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The Realms #2
The Lost City
FIRST CAME THE CLANG OF METAL FEET ON STONE … THEN CAME THE FLAMES.
Continuing the #1 Bestselling epic LitRPG series The Realms that began in Barrow King.
All Gryph wanted when he entered the Realms was to find his missing sister. Then he pissed off a power-mad god, was banished to the undead hell dungeon known as the Barrow and ended up face-to-maw with a soul eating lich.But with the help of a ragtag group of companions, Gryph escaped the Barrow to a verdant paradise of magic and wonder. Things were looking up, until the revelation of a deadly secret leads to betrayal and murder.
Now, to stop a world-conquering zealot from capturing an ancient weapon of incredible power, Gryph must become the one thing he never wanted to be, a leader. Standing in his way are a group of crazed cultists, an army of deadly magical machines, and friends who no longer trust him.And he is still no closer to saving his sister.The Lost City is the #1 Bestselling sequel to the breakout LitRPG hit Barrow King, an overflowing cauldron of leveling, world building, humor, and action that is “one of the best LitRPG series out there.” -- Andrea H. on Amazon.
Welcome to your new favorite genre.
LitRPG/GameLit books usually feature adventures in a fantasy setting or sci-fi world and feature the progression and gaming elements from tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons 5e and Pathfinder with epic RPG video games like The Elder Skyrim and MMO’s like World of Warcraft. It features leveling up, crunchy stat, an rpg character sheet and skill progression. If this is your first LitRPG or GameLit, then welcome to the dark side of awesome. The Realms will take you back to the days when D&D books were new and The Elder Scrolls were a glint in the programmers eye.
Embrace the adventure, portal to a new world and prepare to lose sleep! You have been warned!
The Realms is a non harem LitRPG series that contains action violence and some swears, but no sex and is appropriate for teens and adults.
The Lost City is also available in print and as a LitRPG audiobook narrated by Armen Taylor.
Perfect for fans of The Completionist Chronicles, Emerelia and Ascend Online.
The Realms - An Epic LitRPG/GameLit Fantasy Series. Suggested Reading Order.
Barrow KingThe Lost CityKilling TimeDead Must Die (A Side Quest)Scourge of SoulsThe Forsaken GodChaos RisingRavaged LandDoom Vault (Coming Soon)The Source Forge (Coming Soon)
Continuing the #1 Bestselling epic LitRPG series The Realms that began in Barrow King.
All Gryph wanted when he entered the Realms was to find his missing sister. Then he pissed off a power-mad god, was banished to the undead hell dungeon known as the Barrow and ended up face-to-maw with a soul eating lich.But with the help of a ragtag group of companions, Gryph escaped the Barrow to a verdant paradise of magic and wonder. Things were looking up, until the revelation of a deadly secret leads to betrayal and murder.
Now, to stop a world-conquering zealot from capturing an ancient weapon of incredible power, Gryph must become the one thing he never wanted to be, a leader. Standing in his way are a group of crazed cultists, an army of deadly magical machines, and friends who no longer trust him.And he is still no closer to saving his sister.The Lost City is the #1 Bestselling sequel to the breakout LitRPG hit Barrow King, an overflowing cauldron of leveling, world building, humor, and action that is “one of the best LitRPG series out there.” -- Andrea H. on Amazon.
Welcome to your new favorite genre.
LitRPG/GameLit books usually feature adventures in a fantasy setting or sci-fi world and feature the progression and gaming elements from tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons 5e and Pathfinder with epic RPG video games like The Elder Skyrim and MMO’s like World of Warcraft. It features leveling up, crunchy stat, an rpg character sheet and skill progression. If this is your first LitRPG or GameLit, then welcome to the dark side of awesome. The Realms will take you back to the days when D&D books were new and The Elder Scrolls were a glint in the programmers eye.
Embrace the adventure, portal to a new world and prepare to lose sleep! You have been warned!
The Realms is a non harem LitRPG series that contains action violence and some swears, but no sex and is appropriate for teens and adults.
The Lost City is also available in print and as a LitRPG audiobook narrated by Armen Taylor.
Perfect for fans of The Completionist Chronicles, Emerelia and Ascend Online.
