As the medpod continues to repair his time-ravaged body in the real world, Colonel Raytak’s foes inside the game world of Limitless Lands execute their carefully-laid schemes, seeking his ruin.
Wrongfully accused of treason, Raytak finds himself a prisoner of the Imperium he serves. To clear his name, Raytak is forced to fight in the arena, seeking victory in the Emperor’s Grand Melee to earn his freedom…but he can’t do it alone. To win, he must forge brutal prisoners, cowards, and deserters into a fighting force capable of conquering every gladiatorial team standing in his way.
Meanwhile, an ancient threat stirs in Hayden’s Knoll and the zone is left unprotected in Raytak’s absence. Will Raytak be able to regain his freedom and his honor?
Will the new threat destroy the zone before he can return to fight it?
How long, I wonder, until the people in these books realize that the virtual life is better (especially when you are freakishly old) than the digital life? Hell, I'm in my 50's and would jump at it now.
Instead everyone is "Oh, I can't wait to get out and see my family!"
Dumb.
"Log in people - what is your malfunction?"
This company essentially has BTL (better than life) chips (ala cyberpunk) and all of the MC's seem too dumb to know it.
"Gosh, I could hold my 90 year old wife's hand and gaze fondly at her through my rheumy eyes - OR we could both get in the game, aged 20 for appearance and endurance and go at it like sea otters. Gosh, which should I do?"
Out of the 3 books I believe the third book to be my favorite, or at least as good as the first. Dean Henegar has a way of making the world feel like it is still in motion while Raytek (MC) is doing his own thing. Raytek is falsely accuse of being a traitor and sent for trial to the Imperial Capital. On his way to the capital, Raytek is sold to perform as a gladiator and promised that if he does well he may be able to regain his freedom. Rayteks friends are not standing idly by, however. The rest of the group is looking to help clear Raytek's name by finding out who was actually behind the events prior to his arrest. I think what had me more interested in this book over the first and second book is that there were a lot less boardroom meetings. I liked hearing about the games progression and the work done on the med pods, but the voice acting here was very distracting and the british accent pulled me out of the story. That is why this book not including such scenes made the experience more pleasurable. On top of this, Jack Voraces sounds like he has become more versatile in his voices.
While the book started slow for me the increasing byplay between the characters, the changes to the class and the fights made it a great addition to an interesting series. The class change and different skills made for a new twist on the legion fights as well as a slimy character to go along with the slimy characters was fun. The story is building in many faceted way which unlike the usual RL vs IG model is actually keeping me engaged. I can see why so many people recommend this series.
First book was a okish start. Second book was much worse, but this book just tops it all. But this book is just bad. No story progrssion - at all. Actually quite the opposite. The Author just drops mostly ALL major plotlines he developed or set up in Book 1. And if he not drops them, he doesnt develop them any further. So this book basically has no longer any major Plot attached to it. Just a few "short" stories left. Also some new Maincharacters with their now own Parts dont add anything relevant/new to the Plot or the book. They are basically a distraction. Its also funny that we dont even get to know any of these characters better then before. In the past few month i read a lot of these LitRPG self-published books. And almost all of the lack Editing and shortening. But this Series is really a new level. The amaount of words used for literally no story is astonishing. i am not shure if the Author himself knows wich story he wants to tell at this point. I mean all this book does is to add a 850 page Loop to book 1. Basically back where we started at Book 2, with no SToryprogression at all.
It would have been very easy for the author to have continued progressing the story and characters along similar lines to the first two books, but the main character immediately sees drastic changes to his in-game progression that results in a distinctly different tone for much of this instalment of the series. This is a move that could have easily failed or merely alienated some of the readers, but it works really well and makes the series that much stronger, while also teaching the reader a bit more about the overall world of the game too.
The narrator again gives another strong performance, helping to make the overall book more enjoyable and ensuring that all the relevant characters are suitably distinctive to help the listener's overall enjoyment of the story.
Overall, another quality addition to this series, I wouldn't recommend jumping into the series with this book though, there's no benefit in missing out on the first two that are also very enjoyable listens.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
5 You Should Be Wary Of An Old Man In A Profession Where Men Die Young Stars
Retribution is the third book in the Limitless Lands series by Dean Henegar.
Wow, this new installment took us on a merry-go-round of entertainment. Let's start at the beginning of this journey with Raytak's wrongful incarceration and disbanding of the men under his command. He is shackled and shipped off from Hayden's Knoll, later sold to a lanista,, attacked by his fellow disgraced Imperium soldiers, and forced to fight in gladiator style matches to survive.
I really enjoyed how the author twisted normal arena matches to include teams, which works out perfectly for Raytak's class. His journey through imprisonment (see:enslavement) led him on a convoluted path through many dangerous Foes until finally ending with the Grand Melee under the Emperor's watchful eye. All in hopes of regaining his honor. Thankfully, his fellow players were quested to find evidence of the deceit behind his "crimes" and helped in ruling the verdict in his favor. All that's left to wonder: what will become of that traitorous pig Leighton now that his crimes have been made public?
Next, we're led back to Hayden's Knoll and the zone surrounding them where a new horror is gaining strength and amassing its horrifying forces. With the help of their Dwarven and Drebix allies they hope to conquer and defeat this parasite before it can grow strong enough to consume them and then move on to the rest of civilization. They may just unlucky enough to miss one strong Minion saving themselves and possibly creating this problem anew somewhere else.
Me thinks Danica's character is about to be conscripted into a situation somewhat similar to what the epilogue depicted for Narbos (or Brandon) and his contract with what appears to be an Imp. He's probably enjoying his time in hell in the next book....?
Most especially, I am looking forward to the stone giants moving into Hayden's Knoll territory and lending their strength to their coming battles. They most assuredly eventually have to face both other students within Delling's universities competition in the future. I wonder what else is in store for band of heroes seeking redemption and honor?
Raytak and his Legion return to Hayden's Knoll following a brutal skirmish only to find an Inspector of the Imperium waiting for them. Raytak is accused of treason and quickly taken into custody. Raytak is slowly transported to prison in a different zone but is purchased as a prisoner-gladiator on the way. He also faces prejudice from other prisoners since he is now a disgraced officer.
Raytak has to mould the other prisoners into a formidable fighting force as they traverse the smaller gladiator arenas to gain levels in an attempt to, eventually, contest in the Grand Melee event in the capital to earn their freedom.
Yandys, Ty, and Co. are set on a quest to gain proof of Raytak's innocence. They meet a Sphinx and answer its riddles to aid in its release from long-term imprisonment and they make their way to the dark zone run by Narbos to face Darkfallow and obtain his notes on the actions he's taken to frame Raytak.
Meanwhile, an ancient scourge has found a new host in an unsuspecting gnoll. Quickly taking over control if its brain, small parasites are spread to the remainder of the gnoll group and to all that come into contact with them. One of the towns in the zone is eventually overrun with the parasitic monsters.
Raytak makes it to the Grand Melee and wins his honour and his freedom. Upon returning to Hayden's Knoll, Raytak is quickly roped into defending the zone from the parasites.
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The gladiator arc had strong callback to the Russell Crowe movie of the same name. I couldn't get the comparisons out of my mind as I was reading along and this did distract me from the immersion. To be fair, however, it would be difficult to put any protagonist in a similar gladiator arc without triggering the same comparison process.
The prose wasn't incredible but I'm not expecting that from this series. Fortunately, the editing and pacing were still on point.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this installment and I look forward to the next in the series.
Loved it - 4 stars
++++ MY STAR RANKING SYSTEM: - 5 Stars - Personal favourite - 4 Stars - Loved it - 3 Stars - Enjoyed it - 2 Stars - Found it lacking - 1 Star - DNFed / Hated it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The audio version isn't currently listed on Goodreads.com so I'm placing my review here.
This is a review for books 1-4 of this series. At the end of book 4 the author says book 5 will end the series.
The "bottom line" is these books are the best litRPG I've read to date. If you like litRPG you should own these books. They aren't perfect but they are close and, best of all, they have intelligent and interesting characters, especially the "bad guys".
In general the book is about technology moving on, making warfare automated leaving 90 year old veterans the only Americans with combat experience. One such veteran is nearing the end of his life but medical technology has progressed as well. In this way Colonel James Raytak finds himself playing lieutenant in a RPG legion while his vastly deteriorated body is repaired. Thanks to a 5 to 1 time compression in game Raytak can have 5 days of adventures between daily disconnects to resupply his medpod.
Nice series, and another nice book BUT... The main problem I find with this series is that, for story reasons, the area around the town always has massive issues, monsters and quests. Sure I get that there are some mobs that are harder, but come on.... Ghoul lord? Hive mind folks? All elite, massive raid quests. It seems that this area has more issues compared to the others since the only problem our evil overlord friend has is some town that resists him and this doesn't feel like an elite level event. I find that the balance is therefor off; yes it makes for more interested reading but it gets annoying if you move from crisis to crisis and don't have normal encounters. The AI seems to hate our MCs for some reason.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book throws head first into the world of the gladiator. Plot seems to borrow heavily from the movie. There are of course unique deviations. You also get to see some different detailed character development. However, combat is similar to before—squad based and tactical.
There is also so fleshing out of the technology and it applications. You have some viewpoint shifts. So you see more than just Rytak.
I am not sure where it is going to end up. In some aspects, this book feels like an excuse to level the character in a unique way.
