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The Valens Legacy #1
Black Friday
In his junior year at college, studying for his computer science degree, the only things on Sean's mind are doing his homework and getting out of college to get a real job and finally escape the utter poverty he's lived in since his father was killed in an industrial accident when Sean was only eight years old. A gamer and a bit of a nerd, Sean's philosophy in life has been to keep his head down and get his work done, he doesn't have the time or money for anything more.
But when a failed kidnapping attempt leaves him with a gaping hole in his memory, his oldest friend dead, and his mother missing, Sean suddenly finds his whole world turned upside down as he's suddenly thrust into the hidden world of magic and the supernatural. Apparently he's now wanted, dead or alive, by all of the magical societies, though he has no idea why. About the only thing going for him is what his friend did for him just before he died, and the cute track star that lives in the room next to his, that has suddenly taken a very personal interest in his problems.
WARNING: “Black Friday” contains explicit sexuality, nudity, violence, bad language, attempted murder, actual murder, self-defense, pro-active self-defense, destruction of private property, arson, tantric magic, polyamory, mayhem, gratuitous sex and violence, littering, jay-walking, firearms, a racist goblin, an honest lawyer, and a kindly old gossip who likes to give cookies to kids.
But when a failed kidnapping attempt leaves him with a gaping hole in his memory, his oldest friend dead, and his mother missing, Sean suddenly finds his whole world turned upside down as he's suddenly thrust into the hidden world of magic and the supernatural. Apparently he's now wanted, dead or alive, by all of the magical societies, though he has no idea why. About the only thing going for him is what his friend did for him just before he died, and the cute track star that lives in the room next to his, that has suddenly taken a very personal interest in his problems.
WARNING: “Black Friday” contains explicit sexuality, nudity, violence, bad language, attempted murder, actual murder, self-defense, pro-active self-defense, destruction of private property, arson, tantric magic, polyamory, mayhem, gratuitous sex and violence, littering, jay-walking, firearms, a racist goblin, an honest lawyer, and a kindly old gossip who likes to give cookies to kids.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2017
1315 people are currently reading
923 people want to read
About the author
Jan Stryvant
56 books551 followersI'm new to the Harem / LitRPG thing (If I'd known more about LitRPG when I wrote Shadow, I might have incorporated more elements of that into it).
I have a FT job, so I work on this when I can. Hopefully the next one will be even better.
https://stryvant.blogspot.com/
I have a FT job, so I work on this when I can. Hopefully the next one will be even better.
https://stryvant.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
September 4, 2023
So if you want an Urban Fantasy with a skin-thin plot and skin, um, thick... sigh. I lost the thread on that comparison. It's a harem story. And everything else is way too easy so the story doesn't really have any tension or conflict.
I mean, fine. There are dozens of bad guys who need killin and the protagonists are up to the task. But none of it feels hard or anything. It's probably a good indicator for the series, actually, as it seems the focus is Sean becoming the pride-master and gathering all the women. Who are eager to be gathered, I must say.
I dropped out at about 80%. I mean, I liked Sean fine and his women were at least interesting. But I just couldn't take any of it seriously. Which means the point is really the sex and I need more than that to make a story. One star is probably less than it deserves, but for the life of me, I can't find a justification for a second.
I mean, fine. There are dozens of bad guys who need killin and the protagonists are up to the task. But none of it feels hard or anything. It's probably a good indicator for the series, actually, as it seems the focus is Sean becoming the pride-master and gathering all the women. Who are eager to be gathered, I must say.
I dropped out at about 80%. I mean, I liked Sean fine and his women were at least interesting. But I just couldn't take any of it seriously. Which means the point is really the sex and I need more than that to make a story. One star is probably less than it deserves, but for the life of me, I can't find a justification for a second.
December 5, 2017
A college junior is turned into a werelion in order to fight against a number of conspiracies against him. He meets up with a were cheetah (somebody watched ThunderCats!) and a tantric witch. They have a lot of sex, and occasionally fight the conspiracies.
Not bad, if you're into that kind of thing. Not as explicit as it could be, but that's not always a bad thing.
Not bad, if you're into that kind of thing. Not as explicit as it could be, but that's not always a bad thing.
November 9, 2018
Wow that was junk food.
World: The world building is okay, it's very genre clichéd and it does read like a harem manga/video game and it is what it is. I am curious about the magic system.
Story: Oh boy, what can I say about this book. This is a teenager boy wish fulfillment book that reads like a harem anime. It's Love Hina (I'm showing my age) and hentai. It's over the top and it's pretty much the definition of a junk food book. The gender issues are plenty and they are big and it is eye rolling bad. As I said this is a wish fulfillment book and I feel a little dirty reading it. That being said the main storyline with the quest for the death of the father and missing mother is standard video game fare and mildly amusing.
Characters: Wow not a lot of depth here at all. The male falls into male hero archetypes and the females are just differentiated enough to give variety to the love interests. The faceless goons the hero fights are faceless and that's about it.
It's not a good book. There are a lot of gender issues here that makes me want to take a bath. But I will admit a part of me did enjoy the escapism. Now I need a shower. This book reminded me of reverse Ilona Andrews.
Onward to the next book!
World: The world building is okay, it's very genre clichéd and it does read like a harem manga/video game and it is what it is. I am curious about the magic system.
Story: Oh boy, what can I say about this book. This is a teenager boy wish fulfillment book that reads like a harem anime. It's Love Hina (I'm showing my age) and hentai. It's over the top and it's pretty much the definition of a junk food book. The gender issues are plenty and they are big and it is eye rolling bad. As I said this is a wish fulfillment book and I feel a little dirty reading it. That being said the main storyline with the quest for the death of the father and missing mother is standard video game fare and mildly amusing.
Characters: Wow not a lot of depth here at all. The male falls into male hero archetypes and the females are just differentiated enough to give variety to the love interests. The faceless goons the hero fights are faceless and that's about it.
It's not a good book. There are a lot of gender issues here that makes me want to take a bath. But I will admit a part of me did enjoy the escapism. Now I need a shower. This book reminded me of reverse Ilona Andrews.
Onward to the next book!
August 8, 2018
Rating 4.0 stars
This book has everything a male teenage nerd would love. With that statement, it should also be fairly obvious that most women I think would hate this book. This book had a mix of about everything a fantasy geek would love. There are the were-creatures (chetahs, wolves, lions, boars, etc), the magic users, then there are the dwarves and probably a whole host of other types that have not been introduced yet. There are a few reasons why I am saying this book would be loved by most teenage male fantasy lovers. The world it pretty expansive with all those types of magic users, but it is also simple. In most stories about were-creatures, there is a lot of talk about the pain of transformation and how long it takes. In this world, the transformation is instantaneous and apparently without any pain.
Secondly the magic system is explained like computer code. The main character Sean was in College for computer engineering when he gets bit by a were-lion. He also finds out that his father was a wizard before he died and he is also able to use magic (not something most lycans can do). Because he is a computer programmer, he sees a lot of comparison between how magic works and how code it written, so he explains magic in terms a computer geek would really understand.
Sean also starts off as being a D&D loving somewhat overweight virgin, and just by being bit by a were-lion, he is able to pack on tons of muscle and strength (all without working out) and starts to have sex all the time (see, every teenage boys fantasy!).
There was more sex in this book than any other book I have read in this genre, and though it was over the top (because he was a lion-were he was probably having sex about 15 times a day for hours at a time. I think at one point he had sex for 9 hours straight), it was not vulgar. When Sean had sex, he talked about loving the women he was with. The author would use terms like her sex, his hardness, his length, her insides and tried to stay away from any profanity.
Now here is the part that I think the women would hate. Because he is a lion-were, it is apparently expected that he would marry more than one woman. It is expected that he would have a lot of women. In this story one of the women is a were-cheetah called Roxy, and another is called Jolene who is a tantric sex witch. It seems like once these women get together with Sean, they seem to drop everything else in their lives to be with him. There is a lot of time spent in this story having sex, and then eating. If fact Roxy feeds Sean a lot saying that it is the females responsibility in the pride to make sure her man is fed. They also seem to fall in love with each other super quick. As soon as he is attracted to anyone he claims that woman as his, now the women are willing and want him back so it is not as creepy as it sounds, but again I am pointing out all the reasons why women probably won't like this story. Since I used to be a teenage boy myself, I can still appreciate the story.
This book has everything a male teenage nerd would love. With that statement, it should also be fairly obvious that most women I think would hate this book. This book had a mix of about everything a fantasy geek would love. There are the were-creatures (chetahs, wolves, lions, boars, etc), the magic users, then there are the dwarves and probably a whole host of other types that have not been introduced yet. There are a few reasons why I am saying this book would be loved by most teenage male fantasy lovers. The world it pretty expansive with all those types of magic users, but it is also simple. In most stories about were-creatures, there is a lot of talk about the pain of transformation and how long it takes. In this world, the transformation is instantaneous and apparently without any pain.
Secondly the magic system is explained like computer code. The main character Sean was in College for computer engineering when he gets bit by a were-lion. He also finds out that his father was a wizard before he died and he is also able to use magic (not something most lycans can do). Because he is a computer programmer, he sees a lot of comparison between how magic works and how code it written, so he explains magic in terms a computer geek would really understand.
Sean also starts off as being a D&D loving somewhat overweight virgin, and just by being bit by a were-lion, he is able to pack on tons of muscle and strength (all without working out) and starts to have sex all the time (see, every teenage boys fantasy!).
There was more sex in this book than any other book I have read in this genre, and though it was over the top (because he was a lion-were he was probably having sex about 15 times a day for hours at a time. I think at one point he had sex for 9 hours straight), it was not vulgar. When Sean had sex, he talked about loving the women he was with. The author would use terms like her sex, his hardness, his length, her insides and tried to stay away from any profanity.
Now here is the part that I think the women would hate. Because he is a lion-were, it is apparently expected that he would marry more than one woman. It is expected that he would have a lot of women. In this story one of the women is a were-cheetah called Roxy, and another is called Jolene who is a tantric sex witch. It seems like once these women get together with Sean, they seem to drop everything else in their lives to be with him. There is a lot of time spent in this story having sex, and then eating. If fact Roxy feeds Sean a lot saying that it is the females responsibility in the pride to make sure her man is fed. They also seem to fall in love with each other super quick. As soon as he is attracted to anyone he claims that woman as his, now the women are willing and want him back so it is not as creepy as it sounds, but again I am pointing out all the reasons why women probably won't like this story. Since I used to be a teenage boy myself, I can still appreciate the story.
July 28, 2019
If I had to describe this in a single sentence it would be: Fimbulwinter mixed with the Sookie Stackhouse series, but then with the quality lowered to maybe 25%. That sounds extremely negative and blunt, but I can't deny the accuracy.
The story is mildly entertaining and the prose is ok; it reads quickly and isn't riddled with typos or anything. The writing skills employed are very amateur, which often isn't a problem as much as something that prevents a good book from becoming great. Unfortunately for this book, they were actually enough to get in the way of the story.
The author seemed to have a real problem with characterization. Not just coming up with characters that seem real, but also legitimately putting himself in their shoes and remembering what information is available to the characters and what only exists in the author's head. An early example of this would be when Sean asks Roxy about how lycans deal with gunshot wounds and then asks What if they have silver bullets? We (the readers) know that silver bullets were used in one of the first scenes in the book, but Sean has no memory of what happened that day so he wouldn't know anything about silver bullets.
And if you are going to act like it's common enough knowledge that silver bullets are standard anti-were munitions, sorry but no...I think as an author you need to establish that the character would know that info. You would do that by having a scene with Sean watching a werewolf movie or something earlier.
I guess if this is your first urban fantasy type story and you don't mind the elementary writing, there is enough in the story to be entertaining. Unfortunately, if you've read things such as Dresdon Files, Sookie Stackhouse, or honestly anything urban fantasy written in the last 10 years, you probably won't find anything noteworthy here. Everyone goes through a McDonald's drive-thru at some point though, so feel free to pick this up. You'll probably feel bad about yourself afterwards, but at least you'll enjoy it in the moment...maybe.
The story is mildly entertaining and the prose is ok; it reads quickly and isn't riddled with typos or anything. The writing skills employed are very amateur, which often isn't a problem as much as something that prevents a good book from becoming great. Unfortunately for this book, they were actually enough to get in the way of the story.
The author seemed to have a real problem with characterization. Not just coming up with characters that seem real, but also legitimately putting himself in their shoes and remembering what information is available to the characters and what only exists in the author's head. An early example of this would be when Sean asks Roxy about how lycans deal with gunshot wounds and then asks What if they have silver bullets? We (the readers) know that silver bullets were used in one of the first scenes in the book, but Sean has no memory of what happened that day so he wouldn't know anything about silver bullets.
And if you are going to act like it's common enough knowledge that silver bullets are standard anti-were munitions, sorry but no...I think as an author you need to establish that the character would know that info. You would do that by having a scene with Sean watching a werewolf movie or something earlier.
I guess if this is your first urban fantasy type story and you don't mind the elementary writing, there is enough in the story to be entertaining. Unfortunately, if you've read things such as Dresdon Files, Sookie Stackhouse, or honestly anything urban fantasy written in the last 10 years, you probably won't find anything noteworthy here. Everyone goes through a McDonald's drive-thru at some point though, so feel free to pick this up. You'll probably feel bad about yourself afterwards, but at least you'll enjoy it in the moment...maybe.
March 14, 2018
This is a book for horny teenagers (1 and 1/2 stars)
The writing is pretty sloppy. Sometimes first person would turn into 3rd person and vice versa. It definitely needs a good editor. But my biggest issue is the simplicity of the story- very one dimensional, very black and white, and very, very immature. This is a book for teenagers- especially socially awkward and sexless teenagers.
The writing is pretty sloppy. Sometimes first person would turn into 3rd person and vice versa. It definitely needs a good editor. But my biggest issue is the simplicity of the story- very one dimensional, very black and white, and very, very immature. This is a book for teenagers- especially socially awkward and sexless teenagers.
July 4, 2018
2.75✨
I really wanted to love this book but it didn’t happen for me. I round it up to three stars cause there were things I did like in the book.
I really wanted to love this book but it didn’t happen for me. I round it up to three stars cause there were things I did like in the book.
October 26, 2017
If there's one thing that irks me in books it's oversaturation. Whether it be the author's political reviews, their religion or their personal interests, too much tongue-bathing can turn me right off. Its one of the reasons why I got turned off The Iron Druid series. Seriously Atticus wouldn't shut the fuck up about his geeky interests. And Jan Stryvant's Black Friday reeks of this mentality. Except here its the mentality of a first timer at a furry convention.
Right out the gate, we're thrust straight into the action with barely enough time to get a sense of what's going on with Sean, our protagonist getting bitten and turned into a furry…I mean a werelion. Never mind what lioncanthropes (badum tish) are doing in Reno but whatever, its a story. A chapter later and he's hooking up with the next door neighbour as in bumping uglies. Only for said next door neighbour to also be a furry…mean a werecheetah (again just go with it).
If it reads like I have an issue with furries I genuinely don't. What I have an issue is the style and narrative. Stryvant is gosh-darned excited to get the story going that the story blows its load in the first chapter. There's no pacing or slowdown for the reader to take stock what's going on. Sean and Roxy (the next door neighbour) have sex purely because their animals want to do the sideways samba even though they've lived next door for three years with little interaction. Even explanations of the world are relegated to plot dumps. On top of that hardly any of the characterisation treats their conditions like lycanthropy at all. For the most part, they don't act like lycanthropes. They act like people in animal suits. Furries.
Look I get it. This was Stryvants first book. Excitement was running high. She had a whole world planned out for this book and wanted to share this with the world. And I can't fault her for that. And maybe I went in the wrong ideas about what to expect. Maybe it's not my cuppa tea. But I can't ignore the glaring issues I have with this book. It feels like a first draft. It feels like a story someone wrote in high school. This isn't a good story. F see me after class.
Right out the gate, we're thrust straight into the action with barely enough time to get a sense of what's going on with Sean, our protagonist getting bitten and turned into a furry…I mean a werelion. Never mind what lioncanthropes (badum tish) are doing in Reno but whatever, its a story. A chapter later and he's hooking up with the next door neighbour as in bumping uglies. Only for said next door neighbour to also be a furry…mean a werecheetah (again just go with it).
If it reads like I have an issue with furries I genuinely don't. What I have an issue is the style and narrative. Stryvant is gosh-darned excited to get the story going that the story blows its load in the first chapter. There's no pacing or slowdown for the reader to take stock what's going on. Sean and Roxy (the next door neighbour) have sex purely because their animals want to do the sideways samba even though they've lived next door for three years with little interaction. Even explanations of the world are relegated to plot dumps. On top of that hardly any of the characterisation treats their conditions like lycanthropy at all. For the most part, they don't act like lycanthropes. They act like people in animal suits. Furries.
Look I get it. This was Stryvants first book. Excitement was running high. She had a whole world planned out for this book and wanted to share this with the world. And I can't fault her for that. And maybe I went in the wrong ideas about what to expect. Maybe it's not my cuppa tea. But I can't ignore the glaring issues I have with this book. It feels like a first draft. It feels like a story someone wrote in high school. This isn't a good story. F see me after class.
September 29, 2023
The first book in the Valens Legacy series is a fast-paced fun novel. Sean Valens is a struggling college student who learns the hard way (when bad guys try and kidnap him) that everything he thought he knew about his world is wrong. His father was a wizard who was killed because he was messing with the balance of power in the supernatural world by trying to free lycanthropes from their slavery to human sorcerers. If he wants to stay alive, Alex has little choice but to try and pick up where his father left off and bring his dream to fruition.
Stryvant’s plot depends heavily on lycanthropes which is a shame because he doesn’t do much to differentiate the different were-animals from each other. This is, in fact, the greatest weakness in the series. There have been a lot of very good books written with lycanthrope characters and the best of them work hard to make you feel the beast within the infected characters. Stryvant just uses the lycanthropy to justify Sean’s supernatural abilities and to excuse him for assembling a harem. All the animals come off as barely different shades of vanilla ice cream.
That weakness aside, however, this is a very fun book with a good supporting cast and a pleasantly developing mystery. I read it eagerly and was happy to go on to the next book when I finished. I’m waiting on the fourth book now and will gladly read that one as well. If you want a light fun adventure series, Black Friday is a good place to begin.
Stryvant’s plot depends heavily on lycanthropes which is a shame because he doesn’t do much to differentiate the different were-animals from each other. This is, in fact, the greatest weakness in the series. There have been a lot of very good books written with lycanthrope characters and the best of them work hard to make you feel the beast within the infected characters. Stryvant just uses the lycanthropy to justify Sean’s supernatural abilities and to excuse him for assembling a harem. All the animals come off as barely different shades of vanilla ice cream.
That weakness aside, however, this is a very fun book with a good supporting cast and a pleasantly developing mystery. I read it eagerly and was happy to go on to the next book when I finished. I’m waiting on the fourth book now and will gladly read that one as well. If you want a light fun adventure series, Black Friday is a good place to begin.
March 12, 2018
What did I just read??
I like to read fiction books at night to calm down my mind so I can fall asleep. I assumed there'd be a lot of action in the book based on the description. What they don't tell you in the description is that there's mostly sex. And using sex to get out of trouble (yes there's a witch who can use sex energy to cast spells).
If I knew it was a sex book that's cool. When sex is in every other chapter and it's not really mentioned in the description of the book that's not cool.
The story is also really weak. In the first 2 pages the protagonist gets attacked. This is like Frodo Baggins being attack by a Ring Wraith in the shire in the first 30 seconds of the movie. There's no character development.
And by the end of the book nothing feels resolved. They just used sex to stop bad guys from doing bad things. They don't really know who the bad guys are. They didn't resolve the issue.
If people say Lord of the Rings is all walking then this book is all sexing.
* Let's get food
* Sex
* Attacked by bad guys
* Sex
* Find a clue
* Sex
* Use sex to find a clue!
So if you want to read a sex book you've found a fantastic book. I was assuming there'd be something other than sex.
I like to read fiction books at night to calm down my mind so I can fall asleep. I assumed there'd be a lot of action in the book based on the description. What they don't tell you in the description is that there's mostly sex. And using sex to get out of trouble (yes there's a witch who can use sex energy to cast spells).
If I knew it was a sex book that's cool. When sex is in every other chapter and it's not really mentioned in the description of the book that's not cool.
The story is also really weak. In the first 2 pages the protagonist gets attacked. This is like Frodo Baggins being attack by a Ring Wraith in the shire in the first 30 seconds of the movie. There's no character development.
And by the end of the book nothing feels resolved. They just used sex to stop bad guys from doing bad things. They don't really know who the bad guys are. They didn't resolve the issue.
If people say Lord of the Rings is all walking then this book is all sexing.
* Let's get food
* Sex
* Attacked by bad guys
* Sex
* Find a clue
* Sex
* Use sex to find a clue!
So if you want to read a sex book you've found a fantastic book. I was assuming there'd be something other than sex.
November 11, 2017
Not a bad intro
Debating between three and four stars and went with four. The book is good. It's not great or amazing, but neither is it bad, dumb, or lacking.
It was a fun romp that was well developed and had few errors. There were a few, but I only counted about a handful in the entire book.
As my review title states this is a good story to introduce readers to the world and characters. I was excited and expecting to get some more details about particular facets of the world, but that didn't make this a bad starter story. If anything, leaving those intriguing questions is a great hook for the next book in the series.
Debating between three and four stars and went with four. The book is good. It's not great or amazing, but neither is it bad, dumb, or lacking.
It was a fun romp that was well developed and had few errors. There were a few, but I only counted about a handful in the entire book.
As my review title states this is a good story to introduce readers to the world and characters. I was excited and expecting to get some more details about particular facets of the world, but that didn't make this a bad starter story. If anything, leaving those intriguing questions is a great hook for the next book in the series.
March 22, 2018
I read about 20% of this and gave up (which I never do). It was just really sloppy and the grammar errors were not something I could get past. I just couldn't get drawn into the story. I wish I could volunteer to be a copy editor for books like this because it's worth giving it a shot. I just couldn't go on.
Plus the story just wasn't pulling me in. Too heteronormative and way too heavy on the masculine societal norms, at least in the first 20%.
Plus the story just wasn't pulling me in. Too heteronormative and way too heavy on the masculine societal norms, at least in the first 20%.
October 19, 2017
The low rating is on me. This will teach me not to finish reading the synopsis of the book. It was way too much sex fantasy and way too little magical inheritance for my liking.
September 5, 2018
Poor setup and rushed romantic angles and an incomplete story mar what is otherwise a moderately engaging read with some interesting ideas.
July 5, 2018
This is probably one of the most high quality, well written, and enjoyable harem novels I have ever read.
The characters are likeable with all the women being unique and getting along well together, avoiding the typical infighting tropes present in similar novels. The story has depth with characters growing, albeit very quickly, as they progress.
The book even avoids the pitfalls of introducing a “new world” that suddenly eclipses everything the cast previously knew. New powers aren’t secretly behind every aspect of modern day life, but are instead just powerful people in it. New creatures are not outnumbering humans ten to one behind every corner, but are instead simply rare and trying to live out an undercover life amongst humans.
Probably my one qualm, and it’s not even enough to dock it a single star, is how quickly everyone accepts the new world that they get introduced to. Everything is certainly rationalized and explained as to why they’d react in such a manner but I feel like I SHOULD be disliking this because of it.
In the end, I plan on recommending this novel to anyone who is a fan of the genre and even hope to convince a few new people to give it a try.
The characters are likeable with all the women being unique and getting along well together, avoiding the typical infighting tropes present in similar novels. The story has depth with characters growing, albeit very quickly, as they progress.
The book even avoids the pitfalls of introducing a “new world” that suddenly eclipses everything the cast previously knew. New powers aren’t secretly behind every aspect of modern day life, but are instead just powerful people in it. New creatures are not outnumbering humans ten to one behind every corner, but are instead simply rare and trying to live out an undercover life amongst humans.
Probably my one qualm, and it’s not even enough to dock it a single star, is how quickly everyone accepts the new world that they get introduced to. Everything is certainly rationalized and explained as to why they’d react in such a manner but I feel like I SHOULD be disliking this because of it.
In the end, I plan on recommending this novel to anyone who is a fan of the genre and even hope to convince a few new people to give it a try.
July 9, 2018
Review for the first 6 novels. These are actually pretty good. Normally, I have a deep aversion to furries but this is one of the good examples. The audiobook is great, the narrator shifts to growling when they are in hybrid form etc. There are some glaring issues, like an abnormally fast acceptance of the supernatural by his friends, a casual disregard for his mother's kidnapping and some other minor issues with character reactions (such as complete absence of any form of PTSD.) But, the mythology behind it is amazing. And there's sex, think Hugh Hefner as a werelion wizard while being chased by groups of evil wizards. And he drops bodies like they're nothing (Though Supernatural does that too,) with flimsy explanations on how they maintain the Masquerade.
Just suspend your disbelief and dive right in, it's nice and warm and sticky.
Just suspend your disbelief and dive right in, it's nice and warm and sticky.
August 31, 2018
Black Friday is a fun read, although very short! The main characters are interesting but there is little information revealed of the magical world they live in. More character development and world building would significantly enhance the book and overall experience. Though the book warns of included sex scenes, they are almost entirely implied without any juicy details or spicy scenes unfortunately. All in all a fun little read but falls short of expectations.
August 12, 2018
"honey, it can be this small, it's not fisically possible" (Rob Thruman)
The best definition i can think of for this book is "what whould a virgin computer nerd ask for, if he could have anything", it seems like a compensation for something, if you know what i mean, and i will explain why.
That is the cenario that starts it all, a poor, down on his luck, virgin computer nerd, with a love for RPG and a not so secret crush on a hot neighbor, gets bitten by a werelion, and suddenly he is the strongest, most manly male around, aside from beeing a magic genious, and because of it all, the most hot peace of ass ever, desired by all women, with no regard for age, etnicidade, or race (in the "not human" sense of the word), all of whom don't feel any jealousy at sharing him with everythig with a pussy, who think is sexy he goes around solving problems by beating everyone who thinks different than him to a pulp, and who don't think it's absurd at all the fact that the man is extreamely jealous of them, so, in effect, he can fuck around, but "his women" can onlu fuck him. absurdely, the guy still feel the need to tell the fathers and relatives of the women he is nailing about it, and the relatives smile and think it's awsome, he is awsome, and it's an honor, and it's all cool, because he is a were lion, and everything stulpid he does is a lion thing.
This book, in fact the whole series, would have made me angry if it wasn't for the fact it is so over the top, it got ridiculous and funny. There is also lots of group sex in it, not particulary sexy or well written, but there, which seem to serve the function of emphasizes how great in bed the guy is.
Dispite it all, the book has an interesting story, and it's funny, it kinda make me think it's a book written by a man for men to read, particularly man who don't care if the caracters are acting like real people or not, and the only reason i disliked parts of it was because i don't have a dick, so 3 stars for the laughs, and enough said about how it's a misogenous compensation for something of a book.
The best definition i can think of for this book is "what whould a virgin computer nerd ask for, if he could have anything", it seems like a compensation for something, if you know what i mean, and i will explain why.
That is the cenario that starts it all, a poor, down on his luck, virgin computer nerd, with a love for RPG and a not so secret crush on a hot neighbor, gets bitten by a werelion, and suddenly he is the strongest, most manly male around, aside from beeing a magic genious, and because of it all, the most hot peace of ass ever, desired by all women, with no regard for age, etnicidade, or race (in the "not human" sense of the word), all of whom don't feel any jealousy at sharing him with everythig with a pussy, who think is sexy he goes around solving problems by beating everyone who thinks different than him to a pulp, and who don't think it's absurd at all the fact that the man is extreamely jealous of them, so, in effect, he can fuck around, but "his women" can onlu fuck him. absurdely, the guy still feel the need to tell the fathers and relatives of the women he is nailing about it, and the relatives smile and think it's awsome, he is awsome, and it's an honor, and it's all cool, because he is a were lion, and everything stulpid he does is a lion thing.
This book, in fact the whole series, would have made me angry if it wasn't for the fact it is so over the top, it got ridiculous and funny. There is also lots of group sex in it, not particulary sexy or well written, but there, which seem to serve the function of emphasizes how great in bed the guy is.
Dispite it all, the book has an interesting story, and it's funny, it kinda make me think it's a book written by a man for men to read, particularly man who don't care if the caracters are acting like real people or not, and the only reason i disliked parts of it was because i don't have a dick, so 3 stars for the laughs, and enough said about how it's a misogenous compensation for something of a book.
October 6, 2017
Surprised! I enjoyed this book.
I don't normally read this genre. I prefer sci-fi,military space opera. I believe this was written for young adult. As an older reader i still enjoy a little erotica or word porn in my reading. This non stop action, no boring sections. Similar to Portland wesen, from a wesen point of view. That television series. This story would make a great movie,considering special effects capabilities. A magic and animal lycan adventure -mystery, set in our time and world. Has a couple of word errors,minor. Now I have to get the next one.
I
I don't normally read this genre. I prefer sci-fi,military space opera. I believe this was written for young adult. As an older reader i still enjoy a little erotica or word porn in my reading. This non stop action, no boring sections. Similar to Portland wesen, from a wesen point of view. That television series. This story would make a great movie,considering special effects capabilities. A magic and animal lycan adventure -mystery, set in our time and world. Has a couple of word errors,minor. Now I have to get the next one.
I
January 9, 2018
I picked up this book from Amazon at the suggestion of another reader on the Facebook page of an author I follow. Usually, these sorts of suggestions are a mixed bag – I’ve read some truly horrible Kindle fiction and found some real gems.
For a lycanthrope harem fantasy, this one is really good. At least there are no damn sparkly vampires. I’ve read a few harem fantasy books and this one is not as sexually graphic as some of the others. Sex is very well described with lesbianism mentioned. I find it interesting that some of the complaints are that the author did not describe sex between the two women graphically enough.
I imagine that the author could go more descriptive if he wanted, but I would not think that would necessarily be a good thing. If the author does increase the graphicness of his sex scenes it will be interesting to see if works or not. Some authors can go more descriptive with their sex and some cannot. Sometimes an author shoots for too low of a mark, and the story becomes word porn, not an urban fantasy with some sex.
Great main character and I really like both the Roxy and Jolene tantric witch characters. Sometimes this story leans a little too far LitRPG for my tastes. If you read some of my other reviews you will learn that I am not a big fan of LitRPG and dislike its inclusion in what otherwise would have been a great story.
Other than some minor word use and punctuation errors, this story is not too bad. One real nitpick I have with the story is that if the Rhodesian Sampson father-figure werelion was around as much as I imagine such a person in my life would be, Roxy should have smelled lion on Sean long before she does. Since the close proximity of Sampson to Mark’s family, I imagined that Roxy should have been able to, if even faintly, smell lion sooner.
Another nitpick is that if werelions are so aggressive and protective, why wasn’t Sean marking his territory? Sean should have fought the urge to piss on every bush and corner outside around the apartment. Male cats mark their territory, and Sean did not which seemed odd.
The combat scenes are excellent. There is some good humor throughout. I like how Sean does not take his new powers as license for douchebaggery. Many young men would have succumbed to the rush of sudden power. It is a testament to Sean’s character and parentage that he does not abuse his new found abilities.
I would have liked to see Sean’s playful side come out more. I imagine that a young man running around as a huge lion in Reno at night would be more tempted by mischief than anything else. Who wouldn’t want to stick their furry head in someone’s window scaring the family dog (or cat), or let a roar rip out in the parking garage of the MGM casino?
For a lycanthrope harem fantasy, this one is really good. At least there are no damn sparkly vampires. I’ve read a few harem fantasy books and this one is not as sexually graphic as some of the others. Sex is very well described with lesbianism mentioned. I find it interesting that some of the complaints are that the author did not describe sex between the two women graphically enough.
I imagine that the author could go more descriptive if he wanted, but I would not think that would necessarily be a good thing. If the author does increase the graphicness of his sex scenes it will be interesting to see if works or not. Some authors can go more descriptive with their sex and some cannot. Sometimes an author shoots for too low of a mark, and the story becomes word porn, not an urban fantasy with some sex.
Great main character and I really like both the Roxy and Jolene tantric witch characters. Sometimes this story leans a little too far LitRPG for my tastes. If you read some of my other reviews you will learn that I am not a big fan of LitRPG and dislike its inclusion in what otherwise would have been a great story.
Other than some minor word use and punctuation errors, this story is not too bad. One real nitpick I have with the story is that if the Rhodesian Sampson father-figure werelion was around as much as I imagine such a person in my life would be, Roxy should have smelled lion on Sean long before she does. Since the close proximity of Sampson to Mark’s family, I imagined that Roxy should have been able to, if even faintly, smell lion sooner.
Another nitpick is that if werelions are so aggressive and protective, why wasn’t Sean marking his territory? Sean should have fought the urge to piss on every bush and corner outside around the apartment. Male cats mark their territory, and Sean did not which seemed odd.
The combat scenes are excellent. There is some good humor throughout. I like how Sean does not take his new powers as license for douchebaggery. Many young men would have succumbed to the rush of sudden power. It is a testament to Sean’s character and parentage that he does not abuse his new found abilities.
I would have liked to see Sean’s playful side come out more. I imagine that a young man running around as a huge lion in Reno at night would be more tempted by mischief than anything else. Who wouldn’t want to stick their furry head in someone’s window scaring the family dog (or cat), or let a roar rip out in the parking garage of the MGM casino?
May 13, 2018
What the hell did I just read? I'm writing that as I hypocritically am on the fourth book in the series.
The bad: Apparently there is a thing called LitRPG. As an old school gamer, I'm all about RPGs. The main character is in a regular D&D game, but as he starts figuring out his abilities, he's able to pull up a spell that shows him his "stats". He levels up as he goes increasing mana, regeneration, strength, memory, and so on. I wasn't sure what to think of that, but that seems to be a hallmark of LitRPG books?
Also bad - this is an indulgent sex fantasy involving a harem. Apparently harem fantasies are a thing too?!?! What the fuck? Despite having three wives (a tantric witch, a were-cheetah, and a sexy dwarf) the sex scenes are kind of boring and far too frequent for my tastes. Becoming a werelion apparently allows you to do lots and lots of sex. For what it's worth, I never thought I'd write the words sexy dwarf.
Incredibly bad - I find attitudes even from the good guys to be bordering on misogyny. The bad guys are all about full on prejudices and nearly cartoonish evil. I will say the author does make the wives strong characters in their own right or I'd probably have said "nope" by now.
The mediocre - the author's writing could have benefited from some better editing. He's not the worst writer I've read by far and his story flows pretty well (fantasy orgies aside).
The good. I really like the world and the plot so far. The mysteries behind his father's death, the newly revealed world of the supernatural that Sean encounters, the abilities of the various lycans, wizards, dwarves, goblins, etc is quite interesting.
I've read a fair amount of urban fantasy. All of them have a mix of supernatural characters. Dresden has mages, werewolves, vampires, and fae. Craig Schaefer's series have magic, demons, cambion, and strange otherworldly elder god type things. The Steve McHugh novels have sorcerers, lycan, demons, and gods. The Iron Druid books have fae, gods, were creatures, vampires, and magic. The point to this is they are all very different. Jan Stryvant has created a setting with an excellent take on the mix of creatures and how the hidden world operates. Seriously - a top notch job.
Reading these books is fast and easy. It's junk food for the brain and I've burned through the first three books in just over a day each. I keep telling myself, I'm going to move back to another series I've been reading, but I keep picking up the next book.
I give this a solid 3 star (which is good for me) and consider the series a guilty pleasure.
The bad: Apparently there is a thing called LitRPG. As an old school gamer, I'm all about RPGs. The main character is in a regular D&D game, but as he starts figuring out his abilities, he's able to pull up a spell that shows him his "stats". He levels up as he goes increasing mana, regeneration, strength, memory, and so on. I wasn't sure what to think of that, but that seems to be a hallmark of LitRPG books?
Also bad - this is an indulgent sex fantasy involving a harem. Apparently harem fantasies are a thing too?!?! What the fuck? Despite having three wives (a tantric witch, a were-cheetah, and a sexy dwarf) the sex scenes are kind of boring and far too frequent for my tastes. Becoming a werelion apparently allows you to do lots and lots of sex. For what it's worth, I never thought I'd write the words sexy dwarf.
Incredibly bad - I find attitudes even from the good guys to be bordering on misogyny. The bad guys are all about full on prejudices and nearly cartoonish evil. I will say the author does make the wives strong characters in their own right or I'd probably have said "nope" by now.
The mediocre - the author's writing could have benefited from some better editing. He's not the worst writer I've read by far and his story flows pretty well (fantasy orgies aside).
The good. I really like the world and the plot so far. The mysteries behind his father's death, the newly revealed world of the supernatural that Sean encounters, the abilities of the various lycans, wizards, dwarves, goblins, etc is quite interesting.
I've read a fair amount of urban fantasy. All of them have a mix of supernatural characters. Dresden has mages, werewolves, vampires, and fae. Craig Schaefer's series have magic, demons, cambion, and strange otherworldly elder god type things. The Steve McHugh novels have sorcerers, lycan, demons, and gods. The Iron Druid books have fae, gods, were creatures, vampires, and magic. The point to this is they are all very different. Jan Stryvant has created a setting with an excellent take on the mix of creatures and how the hidden world operates. Seriously - a top notch job.
Reading these books is fast and easy. It's junk food for the brain and I've burned through the first three books in just over a day each. I keep telling myself, I'm going to move back to another series I've been reading, but I keep picking up the next book.
I give this a solid 3 star (which is good for me) and consider the series a guilty pleasure.
September 21, 2017
HAREM TIME YEAH BUDDY
If you like magic sexy butt kicking babes that have no problem forming a supernatural harem in order to fight the forces of deuchbaggery for their man then this is the book for you. If not well you may not be drunk enough or something I don't really know.
Good times to be had and well worth the price looking forward to book two can't wait.
If you like magic sexy butt kicking babes that have no problem forming a supernatural harem in order to fight the forces of deuchbaggery for their man then this is the book for you. If not well you may not be drunk enough or something I don't really know.
Good times to be had and well worth the price looking forward to book two can't wait.
December 17, 2018
I chose this book because I thought i'd be similar to super hero for sale. I was wrong. This is not my genre at all. But it kept me captivated because it was so different. The book had some good one liners and I liked the dialogue between the lion and Sean. I was warned about the sex scenes but there was a lot more than I bargained for. I feel if the language was more filling and less empty I would rate this higher.
My biggest problem with this book in audiobook form was the narrator. He can only do his own voice. It was painful to listen to him. For a series about a harem maybe you should get a narrator that can do a half-convincing female voice. Jeff Haynes would be amazing in this but I gather this isn't his type of book. Just because I started this, I will read the next books.
My biggest problem with this book in audiobook form was the narrator. He can only do his own voice. It was painful to listen to him. For a series about a harem maybe you should get a narrator that can do a half-convincing female voice. Jeff Haynes would be amazing in this but I gather this isn't his type of book. Just because I started this, I will read the next books.
September 19, 2017
Very fun read
This is an excellent introduction to what I hope becomes a great storyline. Fast, fun read with likable characters. The only downside for me was how short it was. The Only reason that it is not five stars is because the story was too short. Recommend to others and will be buying the next book in this series.
This is an excellent introduction to what I hope becomes a great storyline. Fast, fun read with likable characters. The only downside for me was how short it was. The Only reason that it is not five stars is because the story was too short. Recommend to others and will be buying the next book in this series.
November 14, 2019
2 1/2 stars. A fairy typical urban fantasy. I admire that as a human Sean shows a lot of perseverance and not letting his circumstances prevent him from studying hard in college. The magical theory is very interesting, particularly when it is compared to computer languages.
My gripe is give more credit to women and men about having sex with complete or comparative strangers so quickly. Some people actually try to get to know someone and have conversation. Sean and his next-door neighbor don't really know each other and suddenly he changes and they jump into bed? The lion instincts hadn't kicked full in yet so why not take it a little bit slower. And why doesn't she want to get to know him a little bit. It's not like they were really good friends and suddenly his change made him available. For some reason it really annoyed me in this story. Instalust I've read plenty of times and doesn't usually annoy me, I'm sometimes just disbelieving.
I also don't believe that he wouldn't have been more upset about his mother's disappearance. He finally has a break down about it but he would have been frantic before this. Sex is a distraction but don't see him being distracted for days and wouldn't try to get something going about a search for her. They weren't hiding the entire time.
My gripe is give more credit to women and men about having sex with complete or comparative strangers so quickly. Some people actually try to get to know someone and have conversation. Sean and his next-door neighbor don't really know each other and suddenly he changes and they jump into bed? The lion instincts hadn't kicked full in yet so why not take it a little bit slower. And why doesn't she want to get to know him a little bit. It's not like they were really good friends and suddenly his change made him available. For some reason it really annoyed me in this story. Instalust I've read plenty of times and doesn't usually annoy me, I'm sometimes just disbelieving.
I also don't believe that he wouldn't have been more upset about his mother's disappearance. He finally has a break down about it but he would have been frantic before this. Sex is a distraction but don't see him being distracted for days and wouldn't try to get something going about a search for her. They weren't hiding the entire time.
September 14, 2017
Very good but short
I usually don't write these, but some times a book is so good you have to write a quick review to help the author out. The story is fast paced and well plotted and the main characters are all well developed. The villains are enigmatic at this point and the story ends in kind of a cliff hanger way but as long as the installments of this series come out as fast as he says they will these are minor issues at best
I usually don't write these, but some times a book is so good you have to write a quick review to help the author out. The story is fast paced and well plotted and the main characters are all well developed. The villains are enigmatic at this point and the story ends in kind of a cliff hanger way but as long as the installments of this series come out as fast as he says they will these are minor issues at best
June 3, 2018
Yet another LitRPG, teen, gamer, soft-porn, wish-fulfillment mess
My wish, were it to be fulfilled, would be that sexually and socially repressed gamers would stop trying to write sci-fi. Unfortunately, there seem to be enough of them out there to make a market for this low-brow product. I bulled my way through the purile, teen wish fulfillment and painfully uncomfortable, penthouse-style sex scenes, but had to give up when the author started rolling out the levels, skills, attributes, points and other nonsensica of the LitRPG genre. If I had realized this was a LitRPG book, i wouldn't have started it. As it is, I made it through 50% of the book before I gave up in disgust. There's no point in commenting on the writing when the content was so deficient.
The titles of these type of books should include a disclaimer and warning: "For immature and frustrated post-adolescent audiences only." That way, I could avoid the pain of reading them, and the necessity of writing such negative reviews. You've been warned.
My wish, were it to be fulfilled, would be that sexually and socially repressed gamers would stop trying to write sci-fi. Unfortunately, there seem to be enough of them out there to make a market for this low-brow product. I bulled my way through the purile, teen wish fulfillment and painfully uncomfortable, penthouse-style sex scenes, but had to give up when the author started rolling out the levels, skills, attributes, points and other nonsensica of the LitRPG genre. If I had realized this was a LitRPG book, i wouldn't have started it. As it is, I made it through 50% of the book before I gave up in disgust. There's no point in commenting on the writing when the content was so deficient.
The titles of these type of books should include a disclaimer and warning: "For immature and frustrated post-adolescent audiences only." That way, I could avoid the pain of reading them, and the necessity of writing such negative reviews. You've been warned.
February 18, 2018
In my picking up of this book, I felt very hesitant about this property...I usually like to pick up book series based positive overall appeal because life is too short to spend time on poorly written books, (hhmm to many examples to name.) But, I decided to try out a fairly unknown author to see what he brings to the table. Once I started reading and finished this book, I couldn't really praise it or even consider it a finished work. It read like a fantasy of 15 year old teenager, the characters were rushed through such emotional and physical development that it almost made believe they were slightly sociopathic. Now, there are many things wrong with the book. But it doesn't make it a bad book, just a bad start to a series, some authors improve on their second go around. But if you are looking for a fast read without heavy character introspection, some action & sex, and magic with a the use of computer programming it might be the thing for you.
July 1, 2019
Be warned if you do not like male power fantasy stories, fairly stereotypical characters or women obsessed with a guy for his manliness, then this is not the story for you.
This series is without a doubt a Male power fantasy on par with most anime harems. An average, nerdy guy gains a great power that sets him apart even from those with similar powers and a group of very attractive women flock to him for no real reason other then he's manly now. He's smarter then his opponents and everything comes to him easily. The main character isn't exactly a deep character, hell he even understands magic in a week better then those that practiced it their whole lives. All the cliches are there but damned if I do t like that fluff every now and then. It was enjoyable if not predictable but at least it kept me engaged through the whole thing. I will continue this series to see where it goes and to see who else is added to his harem.
This series is without a doubt a Male power fantasy on par with most anime harems. An average, nerdy guy gains a great power that sets him apart even from those with similar powers and a group of very attractive women flock to him for no real reason other then he's manly now. He's smarter then his opponents and everything comes to him easily. The main character isn't exactly a deep character, hell he even understands magic in a week better then those that practiced it their whole lives. All the cliches are there but damned if I do t like that fluff every now and then. It was enjoyable if not predictable but at least it kept me engaged through the whole thing. I will continue this series to see where it goes and to see who else is added to his harem.
December 5, 2017
Very promising new author
Normally I wouldn't award 4 stars to a new writer, but I want to help get him noticed. I enjoyed his first book, "Shadow", a lot - interesting characters, underlying eroticism, and a novel plot. This book is a different story line that shares some common themes (weres, magic and sex), but obviously is part of a longer tale.
A few minor editing issues (incorrect words that sound the same as the intended one mainly) that faded away as he got into the story - could use a proofreader. Good command of language, characterization, dialog.
I look forward to the future!
Added: now that I know who he really is, and have read most of his books under that name, I can see why this was so good! Not a new author at all, but well established. Enjoy.
Normally I wouldn't award 4 stars to a new writer, but I want to help get him noticed. I enjoyed his first book, "Shadow", a lot - interesting characters, underlying eroticism, and a novel plot. This book is a different story line that shares some common themes (weres, magic and sex), but obviously is part of a longer tale.
A few minor editing issues (incorrect words that sound the same as the intended one mainly) that faded away as he got into the story - could use a proofreader. Good command of language, characterization, dialog.
I look forward to the future!
Added: now that I know who he really is, and have read most of his books under that name, I can see why this was so good! Not a new author at all, but well established. Enjoy.
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