The Realms - An Epic LitRPG/GameLit Fantasy Series. Suggested Reading Order.
Barrow KingThe Lost CityKilling TimeDead Must Die (A Side Quest)Scourge of SoulsThe Forsaken GodChaos RisingRavaged LandDoom Vault (Coming Soon)The Source Forge (Coming Soon)
436 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 17, 2018
1203 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
C.M. Carney
20 books244 followersAfter reading an editorial claiming Dungeons and Dragons drove kids to worship dark forces in the sewers, C.M. Carney's mother immediately bought it for him. He was ten, and it's probably a good thing he was afraid of sewers. Since then he has been obsessed with reading, writing and playing all things fantasy and science fiction.
After spending nearly two decades working as a creative executive for an animation and SFX studio, C.M. decided to pursue his lifelong dream of writing and publishing novels and short stories.
He writes sci-fi, fantasy and LitRPG that run the gamut from epic to humorous. His first novel Barrow King: Book One of The Realms was published in February 2018 and has become a #1 Bestseller in Norse and Viking Myths and Legends and a #1 Bestseller in Role Playing and Fantasy Games.
He loves hearing from fans, like minded thinkers and anyone else who shares his dislike of sewers.
Facebook Group: C.M. Carney's Book Room (https://www.facebook.com/groups/15527...)
Email: chris@cmcarneywrites.com.
Website: www.cmcarneywrites.com. Keep up with new releases, other news and the occasional freebies.
After spending nearly two decades working as a creative executive for an animation and SFX studio, C.M. decided to pursue his lifelong dream of writing and publishing novels and short stories.
He writes sci-fi, fantasy and LitRPG that run the gamut from epic to humorous. His first novel Barrow King: Book One of The Realms was published in February 2018 and has become a #1 Bestseller in Norse and Viking Myths and Legends and a #1 Bestseller in Role Playing and Fantasy Games.
He loves hearing from fans, like minded thinkers and anyone else who shares his dislike of sewers.
Facebook Group: C.M. Carney's Book Room (https://www.facebook.com/groups/15527...)
Email: chris@cmcarneywrites.com.
Website: www.cmcarneywrites.com. Keep up with new releases, other news and the occasional freebies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
July 20, 2020
This second instalment of C.M. Carney's The Realms series was an improvement on the first instalment of the series but it still never quite managed to reach the heights I feel like it has the potential to reach! On the whole this series is a fairly solid LitRPG series with a focus on the action, adventure, and the game mechanics aspects of the story.
The format of the story was similar to what we got in the first book. This series does have an overreaching story arc but so far both books in the series have done little to advance that (intriguing) plot and have instead focused on episodic villain of the book story arcs. In the first book we got the dungeon crawl and the Barrow King. This second book had a city of Elves battling against an Invasion of the Body Snatchers/Borg style alien invasion! The story arc was a little throwaway but I did think it was more entertaining than the boring dungeon crawl of the first book.
The big improvement this instalment had over the first book of the series and probably the thing that helped me enjoy it a tiny bit more was the fact that I feel this one did a better job of helping me connect with the secondary characters. That was true both for the characters that got established in Barrow King and the new characters we met here in The Lost City. I was finally able to invest a bit in the secondary characters and that helped give the whole tale more of an emotional pull and that in turn helped add some tension to the story.
Some of the flaws of the first book have still not been ironed out. I feel like C.M. Carney still goes overboard with the stats and the overly complicated game mechanics aspects of the story. It all just gets too much with the stats and gets a bit boring but the real issue is the complexity of the game mechanics. Carney has a great imagination and the worldbuilding in this series is pretty solid but all those skill branches and the like are a total nightmare to try and remember and feel a little needless to be honest. Just give us the juicy details we need and that will prevent the story from getting bogged down in the game mechanics aspect of the tale!!!
A strength of this series is the fact that the main character Finn is a fairly easy guy to root for. He is not the typical sort of arrogant childish ass that usually plagues the genre. That said he did manage to annoy me a tad right at the end by abusing a bit of the power he had built up so hopefully that is not a sign his character is developing in a negative direction.
All in all I felt like this was an OK read. It has too many flaws to be anything special but it is readable enough that I'll move onto the next instalment of the series. I do feel like the building blocks are here for this to be a great LitRPG series so I'll stick with it to see if it can develop into something more!
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: Amren Taylor gave a decent performance of the audio.
The format of the story was similar to what we got in the first book. This series does have an overreaching story arc but so far both books in the series have done little to advance that (intriguing) plot and have instead focused on episodic villain of the book story arcs. In the first book we got the dungeon crawl and the Barrow King. This second book had a city of Elves battling against an Invasion of the Body Snatchers/Borg style alien invasion! The story arc was a little throwaway but I did think it was more entertaining than the boring dungeon crawl of the first book.
The big improvement this instalment had over the first book of the series and probably the thing that helped me enjoy it a tiny bit more was the fact that I feel this one did a better job of helping me connect with the secondary characters. That was true both for the characters that got established in Barrow King and the new characters we met here in The Lost City. I was finally able to invest a bit in the secondary characters and that helped give the whole tale more of an emotional pull and that in turn helped add some tension to the story.
Some of the flaws of the first book have still not been ironed out. I feel like C.M. Carney still goes overboard with the stats and the overly complicated game mechanics aspects of the story. It all just gets too much with the stats and gets a bit boring but the real issue is the complexity of the game mechanics. Carney has a great imagination and the worldbuilding in this series is pretty solid but all those skill branches and the like are a total nightmare to try and remember and feel a little needless to be honest. Just give us the juicy details we need and that will prevent the story from getting bogged down in the game mechanics aspect of the tale!!!
A strength of this series is the fact that the main character Finn is a fairly easy guy to root for. He is not the typical sort of arrogant childish ass that usually plagues the genre. That said he did manage to annoy me a tad right at the end by abusing a bit of the power he had built up so hopefully that is not a sign his character is developing in a negative direction.
All in all I felt like this was an OK read. It has too many flaws to be anything special but it is readable enough that I'll move onto the next instalment of the series. I do feel like the building blocks are here for this to be a great LitRPG series so I'll stick with it to see if it can develop into something more!
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: Amren Taylor gave a decent performance of the audio.
March 15, 2020
I just couldn’t for the life of me get into this book. I didn’t care about any of the characters, I didn’t care about the plot...I just didn’t care about much of anything in this book. Part of the problem is the author took the major plot elements that he so carefully established in the first book and basically ignored them throughout this entire book. The antagonist of the first book is nowhere to be seen. Gryph’s sister is (almost) completely non-existent in this book. It’s like he just decided to add in huge new plot elements in this book that were nowhere to be found in the first one.
My second big beef is the repeatability of basically every fight scene. Gryph gets pulled into a fight unexpectedly. Gryph and his friends start getting their asses kicked six ways from Sunday. Gryph comes up with a Hail Mary plan that has almost no chance of succeeding and all his adventuring friends hate. Yet they have nothing better to offer, so they grudgingly go along with Gryph’s near-impossible plan...which of course miraculously works. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
So...yeah, not my favorite LitRPG book. No plans to continue with the series at this point.
My second big beef is the repeatability of basically every fight scene. Gryph gets pulled into a fight unexpectedly. Gryph and his friends start getting their asses kicked six ways from Sunday. Gryph comes up with a Hail Mary plan that has almost no chance of succeeding and all his adventuring friends hate. Yet they have nothing better to offer, so they grudgingly go along with Gryph’s near-impossible plan...which of course miraculously works. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
So...yeah, not my favorite LitRPG book. No plans to continue with the series at this point.
July 16, 2024
I like it
The pacing is a little of but I like the world building and characters and storyline. I look forward to the next book
The pacing is a little of but I like the world building and characters and storyline. I look forward to the next book
September 12, 2020
Not as good as book 1
Spoiler in review.
I’m really surprised at the beginning of this book. You take the main character and force him to help a city of elves who have been nothing but rude and hostile to him and the party. Death Threats, left, imprisonment, and other cruelty and then all of a sudden when the city is betrayed because someone stole something from our hero and murdered an important figure they force the hero to go and stop them. That’s fine, but the hero jumps to it with a “yes my lord it would be my honor”. WTF man? No indignation, no anger or ill feelings in any way at the terrible treatment or even a snarky I told you so. He just goes along with it without complaint and is never bothered that they literally were going to murder his friends in front of him if he didn’t empty his bag of holding and give them everything he has. That honestly ruined the story for me.
Spoiler in review.
I’m really surprised at the beginning of this book. You take the main character and force him to help a city of elves who have been nothing but rude and hostile to him and the party. Death Threats, left, imprisonment, and other cruelty and then all of a sudden when the city is betrayed because someone stole something from our hero and murdered an important figure they force the hero to go and stop them. That’s fine, but the hero jumps to it with a “yes my lord it would be my honor”. WTF man? No indignation, no anger or ill feelings in any way at the terrible treatment or even a snarky I told you so. He just goes along with it without complaint and is never bothered that they literally were going to murder his friends in front of him if he didn’t empty his bag of holding and give them everything he has. That honestly ruined the story for me.
June 24, 2020
Writer does not know the craft
A good writer will story board his plot line and evidence consistent character development, foreshadowing made actual, and effect a cogent story line that might take you to surprising places, but in hindsight made sense. In contrast, this story turns all rules on their respective heads. It’s almost as if the writer had a bad day and decided to kill his supportive cast and infuse the villain with omnipotence. I was surprised at the twist. It did not make sense nor was it supported by the game mechanics the author was developing. It left me completely, utterly, horrifically disappointed.
A good writer will story board his plot line and evidence consistent character development, foreshadowing made actual, and effect a cogent story line that might take you to surprising places, but in hindsight made sense. In contrast, this story turns all rules on their respective heads. It’s almost as if the writer had a bad day and decided to kill his supportive cast and infuse the villain with omnipotence. I was surprised at the twist. It did not make sense nor was it supported by the game mechanics the author was developing. It left me completely, utterly, horrifically disappointed.
November 9, 2020
Everything is on Fire 🔥🔥
It’s not a bad book. It’s also however not a good book. The plot is very predictable and though it’s fast paced it’s boreing.
Why? How? It’s like life if everything is on fire it’s starts to feel normal. Then it’s really hard to care because everything is on fire.
The villain did a lot of monologuing. The protagonist always had just enough to squeak by. Even the deaths didn’t have the emotional impacts they should. Everything was on fire.
It’s not a bad book, it’s just not a good book.
It’s not a bad book. It’s also however not a good book. The plot is very predictable and though it’s fast paced it’s boreing.
Why? How? It’s like life if everything is on fire it’s starts to feel normal. Then it’s really hard to care because everything is on fire.
The villain did a lot of monologuing. The protagonist always had just enough to squeak by. Even the deaths didn’t have the emotional impacts they should. Everything was on fire.
It’s not a bad book, it’s just not a good book.
August 6, 2022
The whole book was just a huge side quest.I really could not care about the story or the characters in this book. Everything seemed so forced and generic. The MC once again acted like a dancing fool and kept succeeding due to impossible luck and desperate plans that - of course - always worked out.
November 23, 2020
Omg. I had to DNF this one because I couldn't buy into the conflict when the resolution would've been *so easy*.
Everyone to the MC: something Terrible will happen if these eggs hatch.
MC: Okay.
*Something terrible happens*
MC: Omg, this is the worst.
Just kill the eggs! Seriously!
Everyone to the MC: something Terrible will happen if these eggs hatch.
MC: Okay.
*Something terrible happens*
MC: Omg, this is the worst.
Just kill the eggs! Seriously!
December 4, 2023
Strong second installment in a series I’m growing fond of. In addition to continuing to develop a cast of characters, some forgotten characters from the first book made an appearance. Looking forward to starting the third book in the series.
October 29, 2023
Good story, vast world building with goals of epic storytelling.. however...
I'd like the story however book 2 seemed a bit of a disappointment. I was about 130 pages in, and I think I understood what was bothering me. The story reads as if the author was a dungeon master in a D&D game, and he was forcing the characters to follow the storyline. At no time in this book did the characters really have a choice of what they had to do, it was forced on them from when they woke up in the morning until they finished battling at night. And it took all the thrill and mystery out of the book. I know the main character was going to survive, I knew there would be anguish and loss, but it didn't add to the thrill of the story in any way.. it seemed contrite.
The world the author built in the story goal is rather epic, it just seems to be missing any kind of excitement in the read. I'm not sure book three is going to make it onto my reading lists I haven't decided. Can honestly say I like the story but the pace and the obvious foreshadowing, along with predictable tropes and plots.. I was bored.
I'd like the story however book 2 seemed a bit of a disappointment. I was about 130 pages in, and I think I understood what was bothering me. The story reads as if the author was a dungeon master in a D&D game, and he was forcing the characters to follow the storyline. At no time in this book did the characters really have a choice of what they had to do, it was forced on them from when they woke up in the morning until they finished battling at night. And it took all the thrill and mystery out of the book. I know the main character was going to survive, I knew there would be anguish and loss, but it didn't add to the thrill of the story in any way.. it seemed contrite.
The world the author built in the story goal is rather epic, it just seems to be missing any kind of excitement in the read. I'm not sure book three is going to make it onto my reading lists I haven't decided. Can honestly say I like the story but the pace and the obvious foreshadowing, along with predictable tropes and plots.. I was bored.
December 24, 2018
I did not like this one at all. It took me quite a while to get through it, because I just couldn't follow the story as a whole. It seemed to me like the story wandered here, there, and everywhere, with no semblance of order whatsoever. I tried reading a chapter at a time, Hell, I tried reading a chapter a week, but the story was just too disjointed for me to get a handle on it. Half the time while I was reading the book, I was completely lost as to what was going on and why. I haven't a clue if it was the writing, the story, the characters, or what, but I just could not manage to concentrate on this book for any length of time whatsoever, as a result, I've completed the book, but I haven't a clue what it was all about. I can't even begin to give a recommendation as to who should read this book, because I have not the least idea where this fits in the whole classification of things. Sorry, I can't do any better than that.
August 23, 2018
Overall a great book! I enjoyed the further development of the characters and the fleshing out of the "world/universe" in order to bring in a bigger plot than what was presented in the first book. I highly recommend it if you enjoy the LITRPG genre.
I did however feel it had some holes from a story standpoint simply because in the first book we see the Godhead evolve as Gryph defeats legendary beasts, however he defeats two in this novel but doesn't seem to get any acknowledgement or increase because of them. Additionally we saw in the first book where he tried to log out but was unable to due to the Error he received when in the Barrow, this also seemed to coincide with the Error that Lex saw when trying to use player tracking. However, we know that the tracking works, but Gryph has yet to try to log out of the game. What is happening to his body?
I did however feel it had some holes from a story standpoint simply because in the first book we see the Godhead evolve as Gryph defeats legendary beasts, however he defeats two in this novel but doesn't seem to get any acknowledgement or increase because of them. Additionally we saw in the first book where he tried to log out but was unable to due to the Error he received when in the Barrow, this also seemed to coincide with the Error that Lex saw when trying to use player tracking. However, we know that the tracking works, but Gryph has yet to try to log out of the game. What is happening to his body?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2018
Got so bored with it only after 10chapters
You read book 1 was a little long winded but the action and the main character has a specific attitude and the then you turn him into a child who is clueless and trying to lie his way through what is going on but instead of the author trying to clear this up after 10 damn chapters he just names the staff that gryph got at the end of book 1. to be honest I thought this book was going to start of finding Lexx and the other chick he was supposed to meet, but instead boring rambling and discrediting of the main character for more then 10 chapters... woohoo didn’t know this turned into a dark mindfuck in book 2 making it so enjoyable. Last time a read anything written by this author.
You read book 1 was a little long winded but the action and the main character has a specific attitude and the then you turn him into a child who is clueless and trying to lie his way through what is going on but instead of the author trying to clear this up after 10 damn chapters he just names the staff that gryph got at the end of book 1. to be honest I thought this book was going to start of finding Lexx and the other chick he was supposed to meet, but instead boring rambling and discrediting of the main character for more then 10 chapters... woohoo didn’t know this turned into a dark mindfuck in book 2 making it so enjoyable. Last time a read anything written by this author.
September 4, 2019
This is a good sequel to the Barrow King. It starts off calm but quickly spirals into chaos. The story revolves around Gryff (Finn) who is continuing his search for his sister.
This story really took me for a ride. There's sadness, laughter and a little bit of stupid along the way, but this made me feel like I was in the group with the characters and it reminded me of a few people I know.
This was based somewhere like an alternate realm of the Eastern Kingdoms with the Alliance, especially the dwarves (sounded just like the dark irons). I just wanted to keep shouting for the horde every time the “alliance” was mentioned, which begs the question, Chris are you for the alliance, or for the horde 😊
Really enjoyed this and am waiting for more.
This story really took me for a ride. There's sadness, laughter and a little bit of stupid along the way, but this made me feel like I was in the group with the characters and it reminded me of a few people I know.
This was based somewhere like an alternate realm of the Eastern Kingdoms with the Alliance, especially the dwarves (sounded just like the dark irons). I just wanted to keep shouting for the horde every time the “alliance” was mentioned, which begs the question, Chris are you for the alliance, or for the horde 😊
Really enjoyed this and am waiting for more.
March 4, 2021
Pull down the shades and lock the doors
Your gonna want to have no interference while reading this second book of the Realms! Another fantastic read. My one critique would be that I would have thought Myrthendir's deception would have been picked up quicker by Gryph when he ran away with the seal! Otherwise I really enjoyed all the action and am learning alot about gaming and building your game character. I was a little unhinged over the loss of one of the central characters I had come to love , but presumed there was a good reason. I have really become engrossed with the main characters and the story line is like watching Lord of the Rings in my head! Can't wait to head into book 3 of this series!
Your gonna want to have no interference while reading this second book of the Realms! Another fantastic read. My one critique would be that I would have thought Myrthendir's deception would have been picked up quicker by Gryph when he ran away with the seal! Otherwise I really enjoyed all the action and am learning alot about gaming and building your game character. I was a little unhinged over the loss of one of the central characters I had come to love , but presumed there was a good reason. I have really become engrossed with the main characters and the story line is like watching Lord of the Rings in my head! Can't wait to head into book 3 of this series!
March 5, 2021
In this book we see Gryph continue his journey in the Realms with his group of friends we meet in the first Realms book. The group leaves the Barrow and journeys to an ancient Elven city, where they encounter a danger even greater than that they faced in the first book. This book had all of the great LitRPG elements that were in the first story, and was even more plot driven (the first book was a lot of staying alive and killing monsters). A great sequel, and I look forward to reading the other books in the series!
This book would be understandable if you did not read the Barrow King (first book in the Realms series), but its a great book and I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series!
This book would be understandable if you did not read the Barrow King (first book in the Realms series), but its a great book and I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series!
Read
August 3, 2022Ok so my big problem is how absurdly stupid the main character is.
There are times when I just want to punch the book in its face.
For example: he comes to an elf village and is put on trial for having friend that are evil or whatever and they cant lie because magic and stuff, heres the kicker....s..I guess
1. He is carrying the super death Spear of doom that was owned by the last elven Kings and is an superduper importent artifact of the elfs.
2. He is a godhead (like a babygod)
Why not tell them Hey ashats Y'all are with me now im a KING-GOD, now MOVE bitch !
This is just one of a lot of things.
Then we have the i just use my xp perk poin and f**king divine mega points, once every 47 chapters god damn is he suicidal .
Sorry for the crap gramer/spelling
There are times when I just want to punch the book in its face.
For example: he comes to an elf village and is put on trial for having friend that are evil or whatever and they cant lie because magic and stuff, heres the kicker....s..I guess
1. He is carrying the super death Spear of doom that was owned by the last elven Kings and is an superduper importent artifact of the elfs.
2. He is a godhead (like a babygod)
Why not tell them Hey ashats Y'all are with me now im a KING-GOD, now MOVE bitch !
This is just one of a lot of things.
Then we have the i just use my xp perk poin and f**king divine mega points, once every 47 chapters god damn is he suicidal .
Sorry for the crap gramer/spelling
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2023
A rather good sequel
This is my second foray into the LitRPG format. This series so far has a well made world, though some of the creature names are a bit.. derivative. I decided that they were "made close but not quite" the words used by that famous rpg system probably for licensing reasons. It is not enough to dent the storyline or the flow.
The Main character is a "Marty Stu" though. It is kind of irritating. The supporting characters are well written and they make up for the lack of struggle the MC has to deal with to be suddenly super good at everything he tries. I have hopes the MC will start to demonstrate actual character growth soon because his leveling is finally slowing down by the end of this book.
This is my second foray into the LitRPG format. This series so far has a well made world, though some of the creature names are a bit.. derivative. I decided that they were "made close but not quite" the words used by that famous rpg system probably for licensing reasons. It is not enough to dent the storyline or the flow.
The Main character is a "Marty Stu" though. It is kind of irritating. The supporting characters are well written and they make up for the lack of struggle the MC has to deal with to be suddenly super good at everything he tries. I have hopes the MC will start to demonstrate actual character growth soon because his leveling is finally slowing down by the end of this book.
July 6, 2020
4.5 :)
This book was a killer sequel and really ramped up the stakes, so much that I'm mildly concerned it hit a peak I'd expect of a book much later in a longer series, but I have faith in the things still lurking in the wings will feel just as monumental as the "big bad" of this one did.
I also appreciate that the background and lore and rpg elements of this universe continued to be fleshed out without feeling like info dumping 24/7.
Overall I flew through this book and had to make myself wait to finish the last 150 pages until I had the next few of the series in hand.
It's not perfect but it is wildly enjoyable in my opinion and I'm very interested in the next branches of the story!
This book was a killer sequel and really ramped up the stakes, so much that I'm mildly concerned it hit a peak I'd expect of a book much later in a longer series, but I have faith in the things still lurking in the wings will feel just as monumental as the "big bad" of this one did.
I also appreciate that the background and lore and rpg elements of this universe continued to be fleshed out without feeling like info dumping 24/7.
Overall I flew through this book and had to make myself wait to finish the last 150 pages until I had the next few of the series in hand.
It's not perfect but it is wildly enjoyable in my opinion and I'm very interested in the next branches of the story!
May 14, 2024
Good book with some pet peeves. I found myself cussing alot at the book tho. Because they met some elves and were forced to be in a party with the prince and the mc turned into a lame 😒 🙄 I hate when the mc gets into a party and they change and it's all about the party instead of him grinding getting stronger and finding his sister. Plus the prince keeps threatening him and he just takes it like a punk and the prince is making him look like a noob. He stumbled 😔 around alot in this book stopping to stare at fights forgetting to do what needs doing slow to react like I said he got in a party and got distracted stupid 🙄
August 21, 2018
Book two
Mistakes found: I found one.
Plot: I still find the MC to be OP, but everyone seems OP. What is the point in levels of a level 17 can kill a level 43?
Also I'd like to know what the loot from the lake monster was. A lot of nobody looting in this book. I found the last battle in this book to be a bit of a drag. It was slow and full of the MC getting his ass kicked, right up till he pulled a miracle win out of nowhere.
Characters: well we seem to have lost some in this book. It's always good to kill characters. They might even be missed.
I rate this s 7/10
Mistakes found: I found one.
Plot: I still find the MC to be OP, but everyone seems OP. What is the point in levels of a level 17 can kill a level 43?
Also I'd like to know what the loot from the lake monster was. A lot of nobody looting in this book. I found the last battle in this book to be a bit of a drag. It was slow and full of the MC getting his ass kicked, right up till he pulled a miracle win out of nowhere.
Characters: well we seem to have lost some in this book. It's always good to kill characters. They might even be missed.
I rate this s 7/10
June 25, 2019
Just like the first book, this one is another slog through the egregious overuse of: simile, hyperbolic internalized emotions in the middle of dialogue, hyperbolic reactions to mundane details, the phrase "WHO ARE YOU ?", conversations where characters repeatedly oscillate between a hair's breadth from violence towards the MC and peaceful dialogue, forced comradery, humor by way of characters laughing so you know it's meant to be funny, and..................... brackish brackish brackish brackish water
February 21, 2021
Overly dramatic
Using tropes that are a bit ridiculous. Dropping bits of info that isn’t made available through the narrative - you shouldn’t identify a character except through speech or visual evidence; knowledge of actual relationships requires speech; if the words aren’t spoken, those complicated familial relationships shouldn’t be known.
Also, the fight scenes are confusing histrionics.
I simply can’t continue. MC is ridiculously OP even though he should be much weaker. He always has just enough mana to cast spells at the right time.
Using tropes that are a bit ridiculous. Dropping bits of info that isn’t made available through the narrative - you shouldn’t identify a character except through speech or visual evidence; knowledge of actual relationships requires speech; if the words aren’t spoken, those complicated familial relationships shouldn’t be known.
Also, the fight scenes are confusing histrionics.
I simply can’t continue. MC is ridiculously OP even though he should be much weaker. He always has just enough mana to cast spells at the right time.
August 22, 2018
Cool story, interesting paths
This story really took me for a ride. I wasn’t entirely sure where it was going for a time, but when I figured it out I enjoyed it all the more.
Good sequel, and maintains a lot of the action heavy narratives the first and second book have. Additionally, this book fleshes out the world a bit more and gives us tastes of where the story will continue.
Will read the next book!
This story really took me for a ride. I wasn’t entirely sure where it was going for a time, but when I figured it out I enjoyed it all the more.
Good sequel, and maintains a lot of the action heavy narratives the first and second book have. Additionally, this book fleshes out the world a bit more and gives us tastes of where the story will continue.
Will read the next book!
August 26, 2018
Fun Read, If Partially Predictable
A great continuation of the Gryph story (though I loved Killing Time more). I really only had a few issues: the first half of the book was very predictable, and there is a consistent lack of punctuation. Almost every page had a missing comma, hyphen, quote, or italics. The first two books had the same issue, so it’s nothing new. But it is distracting.
I look forward to book 4, which I dearly hope involves Lex.
A great continuation of the Gryph story (though I loved Killing Time more). I really only had a few issues: the first half of the book was very predictable, and there is a consistent lack of punctuation. Almost every page had a missing comma, hyphen, quote, or italics. The first two books had the same issue, so it’s nothing new. But it is distracting.
I look forward to book 4, which I dearly hope involves Lex.
December 29, 2019
Let me threaten everything you have and everything you love…
Whenever intrepid party leaves the dungeon, they are forced into a beautiful lush forest. Wonderful right? Well infants known to them they are in hostile lands. Land owned by arrogant and self-serving peoples. When they threaten his companions and force them all on a quest the people are a little more than bullies and terrorists…
Whenever intrepid party leaves the dungeon, they are forced into a beautiful lush forest. Wonderful right? Well infants known to them they are in hostile lands. Land owned by arrogant and self-serving peoples. When they threaten his companions and force them all on a quest the people are a little more than bullies and terrorists…
August 17, 2018
Amazing new book!!
Love the series and can’t wait to find out more about Lex and his adventures!! This is a great second/third book, really continues to expand the lore and the story, can’t wait till the next one is out and I can get them all on audiobook!!!!
Definitely worth getting the audiobook as well!!
Love the series and can’t wait to find out more about Lex and his adventures!! This is a great second/third book, really continues to expand the lore and the story, can’t wait till the next one is out and I can get them all on audiobook!!!!
Definitely worth getting the audiobook as well!!
September 24, 2018
It took me a while to get through the book, but realistically, it was just that I feel it wasn't for me.
Functionally, it's a good read and there are parts of it that got me really interested, but generally I just didn't find myself earning to finish it but I want to point out once more that there is nothing wrong with the story.
Functionally, it's a good read and there are parts of it that got me really interested, but generally I just didn't find myself earning to finish it but I want to point out once more that there is nothing wrong with the story.
September 22, 2019
Continuing the Adventure!
Another great book. I really enjoy the characters, their development and of course the story. While it was a bit epic for book 2, I'm okay with that overall. New additions were nice, but I'm really wishing the character from the epilogue would be part of the main story!.
Another great book. I really enjoy the characters, their development and of course the story. While it was a bit epic for book 2, I'm okay with that overall. New additions were nice, but I'm really wishing the character from the epilogue would be part of the main story!.
March 19, 2020
Better than book 1.
This book was much better than book 1. Far more things made sense. Biggest struggle for me is the character keeps getting all these power tools and skills he barely uses. It's kind of anti climactic. Also the foreshadowing is a often too much or too little information.
This book was much better than book 1. Far more things made sense. Biggest struggle for me is the character keeps getting all these power tools and skills he barely uses. It's kind of anti climactic. Also the foreshadowing is a often too much or too little information.
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