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Blood Crown #1
Battle Master
Shipwrecked by fate. Hunted by moonlight. Hardened by battle. Paul is an Aberrant, one of few able to enter a fantasy game world called Valheim. Kidnapped to a secret lab, he is forced into a government program that sends Aberrants to Valheim against their will. Most die within a day, but some have survived for months. Mira, a famous gamer who recently went missing, is one such survivor. Finding her is Paul's best shot at staying alive. But all his plans are dashed when he finds himself washed up on a tropical beach in the middle of the Wild. With E-rank beasts roaming the jungle and an orc tribe on the hunt, Paul must recruit a party, level up, unlock abilities, and build defenses to hold off the savage raids against his camp. But each raid is stronger than the last, leaving only one attack the orc dungeon and kill the Blood Shaman who rules them. Join Paul in the battle of a lifetime in Book 1 of the Blood Crown Series, A LitRPG Saga featuring party management, base building, army building, kingdom building, class development, and tactical combat. Grab your copy today! It's perfect for fans of Dean Henegar, Shemer Kuznits, and Dave Willmarth.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2020
134 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 4, 2020
Battle Master, published by Aethon Press, is an enjoyable LitRPG adventure. I think I've only read one other LitRPG novella before and so obviously I'm not overly familiar with the genre. This outing was engaging, however, and I liked a lot of the strategic calculations and battle scenes - though for my personal taste it was a bit top-heavy in each of those categories. I think active gamers who enjoy this kind of story, however, would find the whole book to be pretty engrossing. It's part of a series, and definitely a book one kind of story, so be prepared to go on to "level 2" once this first adventure is complete. 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
October 17, 2020
2/5 stars, not recommended
Interesting mechanics, but situation seems far too convenient for MC choice of class. MC class choice also obvious from title.
Suffers from lack of MC character depth. Intro seemed cheesy, and mostly unbelievable. Alien data that synced with VR pods were interesting but not enough to carry the writing. That little throw-away tidbit was the most interesting part of the book.
Up to 60% of the book and it didn’t really feel like anything happened. Yeah, it’s called Battle Master, but the battles were so-so and the plot advancement is meager. Character development is minimal and so is world development. Lots of action, but it doesn’t even do that well.
Nothing stands out about this story in a good way.
MC is bland and forgettable. How the MC uses his class seems very controlling and exhibits a mind-control vibe—he can use skills for people he puts in his army for them ... this guy can activate someone else’s skills in battle, and in fact does all the time. Other supposedly smart and independent characters automatically trust him and have some weird hero worship of him based on his Battle Master class. Once they knew he was a Battle Master, all doubts about his competence and experience were nulled.
Main villain, Richard, the prior First Mate had grade-school villain development. He was made out to be the rival for trying to take charge. And then the author gives him dumb motivations. Richard has a sword but is the bad guy for wanting to keep his weapon when they are literally stranded on an island, fighting for survival. Richard, of course, proves to be a coward in battle and runs at the first sign of danger. At the end, he’s shown to be desperately grasping at Power by trying to side with the dungeon mobs and learning blood magic. All in all, the villain was just some cheap two-bit foil made to make the MC look good.
There was also an awkward start to romance between the MC and the only female character in the book, the assassin. There’s uncomfortable hand touches and shoddy groundwork laid for the MC to get with the only female party member.
Total gender disparity. Only one female character I can remember. She may be the only one, if she wasn’t, none of the others made significant effect in the plot. There’s mention of another girl, in the beginning. She’s clearly set out to be another romantic candidate (likely endgame), but never makes an appearance in the book as the MC is stuck floundering around on island.
The book cover for Battle Master was cool. Publisher team is awesome. Book was meh. Audiobook narration meh.
Received this copy free, and I am disappointed to say I disliked it because the story did not live up to the promise.
Interesting mechanics, but situation seems far too convenient for MC choice of class. MC class choice also obvious from title.
Suffers from lack of MC character depth. Intro seemed cheesy, and mostly unbelievable. Alien data that synced with VR pods were interesting but not enough to carry the writing. That little throw-away tidbit was the most interesting part of the book.
Up to 60% of the book and it didn’t really feel like anything happened. Yeah, it’s called Battle Master, but the battles were so-so and the plot advancement is meager. Character development is minimal and so is world development. Lots of action, but it doesn’t even do that well.
Nothing stands out about this story in a good way.
MC is bland and forgettable. How the MC uses his class seems very controlling and exhibits a mind-control vibe—he can use skills for people he puts in his army for them ... this guy can activate someone else’s skills in battle, and in fact does all the time. Other supposedly smart and independent characters automatically trust him and have some weird hero worship of him based on his Battle Master class. Once they knew he was a Battle Master, all doubts about his competence and experience were nulled.
Main villain, Richard, the prior First Mate had grade-school villain development. He was made out to be the rival for trying to take charge. And then the author gives him dumb motivations. Richard has a sword but is the bad guy for wanting to keep his weapon when they are literally stranded on an island, fighting for survival. Richard, of course, proves to be a coward in battle and runs at the first sign of danger. At the end, he’s shown to be desperately grasping at Power by trying to side with the dungeon mobs and learning blood magic. All in all, the villain was just some cheap two-bit foil made to make the MC look good.
There was also an awkward start to romance between the MC and the only female character in the book, the assassin. There’s uncomfortable hand touches and shoddy groundwork laid for the MC to get with the only female party member.
Total gender disparity. Only one female character I can remember. She may be the only one, if she wasn’t, none of the others made significant effect in the plot. There’s mention of another girl, in the beginning. She’s clearly set out to be another romantic candidate (likely endgame), but never makes an appearance in the book as the MC is stuck floundering around on island.
The book cover for Battle Master was cool. Publisher team is awesome. Book was meh. Audiobook narration meh.
Received this copy free, and I am disappointed to say I disliked it because the story did not live up to the promise.
February 9, 2020
I was given a free code for this audio book. I was in two minds if i should leave a review or not, as it is not a good book in my opinion.
This is a LitRPG book, which in my mind is a book that has RPG elements within it. Some subtle, some more obvious, but all manage to merge the storytelling with the genre.
Battle Master is essentially a computer game walk through with a 'splattering; of a story. Forget any build up, in the first chapter we know what is going on. In the second, he is cool with it and selects his character. Then it is just a number of encounters from a 'starting' zone in a MMORPG. They have inventory, which appear and disappear like a computer game.
Yes, i know the whole thing was to look like that, but it was put together poorly. I had no attachment to any character (can not tell you the name of the main characters, and it has been less than a day since i finished).
This will suit some people, but not me, and i will not continue with it.
This is a LitRPG book, which in my mind is a book that has RPG elements within it. Some subtle, some more obvious, but all manage to merge the storytelling with the genre.
Battle Master is essentially a computer game walk through with a 'splattering; of a story. Forget any build up, in the first chapter we know what is going on. In the second, he is cool with it and selects his character. Then it is just a number of encounters from a 'starting' zone in a MMORPG. They have inventory, which appear and disappear like a computer game.
Yes, i know the whole thing was to look like that, but it was put together poorly. I had no attachment to any character (can not tell you the name of the main characters, and it has been less than a day since i finished).
This will suit some people, but not me, and i will not continue with it.
Read
October 3, 2024This is a great entry point for those wanting to read LitRPGs. This is less stat focused than other books and more focused on battles and tactics and I appreciated that about the book. I love that the main character was a support character rather than the main fighter or mage. He was a tactician and it was cool to see the party grow as he became more comfortable as a battle master. Steve Campbell did an excellent job on the narration (as he always does!) and that really helped the story for me. I did feel that the story lacked in the enemy variety department. I get that these are starting adventurers, but I felt it could have been mixed up a bit. All in all very enjoyable read and a good entry point into LitRPGs.
January 29, 2020
This book, published by Aethon Press, goes live Feb 4 but you can pre-order the ebook now on Amazon. I enjoyed it. I think I've only read one other LitRPG novella before and so I'm not super familiar with the genre. Battle Master was engaging, however, and I enjoyed the strategy and battles - though for me it's a bit top-heavy in each of those categories. Gamers who enjoy this kind of story, however, will be engaged pretty much the whole book. It's part of a series, and definitely a book one kind of story, so be prepared to go on to "level 2" once this adventure is complete.
January 9, 2020
A unique take on the gamelit/litrpg. I haven't read one with this setup before. Very interesting classes and leveling system. MC chooses a build that focuses more on the party instead of solo leveling. Good tactical combat that reminded me of the more traditional single player RPG where you are in control of a party and have to choose when and how they attack.
February 17, 2020
main character
The story is let down by the main character. He is supposed to be this great gamer but acts like a complete noob. Doesn't use tactics right or plan well enough. He is a support class but doesn't use his abilities well. Just when you think he might actually start to do a good job he screws up.
The story is let down by the main character. He is supposed to be this great gamer but acts like a complete noob. Doesn't use tactics right or plan well enough. He is a support class but doesn't use his abilities well. Just when you think he might actually start to do a good job he screws up.
February 13, 2020
Alert
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.
Cheers
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.
Cheers
August 3, 2020
After two hours of living with the characters in this book (two hours of listening to the audio book) I have to say that if the author suddenly decided to Melville (ala Moby Dick) the characters and have them all brutally murdered in exquisite detail it wouldn't have gotten a flicker of negative emotion from me.
Flat, uninteresting 'please die in a fire' characters combined with a story that has all of the gripping tension of a badly televised golf game.
In addition, aliens were (blamed) the ones who apparently invented space travel, came across our 'civilization' and decided to punish us by having a really shitty level based game system. Which our scientists were given some sort of trailer to and are now trying to figure out by 'studying brainwaves'.
The MC can suddenly do unrealistic stuff like guess a word to start up a magical fire thing ("Earth") with no clue how the hell he came up with that. Apparently he just plucked the word at random and it worked.
It's clear that the author has never been in a jungle (where the story is set) nor 'cracked open a coconut'. His characters did it with 'sticks'. And somehow, didn't spill out the 'milk'. When they say 'write about what you know' it could also be 'study so you don't sound like you don't know' or set the story on somewhere more fantastical so you can have coconuts with clearly marked seams or something.
It's just a bad book. The good reviews baffle and confuse me.
Flat, uninteresting 'please die in a fire' characters combined with a story that has all of the gripping tension of a badly televised golf game.
In addition, aliens were (blamed) the ones who apparently invented space travel, came across our 'civilization' and decided to punish us by having a really shitty level based game system. Which our scientists were given some sort of trailer to and are now trying to figure out by 'studying brainwaves'.
The MC can suddenly do unrealistic stuff like guess a word to start up a magical fire thing ("Earth") with no clue how the hell he came up with that. Apparently he just plucked the word at random and it worked.
It's clear that the author has never been in a jungle (where the story is set) nor 'cracked open a coconut'. His characters did it with 'sticks'. And somehow, didn't spill out the 'milk'. When they say 'write about what you know' it could also be 'study so you don't sound like you don't know' or set the story on somewhere more fantastical so you can have coconuts with clearly marked seams or something.
It's just a bad book. The good reviews baffle and confuse me.
February 19, 2020
Book one
First off I’d like for the author to know that I’m not trying to be mean or discouraging with the following review. He does show promise.
Mistakes: Editing is very well done.
However the first few chapters desperately need more detail. Go more in-depth at the hospital and when he first washed up on the beach.
Plot: Forced into playing a reality like game. Must form a party and defend against threats after being shipwrecked in the wild lands.
Characters: The Mc chooses Battle Master, even though he claims to have played lots of strategy games, his tactics and strategies are amateurish and poorly thought out. His need to discuss EVERYTHING with his party shows a lack of leadership.
Side characters tend to do nothing to defend themselves and die easily. Honestly his party should have been wiped out many times. The fact that he has to allow his party to use skills he assigns them is just bad long term planning for when his party grows larger. You can not micromanage every soldiers actions in large scale battles.
The idea of the book is cool, it just isn’t executed well. The author shows promise and needs to research battle management and tactics more.
5/10
First off I’d like for the author to know that I’m not trying to be mean or discouraging with the following review. He does show promise.
Mistakes: Editing is very well done.
However the first few chapters desperately need more detail. Go more in-depth at the hospital and when he first washed up on the beach.
Plot: Forced into playing a reality like game. Must form a party and defend against threats after being shipwrecked in the wild lands.
Characters: The Mc chooses Battle Master, even though he claims to have played lots of strategy games, his tactics and strategies are amateurish and poorly thought out. His need to discuss EVERYTHING with his party shows a lack of leadership.
Side characters tend to do nothing to defend themselves and die easily. Honestly his party should have been wiped out many times. The fact that he has to allow his party to use skills he assigns them is just bad long term planning for when his party grows larger. You can not micromanage every soldiers actions in large scale battles.
The idea of the book is cool, it just isn’t executed well. The author shows promise and needs to research battle management and tactics more.
5/10
February 26, 2020
Kinda fun but...
As someone who reads hard sci-fi and SuPeR sErIoUs fiction, this was a fun read but nothing groundbreaking.
The premise is a hard sell and you could tell the author just wanted to get to the action, of which there's plenty and really the main selling point. The MC is frankly hard to like or identify with, egoism and tangential inner monologues abound; there's little to cast this character as a real person with a real life back home or any reason for them to accomplish their criptic mission for anyone but his kidnappers. Not to mention the voice of the MC bleeds into the voice of the secondary characters far too easily.
However this book does two things decently;
Crafting an interesting world with plenty of time spent on atmospheric storytelling and intrigue.
Surprising you with a few deft twists that actually make you worry about the cast.
There's good bones here for a series and I'll probably pick up the next one out of curiosity (plenty of Kindle authors become better storytellers overtime) but this entry will need a second pass with a bit more practiced storytelling to elevate it a bit.
As someone who reads hard sci-fi and SuPeR sErIoUs fiction, this was a fun read but nothing groundbreaking.
The premise is a hard sell and you could tell the author just wanted to get to the action, of which there's plenty and really the main selling point. The MC is frankly hard to like or identify with, egoism and tangential inner monologues abound; there's little to cast this character as a real person with a real life back home or any reason for them to accomplish their criptic mission for anyone but his kidnappers. Not to mention the voice of the MC bleeds into the voice of the secondary characters far too easily.
However this book does two things decently;
Crafting an interesting world with plenty of time spent on atmospheric storytelling and intrigue.
Surprising you with a few deft twists that actually make you worry about the cast.
There's good bones here for a series and I'll probably pick up the next one out of curiosity (plenty of Kindle authors become better storytellers overtime) but this entry will need a second pass with a bit more practiced storytelling to elevate it a bit.
March 14, 2020
Interesting Character Class
The story opens in the real world with our Main Character being forced into this "gaming"world where dying will mean dying in real life too. The explanation of how he gets forced into this world is so abbreviated that it jars while the first bit of the novel is bland with the use of adjectives virtually unknown. I very nearly gave this book up as a dead loss but am glad I persevered.
What makes this book an absolute must is the character class. The class Battlemaster is unique and the way it works absolutely makes the story. The focus is more on strategy. Consequently the author has to think his way out of tight spots rather than simply relying on many of the ploys displayed in other books. This makes for most enjoyable reading.
i would recommend this book and can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.
Contains cliffhanger.
The story opens in the real world with our Main Character being forced into this "gaming"world where dying will mean dying in real life too. The explanation of how he gets forced into this world is so abbreviated that it jars while the first bit of the novel is bland with the use of adjectives virtually unknown. I very nearly gave this book up as a dead loss but am glad I persevered.
What makes this book an absolute must is the character class. The class Battlemaster is unique and the way it works absolutely makes the story. The focus is more on strategy. Consequently the author has to think his way out of tight spots rather than simply relying on many of the ploys displayed in other books. This makes for most enjoyable reading.
i would recommend this book and can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.
Contains cliffhanger.
June 23, 2020
Battle Master: A LitRPG Adventure (The Blood Crown, Book 1), My first read/listen from author Damian Boyle. An enjoyable read, especially for fans of FRP and so much more as the real-life story takes the forefront. So good I can't wait to delve into the next book in the series, Aberrant Quest: The Blood Crown, Book 2 (A LitRPG Adventure). I was given an Audible copy of this book in February of this year and am just now getting around to reading & reviewing it. I especially enjoyed the narrative talents of Joe Hempel. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
December 11, 2020
A different tack as in this audio most of the level ups come from command decisions on other party members upgraded skills . This makes for some good tactical thinking but can lag the action slightly but for all of this the situation out MC finds himself in and be interactions he has with those in this story make it quite good overall. A few niggles but combined with the varying situations and good narration from Campbell this makes a good listen and i would listen to further adventures for this series.
February 9, 2020
Cool
Overall a good start to what could be a promising series the only thing I don’t like is part of the battle master progression each talent skill should unlock a skill for all the party rather than just one person EG war cry should be level 2 for all that have it equipped otherwise I don’t see the battle master class being an effective army leader otherwise everything is awesome.
Overall a good start to what could be a promising series the only thing I don’t like is part of the battle master progression each talent skill should unlock a skill for all the party rather than just one person EG war cry should be level 2 for all that have it equipped otherwise I don’t see the battle master class being an effective army leader otherwise everything is awesome.
Read
April 13, 2023Survival setting - send with a pos into a world. Landing at a beach with a jungle behind and dinos running around.
The MC has a party leader class and assigns abilities to his followers.
Couldn't hold my interest so i stopped reading it soon.
No rating as i haven't read long enough to be sure i miss the good stuff.
The MC has a party leader class and assigns abilities to his followers.
Couldn't hold my interest so i stopped reading it soon.
No rating as i haven't read long enough to be sure i miss the good stuff.
February 7, 2020
Great idea
This book took a wonderful approach to the class system, and the class the MC took in particular. Very fun macro view of how things work on a battlefield.
This book took a wonderful approach to the class system, and the class the MC took in particular. Very fun macro view of how things work on a battlefield.
February 20, 2020
A different type of story
A different kind of story. One where the skills and abilities you have are given or assigned to you by a battle master.
A different kind of story. One where the skills and abilities you have are given or assigned to you by a battle master.
March 20, 2020
Good start
Good start to a series. Could do with more background, but I'm hoping that develops over time. Same with the characters. Overall, good read.
Good start to a series. Could do with more background, but I'm hoping that develops over time. Same with the characters. Overall, good read.
February 11, 2020
I had a real hard time deciding if I should give this book 3 or 4 stars. The first couple of chapters made we worry about the author's writing style and lack of details and the end of the book finished only in the sense that the book ended. There was not even a real cliff hanger but just lots of unanswered questions. That being stated the bulk of the book was done well and very enjoyable.
Battle master is a class which does not get any real special abilities but when people join their group they can bestow special abilities onto them, making for a strong team. This makes it feel like a pokémon story (which I typically do not like) but with the added twist that instead of animals the people underneath the battle master are intelligent/sentient people. This fact changes the dynamic enough where the author had to focus on character development which is one of my requirements for a good book.
Overall if you like LITRPG or have a desire to read a pokémon esque book with actual character development, this is the book for you.
Battle master is a class which does not get any real special abilities but when people join their group they can bestow special abilities onto them, making for a strong team. This makes it feel like a pokémon story (which I typically do not like) but with the added twist that instead of animals the people underneath the battle master are intelligent/sentient people. This fact changes the dynamic enough where the author had to focus on character development which is one of my requirements for a good book.
Overall if you like LITRPG or have a desire to read a pokémon esque book with actual character development, this is the book for you.
February 17, 2020
pulp fiction
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