What do you think?
Rate this book
Peaks of Power #1
Beginnings
There’s always somewhere to go, someone to defeat! At least that’s what Ryan believed until he ran out of challenges, adventures, and stories. Bored with his life as a casual player, he slipped easily into the lifestyle of a professional gamer. After reaching the pinnacle of success, an email arrived from the mysterious Beta Academy. With his best friend and self-proclaimed bodyguard, Dimitri, he decides to take a chance and accept the strange offer contained within. Overconfident in his skills, Ryan thinks he’ll defeat this game as easily as every other, but that confidence is shaken and shattered within the first fifteen minutes. This wasn’t a standard game with haptic chairs or gloves; this was the real thing. Ryan and Dimitri must learn the heights of the Peaks of Power… and what it will take to achieve their summit.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2018
180 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 19, 2019
Round 2, fight!
I read and reviewed the first version of this book. This one has heavy revisions. Mostly improvements I think. Reading 2 different versions of the same book is difficult. I like the book. It's a good read. A little dissatisfied because it feels to me like a long training montage. I did like the detail regarding meridians and the magic training. It had an almost Wuxia feel to it. That was cool. With a tournament of sorts at the end. I want the next book. This one seemed a bit long a bit Monte Haul on the power advancements. I don't mind that but a book without real conflict - besides Ryan dealing with his real personal issues felt a bit flat. Book 2 should be out soon and this intro to the characters sets that up. I want to see these cool system and skills in play against real opponents. I like the writing style and it was pretty easy reading. It just wasn't as much fun for me the second time through. Much better editing.
I read and reviewed the first version of this book. This one has heavy revisions. Mostly improvements I think. Reading 2 different versions of the same book is difficult. I like the book. It's a good read. A little dissatisfied because it feels to me like a long training montage. I did like the detail regarding meridians and the magic training. It had an almost Wuxia feel to it. That was cool. With a tournament of sorts at the end. I want the next book. This one seemed a bit long a bit Monte Haul on the power advancements. I don't mind that but a book without real conflict - besides Ryan dealing with his real personal issues felt a bit flat. Book 2 should be out soon and this intro to the characters sets that up. I want to see these cool system and skills in play against real opponents. I like the writing style and it was pretty easy reading. It just wasn't as much fun for me the second time through. Much better editing.
October 29, 2018
Book one
Mistakes: I lost count. Weird sentences that barely made sense. Wrong words used. Really really needs to be edited to death.
Plot: overall rather boring. Just a giant training montage to make the MC and his buddy stupidly powerful way to quickly. Some of it was interesting, but most of it just felt rushed. Kind of like the author was going on this power sounds cool, let's throw it in for no reason. Dialog was weak and juvenile.
Characters: don't really like the MC. He is an arrogant jerk. The author tries to make it seem like he has changed throughput the book, but I don't see it. The MC is just a bothered punk. The sidekick is a better character, but I really can't see him sticking with the MC the way he does.
5.2/10 just needs more work all the way around.
Mistakes: I lost count. Weird sentences that barely made sense. Wrong words used. Really really needs to be edited to death.
Plot: overall rather boring. Just a giant training montage to make the MC and his buddy stupidly powerful way to quickly. Some of it was interesting, but most of it just felt rushed. Kind of like the author was going on this power sounds cool, let's throw it in for no reason. Dialog was weak and juvenile.
Characters: don't really like the MC. He is an arrogant jerk. The author tries to make it seem like he has changed throughput the book, but I don't see it. The MC is just a bothered punk. The sidekick is a better character, but I really can't see him sticking with the MC the way he does.
5.2/10 just needs more work all the way around.
October 26, 2018
A wonderful, refreshing view but still awesome story
I got this story because I've followed all of Dakotas books and his other I most definitely wasnt disappointed.
Paul did a wonderful job creating a fun world to explore with each trial that our group had to travel through being a fun and very unique experience. As the story progresses you get to see more of each players challenges and begin to get to see the goals they are setting for themselves.
The interaction with what we'll call the "NPCs" is nothing but stellar. It's so much fun to see the depth of character that is given to even small plot point players just so the story can be continued.
I truly enjoyed the new take on the genre and how he less stats but still made it a part of the book but didnt slap you in the face with it.
One of my favorite parts of the whole book was the character development and growth of Ryan and Dimitri.
I without a doubt wholeheartedly will recommend that anyone looking to pickup a good story to read and not be able to put down. Get this book, you will not be disappointed.
Little spoilers included here*****
Though I really did enjoy the struggles that Ryan went through. It made him seem very human and relatable. He may not have been the most likeable character in the beginning of the book due to his internal struggles but his growth is immense and great to see him reach deep and become more then he thought he could be.
I got this story because I've followed all of Dakotas books and his other I most definitely wasnt disappointed.
Paul did a wonderful job creating a fun world to explore with each trial that our group had to travel through being a fun and very unique experience. As the story progresses you get to see more of each players challenges and begin to get to see the goals they are setting for themselves.
The interaction with what we'll call the "NPCs" is nothing but stellar. It's so much fun to see the depth of character that is given to even small plot point players just so the story can be continued.
I truly enjoyed the new take on the genre and how he less stats but still made it a part of the book but didnt slap you in the face with it.
One of my favorite parts of the whole book was the character development and growth of Ryan and Dimitri.
I without a doubt wholeheartedly will recommend that anyone looking to pickup a good story to read and not be able to put down. Get this book, you will not be disappointed.
Little spoilers included here*****
Though I really did enjoy the struggles that Ryan went through. It made him seem very human and relatable. He may not have been the most likeable character in the beginning of the book due to his internal struggles but his growth is immense and great to see him reach deep and become more then he thought he could be.
April 7, 2019
Well... This was a Masterpiece
This book was quite simply a masterpiece of LitRPG. And it really deserves 5 stars but quite literally 80% of the book was a training montage without the montage and upbeat music. And I just didn't like that... at all.
There were times where I wanted to return the book and be done with it. Especially at the beginning where the MC is quite honestly the worst person in existence. But there's a secret going on in the background that I wanted to know the answer to, so I persevered and the last 20% was just awesome and all that hard work (because reading the first 80% was hard work) really paid off.
This book is very well written, edited and by God I look forward to its sequel.
This book was quite simply a masterpiece of LitRPG. And it really deserves 5 stars but quite literally 80% of the book was a training montage without the montage and upbeat music. And I just didn't like that... at all.
There were times where I wanted to return the book and be done with it. Especially at the beginning where the MC is quite honestly the worst person in existence. But there's a secret going on in the background that I wanted to know the answer to, so I persevered and the last 20% was just awesome and all that hard work (because reading the first 80% was hard work) really paid off.
This book is very well written, edited and by God I look forward to its sequel.
November 9, 2018
Interesting story
I found the premise for this story interesting and I really liked the character development. I was so frustrated with Ryan at first!
While nanites and AIs are not uncommon to read about these days, I found the application in this story to be interesting. Especially as how the characters enter the virtual reality is a bit different than in other books.
I will note that grammar is sometimes off. I am not certain if this is an editing and/or translation issue. It is a little distracting at first, but does not occur too frequently and did not take away from my enjoyment of the story.
I found the premise for this story interesting and I really liked the character development. I was so frustrated with Ryan at first!
While nanites and AIs are not uncommon to read about these days, I found the application in this story to be interesting. Especially as how the characters enter the virtual reality is a bit different than in other books.
I will note that grammar is sometimes off. I am not certain if this is an editing and/or translation issue. It is a little distracting at first, but does not occur too frequently and did not take away from my enjoyment of the story.
October 30, 2018
I beta read this book and absolutely loved it. I love the dialogue is down to earth. While some of the training sequences did drag on, but it did have the feeling of what a tutorial really is. Reading the final product was an even better experience and many of the issues I might have had were cleaned up. While the beginning is a bit rough, it does get better, much better! This is a promising beginning to what should be a fun series. Well done Paul!
November 19, 2018
Quelle surprise!
This was a good beginning! The MC was such a brat for the first 1/3 of the book that I almost stopped reading. Ugh! Good job with making the reader dislike the character😎. However, the story improved as it progressed. Needs stronger world-building and backstory, in addition to, filling in some story gaps. Minor editing issues, but story is interesting. Look forward to next instalment.
This was a good beginning! The MC was such a brat for the first 1/3 of the book that I almost stopped reading. Ugh! Good job with making the reader dislike the character😎. However, the story improved as it progressed. Needs stronger world-building and backstory, in addition to, filling in some story gaps. Minor editing issues, but story is interesting. Look forward to next instalment.
January 4, 2019
Pro: Had the basis for an interesting magic system and progression through it. Con: Threw that out the window when they went from no power to instant power.
Pro: Had some fairly entertaining drama between characters. Con: Protagonist character development was from petulant and arrogant to appreciative and confident. Two total extremes.
One of my other big frustrations with LitRPG is when the MC has an easier path than other people playing. This is the absolute pinnacle of that trope.
Pro: Had some fairly entertaining drama between characters. Con: Protagonist character development was from petulant and arrogant to appreciative and confident. Two total extremes.
One of my other big frustrations with LitRPG is when the MC has an easier path than other people playing. This is the absolute pinnacle of that trope.
January 21, 2019
Did not finish.
This is shockingly dreadful so far. Picked up the sample because it's from Mountaindale and I've greatly enjoyed Dakota Krout's work, but this book is in very bad need of editing and I enjoyed neither the writing (surprisingly bad) nor the characters.
It did seem to be successfully structured as a book and I could grammatically parse most of the sentences, so it gets a 2 not a 1.
This is shockingly dreadful so far. Picked up the sample because it's from Mountaindale and I've greatly enjoyed Dakota Krout's work, but this book is in very bad need of editing and I enjoyed neither the writing (surprisingly bad) nor the characters.
It did seem to be successfully structured as a book and I could grammatically parse most of the sentences, so it gets a 2 not a 1.
November 13, 2018
Interesting story and setup, but the main character drove me nuts. It also doesn’t help that this book wasn’t edited as well as some of the others I’ve read: lots of spelling mistakes (wrong words), grammar errors, and what seemed like dropped sentences. On top of that some of the game mechanics seemed almost tacked on to make it fit the “litRPG” style.
November 12, 2018
Nice book
The book deals with emotions well and the changes in the mc are quite good.
Just 2 doubts
*Does the dreams in the beginning mean anything.
*Didnt really get the 'Hei' reference.
The book deals with emotions well and the changes in the mc are quite good.
Just 2 doubts
*Does the dreams in the beginning mean anything.
*Didnt really get the 'Hei' reference.
December 27, 2018
Decent story, interesting enough to keep me reading (pretty much) in one sitting. Good character progression, and enough action to keep things moving along. It could perhaps benefit from another round of proofreading/editing, but otherwise, no major complaints.
May 15, 2021
This book lays a foundation for great things to follow. The game world and tournament fighting elements were really cool. I also liked that the plot involved so much training. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
November 1, 2018
Count me as a fan
I recommend this to anyone looking for a good story a little shorter than i would like. But good non the less I'm looking forward to seeing book 2
I recommend this to anyone looking for a good story a little shorter than i would like. But good non the less I'm looking forward to seeing book 2
November 1, 2018
Great book!
I really enjoyed this book! The character development was really spectacular! Definitely can’t wait to read more of this series!
I really enjoyed this book! The character development was really spectacular! Definitely can’t wait to read more of this series!
January 10, 2019
almost unreadable prose with a mc that is both a complete douchebag and mentally handicapped. Abandoned at 20%
December 5, 2019
I went to about 40% on my kindle, which is over 100 pages before dropping.
The world and everything about it seemed derivative and bland. There were grammar mistakes, not littering the pages, but appearing often enough to make you notice...and this is supposedly a revised edition. There is head hopping as well despite being written in 1st person. The action scenes are overly specific to where it ruins the pace of the scene. It comes across as very self-indulgent writing that is trying hard to up the cool factor just for cool's sake rather than to progress the story or demonstrate anything about a character.
