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The System Apocalypse #1
Life in the North
What happens when the apocalypse arrives, not via nuclear weapons or a comet but as Levels and monsters? What if you were camping in the Yukon when the world ended? All John wanted to do was get away from his life in Kluane National Park for a weekend. Hike, camp and chill. Instead, the world comes to an end in a series of blue boxes. Animals start evolving, monsters start spawning and he has a character sheet and physics defying skills. Now, he has to survive the apocalypse, get back to civilisation and not lose his mind.
The System has arrived and with it, aliens, monsters and a reality that draws upon past legends and game-like reality. John will need to find new friends, deal with his ex and the slavering monsters that keep popping up.
Life in the North is Book 1 of the System Apocalypse, a LitRPG Apocalypse book that combines modern day life, science fiction and fantasy elements along with game mechanics.
The System has arrived and with it, aliens, monsters and a reality that draws upon past legends and game-like reality. John will need to find new friends, deal with his ex and the slavering monsters that keep popping up.
Life in the North is Book 1 of the System Apocalypse, a LitRPG Apocalypse book that combines modern day life, science fiction and fantasy elements along with game mechanics.
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 2, 2017
1992 people are currently reading
2147 people want to read
About the author
Tao Wong
139 books959 followersTao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books.
When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 340 reviews
August 7, 2020
This was a fairly poor LitRPG that was further hindered by the fact that it indulged in a lot of the very worst tropes and flaws of the genre. This story was a mindless monster squashing action fantasy set in a run of the mill post-apocalypse style LitRPG world.
The story was a bit crappy right from the get go. John Lee is camping in Kluane National Park when his life takes an unexpected twist. Aliens turn Earth into a Dungeon planet for their own amusement! Clearly those aliens had no respect for the Prime Directive!!! It means dungeons and monsters are spawning all over the place and aliens are arriving to have their RPG style fun. The people of earth just have to try and survive and adapt to their new, awful, reality. John gets a few special snowflake perks because he got stuck in a high level zone at the start. We follow him on his journey to level up and become Earth's Special Snowflake Prime...
The writing was OK but the story was hindered by all sorts of flaws. This was a mindless action fantasy with zero effort put into worldbuilding or character development. It had all the typical LitRPG style game mechanics but like most of the worst books in the genre we got hit with information about them by the ton but none of it made any logical sense. I'm convinced a lot of LitRPG authors put zero thought into their game mechanics or worldbuilding and just pick the level ups, stats, and skills out of their arse to randomly assign to their main character as needed to push the story forward. After the first hour of the story I was already bored of the nonsensical game mechanics aspects of the story. The worldbuilding was equally poor. We got the worst blend of fantasy and sci-fi with John ending up as a sword wielding, motorbike riding, Iron Man suited cringe-fest within the first 20% of the story!
The characters were also a problem. John was a tough main character to like or be able to root for despite the fact that he had plenty of potentially sympathetic things going for him like the fact that his whole family died in the apocalypse and he himself was trying to survive the awful new world he found himself in. The guy just had a shitty personality! He made a bad impression on me right from the start. Before the apocalypse even hit it got revealed he had run off on his solo camping trip so he could wallow in self-pity and rage about the fact that his "evil" ex-girlfriend had dumped him and so he was forced to move out of his house because he could not afford the rent on his own. It was camping rather than running home to daddy to cry about it all. Then the apocalypse hit and John went on a mass rage spree with only the occasional pause in the rage monologues to leer at any humans that had managed to survive. Luckily only the hot ones did... He really did have the personality type of an entitled, rage-filled, high-school shooter. The guy would have been the stereotypical neckbeard if not for the fact that he occasionally leered at a few of the guys as well as all the woman!!!
This story shared a common problem suffered by a lot of single POV LitRPG stories I've read over the years. It lacked both tension and interesting support characters. Both of those things really hurt the story. I never really cared for John as a lead character so did not care much what happened to him and given the nature of the story there was zero tension in any of his battles as it was obvious he was going to win them with no personal cost to be paid. The secondary characters were forgettable and completely throwaway. John did get assigned the typical LitRPG style guide/sidekick but the guy/creature sucked so bad I have not even managed to remember his name. It is an epic fail when the tropey sidekick cannot even manage to provide some comic relief to a tale! The rest of the characters were even more throwaway and just existed for John to leer at, bitch and cry about, or kill.
Misogyny and casual racism were also an issue for the story. I've encountered worse in both cases in the genre but they were still mild irritations to be suffered on top of an already fairly poor story.
All in all this was a pretty poor LitRPG story. A lack of humour, a lack of decent characters, a lack of tension, and a nonsensical magic system all resulted in this being a bit of a bust!
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Audio Note: Not even the excellent Nick Podehl could make this a fun tale!!!
The story was a bit crappy right from the get go. John Lee is camping in Kluane National Park when his life takes an unexpected twist. Aliens turn Earth into a Dungeon planet for their own amusement! Clearly those aliens had no respect for the Prime Directive!!! It means dungeons and monsters are spawning all over the place and aliens are arriving to have their RPG style fun. The people of earth just have to try and survive and adapt to their new, awful, reality. John gets a few special snowflake perks because he got stuck in a high level zone at the start. We follow him on his journey to level up and become Earth's Special Snowflake Prime...
The writing was OK but the story was hindered by all sorts of flaws. This was a mindless action fantasy with zero effort put into worldbuilding or character development. It had all the typical LitRPG style game mechanics but like most of the worst books in the genre we got hit with information about them by the ton but none of it made any logical sense. I'm convinced a lot of LitRPG authors put zero thought into their game mechanics or worldbuilding and just pick the level ups, stats, and skills out of their arse to randomly assign to their main character as needed to push the story forward. After the first hour of the story I was already bored of the nonsensical game mechanics aspects of the story. The worldbuilding was equally poor. We got the worst blend of fantasy and sci-fi with John ending up as a sword wielding, motorbike riding, Iron Man suited cringe-fest within the first 20% of the story!
The characters were also a problem. John was a tough main character to like or be able to root for despite the fact that he had plenty of potentially sympathetic things going for him like the fact that his whole family died in the apocalypse and he himself was trying to survive the awful new world he found himself in. The guy just had a shitty personality! He made a bad impression on me right from the start. Before the apocalypse even hit it got revealed he had run off on his solo camping trip so he could wallow in self-pity and rage about the fact that his "evil" ex-girlfriend had dumped him and so he was forced to move out of his house because he could not afford the rent on his own. It was camping rather than running home to daddy to cry about it all. Then the apocalypse hit and John went on a mass rage spree with only the occasional pause in the rage monologues to leer at any humans that had managed to survive. Luckily only the hot ones did... He really did have the personality type of an entitled, rage-filled, high-school shooter. The guy would have been the stereotypical neckbeard if not for the fact that he occasionally leered at a few of the guys as well as all the woman!!!
This story shared a common problem suffered by a lot of single POV LitRPG stories I've read over the years. It lacked both tension and interesting support characters. Both of those things really hurt the story. I never really cared for John as a lead character so did not care much what happened to him and given the nature of the story there was zero tension in any of his battles as it was obvious he was going to win them with no personal cost to be paid. The secondary characters were forgettable and completely throwaway. John did get assigned the typical LitRPG style guide/sidekick but the guy/creature sucked so bad I have not even managed to remember his name. It is an epic fail when the tropey sidekick cannot even manage to provide some comic relief to a tale! The rest of the characters were even more throwaway and just existed for John to leer at, bitch and cry about, or kill.
Misogyny and casual racism were also an issue for the story. I've encountered worse in both cases in the genre but they were still mild irritations to be suffered on top of an already fairly poor story.
All in all this was a pretty poor LitRPG story. A lack of humour, a lack of decent characters, a lack of tension, and a nonsensical magic system all resulted in this being a bit of a bust!
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Audio Note: Not even the excellent Nick Podehl could make this a fun tale!!!
February 18, 2018
I continue my LitRPG tour with this novel. First impressions are that this is an excellent new litrpg adventure. Unfortunately that changed as I delved deeper into the story. This seems to be 50% story 50% mental health examination which starts to become tedious after awhile. John is a real asshole and no tragic backstory is going to excuse that. He does have his issues but he definitely gets the short end of the stick on multiple occasions but his constant rage reactions get boring QUICKLY. If you are not interested in reading about a protagonist ignoring their issues then this is not the book for you. The rest of it isn't enough to distract you from that.
September 30, 2020
Pretty ordinary. The only thing that differentiates this from any other sub-par LitRPG is the fact the protag is LGBT and POC. The same misogyny, flat characters, rote mechanics, facile storyline, and protag with the emotional depth of a wet rag that plagues the genre as a whole.
October 10, 2019
2nd Listen - Just as awesome & fun and a bit rough as the first time. =)
Mini-Review ~ LitRPG
5 Stars for Narration by Nick Podehl! I love the way he narrates the series. This is my new fav work by NP.
I read/listened to all the books that are out in the series. Whew! I'm so sad that I am caught up!!!
Upon reflection, I love the 1st and 6th book of the series! They are super!
The writing could be a little smoother. All of the books could use another wave or two of editing to catch all errors and make all the books shine. Yes, that would be nice.
Regardless! I love the world setting, the epic plot, John Lee, his friends and the crazy System that turns the world inside out into a glorious, unyielding nightmare bent to break all.
This book has one of the best balance between establishing the series, introducing characters, showing game mechanics and juggling story scenes with action sequences.
Mini-Review ~ LitRPG
5 Stars for Narration by Nick Podehl! I love the way he narrates the series. This is my new fav work by NP.
I read/listened to all the books that are out in the series. Whew! I'm so sad that I am caught up!!!
Upon reflection, I love the 1st and 6th book of the series! They are super!
The writing could be a little smoother. All of the books could use another wave or two of editing to catch all errors and make all the books shine. Yes, that would be nice.
Regardless! I love the world setting, the epic plot, John Lee, his friends and the crazy System that turns the world inside out into a glorious, unyielding nightmare bent to break all.
This book has one of the best balance between establishing the series, introducing characters, showing game mechanics and juggling story scenes with action sequences.
July 7, 2022
Author is a bully
Tao Wong is in the process of punching down in the progression and post apocalyptic genres. This book isn't too bad, but it's far from an original idea, building on a wealth of previous works that came before it, which makes Tao Wong a ridiculous hypocrit. He is trademarking a phrase he did not coin, and trying to use that to remove listings of other authors in the same genre. Do yourself a favor and go read any of the other writers in this genre. Theyre just as good, if not more creative than this series, and they aren't actively inhibiting the growth of a genre we all love.
Tao Wong is in the process of punching down in the progression and post apocalyptic genres. This book isn't too bad, but it's far from an original idea, building on a wealth of previous works that came before it, which makes Tao Wong a ridiculous hypocrit. He is trademarking a phrase he did not coin, and trying to use that to remove listings of other authors in the same genre. Do yourself a favor and go read any of the other writers in this genre. Theyre just as good, if not more creative than this series, and they aren't actively inhibiting the growth of a genre we all love.
February 3, 2023
Greetings citizen. As a peaceful and organised immersion into the Galactic Council has been declined (extensively and painfully we might add), your world has been declared a Dungeon World. Thank you. We were getting bored with the 12 that we had previously.
...
As a new Dungeon World, your planet has been designated a free-immigration location. Undeveloped worlds in the Galactic Council may take advantage of this new immigration policy. Please try not to greet all new visitors the same way as you did our Emissary, you humans could do with some friends.
This starts a new system integration in the LitRPG fashion with John left deep in the Yukon (high north Canada) in a place he soon learns is designated for level 100+ creatures. This gives him some perks to compensate the really poor luck with long-lasting consequences. And I'll admit that the humor of that first notice carried me through a good bit of the start of this story.
And I liked John, mostly. He's a bit of a loner and prone to rash actions, but his heart is in the right place (mostly. I'll get to that). Fortunately, he spends his first perk on getting a spirit guide and that ends up being his best choice ever, even if Ali is a bit willful with ideas of his own. For a good chunk, they're pretty much on their own and the author does a good job making that exciting while still including key character moments during the seamless exposition.
And I liked the companions he finds and friendships he makes. It get's a bit wobbly once they get to a town, but even that was interesting. Humans being humans is a huge mess but at least Wong made it an interesting one for John to deal with—mainly because John was powerful enough that he could opt out if it got too much.
I was also interested to have an explicitly bisexual main character. He's not terribly tempted by the dark elf lord he meets, but it gives some flavor to his interactions there and in having his two main interests/temptations be opposite genders.
On the other hand, John gets in his own way enough near the end to be frustrating. He has anger and insecurity issues left over from his family and relationship history (including a girlfriend who is present in town) and this is exacerbated by having the System yoink all control over their lives away from them and forcing them to fight to live. I could even empathize with his anger to a large degree. I didn't feel it was unreasonable and I was right there with him in his bad choices. I wasn't so much with him in the aftermath where he lets himself become isolated from others he cares about, though.
On the other other hand, he squanders an oodle of loot on a mecha motorcycle named Sabre and big laser rifle. I'm going to give one extra star just for adding that to the power fantasy.
Okay, seriously, this comes in at four stars. The poor me, angry boy schtick didn't go over very well with me, but there's enough there to keep me into the next story. I do hope John gets over himself soon, though.
A note about Chaste: John is pretty messed up, but he does get himself some. Unfortunately, not with either of the ones he could have a long-term relationship with. Which is why he chose her. Fortunately, the details were completely unimportant and Wong chose to not give them. Good choice. It makes this pretty chaste, though you could quibble if you like.
July 7, 2017
Decent but not my type of MC
Decent book, read the sample and see if you like it. I personally prefer no nonsense focused MCs who act with reason rather than emotion. This one gets emotional more often than not. Which is fine, just not my type of book.
Decent book, read the sample and see if you like it. I personally prefer no nonsense focused MCs who act with reason rather than emotion. This one gets emotional more often than not. Which is fine, just not my type of book.
October 3, 2025
Meeeh, no tiene nada de especial respecto a otros libros similares. Es lo mismo pero sin nada que lo haga diferente.
Y además la traducción oficial es una auténtica BASURA, que no ayuda cuando ya de por sí el libro va justito.
Y además la traducción oficial es una auténtica BASURA, que no ayuda cuando ya de por sí el libro va justito.
August 16, 2020
Rating 3.5 stars
This book is very similar to the Shadow Sun series by Dave Willmarth. Since that book came after this one I guess I have that backwards. This is a story where the world ends. The earth has been changed to a dungeon planet and brought into the system. This means the rules of physics are now changed and that mana is now the most important thing. The people of earth are given game systems to control the mana. This is like every other litrpg in that there is a display screen, stats, skills, classes, etc. The story follows Jason who was alone in the Yukon after breaking up with is girlfriend. When the world changed different locations had different levels of monsters. Jason was stuck in a high level area and because of that, the system gave him extra perks to help him survive. He does get out of the Yukon and ends up meeting up with a group of people and eventually getting back to his hometown which is now a safe zone. The rest of the story is just figuring out the system and how to survive. Pretty standard stuff. There are a lot of things that could have been done much better. The MC is hard to like/understand. I wouldn't call him an asshole but he is sort of antisocial and a brooder. He is extremely angry and seems to be his own worst enemy. Yes his girlfriend cheated on him and he has a right to be somewhat angry but how he deals with this only hurts himself. He is a bundle of contradiction. Stating he doesn't want to be in charge and yet always telling people what to do. He complains of being lonely but never seeks anyone out. I couldn't get a read on what would make him happy. The one aspect I couldn't understand was his sexuality The litrpg components in the book were just okay. The world building wasn't that extensive. The level up system could have been more advanced. The characters were just okay. The part that I can say was pretty well written was the monster fighting. Intellectually I know this was a mediocre book, but for some reason I still enjoyed it. I guess even though I think the MC is too over the top with his anger and emotions, I want to see how he changes in the next few stories. He has quite a few good traits and I kinda wonder if he will ever try to be happy. I can't really explain why.
This book is very similar to the Shadow Sun series by Dave Willmarth. Since that book came after this one I guess I have that backwards. This is a story where the world ends. The earth has been changed to a dungeon planet and brought into the system. This means the rules of physics are now changed and that mana is now the most important thing. The people of earth are given game systems to control the mana. This is like every other litrpg in that there is a display screen, stats, skills, classes, etc. The story follows Jason who was alone in the Yukon after breaking up with is girlfriend. When the world changed different locations had different levels of monsters. Jason was stuck in a high level area and because of that, the system gave him extra perks to help him survive. He does get out of the Yukon and ends up meeting up with a group of people and eventually getting back to his hometown which is now a safe zone. The rest of the story is just figuring out the system and how to survive. Pretty standard stuff. There are a lot of things that could have been done much better. The MC is hard to like/understand. I wouldn't call him an asshole but he is sort of antisocial and a brooder. He is extremely angry and seems to be his own worst enemy. Yes his girlfriend cheated on him and he has a right to be somewhat angry but how he deals with this only hurts himself. He is a bundle of contradiction. Stating he doesn't want to be in charge and yet always telling people what to do. He complains of being lonely but never seeks anyone out. I couldn't get a read on what would make him happy. The one aspect I couldn't understand was his sexuality The litrpg components in the book were just okay. The world building wasn't that extensive. The level up system could have been more advanced. The characters were just okay. The part that I can say was pretty well written was the monster fighting. Intellectually I know this was a mediocre book, but for some reason I still enjoyed it. I guess even though I think the MC is too over the top with his anger and emotions, I want to see how he changes in the next few stories. He has quite a few good traits and I kinda wonder if he will ever try to be happy. I can't really explain why.
September 11, 2017
An absolute gem of a novel.
A great twist in the genre and just... wow.
Not much more to say than I'm looking forward to #2.
A great twist in the genre and just... wow.
Not much more to say than I'm looking forward to #2.
June 22, 2019
Bucking the trend of a main character being transported to another world, here's a story that brings the new world stuff to Earth. Not the first time I've seen it, but one of the best. Basically Earth has been deemed as a 'Dungeon Planet' which is a bit of an intergalactic hunting preserve and as mana levels on the planet are adjusted, people are able to gain new abilities that will help them survive the monsters that begin spawning as well as the existing animals that start mutating.
This is a sci-fi/fantasy rpg in that you do have some spellcasters running around, but also beam weaponry. I would compare it to the system you see in the Mass Effect games if I had to describe it quickly.
I really enjoyed this book. The world is described well and there is a varied cast of characters. The main character is a bit hard to relate to at various points in the story since he struggles with some pretty serious anger issues. The character is written well and I can sympathize with the fact that there are real people like this, but I myself still can't exactly put myself in his shoes when he flips out sometimes. Despite that, he does seem realistic and is smartly written...so that already puts this book very high within the litrpg genre in my opinion.
This is one of the best litrpg I've gotten into, so I would recommend anyone with an interest to check it out. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for something extra to spice things up compared to the more standard medieval fantasy out there. Specifically, fans of Cosimo Yap's Gam3 series will probably find a lot to enjoy here.
This is a sci-fi/fantasy rpg in that you do have some spellcasters running around, but also beam weaponry. I would compare it to the system you see in the Mass Effect games if I had to describe it quickly.
I really enjoyed this book. The world is described well and there is a varied cast of characters. The main character is a bit hard to relate to at various points in the story since he struggles with some pretty serious anger issues. The character is written well and I can sympathize with the fact that there are real people like this, but I myself still can't exactly put myself in his shoes when he flips out sometimes. Despite that, he does seem realistic and is smartly written...so that already puts this book very high within the litrpg genre in my opinion.
This is one of the best litrpg I've gotten into, so I would recommend anyone with an interest to check it out. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for something extra to spice things up compared to the more standard medieval fantasy out there. Specifically, fans of Cosimo Yap's Gam3 series will probably find a lot to enjoy here.
August 17, 2021
The main character doesn't even feel 2 dimensional, he feels 1 dimensional. He's a blob of rage and ignorance. All. The. Time. "I'll do il later", I think I've heard this 50 times already in the book, it's like it's his only vocabulary. The book itself is full of cliches, bosom filled girls that suddenly want to help him, and hipocrisy. I thought this was better but it turns out I was wrong. 1.5/5 And obviously he has to fight with unallocated Stat points. Of course. The scene when he tells Jason to stop thinking about minmaxing and "man up" because otherwise he'd die because it's not a game was probably the worst scene I've seen in a book in a while. The sheer hipocrisy of the main character, while, on MULTIPLE occasions, risks his life and his teammates' lives by doing stupid shit without STILL allocating his stats. That's hipocrisy here, YOU are treating it like a game. And guess, ladies and gentleman, what left him with the interaction with Jason? You guessed it, anger! Honestly, this is so fucking awful. I honestly hate it so much, one of the worst books I've ever read.
February 13, 2019
I can really only give this book two stars. It was a disappointment. I really wanted to like it. I like the narrator. Also, the premise was an interesting one and as a reader of LitRPG, I thought it was an interesting take on the genre. But it turned into more of pre-teen melodrama. That would be fine as I think we all could mention many pre-teen books that are smartly written, with drama, and are just plain awesome. This book, though, was immature...that's it. The main character spent much of the time complaining or becoming offended. And the author did not write women well at all. They were very secondary, even servile. Nothing inspirational there at all. The adversaries were all two dimensional as well. All in all, this was a real trudge to read through. I will not be continuing in this series.
August 27, 2021
Meh.
I know it's not socially acceptable to say, but the male MC drooling over the male prince guy every time he sees him was yuck. As a heterosexual male, the guy on guy stuff is the opposite of interesting.
The rest of the book was ok I guess, but the MC was a hot mess of all kinds of messed up. It wasn't really a happy story and didn't really end on a positive note. After listening to the whole book I just felt like my time could have been better spent.
Not really interested reading the next book, which is a shame, as I was excited to see 11 books in the series before I read it.
I know it's not socially acceptable to say, but the male MC drooling over the male prince guy every time he sees him was yuck. As a heterosexual male, the guy on guy stuff is the opposite of interesting.
The rest of the book was ok I guess, but the MC was a hot mess of all kinds of messed up. It wasn't really a happy story and didn't really end on a positive note. After listening to the whole book I just felt like my time could have been better spent.
Not really interested reading the next book, which is a shame, as I was excited to see 11 books in the series before I read it.
February 2, 2018
Rough
While I really like the story, this needs major editing.
To many times where simple actions, such as resting in a cave, don't make sense. When did he find the cave? Wasn't he just fighting?
This was on Royalroadl and published without any clean up or polish.
As much as I liked the story I can't rate this any higher.
I'll leave it up to others to see if they agree with me.
While I really like the story, this needs major editing.
To many times where simple actions, such as resting in a cave, don't make sense. When did he find the cave? Wasn't he just fighting?
This was on Royalroadl and published without any clean up or polish.
As much as I liked the story I can't rate this any higher.
I'll leave it up to others to see if they agree with me.
July 2, 2022
copyright striking is lame
This series isn’t nearly good enough for the author to be acting like this in the community. Honestly a 3 star normally, but crappy legal bullying shouldn’t be tolerated.
This series isn’t nearly good enough for the author to be acting like this in the community. Honestly a 3 star normally, but crappy legal bullying shouldn’t be tolerated.
July 11, 2017
Has potential.
The MC has issue, and is too edgy. But I like the story in general, the characters are filled out, I just have a problem with the mc who isn't at all realistic to me.
The MC has issue, and is too edgy. But I like the story in general, the characters are filled out, I just have a problem with the mc who isn't at all realistic to me.
Read
August 7, 2020LitRPG with an apocalypse.
June 16, 2018
Plot: 6/15
Prose: 2/5
Character: 6/15
Setting: 20/25
Dialogue: 6/10
Enjoyment: 24/30
Overall: 64/100 (3 stars)
Life in the North is the story of the world being turned into one giant MMO Planet with everything from buildings to towns available to the players.
The story starts off very, very rough with you being dropped into the story head first into a world with a wide array of sweeping changes. This is said to happen to the planet due to some galactic council deciding it needs a new Dungeon World which feels rough. While this does give you the same feeling as the characters of being completely out of your depth with everything becoming an RPG and ruled by the "System" I feel it could have been executed much better.
After the initial bits of the book the main characters starts traveling to the nearest city and starts working with others to rebuild society now that nothing works as it did. This is where the books gets pretty good with a good political and social drama going on in the nearest city (Whitehorse, YT) as well as surrounding towns. As a note it's cool to be able to just use google maps and street view to see where everything is around the story.
Ill stop there for plot bits due to spoilers but the overall plot growth and world building as the MC travels around is cool to see and it really feels solid. This is probably due to what I feel the author writing about somewhere he knows intimately.
I am looking forward to reading more of the series however and seeing more of the world along with maybe a trip to a larger city like Edmonton or Anchorage and seeing how a large city deals with the changes and if it ended up all in rubble.
Prose: 2/5
Character: 6/15
Setting: 20/25
Dialogue: 6/10
Enjoyment: 24/30
Overall: 64/100 (3 stars)
Life in the North is the story of the world being turned into one giant MMO Planet with everything from buildings to towns available to the players.
The story starts off very, very rough with you being dropped into the story head first into a world with a wide array of sweeping changes. This is said to happen to the planet due to some galactic council deciding it needs a new Dungeon World which feels rough. While this does give you the same feeling as the characters of being completely out of your depth with everything becoming an RPG and ruled by the "System" I feel it could have been executed much better.
After the initial bits of the book the main characters starts traveling to the nearest city and starts working with others to rebuild society now that nothing works as it did. This is where the books gets pretty good with a good political and social drama going on in the nearest city (Whitehorse, YT) as well as surrounding towns. As a note it's cool to be able to just use google maps and street view to see where everything is around the story.
Ill stop there for plot bits due to spoilers but the overall plot growth and world building as the MC travels around is cool to see and it really feels solid. This is probably due to what I feel the author writing about somewhere he knows intimately.
I am looking forward to reading more of the series however and seeing more of the world along with maybe a trip to a larger city like Edmonton or Anchorage and seeing how a large city deals with the changes and if it ended up all in rubble.
September 11, 2020
Enjoyable to read. I kept comparing it to Shadow Sun Survival because I read that series first but I understand this was one the first of its kind that came about. I love this genre of post-apocalyptic survival and wish there were more books like it. I hoped he would spend more time on his own surviving before finding civilization but I know it could just be more of the same forever without adding more people and scenarios.
I did hear a lot about his “rage” before coming in but it wasn’t too overwhelming in this book, if it stays at about this level I can manage that going forward.
Starting the next one after this review!
I did hear a lot about his “rage” before coming in but it wasn’t too overwhelming in this book, if it stays at about this level I can manage that going forward.
Starting the next one after this review!
July 16, 2017
DNF atrocious editing
May 18, 2021
This book starts with the author having an Idea, clearly, he waffles along on some good hunting, the author gets lost and the book turns into a wretched ending. If you want to read series then end this book at 80%...just do it
1) MC is a YA that the author writes as a complete loser after his girl cheats on him and his house burns down. Is Toa Wong even in the same world as the rest of us? The fact that this "loser" could even afford a house at his age is incredible and something that most of the world's youth today cannot. But hey yeah we should feel bad for him, possibly even sympathise with him.
2) World has ended but all people want to do is F***, even going so far as to putting upgrades onto their charisma and getting chemical castrations. Do I really need to hear this? Does it strengthen the story? Or is the author just marketing p**n?
3)MC is constantly depressed and battles with his emotions making each conversation a nightmare.... for the love of unoriginality...stop!
4) MC wants male and female ar** at almost every encounter, he also wants to mix it up with different species. For the love of god no wonder he's an emotional wreck and hates himself.
5)80% of the book MC goes nuts, somehow he survives fighting the entire night and goes distance that would take days in a single night. (in all my life I have never seen the drunk guy win a fight but low and behold emotional wreck cry baby can fight all night???)
6) Wakes up with a hole through his stomach but survives because he stopped bleeding??? You fall asleep because you're tired but there's a hole through your lower body from a horn??? Is this Author on drugs?
7) Why go on and on saying this is the real world, why make us suffer through repeated pointless conversations of this is the real world? WHY?! then you write he slept with a gaping HOLE through his stomach?
absolute garbage ending really just dreadful. Toa you're insane!
1) MC is a YA that the author writes as a complete loser after his girl cheats on him and his house burns down. Is Toa Wong even in the same world as the rest of us? The fact that this "loser" could even afford a house at his age is incredible and something that most of the world's youth today cannot. But hey yeah we should feel bad for him, possibly even sympathise with him.
2) World has ended but all people want to do is F***, even going so far as to putting upgrades onto their charisma and getting chemical castrations. Do I really need to hear this? Does it strengthen the story? Or is the author just marketing p**n?
3)MC is constantly depressed and battles with his emotions making each conversation a nightmare.... for the love of unoriginality...stop!
4) MC wants male and female ar** at almost every encounter, he also wants to mix it up with different species. For the love of god no wonder he's an emotional wreck and hates himself.
5)80% of the book MC goes nuts, somehow he survives fighting the entire night and goes distance that would take days in a single night. (in all my life I have never seen the drunk guy win a fight but low and behold emotional wreck cry baby can fight all night???)
6) Wakes up with a hole through his stomach but survives because he stopped bleeding??? You fall asleep because you're tired but there's a hole through your lower body from a horn??? Is this Author on drugs?
7) Why go on and on saying this is the real world, why make us suffer through repeated pointless conversations of this is the real world? WHY?! then you write he slept with a gaping HOLE through his stomach?
absolute garbage ending really just dreadful. Toa you're insane!
June 11, 2018
The author is trying way to hard to be "Different" than other LitRPG by making his MC have a serious psychological handicap.
Problem with that? In this system, he could literally buy an item in a shop to fix his brain chemisty, and yet this guy just wollows in his own bullshit forever, because instead of focusing on the story, he wants to pad chapters by talking about how mad the MC is every 6th paragraph. No. that is not an exaggeration. Use a find a feature and see how often the MC talks about how angry he is. Its multiple times, every chapter.
The MC has 2 characters
1. Hes mad.
2. He doesn't do anything about the fact that he's mad.
Thats it. Thats his character. Going forward, this doesnt change. So, the world is fairly interesting. But you have to be willing to just ignroe 90% of what the MC thinks in his own head, or how he is an absolute piece of shit to people around him.
Honestly, why people still even try to talk to him midway through book 2 I will never know. People just don't seem to care at all that he treats them like trash. Know what. Im knocking a star off.
Problem with that? In this system, he could literally buy an item in a shop to fix his brain chemisty, and yet this guy just wollows in his own bullshit forever, because instead of focusing on the story, he wants to pad chapters by talking about how mad the MC is every 6th paragraph. No. that is not an exaggeration. Use a find a feature and see how often the MC talks about how angry he is. Its multiple times, every chapter.
The MC has 2 characters
1. Hes mad.
2. He doesn't do anything about the fact that he's mad.
Thats it. Thats his character. Going forward, this doesnt change. So, the world is fairly interesting. But you have to be willing to just ignroe 90% of what the MC thinks in his own head, or how he is an absolute piece of shit to people around him.
Honestly, why people still even try to talk to him midway through book 2 I will never know. People just don't seem to care at all that he treats them like trash. Know what. Im knocking a star off.
May 3, 2020
This is the best Tao Wong book I've read. The grammar is still flawed but the story is absorbing.
I strongly related to John's breakdown when he realized his actions had resulted in a major problem. The walls started to close in and he just had to run; to get away; to vent by himself. It was a nice moment of realism in a strange land.
I strongly related to John's breakdown when he realized his actions had resulted in a major problem. The walls started to close in and he just had to run; to get away; to vent by himself. It was a nice moment of realism in a strange land.
October 11, 2017
Fun read!
I nearly read this book straight through from cover to cover. It has some stylistic issues such as frequent tense changes, and it could use a good edit, but it's a fun, fun read... especially if you're a fan of the genre. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
I nearly read this book straight through from cover to cover. It has some stylistic issues such as frequent tense changes, and it could use a good edit, but it's a fun, fun read... especially if you're a fan of the genre. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
March 16, 2024
I like the different setting of this story, compared to other "LitRPG" books I've read. Instead of the usual case of being sent to another world, everything here takes place on Earth as it becomes a "Dungeon World."
I saw some warnings in some reviews I saw regarding the MC's anger issues, which I will admit were a bit off putting at times. I do appreciate that the MC is attempting to work through the issues & grow. The plan is to continue the series & see where it goes, I do think this first book sets up the setting & give you a feel of what life would be like during a "System Apocalypse"
I saw some warnings in some reviews I saw regarding the MC's anger issues, which I will admit were a bit off putting at times. I do appreciate that the MC is attempting to work through the issues & grow. The plan is to continue the series & see where it goes, I do think this first book sets up the setting & give you a feel of what life would be like during a "System Apocalypse"
January 4, 2025
Iedomājies, ka esi izlēmis doties solo pārgājienā, kā galvenā varoņa Džona Lī gadījumā tas ir Kluane nacionālais parks un rezervāts Jukonā, Kanādā, kad vienā rītā pamosties it kā tajā pašā, bet pēc visas būtības pavisam citā pasaulē. Laiks, lai noorientētos un adaptētos, nav dots daudz pirms uzrodas pirmie monstri, kuri sākumā ir vēl tikai uz Zemes mutējoši dzīvnieki, bet, neskatoties uz to, arī tie paši var būt letāli. Kas vēlāk garāmejošā piezīmē pirmajā dienā ir aptuveni 60 procenti no Zemes populācijas.
https://poseidons99.com/2025/01/04/ta...
https://poseidons99.com/2025/01/04/ta...
January 19, 2025
"Life in the North" by Wong offers a decent LitRPG experience with its blend of survival and game mechanics, though it doesn't particularly stand out in the genre. The world-building is somewhat engaging, but the pacing feels uneven, with stretches of mundane details slowing down the plot. The protagonist is relatable but lacks depth, making it hard to fully invest in their journey. The RPG elements are well-integrated, though they occasionally feel repetitive. Overall, it's an okay read for LitRPG fans but doesn't leave a lasting impression.
January 8, 2025
This is generally a routine post-apocalyptic LitRPG. The Earth turns into a game world, the humans get levels (and a majority die nearly immediately), aliens come to the planet ... the usual.
But several of the characters, including the protagonist, are drawn pretty well. The best feature is probably that the protagonist has pretty severe PTSD, but the xenophobia of many of the humans makes for interesting conflict as well.
Recommended.
But several of the characters, including the protagonist, are drawn pretty well. The best feature is probably that the protagonist has pretty severe PTSD, but the xenophobia of many of the humans makes for interesting conflict as well.
Recommended.
September 2, 2018
Well that was... Great!
I've overlooked this book so many times in the past for various stupid reasons, and finally I just ran out of other books to read and started this... And well, this book was great bordering on awesome.
I do love fantasy LitRPG but this was such a breath of fresh air. And set in Canada to boot. No breaks for me, I'm diving into book 2 right away.
I've overlooked this book so many times in the past for various stupid reasons, and finally I just ran out of other books to read and started this... And well, this book was great bordering on awesome.
I do love fantasy LitRPG but this was such a breath of fresh air. And set in Canada to boot. No breaks for me, I'm diving into book 2 right away.
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