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Beast Realms #1
Chrysalis
With regenerative abilities, a badass tail and the potential to evolve his body, how could Art resist choosing a lizard man as his avatar? All’s well until he accidentally joins forces with an acid-spitting, enemy-consuming shadow-bound grub, causing his light-bound guild members turn against him, and a deadly fire mage to wage a vendetta against him.
Venturing through enchanted forests, into mage enclaves atop ice-capped mountains, through thief-ridden sewers and into ancient temples, Art must defeat the Legendary Beasts and claim their gems of power before his enemies can stop him.
With the odds stacked against him, it’s time for Art to undergo some dangerous and unique training.
It’s time for him to evolve!
Venturing through enchanted forests, into mage enclaves atop ice-capped mountains, through thief-ridden sewers and into ancient temples, Art must defeat the Legendary Beasts and claim their gems of power before his enemies can stop him.
With the odds stacked against him, it’s time for Art to undergo some dangerous and unique training.
It’s time for him to evolve!
653 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2020
494 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 26, 2020
Main character makes this book a chore
Aside from picking a cool avatar, the MC is boring and childish. Almost nothing of the smart entomology student survives the game world transition. Instead we're expected to follow an unlikeable MC through a campy adventure with stereotypical, comically bad antagonists. Only made it about 25% through before I quit. I can see why everyone rated it highly though. Good game world, fresh(ish) idea, interesting mechanics. Too bad none of it was used to its potential. Oh and great cover art.
Aside from picking a cool avatar, the MC is boring and childish. Almost nothing of the smart entomology student survives the game world transition. Instead we're expected to follow an unlikeable MC through a campy adventure with stereotypical, comically bad antagonists. Only made it about 25% through before I quit. I can see why everyone rated it highly though. Good game world, fresh(ish) idea, interesting mechanics. Too bad none of it was used to its potential. Oh and great cover art.
August 14, 2020
Needs a re write.
It's unfortunate, the story premise is nice, but it feels like they just removed all kinds of transitions.
The main character says they're going to buy the game and the very next scene is them being loaded into the game, no notice he went shopping, nothing about the equipment, why not just start in the game then?
I had to check twice that I didn't miss a page or something. This is a constant problem.
The main character takes one path to go look for a companion, a different group goes to do something else entirely, in an implied different direction, with a completely different objective only to end up where the main character sprinted to, already killing an enemy there, and having completed their other objective?
It's unfortunate, the story premise is nice, but it feels like they just removed all kinds of transitions.
The main character says they're going to buy the game and the very next scene is them being loaded into the game, no notice he went shopping, nothing about the equipment, why not just start in the game then?
I had to check twice that I didn't miss a page or something. This is a constant problem.
The main character takes one path to go look for a companion, a different group goes to do something else entirely, in an implied different direction, with a completely different objective only to end up where the main character sprinted to, already killing an enemy there, and having completed their other objective?
September 6, 2020
Enjoyed
Enjoyed this with a few niggles as i would of liked a little mix between real life and in game but the overall writing was good and the characters worked well.
Would like to see the next book to see where it all develops
Enjoyed this with a few niggles as i would of liked a little mix between real life and in game but the overall writing was good and the characters worked well.
Would like to see the next book to see where it all develops
October 18, 2020
Wonderful book
Lovely story, well done; it can be difficult to create tension in stories where there are no real consequences, but this is an engaging story anyway!
Lovely story, well done; it can be difficult to create tension in stories where there are no real consequences, but this is an engaging story anyway!
August 8, 2021
EXCELLENT BOOK!!! (long review incoming because I have a lot to say.)
What an awesome LitRPG! There was so much to like about it that I'm not sure where to begin, but let's start with the fact that the main character plays as a LIZARD MAN! That was the reason I picked up the book to begin with, and the premise did not disappoint me. The Lacerta species had plenty of cool and useful traits that Art used throughout the book, and even his tail was practical as both a weapon and a balance aid.
Which brings me to the next point, which is that Art is just a great protagonist all around. He's an average and relatable university student with some life struggles but a kind soul nonetheless, and I appreciated how his scientific interests carried over into the game. Especially his love for bugs. On that note, props to the author for making me—someone who does not enjoy bugs at all—fall in love with a gross little grub creature and a giant spider. Nails is such an awesome animal companion, and hers and Shadow Weaver's cheerful little behaviors and interactions were so fun.
The character's classes were really cool, I found Art's class progression and skills intriguing and well suited to both him and the story. And although Nux (also an awesome character) was a Thief, a pretty basic character archetype, I thought she had some cool unique abilities that mixed things up a bit as well. I found it really easy to cheer for Team Venom and was excited to see what new skills they'd get every time they leveled up!
A few other things I liked:
>The humor was top notch and genuinely hilarious. ("Nux would like to leave Venom. Reason: puns." 😂)
>I appreciated that the out-of-game world was relevant to the story, but that we spent most of the page time inside the game world.
>The world felt inclusive (some other LitRPG's seem to bring in the toxicity that is sometimes found in gamer culture, but I enjoyed that this book lacked that entirely.)
>Hints of lore without bogging down the narrative with exposition. I liked the historical relationship between the Lacerta and the Lupus, for example, it added dimension to the world.
>Despite the fun and fairly lighthearted nature of the story, there was a good level of emotional depth.
>The descriptions were lovely and damn it I just want to play this game!!!
Highly recommend this book for fans or newcomers to the genre! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next installment of Beast Realms.
What an awesome LitRPG! There was so much to like about it that I'm not sure where to begin, but let's start with the fact that the main character plays as a LIZARD MAN! That was the reason I picked up the book to begin with, and the premise did not disappoint me. The Lacerta species had plenty of cool and useful traits that Art used throughout the book, and even his tail was practical as both a weapon and a balance aid.
Which brings me to the next point, which is that Art is just a great protagonist all around. He's an average and relatable university student with some life struggles but a kind soul nonetheless, and I appreciated how his scientific interests carried over into the game. Especially his love for bugs. On that note, props to the author for making me—someone who does not enjoy bugs at all—fall in love with a gross little grub creature and a giant spider. Nails is such an awesome animal companion, and hers and Shadow Weaver's cheerful little behaviors and interactions were so fun.
The character's classes were really cool, I found Art's class progression and skills intriguing and well suited to both him and the story. And although Nux (also an awesome character) was a Thief, a pretty basic character archetype, I thought she had some cool unique abilities that mixed things up a bit as well. I found it really easy to cheer for Team Venom and was excited to see what new skills they'd get every time they leveled up!
A few other things I liked:
>The humor was top notch and genuinely hilarious. ("Nux would like to leave Venom. Reason: puns." 😂)
>I appreciated that the out-of-game world was relevant to the story, but that we spent most of the page time inside the game world.
>The world felt inclusive (some other LitRPG's seem to bring in the toxicity that is sometimes found in gamer culture, but I enjoyed that this book lacked that entirely.)
>Hints of lore without bogging down the narrative with exposition. I liked the historical relationship between the Lacerta and the Lupus, for example, it added dimension to the world.
>Despite the fun and fairly lighthearted nature of the story, there was a good level of emotional depth.
>The descriptions were lovely and damn it I just want to play this game!!!
Highly recommend this book for fans or newcomers to the genre! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next installment of Beast Realms.
September 12, 2020
Totally loved this story and it’s characters, what a twist of an ending
I’ve always loved monster race main characters or characters in general as I’m human everyday. Art as Artheim has a rough start but as all MCs, he finds his way to a cool incredibly flexible oddity of classes, the Gray Knight, a balanced class that can manifest differently in each Gray Knight. I dig the variety and uniqueness for sure, it requires some planning and tactics over rushing in balls out swinging. But that does happen too!
There is definitely progress in personal character growth within both MCs as we watch them and their Beasts evolve as they gain power and face new threats. I’m looking forward to the next book after the cliff hanging ending. 😉
I’ve always loved monster race main characters or characters in general as I’m human everyday. Art as Artheim has a rough start but as all MCs, he finds his way to a cool incredibly flexible oddity of classes, the Gray Knight, a balanced class that can manifest differently in each Gray Knight. I dig the variety and uniqueness for sure, it requires some planning and tactics over rushing in balls out swinging. But that does happen too!
There is definitely progress in personal character growth within both MCs as we watch them and their Beasts evolve as they gain power and face new threats. I’m looking forward to the next book after the cliff hanging ending. 😉
January 25, 2021
Evolution at its finest
Chrysalis - A Fantasy LitRPG by R.P Jones is a literary masterpiece of its own caliber. With periodic shifts between the game and the real world, we see growth in the main character as they recognize the need for change for any measure of growth to occur.
The pet and race system is quite robust providing an endless degree of variability between characters - not to mention even by the end, there are so many more questions to be asked
Chrysalis - A Fantasy LitRPG by R.P Jones is a literary masterpiece of its own caliber. With periodic shifts between the game and the real world, we see growth in the main character as they recognize the need for change for any measure of growth to occur.
The pet and race system is quite robust providing an endless degree of variability between characters - not to mention even by the end, there are so many more questions to be asked
August 30, 2020
Great Book. Almost A Trilogy In Itself
Very entertaining. Quite a good amount of content. Enough that it felt like several books in one. I definitely love the characters. There’s some pretty good character growth going on throughout. Things were pulled together nicely but still left enough open for the next books. Can’t wait to start the next one.
Very entertaining. Quite a good amount of content. Enough that it felt like several books in one. I definitely love the characters. There’s some pretty good character growth going on throughout. Things were pulled together nicely but still left enough open for the next books. Can’t wait to start the next one.
October 20, 2020
Read this !
This was an extremely fun read for me . I really enjoyed following along as the characters and their beasts developed as a team and grew In power . They become family I found myself smiling or gritting my teeth along with their battles and near escapes . I also enjoyed all the creative creatures and the fact that art chose a lizard man . Highly recommend this book.
This was an extremely fun read for me . I really enjoyed following along as the characters and their beasts developed as a team and grew In power . They become family I found myself smiling or gritting my teeth along with their battles and near escapes . I also enjoyed all the creative creatures and the fact that art chose a lizard man . Highly recommend this book.
October 23, 2020
Really cool game world. I like that every character gets a beast and that is a main part of the game. The game world is very well thought out and seems like it would be a legitimately fun game. The characters are well established through their interaction in the book.
August 10, 2020
Well written litrpg
Not many errors, well written, good worldbuilding, and a nice pet system. Has a decent amount of crunch to it and is a good get if you have KU. Give it a shot.
Not many errors, well written, good worldbuilding, and a nice pet system. Has a decent amount of crunch to it and is a good get if you have KU. Give it a shot.
August 11, 2020
Loved it!
Glad to see another nonhuman mc definitely not enough of those! You really left it hanging on the ending there though...clever...I need book 2!
Glad to see another nonhuman mc definitely not enough of those! You really left it hanging on the ending there though...clever...I need book 2!
August 21, 2020
Great book
A solid entry from R P Jones. Lots of action and adventure, factions and evolution. Looking forward to the next one!
A solid entry from R P Jones. Lots of action and adventure, factions and evolution. Looking forward to the next one!
September 5, 2020
Enjoyable
While there weren’t any especially surprising plot twists, I did enjoy the character development, pacing, and world building. Also it was nice to not see some cliches pop up in the protagonists’ relationship that I’ve seen all too often elsewhere.
While there weren’t any especially surprising plot twists, I did enjoy the character development, pacing, and world building. Also it was nice to not see some cliches pop up in the protagonists’ relationship that I’ve seen all too often elsewhere.
September 11, 2020
Nice start to a good series.
Love the originality. Can't wait to see where it goes. Looking forward to more of these guys only sad thing is only one pet.
Love the originality. Can't wait to see where it goes. Looking forward to more of these guys only sad thing is only one pet.
April 4, 2021
Amazing
Brilliant book, great characters, storyline & magic system. Lots of humour & serious parts to the game. Cannot recommend enough.
Brilliant book, great characters, storyline & magic system. Lots of humour & serious parts to the game. Cannot recommend enough.
April 2, 2025
Fun, excited to start book 2.
August 17, 2020
What a page turner
Gripped from start to finish, fantastic characters that build their background over time. The plot is great, some parts I thought it was obvious and then, BAM, I was wrong. And what a way to end it. Can not wait for the next instalment!
Gripped from start to finish, fantastic characters that build their background over time. The plot is great, some parts I thought it was obvious and then, BAM, I was wrong. And what a way to end it. Can not wait for the next instalment!
August 15, 2020
Bugs rule!
Great book. Awesome unique class choice. I cant wait for the next book and to see where the story goes from here
Great book. Awesome unique class choice. I cant wait for the next book and to see where the story goes from here
May 12, 2021
Lizards Love Bugs!
Lizards love bugs and entomologists love bugs, so it makes sense that a college student majoring in entomology and playing a lizard/man hybrid (called a Lacerta) would seek out an insectoid familiar animal in the VRMMORPG Beast Lands. His attraction to a female halfling thief with a Shadow Spider familiar is an entirely different issue.
Lizards love bugs and entomologists love bugs, so it makes sense that a college student majoring in entomology and playing a lizard/man hybrid (called a Lacerta) would seek out an insectoid familiar animal in the VRMMORPG Beast Lands. His attraction to a female halfling thief with a Shadow Spider familiar is an entirely different issue.
November 13, 2020
I honestly got sick of the book around 25% through but carried on skimming most of the rest.
I’m not sure what I really disliked about it but I just couldn’t relate to anything that was introduced to me: the world, the characters, the system. It all seemed kind of fake and shoved in front of me.
Interesting premise with failed execution.
I’m not sure what I really disliked about it but I just couldn’t relate to anything that was introduced to me: the world, the characters, the system. It all seemed kind of fake and shoved in front of me.
Interesting premise with failed execution.
December 18, 2020
Dull, cliched plot/story, flat and childish/dense/ignorant characters, it's not terrible (as far as I read anyway), it's just not good. I've seen all of this done better and also just more *fun*. This book isn't decent enough to mindlessly continue as I do with many books which I read for the sake of pure entertainment, let alone clever enough to stimulate my mind.
September 26, 2020
Got a little more than halfway through and was done.
So this was written fine, it just was not a very interesting story. I found myself slogging through it not caring much about what was happening. I started reading something else and had no interest in picking this back up.
So this was written fine, it just was not a very interesting story. I found myself slogging through it not caring much about what was happening. I started reading something else and had no interest in picking this back up.
December 20, 2021
Cool idea with a so-so execution.
This book's a YA adventure story. It's about two ethimologist students from a near-future earth with little-to-no biosphere remaining, that join a VR online RPG game to escape a somewhat dull life trajectory, thus immersing into a rich world built around nature and dozens of sentient animal races. So far this sounds like most litRPG stories, hence execution is paramount and can make or break the book.
After reading it I'd say its neither. It has its good parts, its boring parts, with everything expected from a litRPG in between.
Brief note! there's a hefty load of "F" bombs in between.
The "ok, you got my attention!":
I liked the slow paced and thoughtful leveling system with low numbers to follow (i.e. 100HP with 100MP on second third)
I also enjoyed the helper avatar's persona "YuAi" even if for limited screen time.
Also the great "Venom" team vibe is great to watch both in action and outside of it.
The evolution system of both the character's body as well as of the pets' is also something that I followed with interest. GG!
In the audiobook, the bard songs are somehow dope.
The "Meh! whatever":
The class system consists in the average rooster, like: thiefs, mages, paladins, bards or gray knights, among many others.
The abilities are average with none that stand out. Run faster, sense the world better, do [this activity] better, etc. The tele/portals are a nice exception.
The quest that drives the plot forward is as generic as it gets: explore the world and find 3 artefacts of power to receive a cool reward.
The "bad, bad, bad! I really expected better."
The world! is lack-luster, with little to no history or lore whatsoever. The reader needs to fill the huge blanks with no hints available. Except of a brief mention of a war/skirmish between the wolf and reptile races (40years ago) and a brief gray knights story of a magical war (1000 years ago) there's no mention of history, topology, politics, kingdoms, etc. It's unclear the technical era of this world. Are there any machineries available? Is it pure fantasy, steampunk, medieval, antiquity? There's a single mention of a "victorian era" like rich neighborhood in one of the cities.
Max, the villan, is sooo unidimetional, that even a dot seams complex in comparison.
The main character! is so badly written I had to reread some chapters thinking I missed something. He's presented as a ethimologist enthusiast IRL, but except his initial thoughts and amazement of the lush world, there are few-to-no moments where these skills are used or mentioned. I would have loved to read some trivia on biosphere from his POV; the serendipity of various elements in the game; his exploits of the world, given his perfect background, anything that would build on the great expectations set in the first chapters. But there's none of that. So dry and dull.
I might countinue the series, but only if on sale and only if I'm lacking any other decent books on wait list. A lot of IFs.
This book's a YA adventure story. It's about two ethimologist students from a near-future earth with little-to-no biosphere remaining, that join a VR online RPG game to escape a somewhat dull life trajectory, thus immersing into a rich world built around nature and dozens of sentient animal races. So far this sounds like most litRPG stories, hence execution is paramount and can make or break the book.
After reading it I'd say its neither. It has its good parts, its boring parts, with everything expected from a litRPG in between.
Brief note! there's a hefty load of "F" bombs in between.
The "ok, you got my attention!":
I liked the slow paced and thoughtful leveling system with low numbers to follow (i.e. 100HP with 100MP on second third)
I also enjoyed the helper avatar's persona "YuAi" even if for limited screen time.
Also the great "Venom" team vibe is great to watch both in action and outside of it.
The evolution system of both the character's body as well as of the pets' is also something that I followed with interest. GG!
In the audiobook, the bard songs are somehow dope.
The "Meh! whatever":
The class system consists in the average rooster, like: thiefs, mages, paladins, bards or gray knights, among many others.
The abilities are average with none that stand out. Run faster, sense the world better, do [this activity] better, etc. The tele/portals are a nice exception.
The quest that drives the plot forward is as generic as it gets: explore the world and find 3 artefacts of power to receive a cool reward.
The "bad, bad, bad! I really expected better."
The world! is lack-luster, with little to no history or lore whatsoever. The reader needs to fill the huge blanks with no hints available. Except of a brief mention of a war/skirmish between the wolf and reptile races (40years ago) and a brief gray knights story of a magical war (1000 years ago) there's no mention of history, topology, politics, kingdoms, etc. It's unclear the technical era of this world. Are there any machineries available? Is it pure fantasy, steampunk, medieval, antiquity? There's a single mention of a "victorian era" like rich neighborhood in one of the cities.
Max, the villan, is sooo unidimetional, that even a dot seams complex in comparison.
The main character! is so badly written I had to reread some chapters thinking I missed something. He's presented as a ethimologist enthusiast IRL, but except his initial thoughts and amazement of the lush world, there are few-to-no moments where these skills are used or mentioned. I would have loved to read some trivia on biosphere from his POV; the serendipity of various elements in the game; his exploits of the world, given his perfect background, anything that would build on the great expectations set in the first chapters. But there's none of that. So dry and dull.
I might countinue the series, but only if on sale and only if I'm lacking any other decent books on wait list. A lot of IFs.
January 1, 2021
Not what I expected, sort of.
It was what I expected because it is a LitRPG book, but it wasn’t what I expected because I never felt any connection to the characters, no empathy was evoked. The main character, Art, started as a wishy-washy “I-don’t-want-to-hurt-this-grub” kind of character and although he improved throughout the book I found him barely likable by the end of it.
The secondary character, Nux, was as wishy-washy. The beast companions were ok but, as with every aspect of this book, I hoped for more and was delivered less.
I don’t think I’ll continue the series, even with the cliff-hangar ending.
It was what I expected because it is a LitRPG book, but it wasn’t what I expected because I never felt any connection to the characters, no empathy was evoked. The main character, Art, started as a wishy-washy “I-don’t-want-to-hurt-this-grub” kind of character and although he improved throughout the book I found him barely likable by the end of it.
The secondary character, Nux, was as wishy-washy. The beast companions were ok but, as with every aspect of this book, I hoped for more and was delivered less.
I don’t think I’ll continue the series, even with the cliff-hangar ending.
March 26, 2021
I want to start off by saying I really appreciate not only that the species options were decent, but that the main character picked a non-human one. +1 star just for that
Unfortunately the rest of the book is really dull. I kept looking focus and was easily distracted away from the story.
Oh, and if you're going to create a Jedi analogue, maybe don't introduce it using a Yoda/Ikrit analogue. I might not have immediate jumped to Grey Knights are Jedi if you hadn't recreated the Dagobah seen.
Unfortunately the rest of the book is really dull. I kept looking focus and was easily distracted away from the story.
Oh, and if you're going to create a Jedi analogue, maybe don't introduce it using a Yoda/Ikrit analogue. I might not have immediate jumped to Grey Knights are Jedi if you hadn't recreated the Dagobah seen.
September 7, 2020
Some what enjoyable if not a bit lengthy
The ideas and premise of the book we're good, execution felt kind of lengthy or drawn out and found my interest was more piqued by the what might happen vs what was actually happening. The game system felt a bit basic and limited and with legendary creatures and very high levels beings being level 20 but the MC getting to level 10 in a week or two just seemed a little arbitrary. I'll likely check out the next book because I'm curious
The ideas and premise of the book we're good, execution felt kind of lengthy or drawn out and found my interest was more piqued by the what might happen vs what was actually happening. The game system felt a bit basic and limited and with legendary creatures and very high levels beings being level 20 but the MC getting to level 10 in a week or two just seemed a little arbitrary. I'll likely check out the next book because I'm curious
April 11, 2021
Awesome!
Where to start. First off, a great read. Brilliant for those that enjoy seeing old literary or movies references. Also good for those who have a love for myths and mythical creatures. When I came across some of said references, I couldn't hold back a grin. The knowledge of the animals used throughout as whole, was well thought out. Thoroughly enjoyed reading Chrysalis. Would recommend it
Where to start. First off, a great read. Brilliant for those that enjoy seeing old literary or movies references. Also good for those who have a love for myths and mythical creatures. When I came across some of said references, I couldn't hold back a grin. The knowledge of the animals used throughout as whole, was well thought out. Thoroughly enjoyed reading Chrysalis. Would recommend it
March 17, 2022
Was a decent read. Lots of things I liked. The beast focus, evolution of physical abilities (esp the tail stuff)...I really liked the direction and magic system.
Was let down the character development. The character interactions especially felt a bit flat and somehow didn't get me feel for it. The emotional content was missing, which made things feel a bit flat.
I'll keep an eye out still and hopefully get to rest of books by the author.
Was let down the character development. The character interactions especially felt a bit flat and somehow didn't get me feel for it. The emotional content was missing, which made things feel a bit flat.
I'll keep an eye out still and hopefully get to rest of books by the author.
June 10, 2023
Occupational Arrogance
There were areas where the main characters seemed especially dumb or arrogant, specifically Art. Otherwise an enjoyable tale. The audio and Kindle have significant editing differences and should be looked at. The Kindle which I assume is older had some of my preferences but the additional detail in the audio is appreciated.
There were areas where the main characters seemed especially dumb or arrogant, specifically Art. Otherwise an enjoyable tale. The audio and Kindle have significant editing differences and should be looked at. The Kindle which I assume is older had some of my preferences but the additional detail in the audio is appreciated.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews