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The Heroic Villain #1
The Heroic Villain
Although he was once the promising young CEO of a successful corporation, Lucas abandoned everything he knew and retreated from both the real world and his demanding life following a horrific accident. In order to cope with tragic loss, he began spending his time in virtual reality, lazing about in the sun and living a carefree life.
When he learns that his escapist paradise is being threatened and is about to disappear, however, Lucas is once again forced to take action and do what he does best: take charge. With newfound purpose, Lucas desperately begins making plans that will not only save the world that he has come to love but also propel him back into the spotlight once again—only this time as the villain.
In this GameLit LitRPG adventure, Lucas overthrows local lords, assumes command of the evil Imperium’s forces, and begins designing a dungeon that no player would ever want to miss out on. As he struggles to evolve his monsters and create an entourage of minions in order to become the greatest villain ever, however, Lucas realizes that things aren’t going to be as easy as they initially seemed.
----
Dave Willmarth, writer of the Greystone Chronicles: "A great start to a new series from a master storyteller! The MC being more of an anti-hero is a new twist for Charles, and I’m really enjoying it!"
This book is brought to you from the author of the Litrpg series War Aeternus, The Bathrobe Knight and Merchant of Tiqpa.
When he learns that his escapist paradise is being threatened and is about to disappear, however, Lucas is once again forced to take action and do what he does best: take charge. With newfound purpose, Lucas desperately begins making plans that will not only save the world that he has come to love but also propel him back into the spotlight once again—only this time as the villain.
In this GameLit LitRPG adventure, Lucas overthrows local lords, assumes command of the evil Imperium’s forces, and begins designing a dungeon that no player would ever want to miss out on. As he struggles to evolve his monsters and create an entourage of minions in order to become the greatest villain ever, however, Lucas realizes that things aren’t going to be as easy as they initially seemed.
----
Dave Willmarth, writer of the Greystone Chronicles: "A great start to a new series from a master storyteller! The MC being more of an anti-hero is a new twist for Charles, and I’m really enjoying it!"
This book is brought to you from the author of the Litrpg series War Aeternus, The Bathrobe Knight and Merchant of Tiqpa.
Audible Audio
First published April 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 1, 2021
This was a fairly standard LitRPG story. I found it readable but it had a few flaws that stopped it from being anything special or memorable.
The story was fairly routine LitRPG stuff. Lucas, formerly a CEO of a successful corporation, has retreated into the world of fully immersive VR gaming after the death of his wife. He uses the game as a way to take a break from real life and dealing with his grief. Unlike most players Lucas just lounges around the staring zone level sun bathing and sipping wine with a NPC who looks a lot like his dead wife. He gets sucked into a bit of actual investment of the game when a developer asks him to help her keep the game appealing to new players so it can stick around. Players had long ago completed the regular tasks and were fleeing to newer games. Lucas takes up the task of becoming a player (rather than the standard NPC) boss level villain.
The premise was fine. I liked the twist on the standard LitRPG quest progression. The characters we met in the story were an OK bunch. Lucas was not particularly memorable but he was not particularly offensive either so he was easy enough to root for. The world was standard LitRPG fantasy stuff but that was OK.
The best thing about the story was the fact that Lucas had an actual backstory and that we got the odd glimpse into his life in the real world. I feel like these elements of the story were underutilised but I still enjoyed their inclusion.
The big negative of the story was the focus on light harem building. I've no idea why this is such a common theme in LitRPG stories but I'm long bored of it. What we get is tame in this story but it did leave a lot of the secondary characters (mostly female) feeling completely throw away. Only Lucas's real life sister-in-law felt like she had any real significance to her.
This book also had the same issue a lot of LitRPG stories have. The action scenes were dull and boring! It is a common LitRPG issue because most of the action and battle scenes have no stakes or investment so feel like a dull waste of time especially when they drag on.
All in all this was an OK read. I'll pick up the next book in the series since I can get it cheap as I'm on a Kindle Unlimited free trial at the minute.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott, Justin Thomas James, Anneliese Rennie, and the Soundbooth Theatre team in general did a good enough job with the audio for this one.
The story was fairly routine LitRPG stuff. Lucas, formerly a CEO of a successful corporation, has retreated into the world of fully immersive VR gaming after the death of his wife. He uses the game as a way to take a break from real life and dealing with his grief. Unlike most players Lucas just lounges around the staring zone level sun bathing and sipping wine with a NPC who looks a lot like his dead wife. He gets sucked into a bit of actual investment of the game when a developer asks him to help her keep the game appealing to new players so it can stick around. Players had long ago completed the regular tasks and were fleeing to newer games. Lucas takes up the task of becoming a player (rather than the standard NPC) boss level villain.
The premise was fine. I liked the twist on the standard LitRPG quest progression. The characters we met in the story were an OK bunch. Lucas was not particularly memorable but he was not particularly offensive either so he was easy enough to root for. The world was standard LitRPG fantasy stuff but that was OK.
The best thing about the story was the fact that Lucas had an actual backstory and that we got the odd glimpse into his life in the real world. I feel like these elements of the story were underutilised but I still enjoyed their inclusion.
The big negative of the story was the focus on light harem building. I've no idea why this is such a common theme in LitRPG stories but I'm long bored of it. What we get is tame in this story but it did leave a lot of the secondary characters (mostly female) feeling completely throw away. Only Lucas's real life sister-in-law felt like she had any real significance to her.
This book also had the same issue a lot of LitRPG stories have. The action scenes were dull and boring! It is a common LitRPG issue because most of the action and battle scenes have no stakes or investment so feel like a dull waste of time especially when they drag on.
All in all this was an OK read. I'll pick up the next book in the series since I can get it cheap as I'm on a Kindle Unlimited free trial at the minute.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott, Justin Thomas James, Anneliese Rennie, and the Soundbooth Theatre team in general did a good enough job with the audio for this one.
August 14, 2019
It was okay...
Audiobook was okay too... The road SBT took isn't a bad one. They are improving but it still sounds like a cheap rip off Made in China version of the really good production ones. But I personally like the classic narration rather than these full of sound effects.
Charles Dean...not a huge fan of his books. He has good or decent ideas, but nothing really makes much sense. I'm not sure if he lives in a sh*thole of a city and only exposed to it. But real life game companies behave differently from the random bs he spouts. It detracts the overall story. Riot is an *sshole. Riot forces you to sign a contract to not go to court about sexual harassment. But they still let the employees do a mini event about this issue. It is a different issue but point is, the sister isn't going to just get fired. In fact, getting fired soon after can lead to discrimination and more against the company. But for some reason, a GM was able to create a character call MaidBanger without issues, bang maids all day and no one knows or cares?
A sh*tty game like that should be shut down.
Charles is better than Harmon Cooper, another guy who has good ideas but butchers them. But he isn't good with logic or sense either.
Audiobook was okay too... The road SBT took isn't a bad one. They are improving but it still sounds like a cheap rip off Made in China version of the really good production ones. But I personally like the classic narration rather than these full of sound effects.
Charles Dean...not a huge fan of his books. He has good or decent ideas, but nothing really makes much sense. I'm not sure if he lives in a sh*thole of a city and only exposed to it. But real life game companies behave differently from the random bs he spouts. It detracts the overall story. Riot is an *sshole. Riot forces you to sign a contract to not go to court about sexual harassment. But they still let the employees do a mini event about this issue. It is a different issue but point is, the sister isn't going to just get fired. In fact, getting fired soon after can lead to discrimination and more against the company. But for some reason, a GM was able to create a character call MaidBanger without issues, bang maids all day and no one knows or cares?
A sh*tty game like that should be shut down.
Charles is better than Harmon Cooper, another guy who has good ideas but butchers them. But he isn't good with logic or sense either.
September 16, 2019
I actually enjoyed this a bit more than I expected. The book was well written, humorous in places, there were no irritatingly stupid characters...pretty solid read.
November 1, 2020
Plain, contrived, and boring. From the very start the characters actions don't make sense. Man grieving after close female person dies. Isolates himself in games all day everyday. In game, he sleeps or eats while relaxing an NPC who looks like dead close female person. In between those times he let's other people kill him. One day, NPC dead girl face randomly tells him do a quest with people (who he would prefer to die from rather than listen to them for another moment), and he does it(???). NPC girl turns out to be a random girl who works for the game company. She says "don't let me die again" to manipulate him into killing the other players for her. Proceeds to mock him while trying to convince him to work for her so she doesn't lose her job. He doesn't get upset over the years of lies, the emotional manipulation, or the fact that she wants to use him. Instead he stops being apathetic, does a great big quest for her, makes a bunch of friends, and goes does her bullshit quest. End of chapter 1.
Illogical characters. Illogical game mechanics. Boring story. The superficial characterizations consists of bland generic adjectives such as energetic and poor. Dialogue is just a bunch of repeated phrases, CAPS, exclamation points and notfunny humor. This reads like a bad childrens book, but maybe that is the intended audience.
The fade to black 'something is clearly wrong here but rather than immediately get answers like a real person I'm just going to ignore it' and the 'I'm an independent person and I won't just do what you tell me too. Instead I'll do exactly what you want but very slightly differently' is rotten cherry on time.
-Dropped Ch 4
Illogical characters. Illogical game mechanics. Boring story. The superficial characterizations consists of bland generic adjectives such as energetic and poor. Dialogue is just a bunch of repeated phrases, CAPS, exclamation points and notfunny humor. This reads like a bad childrens book, but maybe that is the intended audience.
The fade to black 'something is clearly wrong here but rather than immediately get answers like a real person I'm just going to ignore it' and the 'I'm an independent person and I won't just do what you tell me too. Instead I'll do exactly what you want but very slightly differently' is rotten cherry on time.
-Dropped Ch 4
September 23, 2019
I couldn't stop reading this book. The characters are compelling. Noramlly in LitRPG books you don't get a personal character arc, so Lucas's grief comes as a nice surprise, an element that shows up regularly in the book. His ability to relate to Keegan, an NPC he must fight, is well done.
In terms of the world itself, I really dig the notino of the plot itself, of creating content by gaming the system, and how the game generates quests organically.
Honestly, the only weakness of the book I felt was the end confrontation, the way it was handled (and how it was a clear parallel both in game and Liu's real life situation perfectly) was a bit much. Also the confrontation was a bit too "He cast this I cast that cast cast". Also, adding only two chapters from a different character's POV was jarring; the epilogue being from Merric's PoV wasn't, that one made sense, but the sections about Bonnie's friends felt awkward. Especially to give us too much info about Bonnie without sewing it up. Finally, the audiobook production was excellent as expected for Soundbooth Theater, but the sound effects were a bit much.
But seriously those are very minor points to an otherwise excellent book. I can't wait for the next to come out. This is perhaps one of the best litrpg books I've read.
In terms of the world itself, I really dig the notino of the plot itself, of creating content by gaming the system, and how the game generates quests organically.
Honestly, the only weakness of the book I felt was the end confrontation, the way it was handled (and how it was a clear parallel both in game and Liu's real life situation perfectly) was a bit much. Also the confrontation was a bit too "He cast this I cast that cast cast". Also, adding only two chapters from a different character's POV was jarring; the epilogue being from Merric's PoV wasn't, that one made sense, but the sections about Bonnie's friends felt awkward. Especially to give us too much info about Bonnie without sewing it up. Finally, the audiobook production was excellent as expected for Soundbooth Theater, but the sound effects were a bit much.
