Hero

Level Up #2

by Dan Sugralinov

MP3 CD Format A lazy and wussy ex-gamer, Phil becomes one of the few humans who receive a mysterious alien piece of wetware which allows them to see the world through an augmented–reality interface very similar to those used in a MMORPG game. Guided by its stats and messages, Phil begins to level up, gradually transforming himself and his life. He even opens his own business in order to help his friends and complete strangers who acquire a newfound respect for him, assisting him in his travails. As Phil continues on the road to self–improvement, guided by his own conscience rather than system messages, he tries to find out more about the mysterious third party which has bestowed such superhuman abilities upon him.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Urban, Role Playing Games, Fiction

610 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2018

About the author

Dan Sugralinov grew up in a small working-class town on the Russian border with Kazakhstan. It’s a miracle he survived his childhood games of hide-and-seek in the surrounding building sites complete with perilous rebar structures and flooded foundation pits.

Ever since he learned to read at the age of five, he couldn’t put a book down. Reluctant to earn himself the name of a conceited nerd, he concentrated on playing soccer which allowed him to become friends with the town’s toughest kids.

In 1995, he graduated with honors, entering the St Petersburg Academy of Engineering and Economics where he studied business creation. He must have done something right because in the years that followed, he first worked on TV and radio just to get the taste of it, then opened his first successful business followed by several more. In between, he started writing and playing video games, winning the St Petersburg Mortal Kombat championship and becoming runner-up for Starcraft and Warcraft 3. He is a 14-times champion in Quake, Quake 2 and Quake 3 as well as the world’s ex-#1 in the World of Warcraft.

In 2004, he wrote his first motivational novella The Bricks which to date has garnered him over 3,000,000 readers online alone.

In 2014, Russia’s leading publishers of business literature Mann, Ivanov & Ferber published a revised and extended edition of his book, The Bricks 2.0.

In 2015, Dan discovered the existence of LitRPG. He devoured everything that had been written in that genre until he finally decided he too could write similar books.

In summer 2017, he published his first book in the subgenre of realRPG: Level Up.

Dan Sugralinov is a consummate gamer, a multiple MMORPG champion and the world’s ex-#1 in the World of Warcraft. He is also a successful businessman and author of books on marketing and business organization. His first LitRPG series Level Up took Russia by storm in 2017. Its English translation is about to be released on Amazon.

Reviews

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, but less care was taken to regionalize the story leaving us with a lot of footnotes and some made up words.

This also leads me to the second piece that I didn't like, there was at least 2 translators in this book as there are definite "voice" changes throughout. In the first book, this wasn't noticeable, so it was either done well or the post translation editing was more robust, but this is something I always find with Magic Dome published books.

Overall it was an enjoyable story that would've garnered a 4 star review from me if it wasn't for what I mentioned above.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I received an Arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. That out of the way, oooh boy this was a cracking book. From start to finish there were no dull moments. We pick up the story where the first one ended. We follow Phil as he continues to level up his stats and see how he deals with life's obstacles. Also we find out more about the shadowy creators of the program and Phil meets other users of the program. My niggling issue of the first book ending anticlimactically was rectified in this book. Unfortunately for the reader its a massive cliff hanger, I can't wait to get my hands on the third one. A great read that has me looking for more litRPGs.

[Tony Hinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare for me to get as invested in a character as I did with Phil. Upon reflection, I can't help wonder why there aren't more books where the allocation of some superhuman ability leads to a positive moral transformation. There are so many novels that explore the opposite scenario - a deep dive into thoughtless violence and/or corruption. The thing is, I seem to get a greater emotional hit from this positive approach.

I rarely hand out five-star reviews, but I've no hesitation in recommending this book. It kept me up late into the night, unwilling to stop until I'd finished. I'm now eagerly awaiting the sequel.

A note for Dan Sugralinov: If I were in Phil's shoes, knowing that the interface has an expiry date, I'd try to experiment with it, in order to create a sustainable model for the business. At one point he uses perception*3 to model various company employees and their effect on the firm's long-term success. I would go a step further. What if Phil ran a lot of simulations that exclude an interfaced boss, trying to ensure that his business was structured so as to thrive beyond the interface. Just a thought. Thanks for the great stories.

[Alan K · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same for book 2

Our MC Phil is still working his way through ranking up his abilities and stats, this one concentrates on Phil starting a company and his work on improving the lives of people around him, mainly through his own trails and tribulations. An interesting read, but still many of the directions the author takes the characters are not decisions I would make and this sometimes makes it hard to read as I disagree with the MC. I still think this is cultural differences between the authors place of upbringing and my own, and the currency conversion sometimes is confusing my reading enjoyment. Still a good book and worth reading.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance PDF copy of this book and liked it so much I'm leaving this review.
Plot: While it can be a bit dry at times, life is like that. I liked that he keeps saving people and turning in bad people while getting his normal life in order. I would have liked more details and a longer fight in the last boxing match.
Characters: I like the MC, he is turning into a good person without being a doormat.
Mistakes: I found only a few errors in the story and chalk them up to translation errors since it was just the wrong tense of the word used.
Overall I give 8/10 and look forward to book three.

[Dumitru Toma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

I'm glad you choose to listen to your readers. The book was great. Perfectly balanced with book one. Keep going! Can't wait for the next one

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5☆

[Wilhelm Eyrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only when we’ve improved upon ourselves can we then proceed onto changing the world around us.

[Willow Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Paul Kite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top shelf! Absolutely amazing! The moment I hear that a new book is coming out for this series, I drop whatever I'm currently reading in order to reread the entire series again. And I will continue to do so as long as the series continues, hopefully another 20/30 books :)

[Grant Merrifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book

We're looking forward to the next one what a cliffhanger ARG.
I like the characters I like the world I like the Universe I recommend this book

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

So no great surprises in this follow-on, other than being able to die and respawn, which sort of takes the real out of the realrpg. There's also quite a casual blowing through of relationships, and lovely turns of phrase in spots, as is traditional with the influx of this type of thing from beyond the curtain. Will I carry on? yes indeed, it's a bit like a guilty pleasure.

[Nathanael Keeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

This book is great but perhaps not is frenetic as the first. I found it somewhat depressing in the early stages but the ending is good and sets up the next. Can’t wait.

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent sequel. Loved it. But kind of off put by the horrible luck the MC has with the opposite sex. I like this introducing new characters and developing them without reducing the development of main characters.

P. S: what's up with the Cliffhanger?

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Interesting Take on litRPG

I really enjoy this series, it is an interesting take on the genre. Instead of going into a game or being transported into another world the MC gets a neural interface on plain old boring earth. There are no monsters or magic but there is still conflict and comradery. I'm looking forward to the final book in the series.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Only I Will Remain Stars

Hero is the second installment in the Level Up series by Dan Sugralinov.

I feel the author definitely took into consideration his readers comments about the pace of the plot and the lack of action. He really stepped it up in this book, from the prequel forward there was so much progression jam-packed into these pages. While there were definitely similar moments, attributed to the last books plot progression, our Mc bounded further than I had hoped to witness in this sequel.

I had been day dreaming of him becoming the First Hero by the end of this book. (I'm well aware that is asking for far too much.) I simply have come to truly enjoy this protagonist and his development into such a paragon towards the advancement of the human race. It honestly makes one desire the real world equivalent. Given the very obvious assumption that Terrans probably wouldn't measure up. There's simply too much bickering--- sorry, I mean politicking irl.

I truly enjoyed Stacy's character, and I hope to see more of her and whom she represents in the future of this literary world. Along those lines, I think the author is definitely missing out on some of the potential for Martha. I hope we can see more from her development as well.

[Richard Hummel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another K.O.

I am really enjoying the world and character development Dan is doing with this series. The way the game mechanics are implemented in the book are truly unique and I love when a new idea surfaces! Can't wait for the next installment!

[Rusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

His decisions and interactions with people and the world got even more bizarre. Which would be fine, except between the characters, the author and me, I appear to be the only one who thinks so...

[Jay Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 to maybe 3.5 again a little bit of a slow burn but if you liked the first book this is much of the same. I did enjoy it for the most part so I will continue. It does have a unique style and I am okay with it. I will continue with the series.

[Huronimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The further adventures of Philnocchio becoming a real adult

Phil is given an amazing gift in the form of an incredibly advanced, AI driven “gaming” interface with the world. It not only gives him access to hidden information about everyone around him, but allows for incredibly enhanced skill development and super human abilities. So, what does he do with it? Perhaps become a private investigator with his ability to detect lies at will? Dedicate himself to finding lost children and combating human trafficking with his ability to locate people anywhere on earth? Maybe even get into international counter terrorism by working with law enforcement agencies? No, that’s all too pedestrian! His winning idea is to start up a shady temp agency for the dregs of society making *gasp* hundreds of dollars a week!

I really enjoy the idea of self-improvement via a “gaming” interface, but it’s almost depressing how ridiculoulsy mundane Phil’s approach is to bettering his life. He has less than a year left on license for the interface, but he spends most of his time doing things any normal person could do – exercising, playing sports, doing chores, working, socializing, etc. And why not throw in a toxic relationship to a crazy woman with a kid to waste more precious time. The only thing Phil has on his side is high motivation and enhancements courtesy of his interface to juggle all these tedious activities. Throughout it all, the author continues to portray Phil as highly intelligent even though he is clearly a hot mess and mildly clever at best. I’m convinced Phil’s Intellect, Empathy, and Intuition scores must be delusions imparted by the interface to give him confidence.

Despite all these issues, I still enjoyed reading about Phil’s growth as a person and his efforts to rise above the fray and help others. In fact, he does this even knowing it is far from the most effective path to “leveling up” his stats or his life. It’s just that all the good stuff is buried under a ton of silly melodrama until about half way through the book. Things eventually get a lot more interesting, but Phil *still* continues to focus on mundane tasks. Interplanetary intrigue and imminent threat from demigods? Let’s go on a gambling spree, expand the existing business, and write a novel! Yes, there’s some method to the author’s madness regarding Phil’s slow progression choices and integrity towards helping those in need. However, without some very lazy plot armor in the form of Luck, all the poor choices he makes should have gotten him cosmically deleted.

If you can ignore the obvious grammar errors, translation issues, and a dash of male chauvinism, fans of the first book should enjoy this one as much if not more. It’s fair to say either the author’s writing has improved or he got a better translator/editor. A solid 3.5 out of 5 for me.

[Gareth Otton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only got about half way through this one before giving up. Here’s the reasons why:

1. Weird Decisions
In the last book a lot of the character actions seemed a little strange to me but they made sense in context with the rest of the novel. It was a story of a man who was ultimately quite pathetic trying to turn his life around, so the baby steps that were sometimes a little strange on his journey weren’t that big of a deal. However, he finished that story having turned his life around and that element was now missing from this book, so those continued baby steps and strange decision making got in the way of the story.

A good example of this is his desire to create a recruitment company to make money. The reason he has been successful in this field is based on an asset that he knows he will be losing in less than a year, so building a business around that is just bizarre. And it’s not the only bizarre things he does. From the way he interacts with people, some of the actions he takes when no action was needed...

Actually, you know what, I could be here all day listing the strange decisions the protagonist makes in this book, so let’s just say that there were a lot and move on.

2. The Romantic Plot
I said in my last review how I didn’t like how his wife was turned into the ‘antagonist’ for that book and in truth that was part of a larger issue with the romances in general. This book just ups the ante on the strangeness to the relationships and I didn’t really like his relationship with Vicky, both when it was good and bad.

3. Lack of Charm
The first book was a smaller story that worked because it was quite a charming tale of a guy who was turning his life around and helping improve the lives of others along the way. This book is lacking that fundamental element and therefore it is lacking the heart of the first book that I really enjoyed. What is left then is a story that’s not living up to its potential and no longer has the good elements that allow you to ignore this fact.

Overall Verdict
I didn’t like this one and will be parting ways with the series here. The book doubles down on the issues I had with the first novel and removes some of the good points from that book, and it just didn’t do enough to keep me reading. Truthfully, this review only gets a second star because I am willing to put some of the issues I had with it down to translation issues, and I mean that both linguistically and culturally. I am sure that there are aspects of Russian culture that doesn’t translate well to western culture, and therefore I am willing to give this book one star of leeway.

[Magila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow up to the first Level Up book. So glad that the library carried this on the Hoopla app and it was available to me. In point of fact, this was the book that had incorrect taxonomy and was linked to The Knockout. It's actually the sequel to Restart.

Mr. Sugralinov has become a favorite author of mine in this genre. I found the Level Up arch very clever, I liked the uniqueness of Knockout, and the social commentary that is interwoven into the Class-A Threat series is deeply thought provoking.

[Scycer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the series lays into context what it means to have an alien wet ware installed in your head and how contextual programming can change a person.

A lot more of the world is introduced and the reasoning or purpose of such an opportunity for the protagonist is introduced. Watching Tenet recently I cant help draw parallels to the movie.

In both the fate of the future is in the hands of people in the current generation. A few set on an activity of epic proportions something that cannot be explained to the masses but that needs to be carried out in secret. No matter how much power you have there are consequences

I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series and hope the protagonist does the trial well (Of course he will or how will the third book be sellable).

The big takeaway is about the focus on small daily things that one needs to do. Then just show up and do them again day after day and the results will speak for themselves.

[Haris Jablan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

This slice-of-life LitRPG is really interesting, it makes me invested really much into the character development of the main character and some of the main cast. The story itself is fine, nothing to talk about there as most of the book was the character "grinding" his skills.

What I dislike is the overuse of the system, the main character got an ability where he can practically predict his future with a romantic/business partner and he practically doesn't even think about it before acting upon the result. Also, the drastic change of Vicky in book 2 is also bugging me. She felt like practically a different character, she was basically a Yanna 2.0.

I'm still invested in this series and I can't wait for the next release.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one didn't keep my attention quite as well as the first book did, though in general it was very similar--writing (or maybe just translating) that's tolerable, really interesting augmented reality stuff, slightly painful personal life stuff. I'm invested enough in the story to read the third book and find out what happens, but not ready to read it right now without a break from the series.

Content issues are very similar the first book as well. There's very little that could be considered explicit, but there are some very blunt/straightforward comments about female attractiveness and body parts, as well as male physical reactions to that. There are also a few hints at a bad guy sexually abusing children, but again, without any kind of detail.

[DrDaps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd 180 from the previous book

I'm confused by the direction this book took. The first book was an inspirational tale in how changing your mindset can change your life, using gaming as a framework to shift perspective.

Book 2, however, is in some ways the opposite. The protagonist is doing fairly normal things - learning a sport, building a company - but relying on his game interface to cheat and do things outside of human ability.

Even interpersonal interactions are reliant on his Insight skill and game granted precognition rather on learning or understanding as in the first book.

Overall I was pretty disappointed, won't be reading the rest of this series as I'd planned.

[Mike Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as the first (if not better!)

Such a cool story and well written. It has gripped me since book 1 and I don’t ever want to put the book down, all my spare time has gone in to reading this. Going straight on to book 3 now!
If you’re a fan of sci-fi and books like Ready Player One then you’ll definitely enjoy the Level Up series. I enjoy the descriptive narrative that details how Phil uses his interface to improve himself and help those around him, rather than just simply going straight into hero mode and trying to become a superhero.
I’ve enjoyed reading about Phil’s progression and it’s inspiring me to put on my VR headset and get into some VR boxing to ‘level up’ my own fitness.

[Danae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a preview version of the book nevertheless i try to add an unbiased review.
The first third of the book has a hard time to establish a consistent story for me. The author itself says in the afterword that he changed direction of the story and maybe that is a reason for this.
After that we get back into a story flow that is more like the first book. The MC works on his strength and tries to help others. We get a lot more from the background around his interface later and the story ends in a big cliffhanger. Overall a good book but it couldn't keep up with the excellence of the first one in my eyes.
If you liked the first one i think you will like to see the story continuing. I will read the next one for sure.

[Greykillah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare for me to get as invested in a character as I did with Phil. Upon reflection, I can't help wonder why there aren't more books where the allocation of some superhuman ability leads to a positive moral transformation. There are so many novels that explore the opposite scenario - a deep dive into thoughtless violence and/or corruption. The thing is, I seem to get a greater emotional hit from this positive approach.

I rarely hand out five-star reviews, but I've no hesitation in recommending this book. It kept me up late into the night, unwilling to stop until I'd finished. I'm now eagerly awaiting the sequel.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phil and friends

Once again Dan has delivered an amazing book.

I really enjoyed the progression Phil made during this book as well as the creation of his company with his friends. Character development has improved all the secondary characters and made me care about them more.

Now that Phil will be beginning his trial in the next book I feel as this story has not even started yet with all the possibilities as to where it may go.