassment and I get really annoyed by the “will they / won’t they” stuff. There is a little romance early in the series but it didn’t annoy me and after that the characters are just in a loving and healthy relationship. No weird obsessions, no insane jealousy, no destructive insecurity. It’s nice. It’s real. It’s how folks live, not the focus of the story. I wish there had been a few more queer characters but it was fine.
The audiobook narrator did a great job, too.
I will miss this series, and look forward to reading whatever the author writes next.
June 2, 2026
Amazing Series! Thank you
I can't believe how emotional about the fact that this series has ended. I picked up the first book actually on the author's recommendation in a facebook group (I think) just because I was board and figured I'd try a new author just to kill some time. I never expected to love the books nearly as much as I do/did and I'm so glad I picked the first book up.
things specific to this book: lovely ending, though I felt like some of it was rushed. I'm glad to see an author that is willing to actually end a series and not chase series after they clearly should have been put to bed. The ending was happy and left most questions answered. I could definitely see a worad in which a spin-off series is created from this series and if it does, I'll be first in line to read it; which is saying a lot because I normally don't like spinnoffs:
onence again, than you for sharing this series and for such good writing! I can't wait to see what you write next!
I can't believe how emotional about the fact that this series has ended. I picked up the first book actually on the author's recommendation in a facebook group (I think) just because I was board and figured I'd try a new author just to kill some time. I never expected to love the books nearly as much as I do/did and I'm so glad I picked the first book up.
things specific to this book: lovely ending, though I felt like some of it was rushed. I'm glad to see an author that is willing to actually end a series and not chase series after they clearly should have been put to bed. The ending was happy and left most questions answered. I could definitely see a worad in which a spin-off series is created from this series and if it does, I'll be first in line to read it; which is saying a lot because I normally don't like spinnoffs:
onence again, than you for sharing this series and for such good writing! I can't wait to see what you write next!
June 6, 2026
Excellent Conclusion
This series has been truly enjoyable throughout. Each instalment is well paced, exciting, with great world and character building. The author also manages to create a perfect balance of quests that are consequential without falling over the edge into grimdark. The writing retains the best aspects of LitRPG while not drowning the reader in pages of character statistics. I look forward to seeing what McShane does next!
This series has been truly enjoyable throughout. Each instalment is well paced, exciting, with great world and character building. The author also manages to create a perfect balance of quests that are consequential without falling over the edge into grimdark. The writing retains the best aspects of LitRPG while not drowning the reader in pages of character statistics. I look forward to seeing what McShane does next!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews