The Land: Alliances

Chaos Seeds #3

by Aleron Kong

The THIRD vivacious installment of Aleron Kong's, Chaos Seeds series.

Everything is not well in The Land! Eaters, Bugbears, Evil Counts, Vicious Thieves and Carnies! (You know, circus folk... small hands.)

Yup! Richter and Sion have their work cut out for them!

Come back and see how they kick's some butt and takes some names!

Come back, to THE LAND!!!!!

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Magic, Adventure, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

641 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 2016

About the author

Goodreads HTML profile

Welcome to the Mist Village! I'm so glad you're here!
The Land Saga:
- Is a WSJ Best Seller
- Has sold over 1 MILLION copies
- Has more than 100,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews
- Became Audibles Customer Favorite of the Year
- Reached the Top 5 on both Audible and Amazon out of the millions of books they sell

Find out why 🙂

You can start your adventure BELOW:



Please enjoy my book trailers:


And enjoy a FREE peak at my 1st Audiobook narrated by THE Nick Podehl! Just CLICK HERE



I love hearing from my fans so feel free to reach out!



If you've read or listened to any of my work, PLEASE leave a REVIEW and vote "Helpful" on the reviews you agree with 🙂

And I love making artwork for my wonderful fans. I hope you enjoy some! You can find more HERE



I am a Internal Medicine Physician turned WSJ Best Selling Author. My lifetime goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it. I'm also extremely proud of my fans who have helped me raise over $125,000 for various charities over the past 5 years!

Gnomes Rule!

Reviews

[Tharindu Dissanayake · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gnomes rule!"

This third book is more like the second half of book two. Just like before, the story picks up at the exact spot, and Richter's journey continues in both base building and quest completion areas. I still prefer the base-building parts, but the author has made sure that there's little to no repetition when it comes to quests. It's still a turbulent ride, with frequent ups and downs spread throughout the book, but overall, the third book felt much better thought-out and organized compared to the previous two books. There are some new characters as well. There's not much else to be said about this one which I haven't said before about the first two books. Oh, and Alma is becoming my favorite character of the series. Time for book 4.

"TRING! You have reached level 25!"

[Fate's Lady · Rating 1 out of 5]

The casual misogyny is infuriating. He admires the "sweater bunnies" of an assassin after gruesomely killing her, making it pretty clear what matters to him more than the fact that he burned her face off. He also finds a plant that has Viagra like properties and the ability to prevent pregnancy, and leeringly tells his gardeners to plant more for his personal use without telling them what it's for. He walks off musing about the hot village girls he wants to try it on. You know, the village girls he has life and death control over. The dick even briefly regrets upgrading his familiar's sentience because "that's what he gets for giving a female the ability to criticize him."

This literary genre is for a very specific subset of fantasy readers: those who enjoy playing games like Myst, Elder Scrolls, Guild Wars, and other fantasy role-playing games. Anyone else will probably find this book and perhaps the whole genre juvenile and ridiculous.

Okay, those warnings aside, this was still intensely engaging, but the plot was only okay. I wanted to see more growth from Richter as a person rather than as a list of stats, and it was even more evident in this book how immature he is. And remains, even three books in. It's also painfully obvious that Aleron has some warped views of women. And I can't even pretend to be surprised that, given a serious deformity that might force Richter to grow up and show some character, it's wiped away with no trace not long after.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So you wanted that next great RPG that has Skyrim and old-school D&D written all over it, did you?

Yeah, me too. And so I'm ALL over this book for that reason. It's light, the leveling up is FAST, with all the neat tricks of absolute power leveling through loopholes and full immersion quests.

Don't get me wrong, though, this is all hardcore gaming fun that's part light-hearted joy and expectation and part surprising revenge including assassins, dark dungeons, giants, kobolds, and golems. We're on the full ride of a video game with full level-up splash screens, but it's still a super-fast and fun adventure that's totally popcorn.

It's just pure murder for fun, loyalty quests, empire building, reversals and MASSIVE POWER UPGRADES. :) Did I mention power leveling? Did I? It tickles me funny. :)

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Executive Summary: I'm torn on this. It has many of the elements that first interested me in the story, but the main character is so off-putting that I'm not sure I want to continue anymore. I'd probably give this a 2.5 stars. I've rounded down. I may decide to round up later, but probably not.

Audiobook: Nick Podehl does an excellent job as always, however the audiobook is not without its flaws despite that. This series spends a ton of time on the game stats aspect of the main character.

This results in a lot of repetitive dialog. I found this is made worse by the inclusion of sound effects. I think some listeners may enjoy those additions, as it gives the audio a bit more of a video game feel. For me personally however, I find myself more annoyed than anything at them.

If I was reading the book instead of listening, I'd probably skim all of those sections. If you're big on the details of the gaming, you may feel differently.

Full Review
I'd categorize this series as guilty pleasure reading. I know it's not exactly the best written or offers deep characters. That said I've enjoyed each book less than the previous.

Richter is a total dude-bro. I've been encountering these kind of gamers for as long as I can remember. I don't like playing with them, so I really don't want to follow the adventure of one in what might otherwise be a pretty interesting world/game. For the last two books the world building/gameplay aspects of the story has been enough to keep me enjoying it.

This book may have hit my threshold for it. I often found every time I was settling in and just enjoying the story, Richter would say something obnoxious. Sometimes it was just lame jokes, but more often than not he's making some stupid sexist comment. I can't tell if this is meant to be satire/commentary on people Mr. Kong has gamed with, or if he truly thinks Richter is "cool". I suspect it's the latter.

At this point, I'm torn on the series. Part of me wants to know what happens next with the village in the mist and the world its part of, but I'm not sure I can stand Richter enough to continue on. Maybe I'll change my mind the next time I'm looking for a guilty pleasure read. We'll see.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dropping my ratings until the author drops his attempts to trademark the term litrpg (which he didn’t create) and stops calling himself the father of American LitRPG (which he isn’t)

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

(just to warn you this is NOT a short review)
This book isn't a "good" book and it definitely, isn't a great book. As many of the reviews will tell you, it's more of a guilty pleasure than anything else. Reliant upon common literary mechanics and world building to make up for its poor character work. The author however menages to ruin even this careful equilibrium by writing numerous chapters that are so bad their almost unreadable. To put it simply, where do I even start? The misogynistic comments alone are tolerable (due mainly to their irregularity) and ranged from really really messed up to downright perverted. Perverted, because of a whole host of reasons. Not the good kind of perverted either (ie:kinky) just downright F'ed up. For instance there is one scene where the main character remarks on how great a women breasts are, right after he brutally murdered her. In another scene he contemplates how he could drug the girls in his village ( who are technically under his control) to ensure that they would have sex with him. And that is just one part of it. (Read on I dare you) In another part of the book he discovers a sentient race living under neath his lands and instead of seeking to befriend them, he invades their lands and murders them. (Want details, no problem read on (p.s. I find this particularly ironic since the book is called alliances)) Well, to start one time he comes across a pair of brothers and uses a spell on one of them. (not bad right, well once again dear reader. I say to you read on) He than forces the creature to murder his brother before having a conversation with him about how to avoid his peoples defenses and... then murders him too. Later in the story he than proceeds to enter the land of one of the other tribes in the region and kills anyone he comes into contact with. During his battles (I told you this was gonna be a long one) he menages to capture a few prisoners and magically forces them to help him out. After providing them with food he is disgusted to learn that they eat their meat raw, shortly after the point where he tore out one of his prisoners eyes and used it for a potion. Following this (because a book can never have enough wanton blood shed) he forces the captives to lead him to one of their work sites. Where he than moves on to magically take control of the guards and force them to massacre ( the word that the book uses is slaughter) all of the workers,( p.s. If this book has a genocide achievement the main character has more than earned it.) Workers who pose by the way absolutely, no threat to him, what so ever. ( I just want you to remember that throughout all of this that these are people we are talking about people with family's, Children, Husbands, Wives, mothers, and fathers.). To add insult to injury the main charterers bonded dragon than proceeds to defecate on one of the corpses( something which the main character finds hilarious), And that my dear readers is just a small sample of what awaits you. To everyone who has made it this far, I congratulate you. You are well deserving of my respect. I know it was a lot, I'm just glad you manged to make it through all of it. ( and to those who skipped to the end well... I don't blame you.) In all fairness part of the reason I'm so upset about this, is because up until this point it actually isn't a terrible book. In fact its incredibly clear the author truly enjoys his work and has fully invested him self in the effort. So too me it is less of a expected literary atrocity and more of a shocking betrayal. Something all the more devastating in my humble opinion.

[Asa Whitley · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Such a predictable, childish story"

-Has The Land: Alliances: A LitRPG Saga turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes, I am thinking there may not be much hope for the LitRPG genre.

-Any additional comments?

Where should I start? Perhaps with the in depth description of the main character's coherent castration by a totally-not-suspicious character. Then maybe the main character melting the skin off of people and again vomiting on himself. How about Richter's continued stupid decisions leading to a repetitive circus act of plot slough. Maybe when he slaughters members from two kobold tribes unprovoked that he sould have befriended to ensure the safety of his village. Oh and let's just temporarily charm them and steal their most precious items while we're at it. That won't lead them to attack later. And every *blingaling* single *blingaling* statistics *blingaling* notification.
And all of this in only eleven hours! It's like an early Christmas.

The basic idea is that Richter is a bumbling idiot thrown about by plot, where everything he flails his way through either "just" manages to work (if he is the under-dog) or "just" fails (if he is feeling proud of himself). The entire story is written as if he's in a dream where his success only depends on how he is feeling. It's like a bad anime. Come to think of it, this entire story is a bad 90's anime. Even my 13 y/o brother who listened to parts of the story was able to predict what was going to happen next without even knowing the plot. This level of writing I would be impressed with if it came from a high school writing project, but I am seriously disappointed with Aleron Kong, the "Father of American LitRPG."

[Kacy❁ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still enjoying this quest, but all I've got to say why can't I have a pet dragonling like Alma? It's unfair.

[Everlaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third book in this series I read in three days, you could say I'm hooked.

Looking just at the enjoy-ability part this was is still delivering It's just the descriptions of the women and the really immature jokes that bring this down. When the main character commented that a female assassin he just killed (and whose face had been burned of by acid) still had nice "sweater bunnies" I just about puked right on the spot. Just no.

I will still continue though, I really like this series in every other way. Just please bring in some female characters who are there for more than their boobs and to be able to make more innuendos.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heard about this online, with the caveat that you'll love it or hate it, the stat-based repetition.

On book 5 now, and have some comments, and potential spoilers after.
Initially was very interested in the story from the ominous outset, and through the book. Interesting take on having the character know his stats, alignment, etc. After the 1st-2nd book, it truely has worn out its welcome and I assume most people like myself just skip past and get to the end where the protagonist goes "Wow, this one thing is cool....".
Secondly, after the second person of power this guy meets happens to be a woman, who threatens him and his sprite companion (who happens to have his bow drawn) on with a rolling pin, it made stop and think if this was going to start going the way I hoped it wouldn't.
Well, later happened to google the author and of course he speaks about how he really embraces the SJW beliefs, etc.
Personally, I don't often bother reading books with strong or noticable SJW, as I am looking for an escape and not political or moral preaching.
The author here keeps it somewhat low-key however, and the interesting world, magic, situations have so far been enough to keep me moderately entertained.
In books 3,4 and5 though, we start seeing more and more of this evident when after cold bloodedly murdering a thief, he states that the 'ends justify the means'. At a later point there is momentous discussion, and someone of respect says that she not sure if it is right or wrong, however she will swear fealty to him because it is clear that "he is an Agent of Change".
Along with this, the protagonist frees a bunch of non-humans, and brings them to his place of power. They've been given a choice, become little more than indentured servants for a year, or be left in the city where they will be undoubtedly recaptured.

All along throughout the books, its very apparent that the protagonist mirrors the author in almost every way. From medical school, through SJ beliefs, etc.
I get the impression the author is having a blast, and in some ways it is an interesting story.

Of course, the really interesting part for the reader is when you read a few google hits from/about the author, and then compare it to what you've read.
An African-American author who extolls SJW philosophy who was raised as part of the 1%, is beyond privileged and had the rare opportunity in life to become an actual MD I believe.
Beyond that though, is although he espouses SJW, the first 4 books his character also acts like teen/man-children where any woman who isn't a Feminist figurehead is looked at because of her 'heaving bossoms', 'nice rear-end', 'silken thighs', etc. Wasn't aware that was accepted SJW beliefs, nor was the wink-wink, nod-nod joking about how a particular hotel was the best because it was full of prostitutes. I would have thought that women who are so berefit of skills that they've had to sink to the lowest of lows and sleep with any guy with coin is more considered sexploitation, and not just by SJW's.

I'm assuming that something must have happened though, because in book 5 things are a bit different, and all the standard guy talk relating to gay innuendo teasing that is actually common-place in the real world has stopped, and the main character ends up being bi-attracted to a high charisma brother and sister pair of beast masters, and besides not caring about which one he ends up with, also ends up with a 3-some with them, and narrowly misses a wished for 4-some.
Kind of a hard 180' turn from 4 books before, so perhaps someone in the SJW hierarchy called him out.

As I said at the beginning, the novel feature of the characters being aware of their actual stats, and the incessant repeating of them at every level up, or change of status does become something you will start to hate.
And you'll really hate it because this guy can't take a dump without leveling up!
In old school D&D, this book would be referred to as a Monty-Hall adventure.
The protagonist from the outset is told that he can not die. He can be killed, however he'll just 'respawn' at one of his safe spawn spots, usually with the loss of a few levels. That right there kind of defeats any real worry you could ever feel for the guy...
The Mony Hall aspect is not only with the rediculous advancement this guy makes, but it also is obvious in the way the adventure/quests occur.

The new village Smith needs metals to make weapons for his people, so of course the quest ends with him finding a metric -hit ton of high steel, moon-metal, cobalt, etc. What a coincidence.
He needs something else, and what do you know, his next quest finds almost exactly what he needs...

Again its funny when one of his agents brings back another 100-200 people in need, and the protagonist quips that 'oh, so like they're refugees...'.
So he magnanimously accepts them, however later on he actually starts doing the numbers on his financials, and realizes what he has been paying to support his original inhabitants.
And that an additional 1-2/3's more he can't afford!
So the newbies are all welcomed, with the same restrictions on not leaving for year, preferential treatment if they bend the knee and swear fealty to him, however they get to live and work there for free.....

Seriously, this author is a Doctor? I'm rolling on the floor with the self-inflicted wounds this guy is doing to himself.
The author would probably -hit a brick and be out protesting if Trump were to decree that Mexicans can come into the country and work, however can not get any sort of aid... Wait, isn't that sort of one of the planks of SJW philosophy?

OK, long story short.

For Fantasy, this is cotton-candy that will probably raise your blood-sugar for not nutritional benefit. A lot of the world and encounters are enough to keep oneself interested, on a D&D Level 1-2 level of Power of Storytelling.

For those with limited time to expend on reading, and looking for a good bang for you buck, or bang for your time, this is a 1xD20 roll..... Certain Fail!

For those who are pro-SJW, you will want to read this and the author says all the Right things. However, you'll probably find more than a few things that are Patriarchial, Mansplaining-ish, misogynistic, homophobic, Small-Peopled-istic, etc, etc. For all of the effort one sees when one googles sci-fi and sjw, wherein there was a call to action for SJW authors across the internet to flood the genre and affect a Change, I'm thinking you'll end up wanting to eat this author alive for being such a poseur.

For those who are not looking for SJW indoctrination, but plain fantasy, sci-fi, etc works with an emphasis on the story, you probably want to check the websites of authors you've enjoyed before for suggestions, or the Dragon Awards (until they are hijacked as well).

For those who want some interesting reading. and like politics, and like seeing what a meta-joke is, in the making, this is an excellent starting point.

I wanna feel sorry for the author on one level, because I follow all of his jokes, I get them on their level, and I know that he has put a lot of effort into his work, honest work. Sometimes I like juvenile humor, when its appropriate.
Regardless of the interesting-ness of the world, monsters, etc, everyone is 1 dimensional, or 1.5 dimensional at most. The villagers he professes to be willing to die for, he cares nary a whit for unless they can help him get an x% build or productivity boost to this or that state.

I think the work really is the wish of the author and reflects what/how he thinks he would act if he really were whisked off to another reality.
Aside from the SJW act, underneath it all it is about what he wants, period.
There are no greater ideals, democracy, etc. Its all about him knowing whats best, and since he has the power, he will bend you to his will, although in the nicest possible fashion.

I'm gonna keep reading simply for many of the reasons above, and because a friend loaned me the series so I'm not out anything but time.

[DJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like the first two books in this series were entertaining enough, but this book took an abrupt turn in to rampant casual misogyny. While the main plot was entertaining enough, this pretty much killed any interest in the rest of the series for me.

Do yourself a favor, and look for Ascend Online or Awaken Online for the same general feel and plot without the horrible characters and bro-iness

[Karsyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/22/25 ~ Been a while since reading these and it was nice getting into them right now. What I needed since I've re-read Bobiverse 152k times already (and am currently again, I just cycle through them at night). The Land is always fun, in the first books anyways.

=======

3/28/23 - Apparently it's the year of the re-reads, and not keeping up with marking what I've read, which hasn't been as much. But it's been quite a year. SMH.


====================


7/5/19 - It's funny that I'm re-reading them almost exactly at a year when I last read them. Still as enjoyable as always. I LOOOOOOVE these books!


==========================

7/13/18 ~ Still loved it, though still wish Sion had been along for the stuff Richter was alone on. It's so much more interesting when it's more than just him. Still, it's a fantastic book with a great cover art. Onto re-read of book 4 soon.



4.5 stars. Loved it, but my least favorite of the 3 only because Richter did almost everything on his own in this book. I like it when Sion at least is along. But, the leveling up of Alma was awesome, so that was fun. Still, a great book. Now if only I can read something else before I tear through all these and have none left. ACK!

[Enzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

So LitRPG is just going strong, and The Land is one of the best series. So for those who have yet not gotten it. The books read like playing Dungeons and Dragon. Yes, I say that because it's set on fantasy. But building up a character and gaining power seems like a much longer explanation then needed.
Now that the preliminaries are over.
Richter barely survived the adventures of the previous book. His village is growing and with it his power. The bugbears promise to be an enemy that will come back later in the future and I am looking forward to that.
But not only more enemies are mentioned on this one. We get to see what could possibly be Richters archenemy. That he will need to protect the village comes as no surprise. But they are so close its another thing.

[MangoLoverReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 — Listened to audiobook. If you’re a gamer of any sort, these are just so fun! The story is pretty good as well. There is more cursing than I think there needs to be, not that I am uptight about cursing, I just am a cursing connoisseur and feel it should be used to its best effect and not for shock value when one can’t think of something more interesting to say. As a warning, Richter is kind of a simple dumbass and somewhat of a douche. In addition, there’s some objectification of women. I am taking off one star as the writing is pretty mundane but I still did really enjoy it. A guilty pleasure despite the annoying attributes.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally started this series 3 days ago, cannot put down the book.

5 Stars. Very well written, I've read many fantasy/science fiction books (over 150 just on Kindle) this series is moved to my top 5. Highly recommend

[Randy Forster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

Am hooked on this series. Can't wait for the next book and see what new enemies Richter makes next. Love Alma and looking forward to see her developed and grow.