That said, overall, the book was pretty good. It feels true to the series and writing style.
A nice storyline which continues to be hampered by weak editing. Raytak and company continue to level and the mark interesting group mechanics of his commander class set this book apart from others in the genre
A nice storyline which continues to be hampered by weak editing. Raytak and company continue to level and the mark interesting group mechanics of his commander class set this book apart from others in the genre as well as the author's obvious knowledge of Roman military history.
Mistakes: Found to many to give this book 4*. Needs better editing. Plot: I do enjoy the story and this one wasn't bad, however the entire prisoner plot line just seemed to be to easy and lack any real challenge. I felt it also ended rather quickly since there was a secondary plot that also felt rushed. In my opinion this book should have focused only on the prisoner plot. It could have been stretched out and given more attention. Characters: Likable. 5/10
The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is that the book felt rushed in some ways. I can understand why as it avoids some stuff which could be boring and cost pacing, but still, in some respects the players got it a bit too easy in that one. Nonetheless, the mix of heroes is still entertaining and the main protagonist, even if portrayed as bigger than life, is a nice Archetyp and role-model.
Love the Characters ... Characterization ... Still strong and building ... Conflcts is the preceding books ... Followed the predefined standards-based of the idea that a conflict has a set of logical resolutions ...
First test of ' conflict of convenience ' I have seen so openly flaunted ... LoL ... It worked ... And I am still reading.
When I read the preview for this book I did not think I was going to like it very much but the author handled this story very well and is doing an excellent job of keeping it interesting. In a few places it dragged a bit and some of the plot mechanics were at times a bit rough but all and all he really pulled out a win with this one that I am sure fans of the series will be glad they spent the time reading this one.
Commander Raytak And Sergeant Ty Continue Their Adventures In The Imperium.
The AI, Clio, continues to repair Raytak's and Ty's damaged minds as they face the challenges of the VRMMORPG Limitless Lands, but the question arises: Will they even want to return to reality when their minds are whole?
This novel is part of a LitRPG series which will likely appeal to many fans of the broader Fantasy genre and the Military Fiction genre; as well as to those who enjoy playing RPGs.
Series adds a gladiator flair for most of the book while still keeping the military fantasy vibe. An additional aspect of this book is mum bible POVs that give the series a traditional fantasy rpg aspect that compliments the storyline nicely.
I really like this series. It's an interesting mechanic and a great set of characters. The plot always seems to end in the right spot, with each novel going as far as it needs to to push the story forward.
Really looking forward to where Raytak will go from here.
Rattan and company are thrown for a wild ride in this one, with developments across the board. This is LitRPG done well and proper. If this author will continue to do so well, I will continue to buy these books rather than use KU. For me, that's not something that happens but for maybe three other series.
This series is excellent. I appreciate the back story, mechanics , and flow which are all pretty good. As an active duty soldier and fan of litrpg I can say that this book nails the personality of a couple crusty soldiers with a true sense of honor and loyalty. Can't wait for the next book.
The adventures of the main character are getting more and more interesting and difficult, more zone conquering, more foes getting upgrades, and a growing town and territory to protect. I can't wait to see what happens and what will the main character face in game and I'm waiting impatiently for when he can see his family IRL again
A very good and hopeful view of the concept of using virtual worlds as a form of therapy. I would quibble with the time line of FDA and clinical trials, these things can and do take years to be approved. But using the last of the VA patients and being funded by the DoD is a plausible explanation for the rushed time line.
Book 1 was interesting and I mostly enjoyed 2. But book 3 seems to extend the time between action scenes with a ton of dialog. And most of it doesn't feel very interesting to me. I found myself getting bored almost instantly every time I tried listening to it. Took me 3 months to get 5 hours in. Finally have to give it up. Others might enjoy that, but it's not for me.
This was so much fun I really enjoyed the change of pace for Reytac and the disgrace Commander class was a clever change of pace while adding to the all-around story. As with the first two books the character progression is phenomenal and extremely well done. I cannot wait to check out the next book.
Good story, good use of mechanics and actual tactics and strategy, and good use of creature personality. Over all, a definite good read. Keep it up author, cannot wait for the next one.
Good addition to the series. A bit different from the first two but definitely in the same vein. Very exciting and lots of fun new content to be had. Well worth a read.
Really enjoy this series. The MC being an old soldier but truly enjoying a virtual world is refreshing. Can’t wait to see how he will level up his zone and soldiers next time.
This was another great book in this series and the story was great with a mix of characters and plot elements. Highly recommended and good work by the author yet again.
Stellar work once again from Dean Henegar! The machinations of Narbos come to a head and Raytak needs to prove his innocence. Lots of action and a glimpse at the wider world, great for all-around!