What do you think?
Rate this book
The Game of Gods #1
The Beginning
The gods have gotten bored, and humanity is the answer.
Charles earns the ultimate surprise one morning when he awakens to discover the world has ended, or rather the gods of old were bored and decided to redesign how it worked. Everyone else got a nice little message that showed up their vision. Everyone else woke up when the gods decided to make their decision known. Only Charles gets cursed by the gods, and only Charles gets a visit from one as well.
The Game of the Gods has begun and the monsters of old are returning to our world, and all it took was the death of half the world's population and counting.
Charles earns the ultimate surprise one morning when he awakens to discover the world has ended, or rather the gods of old were bored and decided to redesign how it worked. Everyone else got a nice little message that showed up their vision. Everyone else woke up when the gods decided to make their decision known. Only Charles gets cursed by the gods, and only Charles gets a visit from one as well.
The Game of the Gods has begun and the monsters of old are returning to our world, and all it took was the death of half the world's population and counting.
328 pages, ebook
First published March 6, 2019
583 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Kern
37 books69 followersMy name is Joshua Kern and I am an anxiety riddled individual who is trying to write for a living. I've always loved reading and the escape books provide from everyday life. I've always wanted to be a writer and have finally decided to take the plunge.I am currently writing several series that span a few different genres from GameLit, to Fantasy to even a bit of Romance.
Connect with Joshua Kern here:
As well as at:
Patreon
Twitter
I was born in a little town situated somewhere in Ohio and raised in an even smaller town some place in Colorado. I attended University for a time, where I discovered that while I enjoyed Electrical Engineering and Computer Science my true passion lay in writing. I live primarily in Colorado but have been known to move around as the need arises. When not writing, I enjoy riding motorcycles, reading anything I can get my hands on, and anime.
Connect with Joshua Kern here:
As well as at:
Patreon
I was born in a little town situated somewhere in Ohio and raised in an even smaller town some place in Colorado. I attended University for a time, where I discovered that while I enjoyed Electrical Engineering and Computer Science my true passion lay in writing. I live primarily in Colorado but have been known to move around as the need arises. When not writing, I enjoy riding motorcycles, reading anything I can get my hands on, and anime.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
September 21, 2021
Book one
Mistakes: editing seemed fine.
Plot: I have no problem with the overall plot. The story itself has lots of problems though.
Characters: This is where the book fails for me. First the MC is the only person to sleep through the gods announcement so they curse him with sleepless, meaning he can't use his stat points because you must be asleep to add them. The same gods that cursed him turn around and give him a cure all flask he can use once a day, and a scaling weapon. When he proves inept with the weapon they take it away and give him a glove that lets him learn magic by meditation???? He can cast said magic with no mana cost????
Denver is destroyed but the MC only runs into two monsters, but no people. He does find a dog that he immediately gets weepy over, saves, and bonds as a pet. The dog kills most of the monsters and loots them????
Another character is sent to save the MC at one point. She tends to get angry at the drop of a hat.
Conversation is silly between the two and not realistic.
Mistakes: editing seemed fine.
Plot: I have no problem with the overall plot. The story itself has lots of problems though.
Characters: This is where the book fails for me. First the MC is the only person to sleep through the gods announcement so they curse him with sleepless, meaning he can't use his stat points because you must be asleep to add them. The same gods that cursed him turn around and give him a cure all flask he can use once a day, and a scaling weapon. When he proves inept with the weapon they take it away and give him a glove that lets him learn magic by meditation???? He can cast said magic with no mana cost????
Denver is destroyed but the MC only runs into two monsters, but no people. He does find a dog that he immediately gets weepy over, saves, and bonds as a pet. The dog kills most of the monsters and loots them????
Another character is sent to save the MC at one point. She tends to get angry at the drop of a hat.
Conversation is silly between the two and not realistic.
July 1, 2022
I love finding new authors that write quality stories!
This was awesome. Charles and his companion Alli are a great duo. The curse on Charles is harsh but the benefits the Gods gave him are really on point. As I'm reading the Nameless Chronicles, I know that Kira and Charles stay together... but I'm hoping her family sticks with them too.
This was awesome. Charles and his companion Alli are a great duo. The curse on Charles is harsh but the benefits the Gods gave him are really on point. As I'm reading the Nameless Chronicles, I know that Kira and Charles stay together... but I'm hoping her family sticks with them too.
March 8, 2019
A little less then okay
Basic plot line, I feel like parts of story had some real great ideas like giving him a weapon then taking it back and giving him another weapon that has it's up and its downs. But over all it felt like not enough effort was put in to the litrpg parts of the story. MC just swipes the popups away. And some how get by with out knowing what's happening until later. All in all it wasn't the worst book I have read but not the best.
Basic plot line, I feel like parts of story had some real great ideas like giving him a weapon then taking it back and giving him another weapon that has it's up and its downs. But over all it felt like not enough effort was put in to the litrpg parts of the story. MC just swipes the popups away. And some how get by with out knowing what's happening until later. All in all it wasn't the worst book I have read but not the best.
March 11, 2019
LitRPG
This one is a hidden gem. I love the “Earth turns into a game” books. This book is one of the better ones.
This one is a hidden gem. I love the “Earth turns into a game” books. This book is one of the better ones.
March 15, 2019
Liked the concept
While I liked the concept and understood some of the characters feelings I was frustrated in some situations with decisions and thought processes. Still an enjoyable read and will read the next book when available
While I liked the concept and understood some of the characters feelings I was frustrated in some situations with decisions and thought processes. Still an enjoyable read and will read the next book when available
March 19, 2019
Loved it
I overall loved the book, the setting is nice, different from most current earth that gets transformed litrpg. MC is a bit OP which I always love, but MC gets a bit less relatable after he meets a few people. I am excited to see what comes next and to see how MC develops
I overall loved the book, the setting is nice, different from most current earth that gets transformed litrpg. MC is a bit OP which I always love, but MC gets a bit less relatable after he meets a few people. I am excited to see what comes next and to see how MC develops
March 21, 2019
Great story so far!
Love the story so far, the characters and world are shaping up nicely. Only thing letting it down is the occasional spelling/grammatical error.
Looking forward to the next installment!!
Love the story so far, the characters and world are shaping up nicely. Only thing letting it down is the occasional spelling/grammatical error.
Looking forward to the next installment!!
March 26, 2019
Great series start
Great start to a new series! The game apocalypse books are a favorite of mine, and Kern puts an interesting spin on it. The basis of the change being bored God's was a fantastic idea, it's going to be an interesting ride
Great start to a new series! The game apocalypse books are a favorite of mine, and Kern puts an interesting spin on it. The basis of the change being bored God's was a fantastic idea, it's going to be an interesting ride
March 20, 2019
Good read
It was a very good read for a first book. Not a whole lot of action or fighting. But still intriguing nonetheless.
It was a very good read for a first book. Not a whole lot of action or fighting. But still intriguing nonetheless.
March 30, 2019
Nice
This book was entertaining and worth the money spent. If you are looking for an interesting twist to the litrpg systems check it out.
This book was entertaining and worth the money spent. If you are looking for an interesting twist to the litrpg systems check it out.
July 29, 2019
Easy to follow with flawed characters i grew to care about.
Three characters includes a plethora of God's who are bored to tears and decided a few modifications to the earth might liven things up. A very good start and it the author can keep up his interest in the whole concept he presented it will be an amazing series. His prose are easy to lose time in. I heartedly recommend this book.
Three characters includes a plethora of God's who are bored to tears and decided a few modifications to the earth might liven things up. A very good start and it the author can keep up his interest in the whole concept he presented it will be an amazing series. His prose are easy to lose time in. I heartedly recommend this book.
March 30, 2019
Good story
I found the story unique and interesting and look forward to seeing the next installment of this series of books
I found the story unique and interesting and look forward to seeing the next installment of this series of books
April 2, 2020
New take on the Gods
This is a great take. Almost feels inspired by Adams - Tea time what happens to gods when they are immortal but forgotten. MC is casual recluse which as a bit of a gamer can relate to makes it fun to try to guess use power but at what cost? Alternate character a few issues sure but who doesn't. The author makes the characters feel like they're gong to turn to you, the reader, and all what ya looking at. It's a great feeling to have a book not feel driven by filling a market but pleasant story. Definitely recommended. Diving to book 2 nextnext. See ya there.
