Hunted at every turn while the Chaos Storm Guild Leader's plans near fruition, Startum Ironwolf and his friends must fight their way through the vanguard of the northern hordes and mass of PKers to reach their friend. On their way, they meet up with new friends and old enemies as the noose slowly closes around them.
Unfortunately, things don’t always go the way you plan.
WARNING: This is a GameLit/LitRPG story and contains explicit intimate relations, explicit violence, explicit expletives, cussing and swearing, explicit hacking and slashing, betrayals, pant wetting, improper use of motorcycles, general speeding, polyamory, theft, arson, egg-laying, open relationships, power leveling, twinking, PVP, ogling of demi-humans, ogling of humanoids, ogling of monsters, PVE, spawn camping, trespassing, dwarf tossing, cell phone hacking, account hacking, attempted rape, adult situations, violations of civilian rights, a dire wolf with an attitude, infidelity, bawdy relations with Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Beastkin, Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves and monsters, MMORPG-style violence, allusions to nonconsensual relations, consensual relations, wolves and bears as pets, nudity and nakedness, no bras, naked raids, murder, attempted murder, atheism, rationalizations, man-handling, decapitations, pirate on pirate violence, gossiping, defenestration, sexual harassment, religious rationalizations, unusual morals, NPC relations, player relations, possible centaur riding, stalking, looting, womanizing, mansplaining, bribery, LAN parties, fantasy depictions of mages and warriors, highly risqué fantasy gaming tropes, personal rants, assault and battery, stabbings, cannibalism, general mayhem, specific mayhem, immolations, explosions, siege weapons of mass destruction, existential discussions, controversial topics of sci-fi fandom, real-world intimate relationships, in-game intimate relationships, playing the field, disrespect for authority, womansplaining, realm invasions, mind control fears, bad tempered marines, conspiracy theories, cohabitation, men playing women, digital prostitution, exsanguinations, women playing men, references to science fiction literature and television, references to gaming, playing MMOs for too many hours straight, government surveillance, jelly donuts, inappropriate gaming names, player abuse, interrogations and torture, chest ogling, grocery store misconduct, talking on a cell in public, relational misconduct, magic misconduct, fangs, general misconduct, voyeurism, making out sessions, heavy petting, insanity, random violence, promiscuity, werewolves and vampires that like to kill, evil gnolls and goblins, good orcs and bad orcs, too much drinking, dismemberment, abuse of authority, abuse of popularity, electrocutions, freeze blasts, arcane explosions, destruction of property, public indecency, annoying escort quests, rezzing and resurrections, castle sieging, city ransacking, slavery, raping and pillaging, role-playing, abuse, crazy ex-girlfriend flashbacks, nutshots and eye poking, the stabbing of private organs, pick-up groups, fast-moving zombies, hunting for food and xp, excessive violence, bareback riding, troll hating, camping, griefing, obstruction of justice, justified vengeance, biting, backstabbing, clawing, trash-talking, open-minded discussions, bitching, close-minded hate, personal opinions, and anything else offensive I may have forgotten to mention. Read at your own risk.
Jason A. Cheek, author of The World and The Last Paladin Series, lives in Germany due to his current job assignment. He lives with his wife and daughter, along with their two dogs Monte and Melow. Originally from West Palm Beach, Jason was born in Florida.
Interested in martial arts, swords, archery, Dungeon & Dragons, the SCA (Society of Creative Anachronisms), reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Jason became a computer gamer after leaving the Army. Paying his own way through college while working as a waiter, he studied to become an Occupational Therapist Assistant.
Teaching himself computers and networking on his own time. Jason changed career paths, becoming a Regional Systems Administrator several years later. During this time, he played many hours of first person shooters and strategy games at LAN parties around the United States or logged into Anarchy Online and World of Warcraft leading his guilds.
Excelling in his career as an Information Technology Specialist, Jason became a Microsoft Certified Systems Security Engineer and VMware Certified Professional, furthering his knowledge by learning new technology whenever possible.
Expanding his horizons, Jason became interested in extreme sports and traveling. Finding a job that allowed him to travel around the world while working on computers, he taught himself German and Polish and met his wife Anja.
Always interested in writing, Jason began his first novel called Flight, Book One of The Last Paladin Series, in 2013 and self-published the next year in 2014. He went on to continue writing, releasing the popular series The World in 2018.
I had some issues with the previous book that seemed to have been addressed this time around. The internal monologues for exposition's sake are gone and we are left with a much better flowing prose because of it.
With all that said though, I feel the story is getting out of hand for the author, and we're constantly reminded about the fact as each chapter starts with the "day ## of the The World" tag.
We're in book 6 and it starts on day 17 and finishes on day 18. Much like a hamster, the wheel is spinning but the story isn't getting anywhere.
Also, reader beware that the story ends 81% through the book. We get another 8% of a different POV with some flashback and 10% of stats and character descriptions.
The writing is good. Jason has the rare ability to be able to communicate an action scene while not losing the reader. The down side is the random unnecessary exposition. It constant. This book has more exposition filler than Naruto, except at least Naruto's was on some level entertaining. The author was was so busy tangential expediting random thought strains, he forgot the rising action or climax. On the bright side, he did decide that instead of finishing the book, he would randomly jump to different storyline with differing characters, becouse.....yeah.
This book is Soo good. It felt like we had to wait forever to get it but dang if it's not worth it. Another great addition to the series now the only problem is waiting for the next one.
Prequel review: Sorry. Couldn't resist giving the book description "Warning" a 5 star review. 😂 LMAO! No need for bunched up panties, okay? I'll review the book when I've finished reading the whole thing.
Geezette's wordy review (still a genuine 5 stars) 😻😻😻😻😻, These players sure do get max value for their subscription fees. Incredible how much was packed into one login session, even if it's an extended one. I truly dislike PK scenarios, but it's nice to find a storyline where they don't operate unopposed. I love the character creations and their interactions. Yep, they act like people really do. And what's not to like about baby mobs that grow up into combat pets? Really looking forward to the return to Broken Fang. Oh... Don't miss the post credits thing.
*Spoilers?* Just to prove I'm not claiming total book perfection (although it comes pretty close), I'm still not sure why a guild banned by one game company wouldn't be suspect and/or allowed to transfer to another one. Or at least monitored closely. Maybe it's just not possible? Still, seems like someone at corporate would notice an effort to gank the game ... unless there's planted saboteurs? 😱 Those NPC related hot fixes? Can a game be killed by PKers taking over or letting the monster races dominate? By wiping out all the NPCs? 🤔 Okay, you've got me wondering.
This is the epic type of Seri I love! The game environment is huge. The characters are deep. The IRL story is great support for the game drama. Can't wait for the next one!!!
A little disappointing considering the quality of Jason's previous books. Despite the book being filled with action it just wasn't compelling and interesting action. Jason's characterizations of selfish actors is spot on, particular large power gaming guilds but still at some point the idea 3,000 people will spend their days and weeks farking over people for a grudge of one person strains credulity. The JULIE IS OUT TO GET ME story arc is no longer believable and I say that as someone who reads Russian LITRPG that intermixes real world and online skulduggery.
At some point those 3,000 people are going to say fark this man I just want to go back to gaming and gettings new gears, skills, and levels. We get it, Julie's mad as a hatter. But she's not Caesar and doesn't command the legions of Rome. Time to move on.
I started this series living it but as I continued to read these books my opinion dropped. Now I know why. While I enjoy the concept, I find I hate the characters. As you get to know them better and more of them coming in board, I realize these "gamers" are the type I despise. The type that give gamers a bad name, and not the PK'ers. I am talking about the main characters. The greed, whining, bullying guised as talking shit. They are just horrible people. Since the world itself is so good but the characters are crap I was going to give this book a two start review. Then I found the last FIFTEEN PERCENT of the book is character sheets and glossary. Nope. That is just crap. And at this point I can say I don't care who wins so why read.
Very complicated book, depicting many levels of interaction: IC (in character) political, IC personal, OOC (out of character) political, OOC personal.
And then of course there are all the ways IC and OOC political and personal influence each other.
The combat scenes were fun. At times they were difficult to parse, especially when the point of view was not Jason/Startum but someone else, but they were still fun because they showed how an outsider would view how the Kayden group fights.
I do hope that Domenic and Jason make up. I like their friendship, I don't want it broken. That's actually my main concern with the annoying cliffhanger at the end.
I hate trying to write reviews because there are really only pass/fail results for me. Did I make it all the way through? Yes? 5 stars. No? There would be nothing here to read. In all fairness, if an author holds my attention from page one to the end, they’ve done their job. Anything less than 5 stars is petty criticism from someone incapable of even doing the job let alone doing a better one.
So in respect for the author and their work, I am going to start pasting this along with a generic review I found somewhere. “This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
Now, since I have to keep explaining myself to people who don't like my reviews, I guess some clarification is in order.
1. I am 100% against criticism for works of art. Art is subjective, meaning reviews are irrelevant. The observer's opinion is only relevant to the observer. It is my belief that regardless of what others might say, I have to experience the art for myself.
2. I read upwards of 20 books a month. The $10/month I spend on Kindle Unlimited, feels like I am cheating the authors. But since I can't afford 50 books a month if I were to purchase them directly, all I can offer is a positive review. That leads us to the final point.
3. If I get to the end of a book, then it was worth my time. I give those books 5 stars because it helps the author get exposure on Amazon. That is the only reason I write reviews at all.
I understand that people are people and they are going to do what they do regardless of my stance. I know the way that I review books upsets some people. I am sorry they feel that way but as many have said, they will just ignore my review going forward. In fact, if you made it this far through my review, you should definitely read the book and completely ignore all of the reviews here. You are a much better judge of what you will like than anyone here.
The insanity that the nightmare players go thru is brutal and so fun to read. New fun characters just keep being added. I'm still in love with this series.
Now about Kenzie and Jill I really hate girls that are so sarcastic, bitchy and never satisfied with anything. Yes often its joking but not often enough that I'd keep them in my gaming group let alone in RL! Its obnoxious and I wanna just smack them. Though I totally get and understand Kenzies PTSD freak out, combat vets freak out are not a joke and was portrayed in a vivid real manner. The author seems to understand these type of woman well, I'm so sorry lol. It's why as a woman I don't have many women friends, I don't do drama like that at all!
This has been a decent series so far. If like to give this novel 5 stars but should really give it only 3. The author tends to go off on preachy tangents that briefly big the story down. My other main gripe is that I just can't buy into the scale and motivations of the number of enemies grouping together in a game for a paycheck. Despite my gripes I think the author does a better job at storytelling than many of the other authors I have sampled in the lit rpg genre.
Wow... I have read all six books in 5 days I could not stop. Now I am sad because I will need to wait for book seven. Thank you for your detailed world and interesting characters I really liked the Scottish badger kin and wish to see more of him and his legion in his chest.during this virus going around these books were a blessing. Thank you for your hard work and touching story. Be well and keep up the great job Thank s Evan
A most excellent book I really look forward to the next however many books in the series hopefully 5 or 10 maybe even more. Great character building and continuation. An overall amazing series and great book. Looking forward to more. A must read for any litrpg fan from book 1
I love this series and everything about it. The author makes the characters real and the emotions they are going through real. I loved the direction that Jason took this story and the way the meet up between Jay and Dom happened...probably my favorite part of the story. I can not wait to see how this plays out!
It feels like there was a bit more action in this book and we got some good storyline advancement both in and out of game. Hoping we will get back to a bit more of the city/nation building in the next book. Seems to be a lot of good setup for it with this book.
I have enjoyed the series to date and The World #6 just added a new depth to it! If you are new to LitRPG, this is the series to start reading. Jason brings together the best of both Epic Fantasy and LitRPG without going over the top in highlighting every single change in the MC's character attribute development. I cannot wait to see various guilds interact in book #7. Thank you very much Jason.
Enjoyed this installment very much! Cannot wait until the next comes out. If you havent read the previous books I recommend you read those first as it will make the characters and plot easier to understand.
I love the writing, the graphics, the in depth strategy, the thought from startum. But it only moved ahead a couple of days! The last novel he was on his way to domenic! And now he gets there! The end?! Really?! That's it???
I have read hundreds and hundreds of lit RPG books. Your stand above them all. I started book one about one week before I finished book six. Thank you for making this genre so fun. I can't wait for book seven. It was amazing to me how interested in the relationships of the characters both went in the VR world and dealing with real life. While the concepts put forward in this book leveling, magic, PVP combat weren't novel, the way that the characters all interacted together and the high quality rearranging made this feel like a completely new reading experience. Looking forward to the rest.
Honestly he has to be in a rotating list of my top 3 favorite authors in the genre, though he keeps creeping forward the detail and care put into his characters, the tension between his "real" world and the World, i can only say that I am more than eager for the next book. His writing has literally built an Egg for my imagination, i can't wait to see what he hatches next. My salute to that "Cheek"y bastard
Some of it was hard to take but all in all it was another good read along the same line that the series has taken. I do appreciate the development of the characters outside the game but their continual effects in game.
Mostly because of the typos and missing words. Still a worthwhile read with lots of action and some quirky characters ( Amron Bungholie ?) Seeing his name always makes me laugh. Waiting for the next book.
I can't wait to see what happens in the next book in this series. If you haven't read any of the other books in this series you are really missing out.
Good read, pulls you in and leaves you wanting more
Good read, wasn't quite as satisfying as the previous books, setting up the next Story Arc without completing one of its own. Good character development of some of the side characters, without abandoning the main story.
Love the writing style, love the accurate tactics, I enjoy that even though the main character is op he is not ridiculously op in comparison to his antagonists, great story line can’t wait for more!