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Book of the Dead #5
Ascension: A LitRPG Adventure
Even if his heart no longer beats, Tyron will not be stopped on his path to vengeance.
The Western Province has fallen, its population purged and the survivors have fled over the mountains and into a magick scoured wasteland. No matter how far they go, or how well they hide, the Empire will not rest until the heretics and rebels have been crushed.
Under the fragile leadership of Merigold Herimar, a low ranking noble appointed well above her station, the Golden Legion is massing. If she can fight through the bureaucracy and petty grievances of the court, she may save the Empire.
Tyron, knowing his options are few, must grow stronger and build his undead horde to greater heights. To achieve this, he will need to access the mysterious Realm of the Dead.
Book 5 of the next hit LitRPG series from RinoZ, the author of Chrysalis. Book of the Dead takes on all aspects of Necromancy headfirst, from the tactical manuevering of skeletons, to what it's like spending so much time amongst the undead.
The Western Province has fallen, its population purged and the survivors have fled over the mountains and into a magick scoured wasteland. No matter how far they go, or how well they hide, the Empire will not rest until the heretics and rebels have been crushed.
Under the fragile leadership of Merigold Herimar, a low ranking noble appointed well above her station, the Golden Legion is massing. If she can fight through the bureaucracy and petty grievances of the court, she may save the Empire.
Tyron, knowing his options are few, must grow stronger and build his undead horde to greater heights. To achieve this, he will need to access the mysterious Realm of the Dead.
Book 5 of the next hit LitRPG series from RinoZ, the author of Chrysalis. Book of the Dead takes on all aspects of Necromancy headfirst, from the tactical manuevering of skeletons, to what it's like spending so much time amongst the undead.
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First published July 22, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 5, 2026
I liked this book, but I’m hitting a point where I’m tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. I don’t want to keep hearing about how he keeps forgetting to take care of himself and that he should be better about it. We’ve been hearing the same thing since the beginning of the series; either commit to actually being better about it or stop bringing it up.
Elsbeth and Worthy pretty much exist to give us slightly differing perspectives, but otherwise don’t really add much to the story this time around. The real treasure of a POV was Merigold. It was nice seeing a perspective from the Empire that wasn’t the same old “and the nobles are simply evil,” showing that she is someone with a relative position of power that does care, and that her chess game with the other nobles and Tyron has consequences.
Tyron himself continues on his path of being an anti-villain protagonist who is out evil-ed by the antagonists. There’s not much to say here, as beyond his continued descent into unfeeling, he doesn’t really change much as a character.
I had felt during the first portion of the book that Dove was overdone and his badly deteriorated relationship with Tyron was no longer fun, but the second half of the book has me changing my tune. Dove is less fun when he’s insane comic relief and more fun when he’s smart and active comic relief.
Elsbeth and Worthy pretty much exist to give us slightly differing perspectives, but otherwise don’t really add much to the story this time around. The real treasure of a POV was Merigold. It was nice seeing a perspective from the Empire that wasn’t the same old “and the nobles are simply evil,” showing that she is someone with a relative position of power that does care, and that her chess game with the other nobles and Tyron has consequences.
Tyron himself continues on his path of being an anti-villain protagonist who is out evil-ed by the antagonists. There’s not much to say here, as beyond his continued descent into unfeeling, he doesn’t really change much as a character.
I had felt during the first portion of the book that Dove was overdone and his badly deteriorated relationship with Tyron was no longer fun, but the second half of the book has me changing my tune. Dove is less fun when he’s insane comic relief and more fun when he’s smart and active comic relief.
August 17, 2026
YES YES YES YES!!!! This is EXACTLY what was needed, and addressed my concerns with the last book. For context, I felt the last book had Tyron getting too unstoppably powerful. Here he still grows in power but with the gritty, grueling, overwhelming odds he has to face that the first 2 books had.
This book felt like I was watching Andor, the use of Marigold's perspective added so much to the story. At the end, I was actually rooting for her over Tyron and I'm glad every step of the way was an uphill battle for both Tyron and Marigold. This is by far my favorite book in the series, and balloons this series to one of my favorites of all time.
My only critique is that Dove's personality was kind of given too much attention/not enough? He was reduced to just unfunny sex jokes all the time which just felt weird, only adding any value to the story later in the book. Essentially he became one dimensional for most of the book which made him feel like the author's self insert of weird "jokes" the author wanted to say, when he could have more effectively been used as actual comedic relief / breaking up the seriousness of Tyron if he made any other type of joke, comments, or value to the story.
This book felt like I was watching Andor, the use of Marigold's perspective added so much to the story. At the end, I was actually rooting for her over Tyron and I'm glad every step of the way was an uphill battle for both Tyron and Marigold. This is by far my favorite book in the series, and balloons this series to one of my favorites of all time.
My only critique is that Dove's personality was kind of given too much attention/not enough? He was reduced to just unfunny sex jokes all the time which just felt weird, only adding any value to the story later in the book. Essentially he became one dimensional for most of the book which made him feel like the author's self insert of weird "jokes" the author wanted to say, when he could have more effectively been used as actual comedic relief / breaking up the seriousness of Tyron if he made any other type of joke, comments, or value to the story.
September 5, 2026
A mostly fun revenge romp held back by character issues and some boring stretches.
I really enjoy the author’s other series, Chrysalis, but this one is a bit different. The main characters have different personalities and goals. The Chrysalis series is more focused on the traditional “prophesied” whatever trope whereas this one is a revenge story, but both are on the grandest level of scale (being the machinations of gods and god-like beings, I know thats the plot of almost every series out there). But for some reason, I find myself more judgmental of this series versus Chrysalis.
The reason isn’t the MC’s, path, that’s fun it it’s own way like Chrysalis. It’s not the plot as even though it is a trope plot, it’s not as repetitive as Chrysalis’ has become. My issue is with character inconsistency with the MC. He goes from a kid who knows nothing to a couple years later lecturing people cynically on human nature. Where did this sagacity come from?
It’s like one day a switch was thrown and we went from a well-trodden and framed out character arc to the typical smug, over-idealized, know-it-all MC who is NEVER WRONG. Besides the fact that MCs like that aren’t for me, as I think they’re lazy, the issue is there is no context for how the MC came to be this way. Worse, he actively contradicts himself. He says his mission is about revenge against the system that caused his parents to have to die but it’s also said that his dream since being a kid was to be a slayer who could close the rifts and make the realm safe. He’s attempting to accomplish both these goals, but they don’t align from an ethical standpoint and his motivations and goals in this series to this point are self-contradictory and not fully explained on the page.
Further, there’s a general level of sloppiness to this series. Although, it’s reasonably well-polished compared to a lot of the pulp in this genre, there’s still odd mistakes I don’t understand how they made it to the final edit. Such as when the MC ranks up to Platinum, he reminds himself of the urgency of his situation and that he can’t take risks or long-term choices but needs power now. Then he proceeds to take multiple skills or whatever that he doesn’t even know what they do. Literally calls one a “gamble”. Then he gets this crest mechanic and has to choose skills to put into it to focus on, reminds himself he needs skills to focus on the core of his build, then once again chooses skills he just got and doesn’t know what they do because he “knows” they will work. The MC is inner monologuing and contradicting himself from one sentence to the next repeatedly. This happened again in the same ranking sequence, a total of three times in a couple of chapters, I just don’t remember the details enough to repeat them here.
I also notice weird things like randomly switching from third person to omnipresent third person from one paragraph to the next.
I also found the entire jaunt to the realm of the dead to be boring. I guess there was some minor world building going on, but this section was entirely too long and barely made sense in the context of the story as a strategic decision. For instance, Tyron says he needs to go to this place that he knows NOTHING about whatsoever, not even if he can breathe or eat there, to get the levels he needs to hit platinum. But then spends a couple days after making platinum in the next book having his minions hunt beasts from the rifts and gets four levels. So basically, there was ZERO need for him to take this risk in the context of the story as he could have just hunted beasts and closed rifts.
Finally in the climatic battle, which up until the end was classic progression done right, as in the battle was a culmination of the MC’s investment in his skills and progression playing out to a strategic and starting win, instead he’s disabled and has to escape in a way that feels like a totally unreasonable gamble on his part. But I’m gonna assume he had more backup plans than just the one we were shown, such as converting into some form of undead, and that this isn’t a totally cheap contrivance and inexplicable risk on his part only explained by the fact the author knows the MC will be safe because he can write it that way. That’s something I find makes for terribly storytelling. So hoping there was an ace in the hole I’m missing to explain why this gamble was relatively safe and that it will be revealed later.
So overall, there’s a real sloppiness to this series that keeps it from being as good as the author’s other series or the best series in this genre. I still enjoyed it for the most part but not sure this is a series I would recommend to a casual reader. I need to see how the rest of the series plays out.
I really enjoy the author’s other series, Chrysalis, but this one is a bit different. The main characters have different personalities and goals. The Chrysalis series is more focused on the traditional “prophesied” whatever trope whereas this one is a revenge story, but both are on the grandest level of scale (being the machinations of gods and god-like beings, I know thats the plot of almost every series out there). But for some reason, I find myself more judgmental of this series versus Chrysalis.
The reason isn’t the MC’s, path, that’s fun it it’s own way like Chrysalis. It’s not the plot as even though it is a trope plot, it’s not as repetitive as Chrysalis’ has become. My issue is with character inconsistency with the MC. He goes from a kid who knows nothing to a couple years later lecturing people cynically on human nature. Where did this sagacity come from?
It’s like one day a switch was thrown and we went from a well-trodden and framed out character arc to the typical smug, over-idealized, know-it-all MC who is NEVER WRONG. Besides the fact that MCs like that aren’t for me, as I think they’re lazy, the issue is there is no context for how the MC came to be this way. Worse, he actively contradicts himself. He says his mission is about revenge against the system that caused his parents to have to die but it’s also said that his dream since being a kid was to be a slayer who could close the rifts and make the realm safe. He’s attempting to accomplish both these goals, but they don’t align from an ethical standpoint and his motivations and goals in this series to this point are self-contradictory and not fully explained on the page.
Further, there’s a general level of sloppiness to this series. Although, it’s reasonably well-polished compared to a lot of the pulp in this genre, there’s still odd mistakes I don’t understand how they made it to the final edit. Such as when the MC ranks up to Platinum, he reminds himself of the urgency of his situation and that he can’t take risks or long-term choices but needs power now. Then he proceeds to take multiple skills or whatever that he doesn’t even know what they do. Literally calls one a “gamble”. Then he gets this crest mechanic and has to choose skills to put into it to focus on, reminds himself he needs skills to focus on the core of his build, then once again chooses skills he just got and doesn’t know what they do because he “knows” they will work. The MC is inner monologuing and contradicting himself from one sentence to the next repeatedly. This happened again in the same ranking sequence, a total of three times in a couple of chapters, I just don’t remember the details enough to repeat them here.
I also notice weird things like randomly switching from third person to omnipresent third person from one paragraph to the next.
I also found the entire jaunt to the realm of the dead to be boring. I guess there was some minor world building going on, but this section was entirely too long and barely made sense in the context of the story as a strategic decision. For instance, Tyron says he needs to go to this place that he knows NOTHING about whatsoever, not even if he can breathe or eat there, to get the levels he needs to hit platinum. But then spends a couple days after making platinum in the next book having his minions hunt beasts from the rifts and gets four levels. So basically, there was ZERO need for him to take this risk in the context of the story as he could have just hunted beasts and closed rifts.
Finally in the climatic battle, which up until the end was classic progression done right, as in the battle was a culmination of the MC’s investment in his skills and progression playing out to a strategic and starting win, instead he’s disabled and has to escape in a way that feels like a totally unreasonable gamble on his part. But I’m gonna assume he had more backup plans than just the one we were shown, such as converting into some form of undead, and that this isn’t a totally cheap contrivance and inexplicable risk on his part only explained by the fact the author knows the MC will be safe because he can write it that way. That’s something I find makes for terribly storytelling. So hoping there was an ace in the hole I’m missing to explain why this gamble was relatively safe and that it will be revealed later.
So overall, there’s a real sloppiness to this series that keeps it from being as good as the author’s other series or the best series in this genre. I still enjoyed it for the most part but not sure this is a series I would recommend to a casual reader. I need to see how the rest of the series plays out.
August 24, 2026
The book has a strong finish!
This was a close one. I came within a hare's breath of DNF'ing it. I prolly should'a re-read the the last book, but I don't do re-reads ever. And Dove is way over the top in this one. I couldn't believe that I had actually liked him initially. Anyway the book finally caught my attention about mid-way through and then of course I needed to finish it! And all the while Tyrone is getting stronger! I'm actually not sure if I'll read the next book. But like I said the last half of the book was actually good and it really had a strong finish! I was gonna say that it's 3⭐'s but the ending pushed it up to 4⭐'s...
This was a close one. I came within a hare's breath of DNF'ing it. I prolly should'a re-read the the last book, but I don't do re-reads ever. And Dove is way over the top in this one. I couldn't believe that I had actually liked him initially. Anyway the book finally caught my attention about mid-way through and then of course I needed to finish it! And all the while Tyrone is getting stronger! I'm actually not sure if I'll read the next book. But like I said the last half of the book was actually good and it really had a strong finish! I was gonna say that it's 3⭐'s but the ending pushed it up to 4⭐'s...
July 23, 2026
Amazing book!
This is another installment of one of my favourite series and the characters, the plot everything is just breathtaking
This is another installment of one of my favourite series and the characters, the plot everything is just breathtaking
August 13, 2026
Book of the Dead: Ascension takes place three years after the last book. We’re thrown back into the world and shown the consequences of Tyron’s previous escapades. The people he’s saved are eking out a living in the harsh wasteland, with Tyron’s skeletons and magic making life bearable.
The empire hasn’t forgotten about the heretic rebels and the millions of refugees, though. They’ve cleansed the rest of the Western Province by wiping out anyone who wasn’t fast or smart enough to run away, and they’re not finished. They’re hot on Tyron’s tail, and they’ve got an army of heavy hitters out for his head.
Up against the clock, and an army more powerful than his skeletons by a mile, our friendly neighbourhood Necromancer takes huge risks, makes deals with gods and scheming vampires, and of course, discovers new magick with his genius intellect.
Every corner reveals a new powerful enemy, and more than once I wondered “how’s he gonna make it out of this one”—which is rare for me, because we all know the main character isn’t gonna die. But I gotta give the author props for ramping up the tension and keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Even watching Tyron choose new abilities had me glued to the screen (I’m reading on Kindle) and intrigued about what he was gonna pick.
The author does a great job of baiting hooks at the end of chapters, raising mysteries, and forcing me to say “Ah, okay, just one more chapter.” With the short chapters and constant novelty, the pacing never felt slow and the story never dragged. Although 90% of the book revolves around Tyron figuring out new ways to do magick and getting into the weeds of upgrading his skeletons, I never got bored like I did in some of the previous entries.
RinoZ weaves stats into prose as masterfully as Tyron weaves magick threads onto his bony boys. He never bogs the reader down with arduous stat pages, only giving us the relevant information when we need it.
This is the way to write a LitRPG. As an author, I’m taking notes.
The Book of the Dead series remains one of the best-written stories in the LitRPG genre. It had a few typos and repetitive sentences, but nothing compared to some of the books I had to drop after a few pages because the prose seemed like it had been cranked out by typing monkeys using their arse cheeks. It’s a wonder what you can achieve with a little editing and attention to detail.
The mix of POVs helps widen the world and allows us to see how horrifying Tyron the butcher looks to more well-adjusted individuals. The new character, Meredith, was a joy to read, and getting more insight into the Nobles was a fun ride.
Though the ending battle sequence was epic and well told, the climax was disappointing. Not because it was illogical or poorly executed, but because it ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger.
Minor Spoiler Warning
A character reveals they have a backup plan, but we won’t see what the plan is until the next book. I’m fine with cliffhangers, but this was egregious. When I finished reading, I almost called the police. Of course, I’m too hooked and invested to boycott the next book, but part of me wants to.
All in all, I loved the journey, but I feel like I was left stranded in a bad area, surrounded by unscrupulous figures. If only they had a copy of Book of the Dead 6, I’m already fiending.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Things I liked about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension:
• The progression of Tyron’s army and power continues to feel satisfying. I’m still excited to see him gain and use new abilities.
• The lore drops were interesting and fleshed out the world.
• Legitimate tension from both the battles and the looming threat of the battle.
• The action is fun, easy to visualise, gripping, and epic as hell (literally, in places).
• RinoZ handles stats the best way I’ve seen in any LitRPG.
Things I didn’t like about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension:
• One major thing I dislike about this series is that it’s 90% research and experimentation with 10% amazing action. It’s a shame because the action is well done, but the author rations it out like he’s got a limited supply.
• The book ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger. I’m all for hooking us to read the next book, but setting a major twist and giving us no payoff for a year is criminal.
• Dove is still insufferable and unfunny. I wish the author would stop trying to force the sexual comedy in here (see what I did there). It makes me roll my eyes—and not in a good way. The comedy is much better when it’s unforced, like most things (consent is essential), and natural.
I post reviews and articles about dark fantasy, progression fantasy and LitRPG on my website here: https://jaycartere.com/book-of-the-de...
The empire hasn’t forgotten about the heretic rebels and the millions of refugees, though. They’ve cleansed the rest of the Western Province by wiping out anyone who wasn’t fast or smart enough to run away, and they’re not finished. They’re hot on Tyron’s tail, and they’ve got an army of heavy hitters out for his head.
Up against the clock, and an army more powerful than his skeletons by a mile, our friendly neighbourhood Necromancer takes huge risks, makes deals with gods and scheming vampires, and of course, discovers new magick with his genius intellect.
Every corner reveals a new powerful enemy, and more than once I wondered “how’s he gonna make it out of this one”—which is rare for me, because we all know the main character isn’t gonna die. But I gotta give the author props for ramping up the tension and keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Even watching Tyron choose new abilities had me glued to the screen (I’m reading on Kindle) and intrigued about what he was gonna pick.
The author does a great job of baiting hooks at the end of chapters, raising mysteries, and forcing me to say “Ah, okay, just one more chapter.” With the short chapters and constant novelty, the pacing never felt slow and the story never dragged. Although 90% of the book revolves around Tyron figuring out new ways to do magick and getting into the weeds of upgrading his skeletons, I never got bored like I did in some of the previous entries.
RinoZ weaves stats into prose as masterfully as Tyron weaves magick threads onto his bony boys. He never bogs the reader down with arduous stat pages, only giving us the relevant information when we need it.
This is the way to write a LitRPG. As an author, I’m taking notes.
The Book of the Dead series remains one of the best-written stories in the LitRPG genre. It had a few typos and repetitive sentences, but nothing compared to some of the books I had to drop after a few pages because the prose seemed like it had been cranked out by typing monkeys using their arse cheeks. It’s a wonder what you can achieve with a little editing and attention to detail.
The mix of POVs helps widen the world and allows us to see how horrifying Tyron the butcher looks to more well-adjusted individuals. The new character, Meredith, was a joy to read, and getting more insight into the Nobles was a fun ride.
Though the ending battle sequence was epic and well told, the climax was disappointing. Not because it was illogical or poorly executed, but because it ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger.
Minor Spoiler Warning
A character reveals they have a backup plan, but we won’t see what the plan is until the next book. I’m fine with cliffhangers, but this was egregious. When I finished reading, I almost called the police. Of course, I’m too hooked and invested to boycott the next book, but part of me wants to.
All in all, I loved the journey, but I feel like I was left stranded in a bad area, surrounded by unscrupulous figures. If only they had a copy of Book of the Dead 6, I’m already fiending.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Things I liked about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension:
• The progression of Tyron’s army and power continues to feel satisfying. I’m still excited to see him gain and use new abilities.
• The lore drops were interesting and fleshed out the world.
• Legitimate tension from both the battles and the looming threat of the battle.
• The action is fun, easy to visualise, gripping, and epic as hell (literally, in places).
• RinoZ handles stats the best way I’ve seen in any LitRPG.
Things I didn’t like about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension:
• One major thing I dislike about this series is that it’s 90% research and experimentation with 10% amazing action. It’s a shame because the action is well done, but the author rations it out like he’s got a limited supply.
• The book ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger. I’m all for hooking us to read the next book, but setting a major twist and giving us no payoff for a year is criminal.
• Dove is still insufferable and unfunny. I wish the author would stop trying to force the sexual comedy in here (see what I did there). It makes me roll my eyes—and not in a good way. The comedy is much better when it’s unforced, like most things (consent is essential), and natural.
I post reviews and articles about dark fantasy, progression fantasy and LitRPG on my website here: https://jaycartere.com/book-of-the-de...
August 24, 2026
I don't know why I thought this was a completed series, or with just this book remaining. Probably because of the author writing Chrysalis (which is also one of the series I follow) and even if it is not a series set in stone, I have trouble seeing it being on Defiance of the fall length (if the pace continue in current pace, it most likely will be in the Horus Heresy/Warhammer series length,which is what?, between 40 and 50 books. * (A long explanation of a tangent regarding "books being ordered by a company to expand their products in this footnote).
Anyway, I like it. I also like Chrysalis. This makes it 6 LitRpg I follow. And I tried A LOT!! Most are just pale copies of the ones I consider good (my opinion. This is why I use 2 stars for series others may not be repelled by what I didn't like. Maybe some of the choices I made are in what order I tried them out. And I gave more leeway regarding the quality of the language used in a few books (Looked like they just ripped it down from Royal Road with basically no edit from someone who has English as a second language...
(Which Defiance of the fall pretty much was in the first books. I think Zach "said/expressed/told/glared/smiled/" instead of "snorted " (or "scoffed") for the first time after 3 books? And the writer is Swedish)
Omg, tangent day. I understand that people don't like Dove and I don't understand why he gets a completely different personality than when he was alive, while everyone else is losing their humanity, but I like the kinda cliffhanger in this book. If you have read the series and remember (and read the title of the chapters) I will be very disappointed if his backup isn't what I believe. I will again say which other series I read (in no particular order.. however I have like a 2 book moratorium when the series goes past 10 books. If I find one is not up to the standard, I will still read the next book and see if it gets on track (if not something exceptional dumb thing that ruins the continuation in a MC I might have a problem. This usually becUome clear in the 3 4 first books tho.
1 Dungeon Crawler Carl ** (omg, I am a bit high and have wandering thoughts but this is ridiculous. I might find out if there is a length limit on reviews..)
2 Defiance of the Fall
3 Primal Hunter
4 Reborn as a Demonic Tree
5 Chrysalis
6 This (Book of the Dead
I also like some trilogies/shorter series. Especially the one that actually made me read LitRpg, Towers of Heaven by Cameron Milan. (Hm, I am rereading Primal Hunter books. I should put those 3 in on my "want to read and have bought them" shelf.. (in addition to being a reader and a hardcore MMORPG player (sessions over 48 hrs etc until I woke on the concrete floor after a few hours. I get Tyrion and going on to you collapses lol))
I don't think this is a very good book review, however a good reflection of my thoughts after I finished the book 😂 😂 🤡
* It is however written by almost the same amount of writers. Probably different when you hire authors to make your game bigger/diversify it, like Dungeon and Dragons aswell (including Drizzt). Veruy strange concept I had no idea was so common. I thought the videogame movies, like Unreal, HALO , the one with Mila Jovovich (FPS game killing vampire monsters mostly),etc was the ones that first expanded from a game (and a videogame as well. No idea that D&D is supposed to own a lot of Fantasy tropes lol. (This is hearsay from someone I don't know that well, but he had aluot of insight which seemed to align with what I found looking at a commission fantasy series with more than 100 books.. industrial writing. Not saying this is a very bad thing (except for some copyright stuff that sounded incredibly stupid. I think some names of imaginary races. ..)
** (started long after most. Probably my favorite, also because it has a pretty planned ending (regarding how many more books, I think I read 2 or 3 more somewhere (and I think after the last one came out, So 10-12 books total). Best characters by far in a Litrpg, but probably better than a lot of "revered" books (even classics). I will mention all but the native American in Moby Dick are terribly written or at least regarding complexity. (Not to mention half of the book was a "brush up" on a visit to a museum 20 to 30 yrs ago (whaling museums in Tonsberg and Sandefjord/close to someone that had a father actually being a whaler (bit later obviously, but is that a big difference, because half of the book is a "WhaleWiki".)
Anyway, I like it. I also like Chrysalis. This makes it 6 LitRpg I follow. And I tried A LOT!! Most are just pale copies of the ones I consider good (my opinion. This is why I use 2 stars for series others may not be repelled by what I didn't like. Maybe some of the choices I made are in what order I tried them out. And I gave more leeway regarding the quality of the language used in a few books (Looked like they just ripped it down from Royal Road with basically no edit from someone who has English as a second language...
(Which Defiance of the fall pretty much was in the first books. I think Zach "said/expressed/told/glared/smiled/" instead of "snorted " (or "scoffed") for the first time after 3 books? And the writer is Swedish)
Omg, tangent day. I understand that people don't like Dove and I don't understand why he gets a completely different personality than when he was alive, while everyone else is losing their humanity, but I like the kinda cliffhanger in this book. If you have read the series and remember (and read the title of the chapters) I will be very disappointed if his backup isn't what I believe. I will again say which other series I read (in no particular order.. however I have like a 2 book moratorium when the series goes past 10 books. If I find one is not up to the standard, I will still read the next book and see if it gets on track (if not something exceptional dumb thing that ruins the continuation in a MC I might have a problem. This usually becUome clear in the 3 4 first books tho.
1 Dungeon Crawler Carl ** (omg, I am a bit high and have wandering thoughts but this is ridiculous. I might find out if there is a length limit on reviews..)
2 Defiance of the Fall
3 Primal Hunter
4 Reborn as a Demonic Tree
5 Chrysalis
6 This (Book of the Dead
I also like some trilogies/shorter series. Especially the one that actually made me read LitRpg, Towers of Heaven by Cameron Milan. (Hm, I am rereading Primal Hunter books. I should put those 3 in on my "want to read and have bought them" shelf.. (in addition to being a reader and a hardcore MMORPG player (sessions over 48 hrs etc until I woke on the concrete floor after a few hours. I get Tyrion and going on to you collapses lol))
I don't think this is a very good book review, however a good reflection of my thoughts after I finished the book 😂 😂 🤡
* It is however written by almost the same amount of writers. Probably different when you hire authors to make your game bigger/diversify it, like Dungeon and Dragons aswell (including Drizzt). Veruy strange concept I had no idea was so common. I thought the videogame movies, like Unreal, HALO , the one with Mila Jovovich (FPS game killing vampire monsters mostly),etc was the ones that first expanded from a game (and a videogame as well. No idea that D&D is supposed to own a lot of Fantasy tropes lol. (This is hearsay from someone I don't know that well, but he had aluot of insight which seemed to align with what I found looking at a commission fantasy series with more than 100 books.. industrial writing. Not saying this is a very bad thing (except for some copyright stuff that sounded incredibly stupid. I think some names of imaginary races. ..)
** (started long after most. Probably my favorite, also because it has a pretty planned ending (regarding how many more books, I think I read 2 or 3 more somewhere (and I think after the last one came out, So 10-12 books total). Best characters by far in a Litrpg, but probably better than a lot of "revered" books (even classics). I will mention all but the native American in Moby Dick are terribly written or at least regarding complexity. (Not to mention half of the book was a "brush up" on a visit to a museum 20 to 30 yrs ago (whaling museums in Tonsberg and Sandefjord/close to someone that had a father actually being a whaler (bit later obviously, but is that a big difference, because half of the book is a "WhaleWiki".)
August 20, 2026
This is honestly one of the weakest entries to this series so far.
Tyron is an unbearable prick to everyone. It isn't fun to listen to him and Dove anymore because they don't have fun moments. All they have is Dove being a whacky comic relief character for no real reason other than to just be there and Tyron telling him what an unbearable piece of shit Dove is. That's not fun.
Tyron continues to be coddled at every turn and then rewarded for his genius, despite the fact that his genius was handed to him on a silver platter at the beginning. There are no ill repercussions for anything he does.
Also, there is an ENORMOUS chunk of this book that is just on and on about skill choices and his Ascension that are essentially meaningless text blocks about abilities we will never see or hear about again.
Also our antagonist this book is apparently the SINGLE competent member of the Empire. Apparently there's SO much corruption and evil that we had to invent a side character to make the Empire competent. So tell me why I'm supposed to take them seriously as a villain again?? You've now spent two books showing us how dumb and incompetent everyone in the Empire is because they're so self centered and our only reassurance that they're a threat is that the characters constantly have to tell us they're dangerous.
Also this book is just our 3rd act exposition drop. We are just bluntly thrown the answer to so many mysteries in the most anticlimactic reveal possible with added "Lulz we're edgy and kooky" tiktok energy tossed on top. THEN, we are treated to Tyron just explaining the plot to us (via Filetta). It's condescending and incredibly boring to read. It felt like reading the plot of the book I was reading on wikipedia WHILE i was reading it.
Overall, yes Tyron gets his cool mega power up moment but everything up to that is just throw away. Even his time in the Land of the Dead was just...void of content. He has one big reveal that's a non-reveal and then we get one battle where he SORT of struggles (but not really).
Also, I'm reaching the point where it's not fun to watch Tyron be the plot. He's an unbearable douche to everyone he interacts with for no reason. He lawds his parents and lives for their revenge, but then we're reminded how they were absent from his life or we have to gloss over how they'd likely hate what a hellbent revenge fantasy twat he is.
2 stars because I like this series too much to give it 1 but it's a hot mess and a big ol' nothingburger with a heavy helping of exposition dumped over the top at the last minute.
Tyron is an unbearable prick to everyone. It isn't fun to listen to him and Dove anymore because they don't have fun moments. All they have is Dove being a whacky comic relief character for no real reason other than to just be there and Tyron telling him what an unbearable piece of shit Dove is. That's not fun.
Tyron continues to be coddled at every turn and then rewarded for his genius, despite the fact that his genius was handed to him on a silver platter at the beginning. There are no ill repercussions for anything he does.
Also, there is an ENORMOUS chunk of this book that is just on and on about skill choices and his Ascension that are essentially meaningless text blocks about abilities we will never see or hear about again.
Also our antagonist this book is apparently the SINGLE competent member of the Empire. Apparently there's SO much corruption and evil that we had to invent a side character to make the Empire competent. So tell me why I'm supposed to take them seriously as a villain again?? You've now spent two books showing us how dumb and incompetent everyone in the Empire is because they're so self centered and our only reassurance that they're a threat is that the characters constantly have to tell us they're dangerous.
Also this book is just our 3rd act exposition drop. We are just bluntly thrown the answer to so many mysteries in the most anticlimactic reveal possible with added "Lulz we're edgy and kooky" tiktok energy tossed on top. THEN, we are treated to Tyron just explaining the plot to us (via Filetta). It's condescending and incredibly boring to read. It felt like reading the plot of the book I was reading on wikipedia WHILE i was reading it.
Overall, yes Tyron gets his cool mega power up moment but everything up to that is just throw away. Even his time in the Land of the Dead was just...void of content. He has one big reveal that's a non-reveal and then we get one battle where he SORT of struggles (but not really).
Also, I'm reaching the point where it's not fun to watch Tyron be the plot. He's an unbearable douche to everyone he interacts with for no reason. He lawds his parents and lives for their revenge, but then we're reminded how they were absent from his life or we have to gloss over how they'd likely hate what a hellbent revenge fantasy twat he is.
2 stars because I like this series too much to give it 1 but it's a hot mess and a big ol' nothingburger with a heavy helping of exposition dumped over the top at the last minute.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2026
Volume 4 - quality declined. Volume 5 - quality crashes.
Tyron has enough mana to cast spells all day. Moments later Tyron has to conserve his mana. He definitely can't cast his Imperator spell because that would cost too much mana. So instead he...casts his Imperator spell.
Then they are attacked by a colossal monster. They can't attack the head because "that would be stupid." Also they can't do any damage to the monster. So the strategy to win is to "wear the monster down" by...damaging it. Which just seconds before they could not do? Finally they defeat the monster by...wait for it...attacking its head.
So like 1/3 of the book is just nonsense. Another 1/3 is just mindless repetition from previous volumes. Tyron is the most geniusy genius to ever live. Tyron doesn't eat or sleep. Tyron's friend makes him eat. Tyron says "gee I feel great, I'll never do that again." Tyron immediately does it again. Tyron's asshole friend is an asshole. Tyron threatens to shut him up. Tryon does not shut him up. Or, big twist, Tyron does shut him up briefly. Then that stops and Tyron's asshole friend is again an asshole.
Tyron has enough mana to cast spells all day. Moments later Tyron has to conserve his mana. He definitely can't cast his Imperator spell because that would cost too much mana. So instead he...casts his Imperator spell.
Then they are attacked by a colossal monster. They can't attack the head because "that would be stupid." Also they can't do any damage to the monster. So the strategy to win is to "wear the monster down" by...damaging it. Which just seconds before they could not do? Finally they defeat the monster by...wait for it...attacking its head.
So like 1/3 of the book is just nonsense. Another 1/3 is just mindless repetition from previous volumes. Tyron is the most geniusy genius to ever live. Tyron doesn't eat or sleep. Tyron's friend makes him eat. Tyron says "gee I feel great, I'll never do that again." Tyron immediately does it again. Tyron's asshole friend is an asshole. Tyron threatens to shut him up. Tryon does not shut him up. Or, big twist, Tyron does shut him up briefly. Then that stops and Tyron's asshole friend is again an asshole.
July 24, 2026
The last book was fantastic! This book.... not so much
Big disappointment for me. The scale, the scope, it all just seemed much smaller and less dramatic than the 4th book. It also felt like the author didn't have the time or patience for this one. Bunch of shortcuts. Basically gave the MC 7 levels for nothing to get him where he needed to be.
"Oh, your army isn't strong enough for the enemy? Here's a bunch of knowledge and power for nothing."
The final battle was also a huge disappointment. I mean, what actually happened? They surround his army and attack. He uses something sneaky and then his win is a guarantee. Don't get me started with his escape either. What even happened!
I wouldn't say this book is good.
Tolerable perhaps.
In my heart this is a one star book but I'm a big fan of this series and I'm hopeful the next book will be more like the 4th.
Big disappointment for me. The scale, the scope, it all just seemed much smaller and less dramatic than the 4th book. It also felt like the author didn't have the time or patience for this one. Bunch of shortcuts. Basically gave the MC 7 levels for nothing to get him where he needed to be.
"Oh, your army isn't strong enough for the enemy? Here's a bunch of knowledge and power for nothing."
The final battle was also a huge disappointment. I mean, what actually happened? They surround his army and attack. He uses something sneaky and then his win is a guarantee. Don't get me started with his escape either. What even happened!
I wouldn't say this book is good.
Tolerable perhaps.
In my heart this is a one star book but I'm a big fan of this series and I'm hopeful the next book will be more like the 4th.
August 3, 2026
Another great installment in this series. It's my #1 at this point (above DCC and all the rest). The beginning of the book slows down after the furious pace of the ending of 4th, which is welcomed. RinoZ does some more world building and character building for more minor characters around Tyron in Granin (the escapees). Time has passed since the end of book 4.
It picks up meaningfully about halfway through. Without giving things away, Tyron makes a gamble that includes some really interesting world-building that was unexpected.
The finalé is outstanding. The ending unexpected. I can't wait for book 6!
It picks up meaningfully about halfway through. Without giving things away, Tyron makes a gamble that includes some really interesting world-building that was unexpected.
The finalé is outstanding. The ending unexpected. I can't wait for book 6!
September 4, 2026
Still solid, but with one caveat: it's kinda all over the place and gormless in comparison to the previous four. Those were very solid with plot and direction. All of the books, including this one, has great progression at just the right pacing, but this is the one that seemed to flounder about.
Odd, that. It wasn't bad at all, but I'm comparing like-to-like.
Either way, I love the dead lands and the later battle against the Empire's golds. I can't wait to see where this LitRPG will go from here, or whether it's been written into a corner or not.
Odd, that. It wasn't bad at all, but I'm comparing like-to-like.
Either way, I love the dead lands and the later battle against the Empire's golds. I can't wait to see where this LitRPG will go from here, or whether it's been written into a corner or not.
August 23, 2026
Another amazing addition to the series!
It is hard for authors to continue with the level of detail they started with when it comes to magic systems at more the advanced stages, and some of the status readings have taken a back seat here, but the author has stayed true to helping the readers understand the overall progression and strategies chosen to do so by MC. And oh how the plot progresses as well! Also love the bits of humor! Refreshingly blatant but not distracting.
It is hard for authors to continue with the level of detail they started with when it comes to magic systems at more the advanced stages, and some of the status readings have taken a back seat here, but the author has stayed true to helping the readers understand the overall progression and strategies chosen to do so by MC. And oh how the plot progresses as well! Also love the bits of humor! Refreshingly blatant but not distracting.
June 15, 2026
The series is a good read if you really like the idea of getting into the minutia of necromancy. The main character learns and grows in a very readable page-turning way as he falls further into his revenge story, and the setting has some pretty interesting takes on a diegetic litRPG setting.
If that isn't exactly what you want out of it, then you probably won't find much.
If that isn't exactly what you want out of it, then you probably won't find much.
September 2, 2026
Spooky skeletons
There are spooky skeletons in this book. If you think spooky skeletons are cool you may enjoy it. Also long passages about engraving magical sigils and whatnot, which is pretty cool 😎
There are spooky skeletons in this book. If you think spooky skeletons are cool you may enjoy it. Also long passages about engraving magical sigils and whatnot, which is pretty cool 😎
April 29, 2026
My first review. What a book. Empire still not destroyed, can only imagine what new monsters he can raise in book six.
July 28, 2026
Holy shit
Things are getting real as we start to see the powers behind the powers and their twisted motivations. Nothing is as it seems.
Great writing
Things are getting real as we start to see the powers behind the powers and their twisted motivations. Nothing is as it seems.
Great writing
July 29, 2026
great addition
This is probably the best book of the series so far. Engaging plot and lots of world revelation while the momentum is built for the crescendo.
This is probably the best book of the series so far. Engaging plot and lots of world revelation while the momentum is built for the crescendo.
August 5, 2026
Great series
Story continues in exciting ways. If you like the other books this buils on it even more. Great read to read!
Story continues in exciting ways. If you like the other books this buils on it even more. Great read to read!
August 25, 2026
It's such an amazing series!!! Can't wait for the next one 🫶
August 30, 2026
Pretty similar to the earlier books but still pretty satisfying
September 6, 2026
I can't wait for the next book. I do feel like a few things went a little too easy for Tyron this time. But I'm curious if book six will be the end or if this series really is just beginning.
September 6, 2026
I’m starting to get tries of the same tropes/flaws being repeated over and over again with nothing actually being done about it.
October 4, 2026
And now we wait 😭
October 11, 2026
Things are mostly progressing smoothly and I'm looking forward to reading book 6.
October 19, 2026
The stilted writing to force cliff hangers gets old really fast.
October 1, 2026
5 stars. This book ending was amazing finally things are occurring and the cliff hanger is awful…
Really took a while for the story to go from just another series to woah. This has potential and is doing some cool stuff!
Really took a while for the story to go from just another series to woah. This has potential and is doing some cool stuff!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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