But seriously those are very minor points to an otherwise excellent book. I can't wait for the next to come out. This is perhaps one of the best litrpg books I've read.
May 1, 2019
I love your stuff!!!
Your books are some of the few I sometimes actually buy in spite of a KU subscription. When I saw you had a KU release I couldn’t wait to read it and it didn’t disappoint. Loved how you revitalized a world without making the enemies overly dumb or unable. Enjoyed the dialog and plot progression. Loved the twists of irony and fate.
Thanks a bunch! Cant wait for book 2!!!
Your books are some of the few I sometimes actually buy in spite of a KU subscription. When I saw you had a KU release I couldn’t wait to read it and it didn’t disappoint. Loved how you revitalized a world without making the enemies overly dumb or unable. Enjoyed the dialog and plot progression. Loved the twists of irony and fate.
Thanks a bunch! Cant wait for book 2!!!
January 5, 2021
Definitely at least a 4, maybe more.
I like this story. I like this story for a lot of reasons.
First, It's relatively original. This is the story about a dying game that is slowly changing from what the inventers intended it to be, into something else. Something unpredictable, and for a stagnating, work-a-day players base, something exciting. This is an exploration of what happens to many games as they age, as their plot-lines grow old and stale, as their villians villainy grows old and tired and mundane. Now, are there flaws with this story? Sure. For one thing, the MC is a rich "nice guy" who's Sister in law (who is madly in love with him) just so happens to work at the company, and the two of them working together. There's cheating involved, theres abusing a system ripe with exploits, there's layers of office politics and oh yeah, the most duche baggy evilist evil? That's actually the real devs in disguise pretending to be NPCs.
It's childish, in a SAO kindof way, it's layered, filled with stuff that doesn't float my boat, but at the end of the day, it's interesting. It checks all the boxes. Literally, all of them. It checks boxes that you wouldn't expect to be checked together. Like a "lover's triangle" situation where one side of the triangle is your dead wife's sister and the other is blood-orgy-vampire-harem sex and the third side is marrying a princess to complete an impossible quest and the system literally requiring you to do the thing... because that's how triangles work... all wrapped up in a book that is NOT intrinsically about sex. Frankly, the balance here is shocking. It definitely keeps you guessing.
The MC and his Girlfriend, who, I'll reiterate, is the Sister in law of the MC's own, much beloved, much dead wife, gosh, that escalated quickly, are dashing rogues to some, pathetic griefers to most, and are DEFINITELY conning everyone, even their own people.
If you do not like:
2-dimentional female characters
MCs who eat the eyeballs of their victims
Overpowered MCs with unique classes and almost untouchable stats
"Cheaters" who game the system WITHOUT actually cheating
the glorification of griefers
You will probably either not like this book, or will have changed your mind about one of the above topics by the end of the second book. 0.02
Also if you like this book, you might also like "player reaches the top" and vice versa. If you didn't like PRTT, you might not like this. PRTT is far more tame sexually (and there is far less eating of eyeballs) but both use the same kind-of exploit the system by gaming the AI to get unique rewards kind of stuff.
I like this story. I like this story for a lot of reasons.
First, It's relatively original. This is the story about a dying game that is slowly changing from what the inventers intended it to be, into something else. Something unpredictable, and for a stagnating, work-a-day players base, something exciting. This is an exploration of what happens to many games as they age, as their plot-lines grow old and stale, as their villians villainy grows old and tired and mundane. Now, are there flaws with this story? Sure. For one thing, the MC is a rich "nice guy" who's Sister in law (who is madly in love with him) just so happens to work at the company, and the two of them working together. There's cheating involved, theres abusing a system ripe with exploits, there's layers of office politics and oh yeah, the most duche baggy evilist evil? That's actually the real devs in disguise pretending to be NPCs.
It's childish, in a SAO kindof way, it's layered, filled with stuff that doesn't float my boat, but at the end of the day, it's interesting. It checks all the boxes. Literally, all of them. It checks boxes that you wouldn't expect to be checked together. Like a "lover's triangle" situation where one side of the triangle is your dead wife's sister and the other is blood-orgy-vampire-harem sex and the third side is marrying a princess to complete an impossible quest and the system literally requiring you to do the thing... because that's how triangles work... all wrapped up in a book that is NOT intrinsically about sex. Frankly, the balance here is shocking. It definitely keeps you guessing.
The MC and his Girlfriend, who, I'll reiterate, is the Sister in law of the MC's own, much beloved, much dead wife, gosh, that escalated quickly, are dashing rogues to some, pathetic griefers to most, and are DEFINITELY conning everyone, even their own people.
If you do not like:
2-dimentional female characters
MCs who eat the eyeballs of their victims
Overpowered MCs with unique classes and almost untouchable stats
"Cheaters" who game the system WITHOUT actually cheating
the glorification of griefers
You will probably either not like this book, or will have changed your mind about one of the above topics by the end of the second book. 0.02
Also if you like this book, you might also like "player reaches the top" and vice versa. If you didn't like PRTT, you might not like this. PRTT is far more tame sexually (and there is far less eating of eyeballs) but both use the same kind-of exploit the system by gaming the AI to get unique rewards kind of stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2019
The LIT RPG genre is very niche but over the last several years has become more popular. There are some really phenomal stories and there are a lot of bad ones in my opinion. This novel is exceptional. I want to start out by saying that I read this through Audiobook which I highly recommend readers do. I am not one of those super lovers of audiobooks, but I will say that Jeff Hayes and the cast did a phenomenal job in the recording.
I like to seperate stories into story, characters, and flow. All three are important and one cannot have one without the other. The story of the MC (Lucas) is unique in both the real world and the game world as they pertain to the LIT RPG genre. The way Dean told the story of Lucas was great. Basically, this is a gamer turned boss creating a dungeon and upgrading and contracting monsters. Being the bad guy isn't unique since LifeReset does that better then anyone. However, you are invested into the characters. This is one the first time in a long time that I was truly invested in more then just the MC (Main Character). The cast around Lucas are unique and entertaining. The sarcasm and smartass atttitude is riff throughout the novel. There are some parts that are predictable that you can gauge ahead of time but it really doesn't take away from the novel. The flow is great. The way I would rate flow is that can you put the book down or do you want to go for one more chapter more. It has a nice flow and linear plot point. You know the gist of what Lucas end goal is, but it is always fun to see how they get there.
The negative if I had to be picky is the interaction between Lucas and his sister-in-law. At the start of the novel to almost the end I had little bad to say. Towards the last chapter or so things went a little over the top in what i would call "Over Acting". You will understand the moment perfectly well. All in all, this is an exceptional book to the LIT RPG genre, I highly recommend people give it a go, and definitely check out the Audiobook. I am waiting for the second one to come out soon.
Final Rating - 4.5
I like to seperate stories into story, characters, and flow. All three are important and one cannot have one without the other. The story of the MC (Lucas) is unique in both the real world and the game world as they pertain to the LIT RPG genre. The way Dean told the story of Lucas was great. Basically, this is a gamer turned boss creating a dungeon and upgrading and contracting monsters. Being the bad guy isn't unique since LifeReset does that better then anyone. However, you are invested into the characters. This is one the first time in a long time that I was truly invested in more then just the MC (Main Character). The cast around Lucas are unique and entertaining. The sarcasm and smartass atttitude is riff throughout the novel. There are some parts that are predictable that you can gauge ahead of time but it really doesn't take away from the novel. The flow is great. The way I would rate flow is that can you put the book down or do you want to go for one more chapter more. It has a nice flow and linear plot point. You know the gist of what Lucas end goal is, but it is always fun to see how they get there.
The negative if I had to be picky is the interaction between Lucas and his sister-in-law. At the start of the novel to almost the end I had little bad to say. Towards the last chapter or so things went a little over the top in what i would call "Over Acting". You will understand the moment perfectly well. All in all, this is an exceptional book to the LIT RPG genre, I highly recommend people give it a go, and definitely check out the Audiobook. I am waiting for the second one to come out soon.
Final Rating - 4.5
August 14, 2019
Going to start off with some honesty not related to the book. Books about people playing games don't usually do it for me I prefer transported or trapped books and stuff with perma-death otherwise the stakes just don't feel high enough if the main character can just go back to their life, so the description of this book put me off and just didn't do it for me. I know it would be good because it's by Charles Dean so it went onto my to-read list just not to the top. That was a mistake. The author managed do something most in the genre don't he found a new type of stakes to raise the emotional stakes of the main character. While the main character isn't based on the average man, nor the every man, and he starts out a little unrelatable as his story and background progress pieces began to fall into place that make you feel for him, you relate to him on an emotional level instead of a situational or status based level, not just him but for the supporting characters as well. The book is written in a way that it makes you want to tune in soon not just to know what happens to the story but what becomes of the characters and more about their past. It's a very high drama high action story with hints and hopes of romance but not harem. The characters are delightful and entertaining even the ones who may or may not be important. The games unique quirks, questing system, and leveling are well thought out and the story as a whole is well done. To top it off the audio book version is narrated by the good people over at Sound Booth Theater who could even turn C-Span into a masterpiece performance. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually liked this better than one of the authors other works War Aeternus which is up there in the top slots of my list. I highly recommend this book and the only thing I wish was different was when I chose to read it, I should have done it sooner.
January 20, 2020
It's a good book and worth a listen but it wasn't really what I was expecting.
Basically, it is about a good guy who ends up having to try and role-play a villain. But since he is a good guy at heart, except for a couple of speeches and an event where he tries to role-play as a villain, he isn't *really* a bad guy. He is a good guy who has to come up with plausible bad-guy reasons for doing good-guy stuff. Hence the "Heroic Villain" title.
It is fine and it's an interesting premise, but despite what I thought by glancing over some of the reviews, the MC is more Luke Skywalker than Jabba the Hut. One reviewer (on audble.com) said it was "dark", and a reviewer (here on Goodreads) said "A truly great Villain".
The book is not *dark* and he isn't really a Villain!! That isn't a slam at the book, but I do wonder what book some of the reviewers were reading....
The book mostly takes place in a typical VR fantasy MMORPG game. The MC is a wealthy retired ex-CEO whose wife tragically died, but an NPC in the starter area looks a lot like his deceased wife, so he spends all his in-game time in the starter area hanging out with this NPC. But this long-running VR game is losing customers so the MC decides to spice up the starter zone by playing as a villain (which hasn't been done before) and hopefully renewing interest in the game.
It is a typical VR MMO, and there is no "bug" gimmick in the book, so the MC is able to log out whenever he can.
Like a lot of people, I normally don't like this because it means there aren't really any stakes!! The game goes poorly, you can just log out. If you "die", you can just respawn. And if NPC XXX dies who cares because obviously they are not alive and are just lines of code.
The author tries to mitigate this by coming up with reasons why the MC can't just quit and play something else. To Wit:
1) He has to "save" the game, and not play something else, because it has an NPC that looks like his wife.
( for *** see explanation at the bottom)
2) MC can't fail quest XXX and it will not repeat (because.. 'hand-wave' A.I. reasons... ***) and failing quest XXX means failing point "1)".
3) The NPC/player that looks like his wife can't die because the MC is psychologically damaged from her real death and won't be able to see her death in-game (this was written so that it was believable)
4) NPC XXX won't respawn if they are killed ( because... 'hand-wave' A.I Reasons... ***) and if NPC is killed the quest is failed (see point "2)" )
*** A.I reasons - the actual reason is that the author knows that novel about a game has no stakes so has to invent one.
Look, If I am playing GTA V online and another player or NPC runs over pedestrians would I care? Probably not! This book runs into the same problem.
So because that is it a game, Mr. Dean has had to come up with a few workarounds to raise the tension. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.
I thought at first that he had set it in a game so that his "villain" MC could get away with more. I understand that authors that want to write on the wild side (or the dark side) are running scared of the Amazon ban hammer.
Stuart Grosse's "Rules-Free VRMMO" series has an MC that is "role-plays" a villain. He tortures, rapes, and cannibalizes other players. It's over the top nuts!
But it is all "role-playing" because it is in-game, and the other players he subjects to his terrible in-game character always seem to contact the MC in the "offline" world to tell him how they enjoyed their in-game experience and approved of it. It is over the top, and absurd (bordering on parody) but Mr. Stewart has to do it to comply with Amazon standards and not get censored or banned.
But since Mr. Dean's MC is basically a good guy who struggles to get into character he doesn't really take advantage that the "it is just a game" gimmick allows.
For Example..
If I was playing a *villain* in a Star Wars MMO, would I care that Jabba the Hut has Princess Leia and a harem of sexy dancer NPCs? Of course not!
It is as if the MC was working for Jabba, but complained what a perv Jabba was.. wouldn't a villain be more like: "Hey, I want to overthrow Jabba and have my own sexy dancer NPCs!"! First of all, they are sexy *NPCs*, so who cares. Secondly, you are supposed to be a Villain, so doubly who cares.
So those are some things that annoyed me about the book. But what about what I liked?
I listened to the audible version, and the audiobook's production values of it were amazing! Sound Effects, male and female voice actors. Very well done!
I had my complaints about the choice to set this in a game, but for what it is worth, the offline stuff is well done.
The whole bit with the MC trying to get over his wife's death not only gives weight to the MC's choices in-game, but also gives him an actual character arc.
The author is also aware enough to have a "voice of the reader" in the book.
For example, at one point another person in the story basically straight out tells the MC "it is just a game, why don't you loosen up at play the Villian. Being a bad guy is fun!" Yeah. "Exactly" is what I thought when I heard that line.
Another example, is when the MC goes on to save some NPCs, and the MC says to himself something like "wait a minute, I'm supposed to be a bad guy", but then he goes on to "save" the NPCs (because of reasons that are not really explained... he is a good guy at heart). But at least the author acknowledges to the reader that the MC is doing something that is the opposite of Villainess.
So yes, it is nice that the author realizes the MC is being a terrible Villain and is basically a good guy in disguise.
Given the character arc in this book, maybe the MC will get into the Villain roll with a bit more zest if there is a book 2!! I have hope.
I realize that is a lot of complaining for a 4-star review, but in the end, those complaints were about my expectations vs what I got. But what I did get was a solid book, that was well written, even if there were a few things that the reader has to gloss over. I'll probably pick up book 2 just to see if the MC is finally able to role-play an actual villain.
*update* I have read book 2 and really enjoyed it! Book 2 was an improvement over book 1 for sure.
Basically, it is about a good guy who ends up having to try and role-play a villain. But since he is a good guy at heart, except for a couple of speeches and an event where he tries to role-play as a villain, he isn't *really* a bad guy. He is a good guy who has to come up with plausible bad-guy reasons for doing good-guy stuff. Hence the "Heroic Villain" title.
It is fine and it's an interesting premise, but despite what I thought by glancing over some of the reviews, the MC is more Luke Skywalker than Jabba the Hut. One reviewer (on audble.com) said it was "dark", and a reviewer (here on Goodreads) said "A truly great Villain".
The book is not *dark* and he isn't really a Villain!! That isn't a slam at the book, but I do wonder what book some of the reviewers were reading....
The book mostly takes place in a typical VR fantasy MMORPG game. The MC is a wealthy retired ex-CEO whose wife tragically died, but an NPC in the starter area looks a lot like his deceased wife, so he spends all his in-game time in the starter area hanging out with this NPC. But this long-running VR game is losing customers so the MC decides to spice up the starter zone by playing as a villain (which hasn't been done before) and hopefully renewing interest in the game.
It is a typical VR MMO, and there is no "bug" gimmick in the book, so the MC is able to log out whenever he can.
Like a lot of people, I normally don't like this because it means there aren't really any stakes!! The game goes poorly, you can just log out. If you "die", you can just respawn. And if NPC XXX dies who cares because obviously they are not alive and are just lines of code.
The author tries to mitigate this by coming up with reasons why the MC can't just quit and play something else. To Wit:
1) He has to "save" the game, and not play something else, because it has an NPC that looks like his wife.
( for *** see explanation at the bottom)
2) MC can't fail quest XXX and it will not repeat (because.. 'hand-wave' A.I. reasons... ***) and failing quest XXX means failing point "1)".
3) The NPC/player that looks like his wife can't die because the MC is psychologically damaged from her real death and won't be able to see her death in-game (this was written so that it was believable)
4) NPC XXX won't respawn if they are killed ( because... 'hand-wave' A.I Reasons... ***) and if NPC is killed the quest is failed (see point "2)" )
*** A.I reasons - the actual reason is that the author knows that novel about a game has no stakes so has to invent one.
Look, If I am playing GTA V online and another player or NPC runs over pedestrians would I care? Probably not! This book runs into the same problem.
So because that is it a game, Mr. Dean has had to come up with a few workarounds to raise the tension. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.
I thought at first that he had set it in a game so that his "villain" MC could get away with more. I understand that authors that want to write on the wild side (or the dark side) are running scared of the Amazon ban hammer.
Stuart Grosse's "Rules-Free VRMMO" series has an MC that is "role-plays" a villain. He tortures, rapes, and cannibalizes other players. It's over the top nuts!
But it is all "role-playing" because it is in-game, and the other players he subjects to his terrible in-game character always seem to contact the MC in the "offline" world to tell him how they enjoyed their in-game experience and approved of it. It is over the top, and absurd (bordering on parody) but Mr. Stewart has to do it to comply with Amazon standards and not get censored or banned.
But since Mr. Dean's MC is basically a good guy who struggles to get into character he doesn't really take advantage that the "it is just a game" gimmick allows.
For Example..
If I was playing a *villain* in a Star Wars MMO, would I care that Jabba the Hut has Princess Leia and a harem of sexy dancer NPCs? Of course not!
It is as if the MC was working for Jabba, but complained what a perv Jabba was.. wouldn't a villain be more like: "Hey, I want to overthrow Jabba and have my own sexy dancer NPCs!"! First of all, they are sexy *NPCs*, so who cares. Secondly, you are supposed to be a Villain, so doubly who cares.
So those are some things that annoyed me about the book. But what about what I liked?
I listened to the audible version, and the audiobook's production values of it were amazing! Sound Effects, male and female voice actors. Very well done!
I had my complaints about the choice to set this in a game, but for what it is worth, the offline stuff is well done.
The whole bit with the MC trying to get over his wife's death not only gives weight to the MC's choices in-game, but also gives him an actual character arc.
The author is also aware enough to have a "voice of the reader" in the book.
For example, at one point another person in the story basically straight out tells the MC "it is just a game, why don't you loosen up at play the Villian. Being a bad guy is fun!" Yeah. "Exactly" is what I thought when I heard that line.
Another example, is when the MC goes on to save some NPCs, and the MC says to himself something like "wait a minute, I'm supposed to be a bad guy", but then he goes on to "save" the NPCs (because of reasons that are not really explained... he is a good guy at heart). But at least the author acknowledges to the reader that the MC is doing something that is the opposite of Villainess.
So yes, it is nice that the author realizes the MC is being a terrible Villain and is basically a good guy in disguise.
Given the character arc in this book, maybe the MC will get into the Villain roll with a bit more zest if there is a book 2!! I have hope.
I realize that is a lot of complaining for a 4-star review, but in the end, those complaints were about my expectations vs what I got. But what I did get was a solid book, that was well written, even if there were a few things that the reader has to gloss over. I'll probably pick up book 2 just to see if the MC is finally able to role-play an actual villain.
*update* I have read book 2 and really enjoyed it! Book 2 was an improvement over book 1 for sure.
September 17, 2019
Wow, the production qualities on this audio book are one of the best I've come across out side of Star Wars (Pre-2014, F*** Disney). But this has multiple readers, music, and sound effects. It's not an audio play, just a high quality audio book.
The story it's self is pretty good, but it does take a little more suspension of disbelief. It's just so unlikely that no one would have found the negative level exploit before, or that EVERY player would go through the game in the same way and not have tried all these alternate paths and discovered the way the game changes with it. It would have worked better if (since the GM can't really add to the game) she enables a feature that had always been there but had been disabled up to that point.
What makes up for it, though, are the characters. Dean does a great job giving his characters real humanity and gets the reader to care about their personal struggles (all of which are spoiler heavy).
The story it's self is pretty good, but it does take a little more suspension of disbelief. It's just so unlikely that no one would have found the negative level exploit before, or that EVERY player would go through the game in the same way and not have tried all these alternate paths and discovered the way the game changes with it. It would have worked better if (since the GM can't really add to the game) she enables a feature that had always been there but had been disabled up to that point.
What makes up for it, though, are the characters. Dean does a great job giving his characters real humanity and gets the reader to care about their personal struggles (all of which are spoiler heavy).
October 8, 2019
It was just okay. I listened to the audiobook version of this story and it was surprisingly well performed. But where it falters for me is within the story content itself. While the story totes an emotional core that actually gives this litRPG some much needed depth, it fails to live up to it's own self awareness by indulging in the very things it mocks. White knighting, sultry female characters, etc. And I get it, this is a male fantasy through and through, which isn't a bad thing, but there was a weird disconnect between trying to tell a decent narrative about getting over grief and the plethora of animeish tropes that it goes out of it's way to mock yet utilize at the same time. It felt disjointed and unfocused.
Still, as my first foray into the whole litRPG genre, I was expecting far far worse. At the end of the day it is still an entertaining listen/read and would encourage those who like this genre to give it a once over to form your own opinions.
Still, as my first foray into the whole litRPG genre, I was expecting far far worse. At the end of the day it is still an entertaining listen/read and would encourage those who like this genre to give it a once over to form your own opinions.
October 17, 2019
A very interesting story
I liked this new spin on an established trope. Rather than someone who's driven by revenge, or a desire for fame, or wanting more power, this is somebody who just doesn't want to do anything. They are more or less coerced into doing this and then it turns out that they're really good at it. Throughout the story the MC doesn't want to continue, but he's more or less forced to do it because reasons.
It was a little slow to start, but then it really started going, and I really liked the ending. However, I personally felt like this could have been a stand-alone story and I'm not terribly interested in reading the next book in the series. Nothing wrong with how the author wrote the story, I just really liked how it ended.
Perhaps if I run out of books in the future I will check out book two, because I imagine it'll be just as good as book one, but for now I'm okay with what I've read.
I liked this new spin on an established trope. Rather than someone who's driven by revenge, or a desire for fame, or wanting more power, this is somebody who just doesn't want to do anything. They are more or less coerced into doing this and then it turns out that they're really good at it. Throughout the story the MC doesn't want to continue, but he's more or less forced to do it because reasons.
It was a little slow to start, but then it really started going, and I really liked the ending. However, I personally felt like this could have been a stand-alone story and I'm not terribly interested in reading the next book in the series. Nothing wrong with how the author wrote the story, I just really liked how it ended.
Perhaps if I run out of books in the future I will check out book two, because I imagine it'll be just as good as book one, but for now I'm okay with what I've read.
April 26, 2019
Loved it..
I didn't realize who Charles Dean was initially until it showed all his books at the end. This guy has been pumping out quality LitRPG for awhile and this book definitely continues that grand tradition.
This book does something that I wish other LitRPG books did: Have an MC that embraces the dark side. The only other series I can think of that does this is Awaken Online.
I loved the book, much as I loved the Bathrobe Knight and War Aeturnus. Dean's characters are always so relatable and human.
This was an excellent book, was clearly edited professionally and I look forward to future books in this series.
I didn't realize who Charles Dean was initially until it showed all his books at the end. This guy has been pumping out quality LitRPG for awhile and this book definitely continues that grand tradition.
This book does something that I wish other LitRPG books did: Have an MC that embraces the dark side. The only other series I can think of that does this is Awaken Online.
I loved the book, much as I loved the Bathrobe Knight and War Aeturnus. Dean's characters are always so relatable and human.
This was an excellent book, was clearly edited professionally and I look forward to future books in this series.
May 1, 2019
Great read with well done stats and quest prompts
I am still trying wrap my head around the quest chain named The Heirless Maidbanger.
I really appreciate Dean’s humor throughout the book. You can tell he did his research and I feel he captured a very accurate feel of what some who have experienced trauma go through.
Very well written and some nice twists to keep the game mechanics fresh and exciting.
I’ll felt like this book has a bit more emotion than previous books which actually helped me connect with the characters better than previous series.
Recommend for anyone who can read. Maybe 13+.
I am still trying wrap my head around the quest chain named The Heirless Maidbanger.
I really appreciate Dean’s humor throughout the book. You can tell he did his research and I feel he captured a very accurate feel of what some who have experienced trauma go through.
Very well written and some nice twists to keep the game mechanics fresh and exciting.
I’ll felt like this book has a bit more emotion than previous books which actually helped me connect with the characters better than previous series.
Recommend for anyone who can read. Maybe 13+.
September 15, 2019
It is okay
The game mechanics of stats, levels, and what bonuses items give are all missing. I just feel so much more could have been done which would have made it better. The exp gained when he was not involved was never mentioned. You just noticed his level was closer to 0 and he had more unspent points. Half the time you did not know he spent his points. If charisma, luck and arcane are so important why did he put no points in luck.
Overall the story was good. The quests were interesting the overall arc was good and so was character development. I look forward to the vampire quest which should be interesting.
The game mechanics of stats, levels, and what bonuses items give are all missing. I just feel so much more could have been done which would have made it better. The exp gained when he was not involved was never mentioned. You just noticed his level was closer to 0 and he had more unspent points. Half the time you did not know he spent his points. If charisma, luck and arcane are so important why did he put no points in luck.
Overall the story was good. The quests were interesting the overall arc was good and so was character development. I look forward to the vampire quest which should be interesting.
March 10, 2021
This book is entertaining and quite good, but I found myself not caring about how the series ends up. It is nothing to do with the writing, it is just the plot in general. It is about a rich guy grieving over his wife who died in a car accident. The guy with plenty of money and free time is bored, spending his life in a video game and decides to take over the land.
At the end of the day if he is unsuccessful, who cares? There is no life on the line, there is no poverty on the line, just his entertainment. Sure, the book had interesting parts, and was enjoyable, but I found myself just not caring.
At the end of the day if he is unsuccessful, who cares? There is no life on the line, there is no poverty on the line, just his entertainment. Sure, the book had interesting parts, and was enjoyable, but I found myself just not caring.
May 8, 2019
Another great book by one of the masters of litrpg
I absolutely loved the spin on the Trope in this particular book.
Without giving away spoilers, our MC starts as a kind gentle hearted person who just sort of exists in the game without actually playing it and then becomes a master of...villainy.
There are nods to other litrpg authors in this book, the MC is really well fleshed out with a great backstory, one that is usually not done in this genre.
By the epilogue it looks as though a sequel has been set up I will look forward to it.
I absolutely loved the spin on the Trope in this particular book.
Without giving away spoilers, our MC starts as a kind gentle hearted person who just sort of exists in the game without actually playing it and then becomes a master of...villainy.
There are nods to other litrpg authors in this book, the MC is really well fleshed out with a great backstory, one that is usually not done in this genre.
By the epilogue it looks as though a sequel has been set up I will look forward to it.
April 12, 2019
Quit after he met the Duke for two major reasons:
1) Hated being told the Baron's background and while the MC relates, he ignores it.
2) Personally think the MC is a moron doing as he was asked... sure, you have different dialog this way, but it isn't fun except for Nick and Bonnie.
For me, what I read was just too depressing to keep reading. Sadly this means no more Bonnie who was a very interesting character and made things fun while reading.
1) Hated being told the Baron's background and while the MC relates, he ignores it.
2) Personally think the MC is a moron doing as he was asked... sure, you have different dialog this way, but it isn't fun except for Nick and Bonnie.
For me, what I read was just too depressing to keep reading. Sadly this means no more Bonnie who was a very interesting character and made things fun while reading.
May 9, 2019
A truly great Villain
This book is a very refreshing book. The MC is damn cool and so damn smart with his planning of making a dungeon. The dungeon part was so fulfilling and fun to read about, so many things were added that made this a fresh take on dungeon litrpg.
The author knows how to make a really good villain, one that is loved and feared by all.
Also the bar fight was an unexpected surprise. The ending was such nice ending.
This book is a very refreshing book. The MC is damn cool and so damn smart with his planning of making a dungeon. The dungeon part was so fulfilling and fun to read about, so many things were added that made this a fresh take on dungeon litrpg.
The author knows how to make a really good villain, one that is loved and feared by all.
Also the bar fight was an unexpected surprise. The ending was such nice ending.
August 26, 2019
Started off slow but finished with a bang!
So it took me til about 15% to really get into this story but once I did I really enjoyed it. I loved exploring the character backgrounds and seeing how people slowly revealed more and more over time. I took off a star for the slow start and another half star because I found reading about all the character stats and upgrades to to be boring. So 3.5 rounded to 4 stars overall. Solid start of a series and I can’t wait for book 2!
So it took me til about 15% to really get into this story but once I did I really enjoyed it. I loved exploring the character backgrounds and seeing how people slowly revealed more and more over time. I took off a star for the slow start and another half star because I found reading about all the character stats and upgrades to to be boring. So 3.5 rounded to 4 stars overall. Solid start of a series and I can’t wait for book 2!
January 7, 2020
The content is a perfect 5, but it is too rushed. At the end suddenly a lot of things happen. The tutorial zone could've been easily drawn out into two books.
Other faults:
* Liu seems like such a harem character. The lil sis is falling for her deceased sister's husband. Alright
* The latter half of the book's complete absence of the mention of his negative level, the premise of the beginning of the book.
Positives:
* It's just fun
Other faults:
* Liu seems like such a harem character. The lil sis is falling for her deceased sister's husband. Alright
* The latter half of the book's complete absence of the mention of his negative level, the premise of the beginning of the book.
Positives:
* It's just fun
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2024
Who is this book for? The MC hates the idea of grinding or doing quests to the point he hasn't leveled up in years, so it's not for gamers. He's villainous but barely. Doesn't strike me as heroic at all. I find most all the characters unlikeable. A rather unrealistic world. They expect you to believe gamers wouldn't try to go down the bad guy path or do something to get into the bad guy faction this book hinges on.
April 12, 2019
1010 pick a ten
This book should be rated 10 stars and it should give me free bacon but honestly this book is really awesome I can't wait until the next book comes out I really enjoyed these characters I really enjoyed the story.
I hope he gets to take his monster friends with him to the Nextbook
This book should be rated 10 stars and it should give me free bacon but honestly this book is really awesome I can't wait until the next book comes out I really enjoyed these characters I really enjoyed the story.
I hope he gets to take his monster friends with him to the Nextbook
April 14, 2019
Awesome
I absolutely love Charles dean as an author having read both war aternus and the bathrobe knight, he has once again written an amazing story filled with action humour and an in depth story line all whilst building loveable characters time to start he merchant series I can wait for more books in his series’s
I absolutely love Charles dean as an author having read both war aternus and the bathrobe knight, he has once again written an amazing story filled with action humour and an in depth story line all whilst building loveable characters time to start he merchant series I can wait for more books in his series’s
April 14, 2019
Book one
Mistakes: I found a handful. Missing punctuation, missing words, words needing pleural form. All mistakes where found late in the story.
Plot: Interesting, I just don't know how it would actually work in a game.
Characters: Interactions between Nick and Bonnie are fun. The rest just ring a bit hollow.
7/10
Mistakes: I found a handful. Missing punctuation, missing words, words needing pleural form. All mistakes where found late in the story.
Plot: Interesting, I just don't know how it would actually work in a game.
Characters: Interactions between Nick and Bonnie are fun. The rest just ring a bit hollow.
7/10
April 17, 2019
Entertaining and fun
It was an entertaining story with great detail. Information was spread over parts instead of giving readers a huge information dump, and details on scenes and the world were always fun to read.
Cant really wait for the next installment and seeing how Lucas conquers more territory and dungeons.
It was an entertaining story with great detail. Information was spread over parts instead of giving readers a huge information dump, and details on scenes and the world were always fun to read.
Cant really wait for the next installment and seeing how Lucas conquers more territory and dungeons.
April 25, 2019
He did it again!!
Once again Charles Dean provides a unique twist on a burgeoning new genre. This book has less stats is more storyline driven but still has spells and such from gaming. It has a unique monster evolution path/tree for dungeon monsters that I haven't seen before. Cant wait for the next book!
Once again Charles Dean provides a unique twist on a burgeoning new genre. This book has less stats is more storyline driven but still has spells and such from gaming. It has a unique monster evolution path/tree for dungeon monsters that I haven't seen before. Cant wait for the next book!
May 8, 2019
While I was initially a little undersold by the first few chapters, the book quickly grew on me and I rapidly found myself giggling with glee as I devoured every page. Probably one of the best LitRPG books I have ever read and exceptionally well edited to boot for a Kindle Unlimited title. I am definitely looking forward to a sequel!
August 13, 2019
A decent, fun little story. There were a few too many typos for me to give it four stars, but it had a pretty interesting spin on the usual villain player story. The side characters were sufficiently distinct that I never lost track of who was who. I would probably read a second book if there were a sequel.
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