Dual Wield

Lion's Quest #2

by Michael-Scott Earle

With Leo's commitment to Arnacript finalized, the champ announces his retirement to the world and prepares to work full-time on Ohlavar Quest. The challenges in the game world become steeper as Leo sets his eyes on the first of many artifacts, and he joins a dungeon exploration group in an effort to acquire the piece.

But forces in the real world don't want the champ to retire from Astafar Unlimited, and they will do whatever it takes to get him back.

Even if it means killing his parents.

Lion's Quest: Dual Wield is the second novel in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Michael-Scott Earle's Lion's Quest epic fantasy saga.

Genres: Litrpg, Fantasy, Science Fiction

828 pages, ebook

Published February 27, 2017

About the author

NYT and USA Today bestseller of fiction. Top 100 Amazon best selling author.

You can buy my novels on my website. www.michaelscottearle.com

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Reviews

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, totally weird name. It makes no connection to the story at all. I mean dual world makes more sense than dual wield.

Story was fast paced. The characters were entertaining and there were plenty of mysteries. I liked it.

[Pj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm starting to see a pattern with these stories. The middle of the book is decent adventure into the world of virtual reality, and then the author throws all his goodwill and mood in the trash by introducing annoying elves that want to shag everything that walks and beats the reader over the head with them until they no longer want to finish the book.

Would have given it a higher rating if not for:
- Annoying sex distractions that have nothing to do with the plot, and awkward flirting
- Stealing creatures and places straight out of the pages of D&D (Underdark, Beholders, evil Drow elves)
- Constantly being told how awesome the world of the game is. It comes off as the author saying "I'm so amazing for coming up with this."
- Predicable conflicts surrounding the half-orc character. There's no surprise when you can see the protagonist getting robbed a mile away, especially when it happens repeatedly.
- Inconsistencies for example: "I'm not into bad girls." Ten or twenty minutes into the audio recording later "I'm really into bad girls." or "This item is a family heirloom found by this specific person at this time." and "This has been in my family in.... five or six generations." Do you know how long it's been in your family or not?

[Chris Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael-Scott Earle has a real talent for characters. Oh his world and story are both fun and engaging, but I've read a lot of stories where both those are true as well. No, what really sets these stories apart are the variety of unique, engaging, and multidimensional characters, both in and out of the game.

On top of the interesting world he's created (in and out of the game) the mystery from the first story is continued here, cryptic hints keep being dropped, and while I have suspicions about various things, I'm still left theorizing possible meanings, which I love. All and all, this is one of the best LitRPG's I've read, I can't wait for the next one.

[Stanislas Sodonon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Argh... he went and killed his own book.
God I'm so disappointed.
This is EXACTLY what an author writing out his wet dreams would look like.
I held on until the end, grinding my teeth through the cringe, but I think this is where I get off.
And it's a damn shame, because the STORY in itself had potential, even if very badly structured, and full of holes.

Sigh...

[Tweedledee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book overall was good. Would of given the it 5 stars, but feel that MC almost seemed to become less savvy in his game play and real world situations. Makes him seem younger and less mature than the first book made him out to be. Also there was not a lot of plot movement.

[Dave Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like book 1
Kooky characters & a clueless MC who is the worlds most famous & popular & likeable guy. He is also rich, good looking, and can't be defeated in any fight. Also every woman on earth wants him to marry their daughter. You simply lack the mental capacity to comprehend how awesome the MC is, but he is too humble to notice it himself.
-Despite being hit over the head with how perfect the MC is (his friends all call him "Champ") this is a pretty enjoyable early LitRPG novel.

[Jacob Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

In game Sections Quick n Dirty:

Good Stuff - The combat, banter between characters, and the general storyline and world building are fantastic.

Bad Stuff - Leo's inner monologue goes on and on and on at times, repeating the same descriptions and thoughts repeatedly for several minutes at a time, several times. It's very monotonous. Also, he is incredibly ignorant of gameplay and reacts very poorly for someone who is supposed to be a professional RPG gamer.

Real World Quick n Dirty:

Good Stuff - The misc. people around the facility are kind of interesting.

Bad Stuff - The "Romance" between Zane and Leo is cringe worthy at best, and the mystery is being handled rather heavy handedly. The parts of the book I had to consciously NOT skim were almost always the parts where he was out of the pod.

Still a good story, but has some big problems. Feels like the book needs to be better edited for content (not grammar). There are a TON of small problems that add up, but still good, as I said. 4 Stars. (3.5 if I could)

[Frances Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but not as good as book one.

OK! The quest continues for Leo. Our hero seems to be a touch naive even if he is playing a virtual reality game. The statistics that are given on the items that are found don't make any sense to me and I imagine that other non RPG players would feel the same. Leo's naive trust is necessary for the story but gets a bit annoying. The editing and proofing errors are an irritation too. One thing that worries me is, that if Leo has only recovered one artifact of fifteen and knows where a second is, how is he going to complete the quest in one more book? I think that this rates only three stars but is still a fun read. I particularly liked the Crypt adventure but could have gone for more of that action. Onward to book three!

[Russell Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a continuation of the previous story with a very minimal timeskip in between. The characters in this book are just as well rounded as the first and there continues to be a bit of intrigue that makes one wonder whether everything is as it seems.

This series has become one of my favorite in the genre and reads very easily. The prose has a much smoother feel than many other offerings in the genre and lets you just absorb the story as you're reading rather than digging through clunky language to get after the story bits.

This is definitely still what I would call Litrpg lite in that it keeps the tables and stats to a minimum...so that may be more or less important to some people. Other than that, I would recommend this series to any reader that enjoys the genre.

[Jamie Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best LitRPG novel series I have had the luck of finding!
Being an avid gamer and reader, finding a genre that combines the two was a nice find, but with many of the books there are good and then no so good...

All I can say about Lion's Quest is that it's THE BEST LitRPG novels I've read, and Dual Wield is absolutely stunning, with readers being taken deeper into the the virtual Rabbit Hole that is Ohlavar's Quest.

But it's the small pieces of unusal behaviour of the characters and hints at a larger secret or conspiracy that have me glued to the pages to find out what happens next.

Looking forward to Lion's Quest: Trinity!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary for my Memory:

Book two of Leo the Lions quest for the 15 relics.
The phase is easy going, and Leo is still OP as an Elefant vs. anthill.
Everybody loves him, he is charming, handsome, and nice to everyone. also, boring.

He makes a new companion with a half-orc thief that swindles him twice, but is in the end forgiven.
He gets the relic from a baron and sets sail towards rumors of the next one.

The fishyness of Zaras purple eyes increse, but no answers surface more than his bodyguard suspects .."fishyness".

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Expansion

The excellent story, characters, humor, action, editing, and plot return in book 2 and expand the mystery from there. These books do LitRPG right, by keeping the action and mystery going simultaneously in both worlds. It's also a fun ride because it's impossible to know where it's all going at this point. Maybe book three will offer some answers? In the meantime sit back and enjoy where this is going, because it's somewhere special.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit irritating calling everyone the man or the woman even when we know perfectly who said character is, and even when said character isn't actually a man at all, but otherwise it's a fun book, and it is quite enjoyable. This is no doubt at least partially due to the quality of the editing, since this book was mostly free of so many typos and grammar errors which are so prevalent in other books of this kind. I'm already reading the next one in the series.

[Andy L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series continues.

The excellent story of Leo Lennex, former world champ of an MMO that partakes of UFC physicality brings our hero to a nearby city as he seeks the in game relics for his mysterious patron.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read.

Mr Earle is directly competing with "Ready Player 1" and he might be winning.
Excellent transitions. In depth characters that you actually care about, both in the main world and in the game.

[Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

The story continues. The story builds around you. More game play. More world and character building. Looking forward to the next book.

[Brad Theado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it

[Lukas Lovas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright....not bad, though I don't feel the plot has progressed much and some parts were a bit too predictable for my taste...still, the book itself was pleasant, action filled and mostly fun.

[Kashii · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 that ending

[Suprio · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

much improved over book 1. The supporting cast is even better this time around.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great adventure!

I can not put this series down its that good! Going straight to the next book in the series, can't wait for the next quest!

[Deconinck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one, lots more excitement and passion.

Always hard to write what you think of the book since it are often more feelings then words.
Just.. more plz... ;)

[Jay Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars, very close to a 4 star series. I am enjoying this book/series and will continue.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25☆

[Travis Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite good. The small crumbs of intrigued being dropped here and there are really adding up well and ramping up the anticipation. 👍🏾👍🏾

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the first book.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great follow up to Undefeated. I still continue to enjoy the real world bits, but I won't say that I liked the fact that we see a lot more of the in-game parts than before.

Some of the actions of the main character don't necessarily make a lot of sense for someone that is a professional gamer and arguably the best gamer in the world.

Another thing I wasn't too keen on is the real life "crisis" only receiving crumbs towards the end of the story, like the first book.

[Debbie Elholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was better than the first, as it should be. The first book sets everything up for what comes next, mainly this book and those to follow. Leo's world or worlds are getting more complicated. He's managed to move his parents but not before they were attacked. In his alternate world, things are also becoming more complicated. This book picks up where the last one left off - Leo and his friends are at the dwarven stronghold and make the decision to make the journey to Arnicoal, one of the largest cities in this world and home to his friend Artus. It's in Arnicoal that Leo decides to adventure with a group in a nearby underground system. This is one of the best quests I've read in a long time. The fighting that went on was amazing and Leo really had to use some of his new found powers to keep not only himself upright, but his companions, too. The reward was well worth it.
Arnicoal a very complex city full of interesting characters, one of them being a particular thorn in his side when they first meet up! Then there's the gnome and the drow and what they have in their collection that pushes Leo into a confrontation that he didn't want.
In this book expect more characters, more excitement, more fighting and...what can I say? More of everything! And while there's plenty of edge of your seat excitement, there's plenty of humor! I am so looking forward to the next book in this series!
I was given an ARC courtesy of the author because I had the privilege of being one of the beta-editors for this book and I hope to be one for the next one! These are my opinions and no one else's.

[Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first novel of the series it's more of a 3.5 stars but I rounded up. There are some things that I don't like and while the overall story is intriguing I feel that with the setup that's been done there should be more focus on out of game plot even though it's an litRPG novel.

I'll most likely read more of this series.