The war for control of Hayden’s Knoll begins as a massive army invades the zone. Raytak gathers his forces and marches the legion out to meet the foe. Allies and friends rally to the cause, but will their support be enough to stem the tide? Thousands will clash, and with every swing of his sword and every command given to his army, Raytak is one step closer to remembering those he loves.
Not gonna write any spoilers. Really disappointed in the author. Great story great premise, but the author could be bothered to see the story to the end. Wove all the complicated interwoven plots just to abandon them randomly just after the climax. Turns me away from any other works by him. What's the point of getting invested when he's just going to abandon them when he gets bored. Take a break. Wait to see if the inspiration will return. Really poor form. Pathetic end to a much better deserving MC.
It's not often a series like this actually finishes but in this case it made sense. An exciting action filled story. I hope to see more stories set in the limitless lands soon. Love the world that has been built and would love to see it explored in a different way
The game balance went completely out of whack in this one, purely for dramatic tension. The direction of the war was obvious and felt forced, the ending was abrupt and poorly written. The sudden ending was anticlimactic and left you feeling let down without any closure. This one ruins the series, if anyone sees this before starting book one, do NOT start this series. You will be disappointed.
This novel was everything I expected from a series finale, even though I had no idea it was it before I saw it advertised as such in the release.
It scratched the military itch that this book has done so well in the past, it pulled at your heartstrings with how the story played out and functionally and successfully closed out one of the best story-led LitRPG series in the genre.
Narbos plans to invade Hayden's Knoll and with Zipp's help and underworld army, he probably will succeed.
Raytak leads his men out to confront Narbos and Zipp before they fall on the ogres of the Goreaxe Mountain.
Zipp betrays Narbos and steals the majority of his army. He then initiates a clan-wide invasion of Narbos' own region whilst it it empty of defenders (they're all in Hayden's Knoll), whilst his sister, Lily, invades another neighbouring region.
Narbos and Raytak form a tentative agreement to cease hostilities until they've dealt with Zipp and his clan.
As Zipp's army heads towards Holdfast, Raytak persuades the ogres to leave Goreaxe Mountain and seek shelter in the captial city of Haydens Knoll.
Because of the long train and slow movement of the ogre civilians, Raytak needs time to get everyone safely to the city.
Ty leads some delaying operations on Zipp's army as they move on after conquering Holdfast. Zipp's army is slowly whittled down and delayed for several days culminating in a large battle at the ruins of the old Hayden's Knoll at the crossroads.
Zipp then continues on towards the capital of the region. He uses his Wurms to undermine the city's defences and attack their strong points. Raytak leads his men to defend the city.
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Firstly, to address some of my grumbles with this last book... there were too many loose threads left undone. Zipps head was taken by Darkfallow but did he respawn and seek revenge? If not, did Lily seek revenge? Are Zipp's clan still in power in the underworld having lost their army on the surface when being pressured by other clans?
The ending seemed rushed. We've had plenty of time to flesh out the action in the previous books but the big battle at the end of the series seemed to be m'eh. As soon as Zipp's head is taken, Raytak is pulled out of the battle and sent to see his wife and family at the cabin on the Lake. Talk about whiplash.
Very little was said about the aftermath of the battle. Nothing about the future of the region and its neighbours. Seemed like the author wanted to end the story quickly when there was another 1/4 of a book to write. Too many questions left unanswered, which left me disappointed.
The editing didn't seem as good in this book either. The constant use of sewing instead of sowing started to annoy me (just one example of the poor editing).
The story still had the fun action parts with Ty and Raytak, at times, but Yendys and her beetle just became annoying. Yeah, she's Raytaks granddaughter but I had very little interest in her actions. Felt like the author was trying to write his own daughter into the story rather than entertain the reader.
Many niggles with this one and a very disappointing ending (too sudden and too brief). Still enjoyed reading it though.
Enjoyed it - 3 stars
++++ MY STAR RANKING SYSTEM: - 5 Stars - Personal favourite - 4 Stars - Loved it - 3 Stars - Enjoyed it - 2 Stars - Found it lacking - 1 Star - DNFed / Hated it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
As engaging as the first few books were, lately it becomes apparent that the author is not focused on the writing itself, other things are on his mind is my guess. This goes from dropping willynilly sudden additions (engineer turning up and helping, why?) into the story, forgetting about one person being present (one book earlier) and ending on writing this whole book without making use of any of the (critical) upgrades of his garrison....how can something be interesting, if all can easily be resolved?....resulting in a situation, where this reader became very uninterested in how things turned out.... clearly the book(s) needed review/feedback. Being published anyway means author is now on my blacklist.
4th and 5th book need to be redone its hard to believe it was the same author things started going downhill since 4th book but 5th one was on another level I feel like I just wasted my time reading the first three books the ending feels rushed and poorly concluded so many loose ends storywise im deeply disappointing feels like the story was cut short half way at this point i feel like the story should have ended at book 3 and should have had left the rest to reader imagination at least then the reader could come up with a decent ending such a waste
With our spoiling it, the book started very strong. The book also ended on the same type.of note as the iron druid chronicles. It seems like the author decided that he was done with the series, but failed to close the series properly.
This is the last book in a series I bought some time ago. Had I not bought all five books at the same time, I would not have read this, as the series is not very good. But since I had it, I decided to finish the story I started some time ago.
Before getting to my review of the book as written, I need to say that my opinion was formed in part by the way the book was read by Jack Voraces. He is perhaps the worst professional narrator in the business. His dialog voices are gratingly horrible: his children's voices are screeching and weirdly emphasized and his accents are worse than Dick van Dyke's Cockney accent in Mary Poppins. (He should never be allowed to attempt an American accent under any circumstance.) It's possible that the terrible narrator made the writing seem worse than it actually was, but I can only review what I have.
This series has a serious "How do you do, fellow kids" problem. There are several young people playing characters in the game here, and none of them shows any resemblance to actual children. These characters seem to have been included to add a cute and entertaining break from the war storyline of the rest of the book. At this, they fail abjectly. This is exacerbated by Voraces, of course.
Another major distraction in this series is the character names. I could have understood bad PC names as explained by trollish players, but the NPC names are at least as bad. They might be usable in a straight comedic book, but this book intends seriousness, and the names detract from the effect significantly.
The game design seems to be interesting, with what seems to be a detailed wargame with historical roots. Unfortunately, the author was not able to make the play of the game match its design, spending too much time on recitations of stats and being apparently incapable of creating a mental map for the reader.
Finally, I did like the epilogue, but even there, the transition from the action of the story to that denouement was abrupt, removing impact from the story itself.
The premise of 'dying military hero gets one last hurrah in a VR video game' had promise. The series started out fairly well, but the combination of the narrator and the writer's inability to write compelling military fantasy did not realize that promise. (For a better military LitRPG, see, for example, "Warlords of the Circle Sea", by Ember Lane.) My decision to finish the series was a classic example of the Sunk Cost Fallacy.
A great ending to an old soldier’s last great adventure, to rediscover who he is
I truly loved this entire set of books, the Limitless Lands setting is fitting for the genre but the gameplay styles the AI adapts for players makes for some very engaging and deep stories and characters as we saw with Raytak.
Raytak was very likable to me as both a veteran and a gamer, and the arc of his story through the books kept me engaged and chomping at the bit for the next installment. I appreciate that it was set to end, and personally feel that it was a god and just ending for a living and virtual legend.
The final battle for the Zone begins when Narbos and Zipp invade Hayden’s Knoll, before almost everyone’s plans meet Murphy and his chaotic ways. Zones at war mean a lot of troops and a chance for commanders to shine or fall.
It was a well thought out battle on both sides with some surprises that just didn’t work out for either side, as expected in war. An interesting caveat was that those involved in the war are incommunicado unless you are also part of the war, this makes for much better atmosphere in instances where communication can be controlled outside the game.
I was happy with the ending and felt the story was wrapped up well, even though I was wishing for so many other things to be fleshed out... as any good story leaves you wan to be more, so did the Limitless Lands story of Colonel James Raytak and the real life struggle of his son Trey to have just one more conversation, one lucid moment with his father, even if he is wishing to bring him home. Hope is powerful whether or not things go your way, you can pave a road for others...
The limitless land books have been some of the most enjoyable lit RPG books that I've read to date. As a student of Roman history, and a reenactor, seeing that sort of style put into a fantasy setting was fantastic. Raytak's class had been the sort of thing I'd love to see come to an MMO and it's pretty awesome to see it brought to life.
This book was a good culmination of everything else that has happened within the series. though the timeline felt a bit rushed, in order to finish it in the arbitrary amount of time that the author set, the overall feel of the book was good and the pacing was decent. There wasn't any further character development that I could see beyond a bit more about Phineas, but at this point in the story there didn't need to be. there's enough crunch though with troop numbers the crunchiness got a bit higher than usual but overall was a good set for lit RPG. Raytak continued to embody Acta non verba and continued to be an enjoyable character to follow
Glad to have been along the ride for this series up until it's conclusion. Ad Astra, Raytak.
A Bittersweet Ending To A Wonderful Quintet Of Novels
Spoilers follow in this review; start with the first book of the series -- I promise it is worth doing so!
This novel ends Colonel Raytak's adventures in the Virtual Reality of the Limitless Lands. The old soldier, teacher, and business man fights his last great war, regains his memories, and retires to the bosom of his family in idyllic cabin by a lake in a great wooded area.
Eventually, like all men, he will live only in the memories of those who knew him and those who learn the story of his life and adventures. Unlike most people though, there is a monument to his life in the real world and the virtual world to keep his memory alive for generations to come.
This Series of LitRPG novels may appeal to fans of the wider Fantasy genre and to fans of the Military Fiction genre as well as to those who enjoy playing RPGs.
Great ending book but wrap-up leaves you kinda hanging...
Great ending book. Good balance of the storytelling and conveying the battles with keeping them interesting and realistic.
I was kind of disappointed with the wrap-up though. Did Raytak get promoted? Did he get new resources? Did he finish unifying Hayden's Knoll and go on to conquer Bharga’s Crossing? Did Delling "win" in his class? And of course as someone else pointed out on Facebook, what happened to the rest of the folk?I
Author said he'll do "something" in regards to wrapping up things more. Little vague so only 4 stars as the ending was somewhat disappointing in this regard.
As a final note, adding a 'Glossary' to help with recapping.
Good story, up until the last couple of % of the book. The story in this book wraps up nice and once again our heroes defeat a seemingly impossible enemy. The evil is killed and the town is saved. But after this the MC gets his memories back, goes to his wife and meets his other family. Nice reunion? Sure, but the problem is that this exchange, incl. the death of the MC happens in the last 5 pages. It feels rushed for an end to the book.
Furthermore, there are a lot of plotholes left open from the last fight in the book. One can't help but wonder what happend with that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Now this was amazing!! It was an awesome ride from start to finish, with an amazing conclusion. Honestly, it was one of the best endings I have read and it does take an emotional chunk out of you. Totally unprepared for that.
The story was very very well written and was very engaging. There’s victory and defeat, happiness and heartache, hope and despair. Everything to make for a long sleepless night of reading and day of melancholy right after you’re done with it.
I don't mind that the story ended but do mind the way in which it was done. In part you made the book about BUILDING. We followed along as the community grew along with the people who were part of the community. You ending does not provide us with any thing about the immediate recovery and or growth in the after math of the massive invasion. I am disappointed and feel let down.
There's really no need to say much more to this review than that if you're a fan of any of the following genres: fantasy, military, tactics, adventure, and litRPG, then you can certainly do waaaaay worse than this series. A very clean place to conclude the story. I like stories like this, very focused on the character while still managing to provide a proper world building. As I've said, if you're a fan of ANY of those given genres then you'll most likely find this mildly entertaining at worst.
Well, it’s finally here. The [SPOILER] last book in the series. It has a lot of action, a little bit of out of game content, and is a very entertaining ride throughout.
Absolutely give it a read and enjoy it. I hope more good books come out soon, especially if they have classes as engaging as the commander class.
Good job I all but devoured the first 75% of the story but I felt myself dragging during the last half. I didn't want to finish it and I still can't believe it. I knew it would happen but it feels all rushed a golden glow no comedian from the last bit just a flat detour. I loved it... but I hated it.
I loved his other 4 books. They all had great endings and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. This ending feels like the orginal mass effect 3 ending. 90 percent of the book is great but I think the author couldn't figure out how he wanted to end it or rushed the ending
Such a great story. It traded off beat moments in a game and in real life as the game fixed the real world man. Done very well and nice to read a smaller type story where it’s more about someone’s life than saving the world or society. I have read more intriguing stories in this genre but never one so touching at the end.
This was an interesting an enjoyable series, where the character's power is really derived from the forces they lead rather than their own power. I found Invasion to be a fitting and satisfying conclusion. I'll have to check out other works from the author to see what I think, as I suspect I'll miss getting to read these books as they were released.
I would say that the ending is more sweet than bitter. The death of the main character usually makes the story a sad one, and I give such stories 1*, but in this case it ended on such an appropriate note. I also really appreciate the synopsis of the previous story, because it had been some time since I had read those. I wish more authors would do that.
Every book in this series has been amazing And this one was no different. Truly all inspiring an absolute perfect Journey you really could not ask for more. Look read this book series it is amazing you will not be disappointed Dean Henegar captured a Perfect mix of action and a powerful storyline.
Fantastic Characterization ... As always ... I still want more ... Was content with the hero's resolution ... Though saddened by the fact that ... No spoilers ... LoL ... With so many great character's I see no limit to " Limited Lands "
You keep bringing them ... I am sure I will keep reading them.
So often writers will start out with an idea of what they want to write and then expand the premise out of proportion to the story, that didn't happen here. In a bittersweet end to a series we find out the ultimate fate of the hero we have been following for five books, and are satisfied with the outcome.
I've really enjoyed reading Raytak's story. A brave man his entire life, he defended innocent people by going through the Military. Then... He got old. The medpod adventures of a veteran soldier in the game Limitless Lands inspired me. I'll probably reread this tale.
If you love a great story, then this is a series you need to read. Well written, great characters, and an enjoyable arc. Do yourself a favor and read the Limitless Lands.