The author seems to be very ignorant about professional gaming and fighting. The characters start learning Tai Chi, Acupuncture, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do for their fighting abilities and it portrays this with a straight face. The main character is a 'pro' gamer, yet no detail is given no professional-caliber skills are demonstrated. The opposite really, since the character seems to be an idiot who fails to absorb info about the game's basic fundamentals, and also fails to demonstrate anything resembling skill that one would acquire from playing other games.
There is a difference between a 'pro' gamer who earns income from things like streaming and what I would call a 'pro competitive' gamer who earns income from winning tournaments. The main character is supposedly one of the top competitive players, not just in America, but the world. To me, it was an impossible suspension of disbelief.
Then the meat of things...the main character is unlikable as hell. An arrogant asshole who constantly talks shit and has no skills. Pretty much every character in this story is the same character with the same snarky personality. It's what I consider the default personality for an author who didn't come up with real people for characters. Sounds blunt and harsh, but if you read many books in the LitRPG genre then you know what I'm talking about.
The only reason I kept reading as long as I did was because the author seemed to indicate that the main character was indeed an asshole even according to the other characters. This led me to believe that he would get a reality check at some point and begin a character arc. He did get the reality check, but unfortunately doesn't change much at all. The asshole dial goes down a few notches, but no fundamental changes. Which is to be expected because the character never came across as a fully conceived human being.
This book is in my bottom 10 of gamelit books I've ever attempted to read and I don't recommend it for anyone.
The world and everything about it seemed derivative and bland. There were grammar mistakes, not littering the pages, but appearing often enough to make you notice...and this is supposedly a revised edition. There is head hopping as well despite being written in 1st person. The action scenes are overly specific to where it ruins the pace of the scene. It comes across as very self-indulgent writing that is trying hard to up the cool factor just for cool's sake rather than to progress the story or demonstrate anything about a character.
The author seems to be very ignorant about professional gaming and fighting. The characters start learning Tai Chi, Acupuncture, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do for their fighting abilities and it portrays this with a straight face. The main character is a 'pro' gamer, yet no detail is given no professional-caliber skills are demonstrated. The opposite really, since the character seems to be an idiot who fails to absorb info about the game's basic fundamentals, and also fails to demonstrate anything resembling skill that one would acquire from playing other games.
There is a difference between a 'pro' gamer who earns income from things like streaming and what I would call a 'pro competitive' gamer who earns income from winning tournaments. The main character is supposedly one of the top competitive players, not just in America, but the world. To me, it was an impossible suspension of disbelief.
Then the meat of things...the main character is unlikable as hell. An arrogant asshole who constantly talks shit and has no skills. Pretty much every character in this story is the same character with the same snarky personality. It's what I consider the default personality for an author who didn't come up with real people for characters. Sounds blunt and harsh, but if you read many books in the LitRPG genre then you know what I'm talking about.
The only reason I kept reading as long as I did was because the author seemed to indicate that the main character was indeed an asshole even according to the other characters. This led me to believe that he would get a reality check at some point and begin a character arc. He did get the reality check, but unfortunately doesn't change much at all. The asshole dial goes down a few notches, but no fundamental changes. Which is to be expected because the character never came across as a fully conceived human being.
This book is in my bottom 10 of gamelit books I've ever attempted to read and I don't recommend it for anyone.
December 23, 2019
The opening for this book is a slightly tricky one, the main character does not start out as at all likeable and thus is it is a little more difficult for the listener to be drawn into the book due to that, but it does give the author an interesting arc to work with throughout this book as we follow the main character's redemption.
While Ryan and his best friend Dmitri form a strong central dynamic that helps to carry this book, Ryan's starting point is such you do have to wonder why his friend would stick by him for so long prior to their starting this game. One thing that the book doesn't really get across is the sense of the real world and the amount of people that are supposedly watching these gamers playing this game.
The narration of this book was good overall with the narrator giving a suitably distinctive tones for the varied cast.
Overall, a good opening to this series if you can get past the slow start caused by the unlikable nature of the main character at the start of it.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
While Ryan and his best friend Dmitri form a strong central dynamic that helps to carry this book, Ryan's starting point is such you do have to wonder why his friend would stick by him for so long prior to their starting this game. One thing that the book doesn't really get across is the sense of the real world and the amount of people that are supposedly watching these gamers playing this game.
The narration of this book was good overall with the narrator giving a suitably distinctive tones for the varied cast.
Overall, a good opening to this series if you can get past the slow start caused by the unlikable nature of the main character at the start of it.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
October 6, 2019
it's definitely a change of pace from the normal litrpg which is refreshing instead of a Rushd beginning this one is an origin story pretty much throughout the whole book the author did an amazing job with the character progression and capturing a narcissistic a-hole yet was able to transition to a rational and well-rounded character. The characters and the supporting characters are actually interesting and the author even took the light-handed route with stats they're still in there but they're more of a valid useful route instead of reading them off every single chapter and not reading the whole character page over and over just put the changes in. The book also is not rushed the MC's don't become God's right off the bat it's a slow normal character progression not only with powers but in personalities. Overall the book is amazing. You should definitely pick it up.
August 25, 2019
Enjoyable, light LitRPG
I understand the breakdown to rebuild stronger character development, but would have preferred the MC to be less of a jerk. His character flaws made it difficult to understand how he maintained such a strong relationship with his best friend. I personally could have done with less psychoanalysis of the MC and prefer some more crunchy stats in my LitRPG, even if in a separate screen or tab. On the flip side, I appreciated that the story wasn't interrupted every chapter to put in 4 pages of stats. I definitely enjoyed the story and look forward to where the series goes from here.
I understand the breakdown to rebuild stronger character development, but would have preferred the MC to be less of a jerk. His character flaws made it difficult to understand how he maintained such a strong relationship with his best friend. I personally could have done with less psychoanalysis of the MC and prefer some more crunchy stats in my LitRPG, even if in a separate screen or tab. On the flip side, I appreciated that the story wasn't interrupted every chapter to put in 4 pages of stats. I definitely enjoyed the story and look forward to where the series goes from here.
July 16, 2019
Whoo! What a rollercoaster ride!
This was an action-filled story of two characters that undergo some dramatic personality adjustment, (one you initially just want to smack), and can`t help but laugh at at the snarky narrative. As the stats are not chart heavy, the story flows easily and one can see the beginnings of world-building and a foreboding global plot. Look forward to the next instalment.
This was an action-filled story of two characters that undergo some dramatic personality adjustment, (one you initially just want to smack), and can`t help but laugh at at the snarky narrative. As the stats are not chart heavy, the story flows easily and one can see the beginnings of world-building and a foreboding global plot. Look forward to the next instalment.
July 27, 2019
Amazing book
The book is very well written, I love the story and how everything changed. It is all very well laid out. Props to the author, I can’t wait to read book #2. Definitely one of my top 10 books in the litrpg genre 👍👍
The book is very well written, I love the story and how everything changed. It is all very well laid out. Props to the author, I can’t wait to read book #2. Definitely one of my top 10 books in the litrpg genre 👍👍
August 2, 2019
Ungodly bad MC
I couldn't get past the first few chapters. The MC is a complete ass, and never gets better. I could not find any sympathy for him at all, and would rather eat ground glass than spend another minute with him.
I couldn't get past the first few chapters. The MC is a complete ass, and never gets better. I could not find any sympathy for him at all, and would rather eat ground glass than spend another minute with him.
November 28, 2020
MC is a Richard
It stopped being clever very quickly. I simply didn’t like the MC. I wanted him to just stop talking. How sad is it when the MC is the one ruining the story?
DNF
It stopped being clever very quickly. I simply didn’t like the MC. I wanted him to just stop talking. How sad is it when the MC is the one ruining the story?
DNF
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews