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Spellheart #1
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh
Hot elf girls, magic powers, and an inter-dimensional spaceship. What more could a nerd ask for?
Warning: Zeal of the Mind and Flesh is the first novel of a series containing graphic violence, explicit sex, and a harem of magical girls. Read at your own risk.
When Theodore visited the new animatronic strip club in town, he didn’t expect the elves the facility was famous for to be actual flesh-and-blood elves. And he definitely didn't expect to find an inter-dimensional phone booth tucked away in the back room. But find them he did, and before he knew it he’d been sent to a strange and exotic land.
Among The Ten Thousand Worlds, power is free for any with the will and talent to take it. Here, elves practice immortal cultivation, gathering power to increase their personal strength and pursue eternal life. Theo must survive and gather allies, with whom he may just be able to build the greatest clan of all time, all while growing the mysterious power of the game-like interface passed down to him by the alien wizard, and the spaceship he has inherited.
Warning: Zeal of the Mind and Flesh is the first novel of a series containing graphic violence, explicit sex, and a harem of magical girls. Read at your own risk.
As of 10/19/2019, I’ve finished my edits, and even added a number of new scenes. If you bought the book before that date, re-download the book to get all available content!
Contains: Harem, Cultivation, Dungeon core, and GameLit elements.
531 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
November 12, 2023
From the cover and the blurb and the harem tag, you know in advance that there will be a certain amount of dumb. What I hadn't counted on was the complete context switch every fifty pages or so. And, oh yeah, the subtext that sexual slavery is kinda neat if you're a guy because guys like orgasms. When he started partnering up with his captor I'd had enough. This is bad even for a harem LitRPG where my expectations started out rock bottom...
February 5, 2020
“Zeal of the Mind and Flesh: A Cultivating Gamelit Harem Adventure (Spellheart #1)” wasn’t what I expected, but I really enjoyed this audiobook!
I love the cover for this book, and I liked the teaser “Hot elf girls, magic powers, and an inter-dimensional spaceship.” My biggest disappointment with the book is that there’s very little lesbian romance (only one lesbian couple), and very little girl-girl steamy action. In a matriarchal world where only one in a thousand elves are born male, you’d expect sapphic relationships would be extremely common. While the elves apparently see nothing strange at all about two women in a relationship, they spend most of their time lusting after the rare man….especially the rare non-elf man: a “Chaka”.
Other than that, there’s lots to like in this book. The world building is pretty thorough; sometimes almost a bit too detailed. There’s plenty of humor: an AI obsessed with cleaning, pop culture references including the interdimensional spaceship being a TARDIS, and MC Theo’s reluctance to endure “death by snu-snu”.
There’s also lots of battles with various monsters, and with various elves. This is not a world where women running things reduces war! The various types of magic and Gamelit/LitRPG points based “leveling up” is well-done. I especially enjoyed the times that Theo’s plans were derailed and he had to come up with something completely new to survive.
Theo’s reluctant to build a harem, he wanted a monogamous relationship with the “mad alchemist kidnapper” Sava. But, Lady Nela, Mage Acolyte Melise, and would-be assassin Illiel are all well-crafted characters. So is Yorik the Orc, who has pledged herself to Theo but is not (yet?) part of his harem. The scene where Theo and Sava meet Yorik is pretty hilarious:
There are some differences between the wording in the Kindle book (it’s on KU) and the audiobook, so some editing took place that wasn’t consistent across media.
All-in-all, I enjoyed the story, and the frequent descriptions of the sexy, lustful and battle loving elves, even if they were scripted mostly for a hetero audience. I recommend “Zeal of the Mind and Flesh” and look forward to the sequel being released as an audiobook. 4*
I love the cover for this book, and I liked the teaser “Hot elf girls, magic powers, and an inter-dimensional spaceship.” My biggest disappointment with the book is that there’s very little lesbian romance (only one lesbian couple), and very little girl-girl steamy action. In a matriarchal world where only one in a thousand elves are born male, you’d expect sapphic relationships would be extremely common. While the elves apparently see nothing strange at all about two women in a relationship, they spend most of their time lusting after the rare man….especially the rare non-elf man: a “Chaka”.
Other than that, there’s lots to like in this book. The world building is pretty thorough; sometimes almost a bit too detailed. There’s plenty of humor: an AI obsessed with cleaning, pop culture references including the interdimensional spaceship being a TARDIS, and MC Theo’s reluctance to endure “death by snu-snu”.
There’s also lots of battles with various monsters, and with various elves. This is not a world where women running things reduces war! The various types of magic and Gamelit/LitRPG points based “leveling up” is well-done. I especially enjoyed the times that Theo’s plans were derailed and he had to come up with something completely new to survive.
Theo’s reluctant to build a harem, he wanted a monogamous relationship with the “mad alchemist kidnapper” Sava. But, Lady Nela, Mage Acolyte Melise, and would-be assassin Illiel are all well-crafted characters. So is Yorik the Orc, who has pledged herself to Theo but is not (yet?) part of his harem. The scene where Theo and Sava meet Yorik is pretty hilarious:
“I be not an orc.” The orc said slowly in broken speech. “I be elf princess. Pretty and much powerful. I take money, and this is good and right.”
There are some differences between the wording in the Kindle book (it’s on KU) and the audiobook, so some editing took place that wasn’t consistent across media.
All-in-all, I enjoyed the story, and the frequent descriptions of the sexy, lustful and battle loving elves, even if they were scripted mostly for a hetero audience. I recommend “Zeal of the Mind and Flesh” and look forward to the sequel being released as an audiobook. 4*
August 6, 2019
Our hero is stuck in the game world, but takes it all in stride. After all, it is like a second home to him and his friends.
Alas, we have a story in search of an editor. The blurb sounded interesting and some elements of the plot are intriguing, but overall the story is just inconsistent. The plot jumps all over the place, as does the hero, and the grammar is just poor. Between trying to figure out where the hero is going next and trying to parse the text to understand what is happening, it was just a bit too painful to truly enjoy. DNF
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.
Alas, we have a story in search of an editor. The blurb sounded interesting and some elements of the plot are intriguing, but overall the story is just inconsistent. The plot jumps all over the place, as does the hero, and the grammar is just poor. Between trying to figure out where the hero is going next and trying to parse the text to understand what is happening, it was just a bit too painful to truly enjoy. DNF
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.
July 28, 2019
I wasn't sure after the first few pages that I'd even be able to finish this, as the initial set-up pointed in a direction I've seen before and wasn't interested in revisiting.
However, it quickly veered away from both the "bros" and the odd-couple MC/AI relationship. Both of those will likely come back in the next book (assuming that there is one), but they were mercifully faded out quickly here. I don't mean to say that the two situations/tropes I refer to above are necessarily terrible, but they're hard to get right and many writers lack the skill to do so.
A lot of cultivation, which isn't my favourite thing in a book, but the author came up with an intelligent, analytical MC who applied scientific principles to what he could. This was an interesting wrinkle, and the fact that he had to get by on guile as opposed to some sort of Mary Sue OP bs served to hold my attention once it got going.
This one averaged out to a 3.5 for me, and I really wish that Goodreads had a better gradation of ratings between 3 and 5 as this seems to be a problem (albeit a personal one) I'm seeing more of.
However, it quickly veered away from both the "bros" and the odd-couple MC/AI relationship. Both of those will likely come back in the next book (assuming that there is one), but they were mercifully faded out quickly here. I don't mean to say that the two situations/tropes I refer to above are necessarily terrible, but they're hard to get right and many writers lack the skill to do so.
A lot of cultivation, which isn't my favourite thing in a book, but the author came up with an intelligent, analytical MC who applied scientific principles to what he could. This was an interesting wrinkle, and the fact that he had to get by on guile as opposed to some sort of Mary Sue OP bs served to hold my attention once it got going.
This one averaged out to a 3.5 for me, and I really wish that Goodreads had a better gradation of ratings between 3 and 5 as this seems to be a problem (albeit a personal one) I'm seeing more of.
December 10, 2020
Messy
The beginning is...terrible. Just awful. Truthfully, a lot of LitRPG novels have trouble with the ‘real world’ portion before the game portion starts. So it’s kinda par for the course, but still really bad. The dialogue is just so bad...
Then they finally get to the game world. It gets better *and* worse. The stupefying dialogue stops, so that’s good. But the world building is terrible. And the MC is laughable.
Too many times one character or another says something that implies knowledge *they shouldn’t have*. Naming things or people that aren’t supported in the text. For ex: he never mentioned ‘blue boxes’, yet somehow Sava knew enough to say she hadn’t ever heard of them.
I won’t be reading the next book.
The beginning is...terrible. Just awful. Truthfully, a lot of LitRPG novels have trouble with the ‘real world’ portion before the game portion starts. So it’s kinda par for the course, but still really bad. The dialogue is just so bad...
Then they finally get to the game world. It gets better *and* worse. The stupefying dialogue stops, so that’s good. But the world building is terrible. And the MC is laughable.
Too many times one character or another says something that implies knowledge *they shouldn’t have*. Naming things or people that aren’t supported in the text. For ex: he never mentioned ‘blue boxes’, yet somehow Sava knew enough to say she hadn’t ever heard of them.
I won’t be reading the next book.
July 27, 2019
This was a good first book, the heroine Sava was really to my liking but she gets overshadowed by the latecomers into the harem. The author did a decent job in creating his magic system, I can't wait to see what will happen in book 2. There was no real problem with the story.
May 19, 2020
Rating 3.0 stars
This was just okay. It was hard to figure out where the author was trying to take me. It seemed like every 10-15% of the story the author would take me in another direction. Some of that was to move the story along, but some of it made the previous parts seem a little unfinished.
Theo is brought to another world where he is supposed to get stronger (there is a little more to it than that but essentially that is what happens). He went with 2 friends but once arriving there his body is synchronized to the dimensional spaceship that brought them to that world. This took about 400 years and when he wakes up his friends aren't there anymore. He does have his personal AI which he brought with him and uses that to upgrade the ship he was using. He needs food and water though, so he has to leave the ship.
This was just okay. It was hard to figure out where the author was trying to take me. It seemed like every 10-15% of the story the author would take me in another direction. Some of that was to move the story along, but some of it made the previous parts seem a little unfinished.
Theo is brought to another world where he is supposed to get stronger (there is a little more to it than that but essentially that is what happens). He went with 2 friends but once arriving there his body is synchronized to the dimensional spaceship that brought them to that world. This took about 400 years and when he wakes up his friends aren't there anymore. He does have his personal AI which he brought with him and uses that to upgrade the ship he was using. He needs food and water though, so he has to leave the ship.
August 14, 2019
Starts well but quickly falls apart
This book has good beginnings but it fails to keep it's quality. The author blended lit rpg, xinxia and world hopping to use as base reference of his world and storytelling, and although it has been somewhat succeeded it brought theirs genres shortcomings too and unfortunately they are much more present in this book. Some tweaks could fix a good amount these shortcomings
This book has good beginnings but it fails to keep it's quality. The author blended lit rpg, xinxia and world hopping to use as base reference of his world and storytelling, and although it has been somewhat succeeded it brought theirs genres shortcomings too and unfortunately they are much more present in this book. Some tweaks could fix a good amount these shortcomings
February 10, 2020
The idiot MC with a Clean freak of a AI was cute at first.
But then it just got seriously old. I get it. Its a plot device but it really really gets on ones nerves.
3 stars.. Would have been 4 or higher
But then it just got seriously old. I get it. Its a plot device but it really really gets on ones nerves.
3 stars.. Would have been 4 or higher
August 2, 2020
I suppose a free ebook isn’t the best place to look for an exemplar of the GameLIT genre, or the Cultivation genre, or the Dungeoncore genre. I was curious about these, as this ebook advertised itself as being all three, as well as also being in the Harem genre (the characteristics of which are a bit more obvious). I can’t say I’m enthused.
The game interface translates poorly into narrative, making everything exposition. This story is all tell and no show, infodump after infodump. It’s intrusive, butting into the flow, whereas different panels on a screen can be read side by side as multimedia. The cultivation aspects just make the story progression tedious, slow, and repetitive. Boring, basically. To be honest, I never got into computer games for that very reason. Building experience points always was a grinding slog to me, punctuated by incomprehensible game overs. In this instance, the protagonist is always successful, easily gratified, and full of himself. There’s no jeopardy and no reason to care about his progress. The progression methods described are rather complicated, requiring endless, droning infodumps. So many types of zeal, methods, techniques, ranks, which have no real plot purpose as they all seem invented in the moment to serve as single use devices rather than building up a detailed universe. As to the dungeoncore, I don’t think I’ve figured out what that is. Probably this will be explained in subsequent episodes. Finally, the sex aspect is about as titillating as the damp patch on the bed after the event, often eschewing the complexities of respect or consent. Like the rest it’s procedural, repetitive, and soulless. And far too quickly over. If sex is meant to be an element of the story, it should be paid more attention rather than glossed over.
Nah, this is not for me.
Maybe that’s just the writing in this instance. The author can handle the English language without too many hiccups, but this is a dull, joyless read that relies heavily on the reader’s familiarity with the settings and tropes of the genre. For a newcomer to these tropes, there’s very little worldbuilding to get an idea of what’s going on or its significance. It all manages to be bland and confusing at the same time. I’ll give this a 2/5 and I’ll avoid the rest of the series.
It’s hard to categorise this novel. It’s seemingly a portal fantasy but with a protagonist from a supposedly future timeline. The game interface is tech as well, so is this sci-fi or fantasy? I’ll plump for the latter, just because there’s elves involved.
The game interface translates poorly into narrative, making everything exposition. This story is all tell and no show, infodump after infodump. It’s intrusive, butting into the flow, whereas different panels on a screen can be read side by side as multimedia. The cultivation aspects just make the story progression tedious, slow, and repetitive. Boring, basically. To be honest, I never got into computer games for that very reason. Building experience points always was a grinding slog to me, punctuated by incomprehensible game overs. In this instance, the protagonist is always successful, easily gratified, and full of himself. There’s no jeopardy and no reason to care about his progress. The progression methods described are rather complicated, requiring endless, droning infodumps. So many types of zeal, methods, techniques, ranks, which have no real plot purpose as they all seem invented in the moment to serve as single use devices rather than building up a detailed universe. As to the dungeoncore, I don’t think I’ve figured out what that is. Probably this will be explained in subsequent episodes. Finally, the sex aspect is about as titillating as the damp patch on the bed after the event, often eschewing the complexities of respect or consent. Like the rest it’s procedural, repetitive, and soulless. And far too quickly over. If sex is meant to be an element of the story, it should be paid more attention rather than glossed over.
Nah, this is not for me.
Maybe that’s just the writing in this instance. The author can handle the English language without too many hiccups, but this is a dull, joyless read that relies heavily on the reader’s familiarity with the settings and tropes of the genre. For a newcomer to these tropes, there’s very little worldbuilding to get an idea of what’s going on or its significance. It all manages to be bland and confusing at the same time. I’ll give this a 2/5 and I’ll avoid the rest of the series.
It’s hard to categorise this novel. It’s seemingly a portal fantasy but with a protagonist from a supposedly future timeline. The game interface is tech as well, so is this sci-fi or fantasy? I’ll plump for the latter, just because there’s elves involved.
January 31, 2020
So-So with Potential to be Good
[★★★☆☆]
The start of this book is rudderless and full of narrative loose ends which go nowhere. So much fat and redundancy. The novel goes in three or four separate directions - which don't strike me as fertile ground and seemingly the Author felt the same - only for each to be abandoned consecutively. It just begs to be rewritten. I can understand the creative process that would result in such a messy start, but that doesn't mean it didn't need cleaning up.
Even when the book gets its feet under it there is careless writing/poor editing.
Characters are constantly using the name "Songstone" Clan in conversation rather than the new moniker "Heartwood" supposedly invented to protect their identity. Even in front of characters that this switch was deliberately intended to mislead. When the fact of the Songstone's continued existence is revealed they are somehow surprised despite the fact that nobody seems to use "Heartwood" pretty much ever and members refer to themselves as Songstone Clan. Mind aspect apparently turns practitioners into brain-dead drones from them to be this oblivious.
Stark differences are drawn between tribes and 'Clans' only for the term clan to be used as a catchall encompassing groups that can only be considered tribes.
Minor continuity errors too. On more than a few occasions characters seemingly do things twice or props are introduced despite already being present.
Even once the umbrella of plot stops shedding characters like raindrops, characters have a tendency to just fade back into the background after a while. It needs more of an active cast. That isn't something that can be fixed easily by a rewrite but it is also more of a concern with an eye towards sequels than a fatal flaw in the book itself.
One of the things I do like about this novel is the commentary on leadership in Cultivation-based societies. Often wuxia seems to boil down to "Might = Capability", the be all and end all, but might and leadership ability are very different things.
So this book isn't terrible - it does not plumb those depths. It is average. And for a first book, in this genre, it is fairly solid overall. But it has issues which prevent it being more. Nothing that couldn't be corrected with a careful targeted revision, but I don't review books on what could be or could have been but what is.
[★★★☆☆]
The start of this book is rudderless and full of narrative loose ends which go nowhere. So much fat and redundancy. The novel goes in three or four separate directions - which don't strike me as fertile ground and seemingly the Author felt the same - only for each to be abandoned consecutively. It just begs to be rewritten. I can understand the creative process that would result in such a messy start, but that doesn't mean it didn't need cleaning up.
Even when the book gets its feet under it there is careless writing/poor editing.
Characters are constantly using the name "Songstone" Clan in conversation rather than the new moniker "Heartwood" supposedly invented to protect their identity. Even in front of characters that this switch was deliberately intended to mislead. When the fact of the Songstone's continued existence is revealed they are somehow surprised despite the fact that nobody seems to use "Heartwood" pretty much ever and members refer to themselves as Songstone Clan. Mind aspect apparently turns practitioners into brain-dead drones from them to be this oblivious.
Stark differences are drawn between tribes and 'Clans' only for the term clan to be used as a catchall encompassing groups that can only be considered tribes.
Minor continuity errors too. On more than a few occasions characters seemingly do things twice or props are introduced despite already being present.
Even once the umbrella of plot stops shedding characters like raindrops, characters have a tendency to just fade back into the background after a while. It needs more of an active cast. That isn't something that can be fixed easily by a rewrite but it is also more of a concern with an eye towards sequels than a fatal flaw in the book itself.
One of the things I do like about this novel is the commentary on leadership in Cultivation-based societies. Often wuxia seems to boil down to "Might = Capability", the be all and end all, but might and leadership ability are very different things.
So this book isn't terrible - it does not plumb those depths. It is average. And for a first book, in this genre, it is fairly solid overall. But it has issues which prevent it being more. Nothing that couldn't be corrected with a careful targeted revision, but I don't review books on what could be or could have been but what is.
December 17, 2019
Really disjointed--scenes jump around without transition. There's no real character development or world building. The majority female cast are overall indistinguishable from one another. What happened to the characters at the beginning? Why didn't the protagonist go back to Mac or rarely think about him?
There are no real conflicts since the main character seems to be able to overcome each potential challenge and come out the winner. Always. It's not fun to read about a character who always bests other characters, who learns something new within minutes, and who dazzles every other character because of it. There were no equivalent characters in skill to the protagonist,
What I gleaned from the protagonist was that he was a reflection of the author, and/or the author's desire to see himself. There was way too much boosting of the main character, and how smart he was, how strong he became, how he was irresistible to women, etc. This happened so often that I got annoyed by it. There wasn't ONE thing that the MC was OK at. The main character definitely didn't come across as especially likable.
The description of the women was unrealistic. I know it's a fantasy novel, but the female characters were A-OK with a harem scenario, with serving men whatever they desired, with literally bowing down to the male protagonist when he demanded he be the leader of a clan (the female leader agreed with this request with no problem). I just can't stress enough how this book reads like a fantasy that the author has about himself. It's not accessible to others. Not sure who the intended audience is supposed to be.
There are no real conflicts since the main character seems to be able to overcome each potential challenge and come out the winner. Always. It's not fun to read about a character who always bests other characters, who learns something new within minutes, and who dazzles every other character because of it. There were no equivalent characters in skill to the protagonist,
What I gleaned from the protagonist was that he was a reflection of the author, and/or the author's desire to see himself. There was way too much boosting of the main character, and how smart he was, how strong he became, how he was irresistible to women, etc. This happened so often that I got annoyed by it. There wasn't ONE thing that the MC was OK at. The main character definitely didn't come across as especially likable.
The description of the women was unrealistic. I know it's a fantasy novel, but the female characters were A-OK with a harem scenario, with serving men whatever they desired, with literally bowing down to the male protagonist when he demanded he be the leader of a clan (the female leader agreed with this request with no problem). I just can't stress enough how this book reads like a fantasy that the author has about himself. It's not accessible to others. Not sure who the intended audience is supposed to be.
January 15, 2020
Starts silly; turns epic
Right out if the gate, my expectations were low. The names of the MC's friends, the location they go together, what happens so early on; very low expectations.
However, when the first major change strikes, there's still over 90% of the book remaining, which equates to nearly 500 pages. Something significant had to happen in that time, right?
Correct, something does indeed happen in that time and I felt it was done rather well. Cultivation/wuxia done with the elements and multiple tiers, empire building, alchemy, twists and turns in the plot, as well as some appropriately spaced sexy time (aside from the first, imo).
This book surpassed my expectations and I'm looking forward to the next, just to see what happens. There were a few inconsistencies, some counting errors, some minor grammar issues, but otherwise a well done book.
Right out if the gate, my expectations were low. The names of the MC's friends, the location they go together, what happens so early on; very low expectations.
However, when the first major change strikes, there's still over 90% of the book remaining, which equates to nearly 500 pages. Something significant had to happen in that time, right?
Correct, something does indeed happen in that time and I felt it was done rather well. Cultivation/wuxia done with the elements and multiple tiers, empire building, alchemy, twists and turns in the plot, as well as some appropriately spaced sexy time (aside from the first, imo).
This book surpassed my expectations and I'm looking forward to the next, just to see what happens. There were a few inconsistencies, some counting errors, some minor grammar issues, but otherwise a well done book.
April 13, 2023
MC gets a kind of tardis and is sucked into a world full of female elves (and very few males). He leaves his ship (and the AI with a clean fetish) and learns magic from the elves while getting sucked into the politics of the world.
The beginning is just chaotic and could really need an editor. It reads not as if the author had a concept from the beginning. For me some stuff does not add up but it is not a bad book.
the magic system is okay and the elvish politics are at least interesting to follow.
As typical with this kind of books female characters are build up till they are close to the MC and whoosh the next female character is brought into position and the old one plays suddenly a very marginal role. I always wonder why you don't make more out of the characters you put so much time in to make them interesting?!
The beginning is just chaotic and could really need an editor. It reads not as if the author had a concept from the beginning. For me some stuff does not add up but it is not a bad book.
the magic system is okay and the elvish politics are at least interesting to follow.
As typical with this kind of books female characters are build up till they are close to the MC and whoosh the next female character is brought into position and the old one plays suddenly a very marginal role. I always wonder why you don't make more out of the characters you put so much time in to make them interesting?!
October 24, 2021
The beginning chapters of this book are just dreadful. I tried and failed to get through it before, but the Paladin book was decent so I pushed through. And the rest of the book is pretty good! You can safely skim ahead to where he gets captured by an elf, because it’s fairly standard isekai stuff. Mysterious power, another dimension, etc. Then we basically forget all that and have a fun cultivation novel. Honestly maybe put the backstory in flashback? The classic ‘and then my memories of another life returned’? I don’t know. Hopefully the next book doesn’t start so badly.
December 27, 2021
Bad. I am not ashamed of enjoying a bit of smut. I was hoping for something that was both smutty and self-aware, like ice planet barbarians, but this was just terrible. It gets good reviews, but that is clearly not a foolproof indicator.
I couldn't get more than 30 pages in. The writing is bad. The premise seems ok, but when your writing isn't up to snuff you need to cut down your backstory or lead with a teaser. There didn't seem to be enough waiting ahead to tempt me to slog through more tortured dialogue and amateurish construction.
I couldn't get more than 30 pages in. The writing is bad. The premise seems ok, but when your writing isn't up to snuff you need to cut down your backstory or lead with a teaser. There didn't seem to be enough waiting ahead to tempt me to slog through more tortured dialogue and amateurish construction.
June 17, 2024
.5/5
What to say about this book. It's probably one of the worst books I've read this year. It feels like a shitty fan fiction that should have stayed back in 2012, even worse that it was published in 2019. If I wanted fanfiction I'd go to ao3. This book was a gigantic mess from the terrible writing, being littered with pop culture references (but not in a good way, ya know?), and SO many plot holes. I will not be reading any of the other books.
dnf @ 50%.
What to say about this book. It's probably one of the worst books I've read this year. It feels like a shitty fan fiction that should have stayed back in 2012, even worse that it was published in 2019. If I wanted fanfiction I'd go to ao3. This book was a gigantic mess from the terrible writing, being littered with pop culture references (but not in a good way, ya know?), and SO many plot holes. I will not be reading any of the other books.
dnf @ 50%.
March 19, 2020
A decent first book.
Overall the book was fun to read. The author took awhile to get me engaged with the story but the middle part of this book was good. The pacing was good up to the 75%part them almost felt rushed and forced. Overall I enjoyed it and will read book 2. I give it a 3.5 out of 5rounded up.
Overall the book was fun to read. The author took awhile to get me engaged with the story but the middle part of this book was good. The pacing was good up to the 75%part them almost felt rushed and forced. Overall I enjoyed it and will read book 2. I give it a 3.5 out of 5rounded up.
November 11, 2020
The second half was just boring and frustrating. The main character just felt like he was being carried by the stories of other and not his own.
I will say the writing is competent and the passing is good, but the characters were kinda boring and not well developed.
I will say the writing is competent and the passing is good, but the characters were kinda boring and not well developed.
July 28, 2019
Fun story, boy light on editing
Fun story, enjoyable quick read. Looking forward to book 2. But a lot of editing mistakes, one or 2 every couple of pages.
Fun story, enjoyable quick read. Looking forward to book 2. But a lot of editing mistakes, one or 2 every couple of pages.
May 22, 2020
the intro to this book was interesting and the first few chapters were enough for me to suspend my level of disbelief. It wasn't until the MC started meeting others on the new isekai world that things really became very incongruent.
After all when the MC is waxing about how they want to meet people of the new world and start trading with them, and then straight up does nothing to deescalate the situation from a flat out fight we get our first look at how the author doesn't really care about having the MC be anything other than a Marty Stu. After all up until this point we were being told that this person was one who cared more about mental growth than physical growth, but of course put into a situation where there is someone even a little bit aggressive he becomes super over powered. The funny thing is that later on, before the MC really gets into the cultivation aspect of this new world he describes an image of himself showing that he's "flabby". Yet by this point now only has he overpowered a group of 6, and a group of 3, he MURDERED someone who was trying to save their friend! The funnest thing is that he mentions at one point after these two fights that he believes in chivalry and has not yet hit a woman... I guess driving a spear into ones guts and leaving them to die doesn't count as hitting... WTF...
If you're interested in the sex scenes... I would suggest also finding another book as the ones in this didn't really titillate. They were rather flat, short, and physically focused. Never exploring any sort of emotion other than "I GOT OFF!". Some of them also had me questioning why something like consent wasn't included... I guess some people like rapey things, but I'm not one of them.
After all when the MC is waxing about how they want to meet people of the new world and start trading with them, and then straight up does nothing to deescalate the situation from a flat out fight we get our first look at how the author doesn't really care about having the MC be anything other than a Marty Stu. After all up until this point we were being told that this person was one who cared more about mental growth than physical growth, but of course put into a situation where there is someone even a little bit aggressive he becomes super over powered. The funny thing is that later on, before the MC really gets into the cultivation aspect of this new world he describes an image of himself showing that he's "flabby". Yet by this point now only has he overpowered a group of 6, and a group of 3, he MURDERED someone who was trying to save their friend! The funnest thing is that he mentions at one point after these two fights that he believes in chivalry and has not yet hit a woman... I guess driving a spear into ones guts and leaving them to die doesn't count as hitting... WTF...
If you're interested in the sex scenes... I would suggest also finding another book as the ones in this didn't really titillate. They were rather flat, short, and physically focused. Never exploring any sort of emotion other than "I GOT OFF!". Some of them also had me questioning why something like consent wasn't included... I guess some people like rapey things, but I'm not one of them.
February 24, 2025
Started off slow but got better
The MC is a man from future earth isekaied to an elven world by a Tardis. Yes, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside. Anyway, he's in suspended animation for a couple of centuries while his 2 friends go out into the new world. He and his anoying AI who is infatuated with cleaning find themselves in a remote cave. After killing a few local monsters and some elven rangers, the MC ends up miles away after being swept into a river. He's rescued/captured by an elven alchemist who becomes his first lover.
The MC attempts to keep a low profile, since he is a rare powerful male, who would be put up as a stud for a powerful clan, should he be found out. He attempts to keep a low profile, but his plan goes off the rails quickly.
This annoyed me so much that I put down the book for a week. When I finally picked it back up, the progression went better. His alchemist's clan got decimated by a rival elven tribe, then another clan attacked them just before a cult of mind magicians also attacked. When the smoke cleared, the MC was in a better position just before everything fell into the crapper. Again.
Though it started off a bit wonky, the storyline got better. There was alot of detail on the magic system, called zeal, which was fairly comprehensive and consistent. I am interested enough to continue reading.
The MC is a man from future earth isekaied to an elven world by a Tardis. Yes, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside. Anyway, he's in suspended animation for a couple of centuries while his 2 friends go out into the new world. He and his anoying AI who is infatuated with cleaning find themselves in a remote cave. After killing a few local monsters and some elven rangers, the MC ends up miles away after being swept into a river. He's rescued/captured by an elven alchemist who becomes his first lover.
The MC attempts to keep a low profile, since he is a rare powerful male, who would be put up as a stud for a powerful clan, should he be found out. He attempts to keep a low profile, but his plan goes off the rails quickly.
This annoyed me so much that I put down the book for a week. When I finally picked it back up, the progression went better. His alchemist's clan got decimated by a rival elven tribe, then another clan attacked them just before a cult of mind magicians also attacked. When the smoke cleared, the MC was in a better position just before everything fell into the crapper. Again.
Though it started off a bit wonky, the storyline got better. There was alot of detail on the magic system, called zeal, which was fairly comprehensive and consistent. I am interested enough to continue reading.
December 11, 2022
Passive MC develops Stockholm Syndrome while being raped by his captor. DNF @ 30%.
You did not read that wrong. The MC gets milked for his sperm by his captor who magically imprisons him within her home. Swap the genders and I don't think this novel would be published, let alone on a 4.07 rating.
Up until that point, the story seemed to be going along a good path: an MC from a futuristic world is dumped on a Xianxia Fantasy world and has to build his base and keep the hostile outsiders away. Then he gets captured and his agency gets thrown out the window.
Here's an amazon review that made me drop the novel instead of continuing despite the sour start:
"...The book starts off as your typical man in another world scenario, it gives off a distinct impression it will turn into dungeon/base builder with cultivation I enjoy this type of book. However the author changed the goals/focus of this story multiple times in the book..." - J. Smith (Contains Spoilers)
You did not read that wrong. The MC gets milked for his sperm by his captor who magically imprisons him within her home. Swap the genders and I don't think this novel would be published, let alone on a 4.07 rating.
Up until that point, the story seemed to be going along a good path: an MC from a futuristic world is dumped on a Xianxia Fantasy world and has to build his base and keep the hostile outsiders away. Then he gets captured and his agency gets thrown out the window.
Here's an amazon review that made me drop the novel instead of continuing despite the sour start:
"...The book starts off as your typical man in another world scenario, it gives off a distinct impression it will turn into dungeon/base builder with cultivation I enjoy this type of book. However the author changed the goals/focus of this story multiple times in the book..." - J. Smith (Contains Spoilers)
October 23, 2023
Awful doesn’t cover it
I was interested in this book at first, but it quickly went to crap. First and foremost, the author seems to be a large proponent of rape. He tries to write it in such a way that, oh a bunch of hot elves are just extracting his essence, but no matter how you slice it the MC is being raped. This is obviously a recurring theme since every new character he comes across wants to do the same thing!
Now onto the actual story. I was originally interested in the system, but it just kept getting dumber and dumber. There were insane levels of descriptive detail and everything was dragging along at a snails pace till the end, then suddenly it’s a mad dash to finish the story and nothing was cohesive. Skipping days/weeks of planning to accomplish something but also spending chapters to describe the most inane stuff.
Honestly this is the second of the authors books I’ve tried to read. I at least forced myself to finish this one, but at this point I wouldn’t read anymore of his books if my life depended on it. Horrible writing
I was interested in this book at first, but it quickly went to crap. First and foremost, the author seems to be a large proponent of rape. He tries to write it in such a way that, oh a bunch of hot elves are just extracting his essence, but no matter how you slice it the MC is being raped. This is obviously a recurring theme since every new character he comes across wants to do the same thing!
Now onto the actual story. I was originally interested in the system, but it just kept getting dumber and dumber. There were insane levels of descriptive detail and everything was dragging along at a snails pace till the end, then suddenly it’s a mad dash to finish the story and nothing was cohesive. Skipping days/weeks of planning to accomplish something but also spending chapters to describe the most inane stuff.
Honestly this is the second of the authors books I’ve tried to read. I at least forced myself to finish this one, but at this point I wouldn’t read anymore of his books if my life depended on it. Horrible writing
January 24, 2020
This book is OK.
This story started out it was quite fascinating and as it went on I found it to be quite enjoyable but soon it took some stupid twist. I know many people would enjoy the overall story but I personally don’t like stories well the only reason the main character survives is because of stupid coincidences or literally acts of God. The main character started off to be quite cautious and very careful in his actions but by the halfway point of the story he started to do stupid and ridiculous things that would just get himself into trouble. It comes across like his entire personality changed in someway.
This story started out it was quite fascinating and as it went on I found it to be quite enjoyable but soon it took some stupid twist. I know many people would enjoy the overall story but I personally don’t like stories well the only reason the main character survives is because of stupid coincidences or literally acts of God. The main character started off to be quite cautious and very careful in his actions but by the halfway point of the story he started to do stupid and ridiculous things that would just get himself into trouble. It comes across like his entire personality changed in someway.
June 17, 2021
Where do I even start?
The main character is foolish, pretty much about everything. The addition of new characters pushes out the old ones so you never connect with any of them, this leaves you feeling like skimming through the book just to get through the story. There is no enjoyment of the day to day. With no one to focus on, the entire book become a chore, with one obvious betrayal after another. The story is forced and obvious. The characters are flat and forgettable. Maybe getting back to the ship, the start of this whole story, would pull something out of this mess.
The main character is foolish, pretty much about everything. The addition of new characters pushes out the old ones so you never connect with any of them, this leaves you feeling like skimming through the book just to get through the story. There is no enjoyment of the day to day. With no one to focus on, the entire book become a chore, with one obvious betrayal after another. The story is forced and obvious. The characters are flat and forgettable. Maybe getting back to the ship, the start of this whole story, would pull something out of this mess.
April 13, 2023
Nothing original here. Dr. who shows up to give the MC a TARIDS, and sends him to a world filled with women of supernatural attractiveness and eternal youth...proceeds to get kidnapped and 'used' but is A-OK with that as the girls attractive. Mind control is present but wasn't overly egregious. Author seems to be wanting to import kinks, would have worked better if they focused on the satire. Also, spelling mistakes, no reason for that this day and age. MS Word has an editor that would have fixed this.
September 3, 2024
It just felt like Theo had things too easy because he was human in The Ten Thousand Worlds. Like he was held captive and "I'll just follow along," then suddenly he's free. He needs magic stone? Suddenly, an orc is able to provide him one. He needs to expand the powers? Suddenly, a mind controlling elf with actual education on magic appears to teach him. It felt like there was never a problem he could work out himself, but with that said, I really enjoyed the detail put into the world building. It didn't feel like word vomit on every other page.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2021
An entertaining decent story, especially for its genre, with a odd mix of various fantasy and SF elements. Good pacing, actual plot that is resolved in one book. The game elements are extremely light, and make sense considering the context. Don't expect deep character development though and the MC does act a bit inconsistent at times and I find him rather naïve although as of yet nobody took advantage of him...
October 23, 2023
The story itself is pretty good, but the magic system is a bit convoluted (though I imagine some might enjoy the complexity of it.)
My biggest problem is the political quarrels, that pretty much make up the majority of the plot, seem to come from nowhere and don’t make a lot of sense aside from “They don’t like each other.”
There are like 12 books in this series and while I don’t regret reading this one, I won’t be reading anymore.
My biggest problem is the political quarrels, that pretty much make up the majority of the plot, seem to come from nowhere and don’t make a lot of sense aside from “They don’t like each other.”
There are like 12 books in this series and while I don’t regret reading this one, I won’t be reading anymore.
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