[Andy Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now we're talking

Looking for the start of a great new series? Congratulations you just found one of the best written and engaging series out.

[A.R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read: This series has so much ADHD. Also way to many stats. Still, the humor is what carries this series for me, and it his hilarious.

Had a LOT of city building in this one. Along with a good bit of just random encounters. Like, combat that just felt like it was there to have combat. Still, funny as all get out and enjoyable. I enjoyed myself greatly.

[Eve Harm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent world building and amusing plot.

This engaging novel brings the founding of a Kingdom in a unique fantasy universe to life. The plot seems well thought out.

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series gets better with every new book so far. Its full of adventure, that it was an exhilarating experience to read it. And it was over so fast.

[Selma Šljuka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Za self-published serijal sa tematikom igrica, jako mi je zanimljiva radnja i količina ideja za likove. Super simpatična priča 👌

[Steve Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.75 stars

Re-listened February 2020. Now that I am listening to the series again I am starting to realize how much of a douche bag Richter is. He makes reckless decisions. He is the luckiest guy in the world with how many benefits he has received and yet he still seems to complain all the time about everything. He has only been in the land about 3 months and is already a master of a place of power, has unlocked 2 of his powers, opened the forge of heavens and created a village. He has opened 6 or 7 classes of magic and has multiple spells for each. Alma gives him so much experience with brain drain that he is able to level at an insane pace. Every adventure he takes gives him more wealth than anyone else has ever seen. Despite all that he still complains. No one else has even half the advantages that he was given. His jokes aren't that funny the second time around. Despite all that I still like the story. I love all the supporting characters. I love the magic system and the world building. Also, Richter isn't a douche bag all the time. He can be honorable and kind. He goes out of his way to protect his people.

Initial Review below:

I am still enjoying the journey. I like to think of this book as a journey instead of a story to finish. I still look forward to what is going to happen but not with the same goal of reaching the end of each book. I did not like this book as much as the other two because Richter was more alone in this story. He also was making a few rash decision that led him to face opponents that were much stronger and more experienced that himself. I didn't mind him pushing the boundaries of his abilities in the first 2 books, but in this book it seemed too reckless. Still having a good time listening and have already purchased the rest of the series.

[Ivenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in love with the first two books of the series but this one was kind of a big disappointment. Too much misogyny for my liking, the main character is basically an infantile sexist asshole who has a really strange concept about women. My advice for Aleron is to delete those horrible, unfunny sentenctes from the story because they are seriously taking down the whole experience...(And seriously who would belive that a hardcore gamer 24 years old boy had so much women in his life when he talks about women like shit? You can't be serious, man.)

[Cheng Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
I still enjoyed it very much but this time I can’t ignore that there’s no world building, no character development and those childish jokes! ( a lot of action though)
Hopefully the next book will be better.

[Brad Theado]

the book was good but man did it need an editor.

[Kendra Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story just keeps getting better and more exciting.

[AudioBookReviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My original The Land: Alliances audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

“The Land: Alliances” is the third book in the “Chaos Seeds” series which is quickly becoming a full-fledged LitRPG Saga with upwards of six total books planned; four currently available on Audible.  The series is written by Aleron Kong and the Audible narration is performed by Nick Podehl; who also narrated the previous two books.  For those who are unfamiliar with this genre of book, LitRPG is a type of story where the listener is dropped into a virtual role-playing game environment; often a MMO RPG.  These stories usually follow one or more characters as they complete quests, level up their stats, and often try to fulfill an ultimate challenge once they become powerful enough.  If you have listened to the previous two books, picking up book three is not even a question.  If you are at all excited to see where our hero goes, this book continues right where book two left off.  Even if you are not a gamer, people often enjoy these types of book as it is more of a virtual biography when done.

I will say that not only have the characters in the book matured and grown due to their experiences, the author’s writing style and storytelling has also improved with each new book in the series.  As with the second book, the third in the series lacks any detailed prequel which is often used to catch the listener upon any of the activities of the previous book.  It is like the author has written a single book and released the various numbers in the series at chapter breaks.  I’m sure that is not the case, however, I would have like to have had more backstory even though I jumped right into this one after completing the second.

One of the main lessons our character learned in the second book was that actions have consequences, and this book it no different.  I will say that the main character does often take additional time to think though the magnitude of his decisions and the impact they will have.  Yet, we also see that delaying taking action can itself have negative results.  I enjoy that book one spent time on the main character where book two focused mostly on the development of the party.  This book really sets the scene where we have a well-established community of people working towards a specific goal.  We are also given a view into this utopia where even creatures of different races and classes can live in harmony; which is a very different story in the rest of the realm.

The characters and the creatures they meet during their journeys have grown along with their levels and skills.  Many of the same characters are present in the third book, and we are also introduced to a few new one.  It should be no surprise that there are darker, meaner, and more powerful monsters than the first two books.  This makes sense when you understand of the genre of book.  A good portion of this book takes place underground in the many caverns and caves found in the land.  I felt this book had more surprises along with twists and turns than the first two books.  As the characters develop and grow, we are also given some quite emotional and impactful events for the main character to face.  There was a sense of weight and despair at times, much more than at other times.

We are introduced to an assassin who is sent to put an end to the leaders of this new and growing community to help maintain order in the land.  Again, this book notches up the level of intensity from the previous books.  However, this also helps to show the importance of friendship and a well-skilled party for success.  There was always a sense of vulnerability for the characters, which I have not often felt from other LitRPG books.  At the same time, there was a feeling of the ever-present grinding to reach the next level for that one new skill or enhancement.  Anyone who has played large MMORPG type games knows what I mean.  The maturing of the main characters familiar was welcomed and exciting to see.  I’m looking forward to seeing it in future books

Let me turn to the book’s narration by Nick Podehl.  First off, I was excited to see that he has continued to be the voice of the Chaos Seed series and I look forward to him narrating future books in the series.  The audio quality and narration was professionally done and I do not remember any issues with either while listening.  The book was clear and the pace of reading was acceptable.  If you enjoyed the previous two book’s narrations, you will know what to expect from this book also.  Again, as with the first two books, the narrator added a few sound effects which I felt enhanced the audio and they were not overly used.

For parents and younger readers, although there is still vulgar language in this book, it seemed to be less than the previous two books.  However, a few of the scenes are rather graphic and at there is a more vindictive or revengeful aspect, which involved a darker side of the main character.  There is one rather graphic scene dealing with bodily mutilation involving the male genitalia, which may not be appropriate for younger readers.  There are also a few more scenes including sexual references or romance.  If these are at all offensive, I would recommend you find a different series to read.

In summary, if you liked the first two, go and get this book.  You will enjoy the growth, journey, adventure, friendship, and love.  The action is bigger, the monsters are badder, and the magic is more powerful than ever.  I would recommend you pick up this book after reading the first two.  It is that good.

Audiobook was purchased for review by ABR.

[Javir11 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5 pero lo dejo en tres estrellas ya que por ahora de los tres que he leído, este es el que más pesado se me ha hecho, al menos la parte central de la historia.

Como los anteriores, libro ligero y sin muchas pretensiones, prosa no muy complicada, algo que agradezco cuando leo en inglés, y con un ritmo muy bueno.

El gran pero ya lo he comentado, la parte central del libro se hace un poco larga y además, la trama principal no avanza lo que me hubiera gustado.

Creo que seguiré al menos un libro, mi propósito es leer este año al menos una quincena de libros en inglés y esta saga por ahora me va muy bien.

[Keegan Butts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Series still good, but I really did not need a vivid description of a dull knife sawing the main characters penis off over the course of several minutes as a form of torture. That came from way out of left field and didn't exactly fit the tone that had been built up.

[Ivanhoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaya, realmente me encanta esta saga. Lo unico malo es que son muy cortos D: