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Chaos Seeds #8
The Land: Monsters
The 8th Novel of the Internationally Acclaimed Chaos Seeds Saga
A mesmerizing tale reminiscent of the brutality of Goblin Slayer and the majesty of Game of Thrones
Audible's Customer Favorite of the Year!
#1 Audiobook 2017
#1 in Cyberpunk and Video Game Fantasy
Over 100,000 THOUSAND positive reviews
Welcome my friends!
Welcome... to “The Land!”
The battle of the dead was won, but at a great cost. Sion, leader of the Mist Village was left with only pain and regret as Richter was claimed by the abyss.
What no one but the abandoned chaos seed knows is that he narrowly avoided the curse of the lich Singh, a curse that still hangs above his head. Now, surrounded by miles of darkness and tons of crushing rock, Richter has to find his way back into the light.
The only problem is that this monster of a man is being pursued by monsters, a demon and his own foolish choices. Faced with all the dangers of the deep dark, what will Richter say when the buried horrors of The Land come a calling and asked if he's paid his dues?
Well he'll look right back, stare that horror in the eye and say, "Yes sir, the check is in the mail!"
Welcome back my friends! Welcome back... to The Land!
ps - Gnomes still Rule!
A mesmerizing tale reminiscent of the brutality of Goblin Slayer and the majesty of Game of Thrones
Audible's Customer Favorite of the Year!
#1 Audiobook 2017
#1 in Cyberpunk and Video Game Fantasy
Over 100,000 THOUSAND positive reviews
Welcome my friends!
Welcome... to “The Land!”
The battle of the dead was won, but at a great cost. Sion, leader of the Mist Village was left with only pain and regret as Richter was claimed by the abyss.
What no one but the abandoned chaos seed knows is that he narrowly avoided the curse of the lich Singh, a curse that still hangs above his head. Now, surrounded by miles of darkness and tons of crushing rock, Richter has to find his way back into the light.
The only problem is that this monster of a man is being pursued by monsters, a demon and his own foolish choices. Faced with all the dangers of the deep dark, what will Richter say when the buried horrors of The Land come a calling and asked if he's paid his dues?
Well he'll look right back, stare that horror in the eye and say, "Yes sir, the check is in the mail!"
Welcome back my friends! Welcome back... to The Land!
ps - Gnomes still Rule!
720 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
1776 people are currently reading
1507 people want to read
About the author
Aleron Kong
12 books10.6k followersGoodreads HTML profile
Welcome to the Mist Village! I'm so glad you're here!
The Land Saga:
- Is a WSJ Best Seller
- Has sold over 1 MILLION copies
- Has more than 100,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews
- Became Audibles Customer Favorite of the Year
- Reached the Top 5 on both Audible and Amazon out of the millions of books they sell
Find out why 🙂
You can start your adventure BELOW:
Please enjoy my book trailers:
And enjoy a FREE peak at my 1st Audiobook narrated by THE Nick Podehl! Just CLICK HERE
I love hearing from my fans so feel free to reach out!
If you've read or listened to any of my work, PLEASE leave a REVIEW and vote "Helpful" on the reviews you agree with 🙂
And I love making artwork for my wonderful fans. I hope you enjoy some! You can find more HERE
I am a Internal Medicine Physician turned WSJ Best Selling Author. My lifetime goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it. I'm also extremely proud of my fans who have helped me raise over $125,000 for various charities over the past 5 years!
Gnomes Rule!
Welcome to the Mist Village! I'm so glad you're here!
The Land Saga:
- Is a WSJ Best Seller
- Has sold over 1 MILLION copies
- Has more than 100,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews
- Became Audibles Customer Favorite of the Year
- Reached the Top 5 on both Audible and Amazon out of the millions of books they sell
Find out why 🙂
You can start your adventure BELOW:
Please enjoy my book trailers:
And enjoy a FREE peak at my 1st Audiobook narrated by THE Nick Podehl! Just CLICK HERE
I love hearing from my fans so feel free to reach out!
If you've read or listened to any of my work, PLEASE leave a REVIEW and vote "Helpful" on the reviews you agree with 🙂
And I love making artwork for my wonderful fans. I hope you enjoy some! You can find more HERE
I am a Internal Medicine Physician turned WSJ Best Selling Author. My lifetime goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it. I'm also extremely proud of my fans who have helped me raise over $125,000 for various charities over the past 5 years!
Gnomes Rule!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,354 reviews
August 29, 2025
*Minor spoilers ahead*
To sum up my experiences reading this book I will give you two simple facts:
1. Amazon states that the length of this book is 866 pages.
2. Roughly 50-75 of these pages were used to actually write about the story.
The book started off as the 7th ended; action packed with an engaging mystery in the form of the to-be-named favour. Quickly after the action (maybe 5% in), Richter finds a place to sit down and starts dealing with the notifications left over from book 7. 55% into the book (a point marked only by the fact that I got so disappointed I started complaining to my brother) he still hadn't finished with those notifications and in the meanwhile new ones had come up. The worst thing, however, is that Kong feels that each of those (groups of) notifications deserves an anecdote and explanation of why they are so amazingly useful of about 3-7 paragraphs.
There was barely any interaction with other characters and the interactions there were took place in the first quarter of the book, leaving three quarters to deal with .. notifications, basically nothing in the way of scenery, zero (noticeable) character development, and no real idea of the state of affairs back in the Village (there was a short chapter at the start, but it told basically nothing). To top it all off there's a chapter that described, in vivid detail, the process of diarrhoea in which, and I shit you not (pun sadly intended), an individual bit of excrement was called 'a poopie'. The only real break from dealing with notifications, each of which becoming more discouraging than the last (not due to content, but due to frequency), and uninspired dungeon crawling while lacking a scenery was literal toilet humour.
Book 7 had issues with notifications. Plain and simple. Entire chapters consisted solely of notifications and hundreds of pages were spent dealing with town management alone. However, it had the perk of being a grand total of 2202 pages. It could faff about with all of those details because there was more than enough space left to add in actual story. Shortly after releasing the 7th installment, Kong said that the 8th wouldn't be as long as its predecessor. I wasn't necessarily thrilled by this, but I was hopeful that this meant that it would cut back on the notifications and concern itself more with the actual story.
When I received the 8th book and looked at its index, I saw that its contents would span 4-5 days and just about all hope left me.
What Aleron Kong has produced here is not a story and barely a progression of one. With regard to actual story content I can summarise it in a paragraph or two without missing out on anything important. Adding important notifications and 'character sheet' developments it would run about a page, maybe a page and a half when including the necessary details.
I am tired. I am frustrated. And I am sad.
Final verdict: it's a poopie.
To sum up my experiences reading this book I will give you two simple facts:
1. Amazon states that the length of this book is 866 pages.
2. Roughly 50-75 of these pages were used to actually write about the story.
The book started off as the 7th ended; action packed with an engaging mystery in the form of the to-be-named favour. Quickly after the action (maybe 5% in), Richter finds a place to sit down and starts dealing with the notifications left over from book 7. 55% into the book (a point marked only by the fact that I got so disappointed I started complaining to my brother) he still hadn't finished with those notifications and in the meanwhile new ones had come up. The worst thing, however, is that Kong feels that each of those (groups of) notifications deserves an anecdote and explanation of why they are so amazingly useful of about 3-7 paragraphs.
There was barely any interaction with other characters and the interactions there were took place in the first quarter of the book, leaving three quarters to deal with .. notifications, basically nothing in the way of scenery, zero (noticeable) character development, and no real idea of the state of affairs back in the Village (there was a short chapter at the start, but it told basically nothing). To top it all off there's a chapter that described, in vivid detail, the process of diarrhoea in which, and I shit you not (pun sadly intended), an individual bit of excrement was called 'a poopie'. The only real break from dealing with notifications, each of which becoming more discouraging than the last (not due to content, but due to frequency), and uninspired dungeon crawling while lacking a scenery was literal toilet humour.
Book 7 had issues with notifications. Plain and simple. Entire chapters consisted solely of notifications and hundreds of pages were spent dealing with town management alone. However, it had the perk of being a grand total of 2202 pages. It could faff about with all of those details because there was more than enough space left to add in actual story. Shortly after releasing the 7th installment, Kong said that the 8th wouldn't be as long as its predecessor. I wasn't necessarily thrilled by this, but I was hopeful that this meant that it would cut back on the notifications and concern itself more with the actual story.
When I received the 8th book and looked at its index, I saw that its contents would span 4-5 days and just about all hope left me.
What Aleron Kong has produced here is not a story and barely a progression of one. With regard to actual story content I can summarise it in a paragraph or two without missing out on anything important. Adding important notifications and 'character sheet' developments it would run about a page, maybe a page and a half when including the necessary details.
I am tired. I am frustrated. And I am sad.
Final verdict: it's a poopie.
February 8, 2022
"TRING! You have reached level 45!"
When a series gets longer and longer, it's inevitable to have some ups and downs. But this was, unfortunately, somewhat beyond disappointing. May be it was me always looking for more base building aspects, which this one completely lacked, or not being able to come across the familiar set of character, but whatever the reason, I did not enjoy Monsters.
Hopefully, this is only an exception, and thing will look up with Richter making it back to Village. Still, it's disheartening to come across such a step-down.
"You are no longer Dehydrated."
When a series gets longer and longer, it's inevitable to have some ups and downs. But this was, unfortunately, somewhat beyond disappointing. May be it was me always looking for more base building aspects, which this one completely lacked, or not being able to come across the familiar set of character, but whatever the reason, I did not enjoy Monsters.
Hopefully, this is only an exception, and thing will look up with Richter making it back to Village. Still, it's disheartening to come across such a step-down.
"You are no longer Dehydrated."
January 1, 2020
I would direct you to a real 'Review' + Thoughts from the actual litrpg community (and not paid for or asked for 'Praise' by sheep like the early, pre-release reviews and praises u see here on goodreads) :
https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comme...
This is book objective review why it should be 1star from people that actually for some reason like his books or read through 1-7 previously, regardless of their dislike of the author, book 8 is just that BAD.
Oh and 'Mist village army' or whatever other bullshit u fanboys call yourselves this days or have Aleron 'The Father of litrpg' lmao tell you to to go and type..... i could care less. your sheep comments saying whatever it is u think will get Senpai Aleron to notice you are meaningless to me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comme...
This is book objective review why it should be 1star from people that actually for some reason like his books or read through 1-7 previously, regardless of their dislike of the author, book 8 is just that BAD.
Oh and 'Mist village army' or whatever other bullshit u fanboys call yourselves this days or have Aleron 'The Father of litrpg' lmao tell you to to go and type..... i could care less. your sheep comments saying whatever it is u think will get Senpai Aleron to notice you are meaningless to me.
September 2, 2020
I love this series but this book... Yea this book I was not very happy with.... This book felt like Part 1 of a much larger book. Richter starts this quest and its not finished. This book seemed more about him increasing in power and gaining skills. Not to mention suffering from an episode of food poisoning.
January 1, 2020
of the 10000 loose ends only one gets tied up, while instantly opening a new loose end.
Nothing much happening in this book. Hunderts of pages wasted with inner monolouge and repitition. We are in book 8, i dont need 2 time an explanaition of the basic attributes again.
This entire book shortened by 50-60% would make a good first third of a book 8 or an good epiloge of book 7.
It would be nice to see some progress in writing and style after 8 books, but instead its just getting worse.
Nothing much happening in this book. Hunderts of pages wasted with inner monolouge and repitition. We are in book 8, i dont need 2 time an explanaition of the basic attributes again.
This entire book shortened by 50-60% would make a good first third of a book 8 or an good epiloge of book 7.
It would be nice to see some progress in writing and style after 8 books, but instead its just getting worse.
February 27, 2020
Not what i was expecting.
Some inconsistency issue.
An entire chapter dedicated to poop......
Expected more from this book. Nothing compared to the previous book.
Some inconsistency issue.
An entire chapter dedicated to poop......
Expected more from this book. Nothing compared to the previous book.
January 1, 2020
This book is a little masturbatory in that its all about Richter's "ascendance" and not much else. A power fantasy of Kong's exploration into how many prompts and bad humor-lines he can force readers to skip (chapters 25 - 30 are awful at this). The book happens all within 3 in-story days and progress barely happens.
Let's completely redo and add new stats and numbers 8 books in. A duel with different combat mechanics than established? Why not. Dedicate an entire chapter (37) to diarrhea? Seems about right for Kong now.
There are barely more than 3 chapters that aren't about Richter and his cave of doom. Meaning there's no meaningful conversations, no character building, no world building. Just Richter getting stats for too many chapters. It doesn't even end well or with a good cliffhanger. If the next book releases on schedule than I'll give it a look, but there are many better litrpgs out there.
I don't understand how people here can give 5 stars for only 1 - 6 chapters of content. Raise your standards at least a little.
Let's completely redo and add new stats and numbers 8 books in. A duel with different combat mechanics than established? Why not. Dedicate an entire chapter (37) to diarrhea? Seems about right for Kong now.
There are barely more than 3 chapters that aren't about Richter and his cave of doom. Meaning there's no meaningful conversations, no character building, no world building. Just Richter getting stats for too many chapters. It doesn't even end well or with a good cliffhanger. If the next book releases on schedule than I'll give it a look, but there are many better litrpgs out there.
I don't understand how people here can give 5 stars for only 1 - 6 chapters of content. Raise your standards at least a little.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2020
Sorry to say worst book of the series started great then dragged out rinse and repet over and over again. lots of great scenes but I personally can not stand the trope of being lost and trying to find you way back especially if you are a kingdom building book. For a series that usually has so much accomplished in each book I can not help but think what did he achieve in this book besides a few status upgrades.
January 1, 2020
Garbage. Not worth the wait.
This was terrible. We waited 2 freaking years for Kong to finish this garbage? I wouldn't suggest this book, series or author to anyone.
This was terrible. We waited 2 freaking years for Kong to finish this garbage? I wouldn't suggest this book, series or author to anyone.
January 1, 2020
Terrible author with an ego the size of Jupiter.
December 14, 2020
Read the 5 star reviews and you will see most of them were before the book was released (and the reviewer only read the first chapter). Read the 1-2 star reviews and you will see those people read the book (suffering much pain in the process).
This book is mind numbing in its total lack of plot and story. It's 80%+ massively over explaining the MC's also massive number of new skills and abilities. I resorted to skimming entire pages of explanations about one skill or another (and EVERY SINGLE new skill and ability was explained in DETAIL). I started noticing the trend by 10% into the book, then kept checking how far in the book I was only to see no progression in the story at 20, 30, and 50%. By 80% it was totally clear the quest the MC was on was not going to be achieved, and it never was.
The only part of the book any character other than the MC even had a line in the book was during the first 15%. The entire rest of the story was the MC alone in a single cave dungeon environment that had zero change in setting the entire time. It was like a low-budget B movie where the entire movie is shot in a restaurant at a single table, only the MC was sitting alone and the restaurant was a dark cave, empty of any other patrons, and a handful of overpowered monsters the MC had to pull something incredible out of his butt to defeat using one of his many new abilities (that was over explained as much in their implementation as in their introduction when he chose the ability).
What is really sad is this monstrosity is a best seller and the author is being rewarded for publishing junk. The "King of LitRPG" is dead, long live the King (the position is open as of the publication of this Leroy Jenkins quality novel).
This book is mind numbing in its total lack of plot and story. It's 80%+ massively over explaining the MC's also massive number of new skills and abilities. I resorted to skimming entire pages of explanations about one skill or another (and EVERY SINGLE new skill and ability was explained in DETAIL). I started noticing the trend by 10% into the book, then kept checking how far in the book I was only to see no progression in the story at 20, 30, and 50%. By 80% it was totally clear the quest the MC was on was not going to be achieved, and it never was.
The only part of the book any character other than the MC even had a line in the book was during the first 15%. The entire rest of the story was the MC alone in a single cave dungeon environment that had zero change in setting the entire time. It was like a low-budget B movie where the entire movie is shot in a restaurant at a single table, only the MC was sitting alone and the restaurant was a dark cave, empty of any other patrons, and a handful of overpowered monsters the MC had to pull something incredible out of his butt to defeat using one of his many new abilities (that was over explained as much in their implementation as in their introduction when he chose the ability).
What is really sad is this monstrosity is a best seller and the author is being rewarded for publishing junk. The "King of LitRPG" is dead, long live the King (the position is open as of the publication of this Leroy Jenkins quality novel).
January 1, 2020
Bit of a let down...
I'd like to start out by saying I've been a big fan of the books, but this one was a disappointment. The story only focused on Richter and his underground adventures. The entire book only covers a few days. Pretty much no story progression occured. It packed the punch of a short story, but was the length of a novel. I hope book 9 takes us back above ground.
I'd like to start out by saying I've been a big fan of the books, but this one was a disappointment. The story only focused on Richter and his underground adventures. The entire book only covers a few days. Pretty much no story progression occured. It packed the punch of a short story, but was the length of a novel. I hope book 9 takes us back above ground.
January 1, 2020
I've been a huge fan of book 1-7 and was really looking forward to book 8. But after reading it, I'm quite disappointed. It's just 800 pages of Richter running and crawling through caves without a story line behind. Still, looking forward to book 9.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2020
Stalling
Nothing actually progressed in this installment, it mostly centered around reading the prompts from the experience gained at the end of book 7.
Nothing actually progressed in this installment, it mostly centered around reading the prompts from the experience gained at the end of book 7.
January 1, 2020
Rushed not proofed...paranoid
Loot is such a huge thing in LITRPG genre... AK definitely got that down; everyone loves reading about it.
But continuity matters too in an EPIC which this series: The Land certainly is and here Aleron Kong (AK) has epically failed. There are elements of the 7th novel that do not mesh with book 8 at all. Glaringly obvious issues that the author failed to notice and worse; seemingly refused to consider his audience feedback before committing them to print.
Rookie mistake that is unforgivable after 8 books. It’s a nice tale; but it’s over.
Loot is such a huge thing in LITRPG genre... AK definitely got that down; everyone loves reading about it.
But continuity matters too in an EPIC which this series: The Land certainly is and here Aleron Kong (AK) has epically failed. There are elements of the 7th novel that do not mesh with book 8 at all. Glaringly obvious issues that the author failed to notice and worse; seemingly refused to consider his audience feedback before committing them to print.
Rookie mistake that is unforgivable after 8 books. It’s a nice tale; but it’s over.
January 1, 2020
First one I didn't really like, too much reappraisal of Richter's new stats after book 7. No interaction with his companions. Maybe 150 pages of story content about the ascension the rest are a few minor fights and mostly skill reappraisal again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2020
Am I a fan of the series? Yes. Have I read late into the wee hours due to inability put down a Chaos Seed novel? Yes. Can I say the same for book 8 in the series? No.
For the most part, this book just wasn't overly interesting. Aleron spent 60% of the pages having the protagonist sitting alone in the dark explaining to the reader the new game mechanics and the mathematical justification of character development decisions. This aspect of the genre is something that draws me in, but in this instance, I feel that the ratio of story to LitRPG-ness is unfavourably unbalanced.
In a nutshell, it was a generous slab of skimmable reading sandwiched between two slices of fight scenes and topped with a dollop of angsty pain, the usual unbreakable stoic manliness, poop humour and a sprinkling of misogyny. For a genre designed around systematic character progression, there wasn't much of that for Richter beyond a few new lines to his character sheet.
On a side note, I guess we've successfully set up the necessary MacGuffins that Richter will pull out at the last moment to overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges in the next books. Careful, Aleron, I think the formula of your narrative style is showing.
For the most part, this book just wasn't overly interesting. Aleron spent 60% of the pages having the protagonist sitting alone in the dark explaining to the reader the new game mechanics and the mathematical justification of character development decisions. This aspect of the genre is something that draws me in, but in this instance, I feel that the ratio of story to LitRPG-ness is unfavourably unbalanced.
In a nutshell, it was a generous slab of skimmable reading sandwiched between two slices of fight scenes and topped with a dollop of angsty pain, the usual unbreakable stoic manliness, poop humour and a sprinkling of misogyny. For a genre designed around systematic character progression, there wasn't much of that for Richter beyond a few new lines to his character sheet.
On a side note, I guess we've successfully set up the necessary MacGuffins that Richter will pull out at the last moment to overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges in the next books. Careful, Aleron, I think the formula of your narrative style is showing.
October 7, 2020
If you've followed the series to this point, you know book 7 ends with an epic battle. You also know that there's a new setup for a new adventure, one that the main character can't rely on his companions or gear. You're expecting a massive quest as things take a new direction, action, adventure, meeting new interesting characters.
Instead? Well, he's still dealing with prompts from the end of book 7 up to around 45% of the book. He also makes it about as far in the entire book as you'd expect him to make it into said new adventure in a chapter, maybe two. The feeling is that he's thousands of miles from anything interesting happening and only makes it a couple of miles.
Sure, a bit happens here and there, through random encounters, but you don't meet a single new character. There's also almost no dialog or interactions, it's all internalized debate on character stats and attributes, which drag on so long it actually started spanning multiple chapters for the same back and forth. Compared to the prior books, most of the focused action in 8 would have been a paragraph or maybe two but is stretched into multiple chapters. I honestly lost track of how many chapters a mental duel lasted as it was far, far more than you'd expect.
There's more screen time to dealing with descriptive digestive issues from food poisoning than to anything that'd hook the reader on the new story arc about why anyone would care about the new quest he's been put against. There's also zero progress to that goal beyond immediate food, water, and crafting a few basic tools. Aaaand, like 80% of that pain and supposed conflict could have been avoided by melting down an ice dagger for water, which is something the MC has already done before. Or, also reusing said ice dagger for a weapon, again, something the MC tried.
If you read the prior books and said to yourself, this would be awesome, just with ten times more stats and less annoying other characters, then this might be your jam, as it's basically hiding away in a cave and allocating points and practicing new crafting abilities.
For myself, I'm kinda disappointed, as there's no meaningful arc here at all, it's almost exclusively development of the character sheet (levels, abilities, attributes), but no meaningful character development. In D&D, it'd be the zero-day, where you chat with your DM on building your character for leveling, not part of the campaign.
I'm still hopeful for the series, but if this went through the Beta readers as is, new (non-uber-fan-bois) Beta readers are needed.
The epilogue on the website pulls off more development with Alma in a few hundred words than the entire book does otherwise.
Instead? Well, he's still dealing with prompts from the end of book 7 up to around 45% of the book. He also makes it about as far in the entire book as you'd expect him to make it into said new adventure in a chapter, maybe two. The feeling is that he's thousands of miles from anything interesting happening and only makes it a couple of miles.
Sure, a bit happens here and there, through random encounters, but you don't meet a single new character. There's also almost no dialog or interactions, it's all internalized debate on character stats and attributes, which drag on so long it actually started spanning multiple chapters for the same back and forth. Compared to the prior books, most of the focused action in 8 would have been a paragraph or maybe two but is stretched into multiple chapters. I honestly lost track of how many chapters a mental duel lasted as it was far, far more than you'd expect.
There's more screen time to dealing with descriptive digestive issues from food poisoning than to anything that'd hook the reader on the new story arc about why anyone would care about the new quest he's been put against. There's also zero progress to that goal beyond immediate food, water, and crafting a few basic tools. Aaaand, like 80% of that pain and supposed conflict could have been avoided by melting down an ice dagger for water, which is something the MC has already done before. Or, also reusing said ice dagger for a weapon, again, something the MC tried.
If you read the prior books and said to yourself, this would be awesome, just with ten times more stats and less annoying other characters, then this might be your jam, as it's basically hiding away in a cave and allocating points and practicing new crafting abilities.
For myself, I'm kinda disappointed, as there's no meaningful arc here at all, it's almost exclusively development of the character sheet (levels, abilities, attributes), but no meaningful character development. In D&D, it'd be the zero-day, where you chat with your DM on building your character for leveling, not part of the campaign.
I'm still hopeful for the series, but if this went through the Beta readers as is, new (non-uber-fan-bois) Beta readers are needed.
The epilogue on the website pulls off more development with Alma in a few hundred words than the entire book does otherwise.
January 1, 2020
Worst LitRPG Book I’ve read yet!
I’ve been a fan of this series for about a year and a half and have been waiting for this book to come out just as long. Having said that this book is the worst. I’ve read a lot of BAD litrpg’s but they’re usually bad for glossing over world building and game mechanics for the sake of story progression. This book focuses on world building and game mechanics to the point that there is no story progression of note. Seriously if I ever suggest this series now I’ll suggest they skip this book and wait for the next one to come out. They won’t be missing anything important that can’t be learned in a brief online post or more likely a summation in the next book. Also no one wants to read a chapter about massive diarrhea. It’s not funny it’s pointless. I’ll eventually read more books in this series I’m just no longer waiting on them. Just don’t bother with Monsters and read something else.
I’ve been a fan of this series for about a year and a half and have been waiting for this book to come out just as long. Having said that this book is the worst. I’ve read a lot of BAD litrpg’s but they’re usually bad for glossing over world building and game mechanics for the sake of story progression. This book focuses on world building and game mechanics to the point that there is no story progression of note. Seriously if I ever suggest this series now I’ll suggest they skip this book and wait for the next one to come out. They won’t be missing anything important that can’t be learned in a brief online post or more likely a summation in the next book. Also no one wants to read a chapter about massive diarrhea. It’s not funny it’s pointless. I’ll eventually read more books in this series I’m just no longer waiting on them. Just don’t bother with Monsters and read something else.
January 5, 2020
Good joke, Aleron! Where's the real book?
I have enjoyed all of this series: until this book.
It was overflowing with just fillers that people who have read the previous books already knew. 2/3's of the book was written as if by someone else, and certain areas repeated itself unnecessarily. The book didn't have the flow of the previous books until the last 1/3'd of it, or so.
There are multiple spelling and grammar errors that a 1st grade teacher would mark with a red pen. This book read as if it wasn't the 8th book, but a 7.5 book.
If Aleron used a Ghost Writer to help him finish the book, fine. But, at least get one that can copy the flow of the original author's style!!! I felt like I was reading a book written by two different people.
The only two scenes that I felt that was 100% Aleron was the battle with the demon (and that's a stretch since there were so many flashbacks of conversations with Hisako throughout it), and the final battle at the end of the book.
Usually, his stories have a route that you know where it's leading. Either waging war against goblins or invading an undeads territory. I thought that the climax of the book would have been the quest that the demon tricked him into. But the way that the book ended it was VERY anticlimactic. And, as EVERYONE knows, the climax is the goal of any good book...!
This was a long awaited book that was a HUGE letdown. From what he was hinting at on his Panetron site, I was expecting a final battle with the bugbears. But, when I began reading it, I was expecting for him to find a way back to the Mist Village.
Not only didn't either of those things happen, but this book felt like it was half of a book (compared to the previous 7). The story basically led nowhere.
He's still cursed, he's still stuck in the Depths, and he's still miles away from home.
This was a very disappointing read overall. And I hope that book 9 will more than make up for it!!!
I have enjoyed all of this series: until this book.
It was overflowing with just fillers that people who have read the previous books already knew. 2/3's of the book was written as if by someone else, and certain areas repeated itself unnecessarily. The book didn't have the flow of the previous books until the last 1/3'd of it, or so.
There are multiple spelling and grammar errors that a 1st grade teacher would mark with a red pen. This book read as if it wasn't the 8th book, but a 7.5 book.
If Aleron used a Ghost Writer to help him finish the book, fine. But, at least get one that can copy the flow of the original author's style!!! I felt like I was reading a book written by two different people.
The only two scenes that I felt that was 100% Aleron was the battle with the demon (and that's a stretch since there were so many flashbacks of conversations with Hisako throughout it), and the final battle at the end of the book.
Usually, his stories have a route that you know where it's leading. Either waging war against goblins or invading an undeads territory. I thought that the climax of the book would have been the quest that the demon tricked him into. But the way that the book ended it was VERY anticlimactic. And, as EVERYONE knows, the climax is the goal of any good book...!
This was a long awaited book that was a HUGE letdown. From what he was hinting at on his Panetron site, I was expecting a final battle with the bugbears. But, when I began reading it, I was expecting for him to find a way back to the Mist Village.
Not only didn't either of those things happen, but this book felt like it was half of a book (compared to the previous 7). The story basically led nowhere.
He's still cursed, he's still stuck in the Depths, and he's still miles away from home.
This was a very disappointing read overall. And I hope that book 9 will more than make up for it!!!
January 1, 2020
A disappointment in an otherwise great series
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this series, but this book was a letdown. Half the book is spent by Richter reviewing various prompts. There is very little progress made at all. One chapter was wholly gross and unnecessary. Should I read this again, I would skip it entirely as it contributes nothing.
Another thing is the entire book is spent away from any other "main" character. I'm sure the next book in the series will fill in some blanks, but just based on how this one ended, it won't be anytime soon.
The last 30% or so is where it starts to redeem itself. It's just a shame that most of the book is spent in prompts, however important they may be.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this series, but this book was a letdown. Half the book is spent by Richter reviewing various prompts. There is very little progress made at all. One chapter was wholly gross and unnecessary. Should I read this again, I would skip it entirely as it contributes nothing.
Another thing is the entire book is spent away from any other "main" character. I'm sure the next book in the series will fill in some blanks, but just based on how this one ended, it won't be anytime soon.
The last 30% or so is where it starts to redeem itself. It's just a shame that most of the book is spent in prompts, however important they may be.
January 1, 2020
I've only read the first chapter (as the book isn't out yet!) but I am so excited for The Land: Monsters! The first chapter was fantastic, I know what I'll be doing New Years (release date 1/1/20), don't expect to see me out of my house until I read through the rest of what is sure to be an exciting adventure!
Update 1/1/20 - WOW!!!! So fantastic! Well worth the wait, excited to see what book 9 will bring :)
Update 1/1/20 - WOW!!!! So fantastic! Well worth the wait, excited to see what book 9 will bring :)
January 6, 2020
Poopie
Using a term that I wouldn't think I would find in a book for adults to describe said book is weirdly satisfying.
I've had my issues with this story before, with some books being good and some not so much, but this one can't b anything but bad.
It's a 800 page sausage stuffing mess, with literally nothing taking place until the 56% mark. Tables galore push the page count up, but ultimately just make the whole thing hard to read.
This could've been trimmed back down to a 200 page novella and have achieved the same amount.
Using a term that I wouldn't think I would find in a book for adults to describe said book is weirdly satisfying.
I've had my issues with this story before, with some books being good and some not so much, but this one can't b anything but bad.
It's a 800 page sausage stuffing mess, with literally nothing taking place until the 56% mark. Tables galore push the page count up, but ultimately just make the whole thing hard to read.
This could've been trimmed back down to a 200 page novella and have achieved the same amount.
January 20, 2020
It's a good continuation of the series. That said, I am not sure if it's worth the 1-year wait. It may be 800+ pages (Amazon shows it as 866 pages, but this Goodreads page shows it as 400), but it's only 25% of it story -- the rest is a lot of technical details about skills and such. And especially considering there's so much still that's supposed to happen. I feel cheated, and disappointed.
January 1, 2020
Good but needs more.
The best way I can describe how I feel is it was like starting to eat a really good steak and thinking how amazing it is and then you look up and what you thought was going to be a 16 oz steak is actually a 4 oz and some filler.
The best way I can describe how I feel is it was like starting to eat a really good steak and thinking how amazing it is and then you look up and what you thought was going to be a 16 oz steak is actually a 4 oz and some filler.
December 4, 2019
Great series, incredibly humble and awesome author to hang out with! GNOMES RULE!
January 2, 2020
This book is a necessity if you are a fan of the series. It introduces a couple new mechanics, a few new monsters, a new race, a fun dwarven short story, and places an emphasis on crafting which has mostly been neglected by the series to this point.
That being said the book was rushed. No major plot-lines were advanced by the story. The book includes typos and some 'rpg math' mistakes. Monsters reads as if it was cut off 500 pages from the end. I think the author also planned on weaving dual story lines into this book, but quit on the second after a single chapter which was a bit jarring in retrospect. The largest problem, imo, is Kong seems to be making a strong effort to make the book accessible as an entry to the series for first time readers. The majority of the book is burdened by previously introduced explanations of world mechanics and reiteration of backstory known to the reader. Based on the last quarter of the book, this led to writers fatigue followed by a rushed release to appease the masses or possibly his bank account. Hopefully, the next installment is a return to greatness as this series has, by far, the best world-building in litrpg.
That being said the book was rushed. No major plot-lines were advanced by the story. The book includes typos and some 'rpg math' mistakes. Monsters reads as if it was cut off 500 pages from the end. I think the author also planned on weaving dual story lines into this book, but quit on the second after a single chapter which was a bit jarring in retrospect. The largest problem, imo, is Kong seems to be making a strong effort to make the book accessible as an entry to the series for first time readers. The majority of the book is burdened by previously introduced explanations of world mechanics and reiteration of backstory known to the reader. Based on the last quarter of the book, this led to writers fatigue followed by a rushed release to appease the masses or possibly his bank account. Hopefully, the next installment is a return to greatness as this series has, by far, the best world-building in litrpg.
January 4, 2020
Probably the worst offender of this series to date.
HE SPENT LIKE 4 PAGES DESCRIBING IN THE MOST IDIOTIC DETAIL A CASE OF DIARRHEA. I love the STORY that is told in these books, but the dialogue, inner and exterior, is just stupid. This story goes from the end of the last one and all he does through the whole book is learn new skills. No storyline happens, his main character doesn't even develop really, other than skills. Nothing actually happens in this book. Dude.... Why did an editor approve this. You are not the "father" of litrpg. This book is embarrassing. This story seemed like the ramblings of a couple of childish table top gamers after going 4 days without fapping and after too much alcohol. This should not have been released in its current state.
HE SPENT LIKE 4 PAGES DESCRIBING IN THE MOST IDIOTIC DETAIL A CASE OF DIARRHEA. I love the STORY that is told in these books, but the dialogue, inner and exterior, is just stupid. This story goes from the end of the last one and all he does through the whole book is learn new skills. No storyline happens, his main character doesn't even develop really, other than skills. Nothing actually happens in this book. Dude.... Why did an editor approve this. You are not the "father" of litrpg. This book is embarrassing. This story seemed like the ramblings of a couple of childish table top gamers after going 4 days without fapping and after too much alcohol. This should not have been released in its current state.
January 5, 2020
Yikes
Good god this guy needs an editor fiercely, so much filler and time wasting. I love crunchy litRPG and notifications but I'd like some story in there as well. All this book was for the MC to get some new abilities and powers. Also there is a full chapter on diarrhea, nope you didn't read that wrong, diarrhea...
Good god this guy needs an editor fiercely, so much filler and time wasting. I love crunchy litRPG and notifications but I'd like some story in there as well. All this book was for the MC to get some new abilities and powers. Also there is a full chapter on diarrhea, nope you didn't read that wrong, diarrhea...
February 23, 2021
This deserves a full five stars and my unending enjoyment WHILE I'm reading it. I mean, I may have said this before but it bears repeating: I can read this stuff FOREVER without ever getting fatigued.
After all, it's basically an ongoing video game with all the enjoyment of skills progression, leveling up, dungeon crawling, and with a new wrinkle: hardcore debuffs that started with water and food weakness, but progressed all the way through massive (and extremely funny) bowel poisoning.
All the normal reasons for reading this, compared to the ones before, still apply. Only now he's a tier two ascended and he has to start out without any gear, alone, deep in a high-power dungeon. It's a huge departure from the previous novels that had made him grow as a leader, but I was fine with it. It has all the benefits of leveling without character progression or silly romance or pathos. Just give me those skills, baby.
So why did I knock off a star?
Because the damn thing STOPS where no normal book would. It ends on a squarely middle part! I mean, if I were reading all these in a row it wouldn't matter a single bean but I'm not. I expected a MUCH longer novel that actually succeeds in A quest if not the STATED quest earlier on. It's like playing FF7 remake only to get out of the city and see that the whole game just ended. Oh. Wait.
Well, it was still fun WHILE I was reading it! :)
After all, it's basically an ongoing video game with all the enjoyment of skills progression, leveling up, dungeon crawling, and with a new wrinkle: hardcore debuffs that started with water and food weakness, but progressed all the way through massive (and extremely funny) bowel poisoning.
All the normal reasons for reading this, compared to the ones before, still apply. Only now he's a tier two ascended and he has to start out without any gear, alone, deep in a high-power dungeon. It's a huge departure from the previous novels that had made him grow as a leader, but I was fine with it. It has all the benefits of leveling without character progression or silly romance or pathos. Just give me those skills, baby.
So why did I knock off a star?
Because the damn thing STOPS where no normal book would. It ends on a squarely middle part! I mean, if I were reading all these in a row it wouldn't matter a single bean but I'm not. I expected a MUCH longer novel that actually succeeds in A quest if not the STATED quest earlier on. It's like playing FF7 remake only to get out of the city and see that the whole game just ended. Oh. Wait.
Well, it was still fun WHILE I was reading it! :)
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