This is a great take. Almost feels inspired by Adams - Tea time what happens to gods when they are immortal but forgotten. MC is casual recluse which as a bit of a gamer can relate to makes it fun to try to guess use power but at what cost? Alternate character a few issues sure but who doesn't. The author makes the characters feel like they're gong to turn to you, the reader, and all what ya looking at. It's a great feeling to have a book not feel driven by filling a market but pleasant story. Definitely recommended. Diving to book 2 nextnext. See ya there.
April 15, 2019
A Dog and his Boy
A fairly good post apocalypse LitRPG book. I only give it a four star rating, mostly because I was a bit annoyed at the main character being a sociopath. but he was mostly likable, and I did like his dog!
Hopefully in the next book he’ll reach his family, his sister, and realize that a human needs humanity and other humans in order to be human. So far as dogs pretty much the only one who seems to know that.
Other than that relatively minor complaint it was an awesome book!
A fairly good post apocalypse LitRPG book. I only give it a four star rating, mostly because I was a bit annoyed at the main character being a sociopath. but he was mostly likable, and I did like his dog!
Hopefully in the next book he’ll reach his family, his sister, and realize that a human needs humanity and other humans in order to be human. So far as dogs pretty much the only one who seems to know that.
Other than that relatively minor complaint it was an awesome book!
August 26, 2021
I liked this one - though for a little while, it sure seemed like the two protagonists were going to try their best to out-misanthrope each other.
A few minor nits at the end, as someone who lives in Kansas City (for instance, the majority of the city is in Missouri, and the river is not always the border between the states....) But hey, if those are my complaints about a litrpg, it's a pretty darn good read!
(edited in 2021 for clarity, because I must have been 99% asleep when writing the above given the issues)
A few minor nits at the end, as someone who lives in Kansas City (for instance, the majority of the city is in Missouri, and the river is not always the border between the states....) But hey, if those are my complaints about a litrpg, it's a pretty darn good read!
(edited in 2021 for clarity, because I must have been 99% asleep when writing the above given the issues)
March 24, 2019
Weak start leads to a strikingly subpar litrpg
Started out cliche and weak and was driven into the ground by horrible characters. Even the mc seems to be a single faceted ball of self recrimination and psychopathic tendencies. He quickly devolves into a hypocrite bemoaning that people are losing their humanity yet repeatedly saying how little anyone but his family means to him.
Started out cliche and weak and was driven into the ground by horrible characters. Even the mc seems to be a single faceted ball of self recrimination and psychopathic tendencies. He quickly devolves into a hypocrite bemoaning that people are losing their humanity yet repeatedly saying how little anyone but his family means to him.
March 19, 2020
Not God’s Game
I really got confused with these two series. There’s too many same named stories. Any way this story is about turning the world into a DnD world by the old gods. The Mc is a loaner and is the only one who has magic and is tasked to teach other humans. But he really hates other people. Great story
I really got confused with these two series. There’s too many same named stories. Any way this story is about turning the world into a DnD world by the old gods. The Mc is a loaner and is the only one who has magic and is tasked to teach other humans. But he really hates other people. Great story
April 5, 2019
Gods know how to have Fun
Enjoyed the concept of this book immensely. There were definitely some issues but overall an entertaining read. I look forward to see if this author can evolve and flush out his new world more.
Enjoyed the concept of this book immensely. There were definitely some issues but overall an entertaining read. I look forward to see if this author can evolve and flush out his new world more.
April 15, 2019
Good book
I liked the book a lot. The only reason for 4 stars was some of the character building with kira and charles was hamfisted and repetitive.
The growth and progression was good, the gods were good. Charles should be using guns more. AR15 with cmags. Point and shoot.
I liked the book a lot. The only reason for 4 stars was some of the character building with kira and charles was hamfisted and repetitive.
The growth and progression was good, the gods were good. Charles should be using guns more. AR15 with cmags. Point and shoot.
April 17, 2019
Very Interesting??
Alright the introduction to this story took forever to get interesting but when it did it made the main 2 characters have mental problems so what else will be strange in the future??? Thanks
Alright the introduction to this story took forever to get interesting but when it did it made the main 2 characters have mental problems so what else will be strange in the future??? Thanks
April 20, 2019
Enjoyed it
I liked the game mechanics. I would like more stats info on MC's companion since he has none yet. I thought the author did a good job developing the characters and I am looking forward to the next book.
I liked the game mechanics. I would like more stats info on MC's companion since he has none yet. I thought the author did a good job developing the characters and I am looking forward to the next book.
April 26, 2019
Great consept
With all the lot dogs coming out recently this one stands apart by giving you mc who while not uncaring dose not go out of there way to help random strangers unlike your typical fantasy mc.
With all the lot dogs coming out recently this one stands apart by giving you mc who while not uncaring dose not go out of there way to help random strangers unlike your typical fantasy mc.
March 2, 2021
Only read if you REALLY like LitRPG apocalypse
Summary: Generally a cool idea and plot, but there were too many exclamation points, sketchy grammar, and emotions are written in an inconsistent manner (everyone in the book was either really simple or swung through emotions to the point where it was hard to follow and didn’t really make sense).
More in-depth:
The MC (main character) wakes up after a few all-nighters and a goddess is just... waiting for him in his room to tell him he has been cursed for sleeping through their end-of-the-world announcement. (Really? He’s the ONLY person in the whole world who slept in?) Then, for some reason, the goddess helps him by giving him some gifts (bit of a 180 from cursing someone to giving them gifts, but that’s a goddess’s prerogative I suppose). Anyway, so the curse is that he can’t sleep, but deeper than that, he can’t level, because leveling occurs while you’re sleeping. Sooo the LitRPG part of the book is broken, because stats don’t matter to him. He does get new skills and magic and such though, so that’s interesting. Then he goes off and tries to get to his sister (who is literally on the other side of the country). He meets a dog (who is by far the smartest and most emotionally stable character in the whole book), and does some stuff I don’t want to spoil, then meets a woman with anger management issues (who I probably like more than the MC) and go off and do other things I don’t want to spoil.
Ok, so I actually really like LitRPG apocalypse novels, so I finished the book. That being said, that was the only reason I even got through the first chapter. The bare bones of the book are actually pretty cool. I think it just needed an editor. Or maybe even some beta readers. I hope the author keeps writing and works to improve on some of the little things though!
Summary: Generally a cool idea and plot, but there were too many exclamation points, sketchy grammar, and emotions are written in an inconsistent manner (everyone in the book was either really simple or swung through emotions to the point where it was hard to follow and didn’t really make sense).
More in-depth:
The MC (main character) wakes up after a few all-nighters and a goddess is just... waiting for him in his room to tell him he has been cursed for sleeping through their end-of-the-world announcement. (Really? He’s the ONLY person in the whole world who slept in?) Then, for some reason, the goddess helps him by giving him some gifts (bit of a 180 from cursing someone to giving them gifts, but that’s a goddess’s prerogative I suppose). Anyway, so the curse is that he can’t sleep, but deeper than that, he can’t level, because leveling occurs while you’re sleeping. Sooo the LitRPG part of the book is broken, because stats don’t matter to him. He does get new skills and magic and such though, so that’s interesting. Then he goes off and tries to get to his sister (who is literally on the other side of the country). He meets a dog (who is by far the smartest and most emotionally stable character in the whole book), and does some stuff I don’t want to spoil, then meets a woman with anger management issues (who I probably like more than the MC) and go off and do other things I don’t want to spoil.
Ok, so I actually really like LitRPG apocalypse novels, so I finished the book. That being said, that was the only reason I even got through the first chapter. The bare bones of the book are actually pretty cool. I think it just needed an editor. Or maybe even some beta readers. I hope the author keeps writing and works to improve on some of the little things though!
July 19, 2023
The basic plot for the series is interesting and I am curious how it will unfold.
I have a couple of problems though, the main character starts out by being upset that people are acting selfishly rather than teaming up against the monsters, but the next day he suddenly shifts and doesn't care about anyone on Earth except for his dog and the sister we don't get to meet. He spends a lot of time thinking about how he is the only person on Earth with magic, then, when he is in a make-shift hospital, he heals the one person he Kira asks him too, and completely ignores everyone else, even though he knows that the whole city will be destroyed in less than 24 hours. Basically, the only MC with a grain of humanity is Alli. The rest are terrible people, leaning on an unspecified 'bad thing' in their past to explain why they don't care that over a BILLION people died. They don't care about anyone, I get that Charles' family doesn't live in the same town as him, but he doesn't lament about the loss of anyone, not a coworker, his local barista, the food truck guy he likes, no one.
My other main problem is that there is some discussion of the gamification of the world, but no comparison to some essential game elements. Charlie sort of, vaguely, alludes to the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough people around and Alli comments on how a bunch of people were acting strange, not even trying to save themselves. I would have liked some more focus on how people appear to have A) been turned into monsters, and B) seem to be slowly turning into NPCs. Kira rages against the will of the gods, but falls short of making the connection to people losing free will in this new world order.
I have a couple of problems though, the main character starts out by being upset that people are acting selfishly rather than teaming up against the monsters, but the next day he suddenly shifts and doesn't care about anyone on Earth except for his dog and the sister we don't get to meet. He spends a lot of time thinking about how he is the only person on Earth with magic, then, when he is in a make-shift hospital, he heals the one person he Kira asks him too, and completely ignores everyone else, even though he knows that the whole city will be destroyed in less than 24 hours. Basically, the only MC with a grain of humanity is Alli. The rest are terrible people, leaning on an unspecified 'bad thing' in their past to explain why they don't care that over a BILLION people died. They don't care about anyone, I get that Charles' family doesn't live in the same town as him, but he doesn't lament about the loss of anyone, not a coworker, his local barista, the food truck guy he likes, no one.
My other main problem is that there is some discussion of the gamification of the world, but no comparison to some essential game elements. Charlie sort of, vaguely, alludes to the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough people around and Alli comments on how a bunch of people were acting strange, not even trying to save themselves. I would have liked some more focus on how people appear to have A) been turned into monsters, and B) seem to be slowly turning into NPCs. Kira rages against the will of the gods, but falls short of making the connection to people losing free will in this new world order.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2020
Started out with some promise but it had some pacing issues primarily caused by the main character almost immediately setting out on a huge journey. Along the journey there were some problems with the idea of 'Show, don't tell.' with the main character relating things that had happened after the fact rather then actually showing us. I actually get why this was the case because the journey stopping every few minutes for another fight would have been jarring and repetitive but i think we should have seen at least a bit more of the action actually occuring.
Then everything goes to hell out of nowhere. This is actually pretty standard and wouldn't bother me if it wasn't done as an excuse to bring in a new character. Sadly, her character added nothing good and primarily served to speed up his journey. The fact that she was generally dislikable and purposely problematic was an issue. The fact that she was an obvious love interest made the issue worse because we knew she wasn't going to just disappear or die. Yes, we eventually get some justification for why she's such a difficult b**** but given the circumstances i find very little sympathy for her. It was obvious she'd been through trauma but continually going out of your way to help the one person who abuses or abandons you for your efforts is ridiculous given the circumstances. Esepcially since they both keep reiterating the fact that they only care about tehir own family. Unfortunately, her behaviour started to rub off on him and at that point it became obvious we were supposed to find her endearing... or something and i gave up.
A fair amount of promise but it was quickly wasted.
Then everything goes to hell out of nowhere. This is actually pretty standard and wouldn't bother me if it wasn't done as an excuse to bring in a new character. Sadly, her character added nothing good and primarily served to speed up his journey. The fact that she was generally dislikable and purposely problematic was an issue. The fact that she was an obvious love interest made the issue worse because we knew she wasn't going to just disappear or die. Yes, we eventually get some justification for why she's such a difficult b**** but given the circumstances i find very little sympathy for her. It was obvious she'd been through trauma but continually going out of your way to help the one person who abuses or abandons you for your efforts is ridiculous given the circumstances. Esepcially since they both keep reiterating the fact that they only care about tehir own family. Unfortunately, her behaviour started to rub off on him and at that point it became obvious we were supposed to find her endearing... or something and i gave up.
A fair amount of promise but it was quickly wasted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2025
So the gods screwed him over but Dude has a 1 track mind 😳 and he is pissin me off. He gets lucky and saves an amazing dog and she is able to join his party dude is so focused on getting to his sister and has a bad habit of being in a daze he has no idea how to look out for someone else he doesn't feed the dog he gives it water but no food he barely eats himself and he depends on the dog way to much he is off in the clouds while ally is fighting try to protect his dumb ass. Then there's Kira who is just like Bridget who is a total b*tch 🤔 I guess that's why she chose her. She demands questions from him but won't answer questions about herself she snaps and snips at him and is just a little off-putting
April 13, 2023
Gods turn the world in a roleplaying game. The MC gets cursed for sleeping through the announcement but then gets some powerful artifacts. With a dog and a young woman that also gets the champion of a god he travels to kansas to find the young womans family.
The idea is nice but execution lacks.
The conversations are not convincing, all stuff regarding the dog is too emotional - while the MC and his sidekick dont care at all about the other people.
One the one side the mc gets way too much information and is OP on the other side a lot of things are just annyoingly in the unknown.
The idea is nice but execution lacks.
The conversations are not convincing, all stuff regarding the dog is too emotional - while the MC and his sidekick dont care at all about the other people.
One the one side the mc gets way too much information and is OP on the other side a lot of things are just annyoingly in the unknown.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
Great story so far!
No zombies, but the environment reminded me of various zombie apocalypse movies, which was kinda cool. Also loved the idea of gamer gods. Well-written with no noticable editing errors. There were some unneeded repetitions of character opinions that kinda got old quickly. Additionally, there seemed to be a bit of confusion on wether the MC was going to be well-adjusted or heartless and unsympathetic, but there's a possibility that this is a symptom of something yet to be disclosed. All around a really great start. I look forward to enjoying the entire series.
No zombies, but the environment reminded me of various zombie apocalypse movies, which was kinda cool. Also loved the idea of gamer gods. Well-written with no noticable editing errors. There were some unneeded repetitions of character opinions that kinda got old quickly. Additionally, there seemed to be a bit of confusion on wether the MC was going to be well-adjusted or heartless and unsympathetic, but there's a possibility that this is a symptom of something yet to be disclosed. All around a really great start. I look forward to enjoying the entire series.
February 7, 2022
MC needs to use more sense
The book overall was not bad but the MC needs to think more. I realize he has a flask that will heal people/animals completely once a day but he also has healing spells that he does not seem to use while waiting for the flask to reset.
I mean he uses the excuse that he is not sure what he is doing but then uses his Heal spell to heal a gut wound on someone. He needs to use his spells more.
The book overall was not bad but the MC needs to think more. I realize he has a flask that will heal people/animals completely once a day but he also has healing spells that he does not seem to use while waiting for the flask to reset.
I mean he uses the excuse that he is not sure what he is doing but then uses his Heal spell to heal a gut wound on someone. He needs to use his spells more.
October 25, 2023
interesting take
I read. A. Lot.
I have almost exhausted all litrpg books that are a completed series and not sci-fi. I’m not a fan of mechanics and guns; give me magic and swords. This book was interesting in the way it’s written. As a game for the Gods in the actual sense. I’ve never actually played a table game when I was younger, which I regret. So this aspect is fascinating to me. I look forward to the next book in this world.
I read. A. Lot.
I have almost exhausted all litrpg books that are a completed series and not sci-fi. I’m not a fan of mechanics and guns; give me magic and swords. This book was interesting in the way it’s written. As a game for the Gods in the actual sense. I’ve never actually played a table game when I was younger, which I regret. So this aspect is fascinating to me. I look forward to the next book in this world.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews