Max's coworkers treat him like hot garbage and his manager is a superficial dolt. It might be worth it if he made any money but he doesn't. Unfortunately for him, his fate was sealed before he was even born and it's way worse than working part-time in a coffee shop.
Confronted out of the blue by a cackling demonic entity from another world, like a lot of things in his life, Max doesn't take it seriously. So when he's yanked by his bones into that world, he's given every disadvantage the demon can dish out.
When Max finds that he's fallen feet first into an old RPG game his dad played on the NES back in the 90s, he's immediately given two quests: Find the imprisoned girl with the green eyes, and survive. He's not sure which one's worse.
Enter the world of Boneknight in this humorous take on dark fantasy litRPG
I am Tim Paulson, writer of fantasy and science fiction.
I'm currently writing the Bone knight litRPG series. It's fun to revisit the game worlds I enjoyed when I was young. I grew up with Final Fantasy, Mechwarrior, Dragon warrior (known to many as Dungeon Quest), and X-COM. These games, along with a whole lot of movies and books, have informed what I think is cool: Impossible odds and grave decisions with monumental stakes.
Bone knight book nine, the finale for the series, is currently underway. After that is complete, I have a new litRPG series already planned that should come out in time for Christmas 2022.
Also: Audiobooks are on the way and a Boneknight RPG game is currently in development.
If you've enjoyed my books, please leave a review.
Let me start out by saying that I am not a gamer in any way, shape or form. I was extremely worried that I would have no clue when terminology came up and I would miss hidden references. But, I am a fan of Paulson's work and so I gave it a shot. I am so very glad I did. The book lays out the gaming world so clearly that even a dummy like me had no trouble following it. What I did gather was very neat too. I liked when Max would check his health, weapons and Brawler points to see how he was doing. It made the read so much more exciting and nail biting.
One thing to note about this author is that he creates very unique, likable characters with lots of funny dialogue. There were multiple times that I was laughing out loud at the things Max would say. Max was a strong main character and I liked that Paulson changed his usual style to only having one lead. Max starts out as someone who just allows people to step on him. He never speaks up or dares to be more. He then is put in a situation where he needs to either give up or grow as a person. Reading his journey was awesome. Not only do we see him become a stronger person, but we see him actually get physically tougher and come into his own.
His quest, if you will, was jammed packed with action that had me flipping and flipping the pages to find out what happens next. The addition of Raeg to his crew was a surprising but nice one. I didn't expect to like him, but he immediately grew on me and I loved his dynamic with Max! I am very excited to see what happens next. I will definitely be coming back for book 2. I read this in one day. You don't need to be a gamer or even a fantasy lover to enjoy this book. There is action, laughter, adventure, emotion and a very neat eyeball with wings!
well thought out story you don't get lost trying to figure out what the story is it's easy to keep track of what's going on looking forward to more books and keep this series in my collection.
The protagonist was not particularly likable before he got isekaid. Having a wealthy father who is somewhat absent because he is a successful fantasy illustrator does not sound all that bad. It also speaks to his judge of character that he couldn't find any genuine friends. I personally would be proud if my father was a successful fantasy designer and would have used that as a springboard to find friends with similar interests.
The father also works from home given the protagonists recollections involved him introducing his "friends" to his father in his work space on multiple occasions. He also moved out to get away from his father which suggests prolonged contact. The father seems nice and the protagonist admits thats the case which for some reason pisses him off. His father is also financially supportive even after the protagonist moves out. Even here the protagonist falls short, he wants to rise above his fathers shadow but his sense of practicality wins out and he accepts his fathers money despite his supposed venture towards independence. I am not sympathetic towards the protagonists feelings.
You can't really go with your father to award events across the country because you have school. The only problematic behavior would be the constant shift in girlfriends. I can understand wanting a permanent mother figure in your life.
His living situation is also self induced. His life could have been much easier. Now he is working an underpaid part time job with shitty co-workers. He doesn't even defend himself or call out his co-workers bullshit. "My mother is sick" Just say you don't believe her and continue on working. If the girl touches your arm to coax you just pull away. In the managers case, he could have easily replied with "I'm just tired, I had to clean after (x) co-worker mess" The protagonist is aware that he is going to take the blame for the burned muffins because he doesn't bother providing additional context in a timely manner.
The prologue was fine. Its just a flashback of his fathers childhood and the resulting bet that lead to the isekai scenario.
The progression itself was a slow burn which in my opinion does not mix well with the deadline premise. I expected fast paced balls to the wall progression especially since the protagonist has meta knowledge on the setting based on the RPGs he played growing up. What was is called again? "First Fantasy" probably a nod to Final Fantasy.
I just realized I used the word "father" so many times in this rant/review.
Bone knight is and ok litrpg book that I would not recommend going forward with
The Hook (First 5 chapters of a book that grabs your attention to read more)- ehh, it doesn't really have one. The author takes a disgruntled 30 something year old man, father makes a deal with this entity, and poof bone guy.
Characters - This is one of the main ways this book falls short. The MC is whiney, has a ton of angst for a 30 year old dude, and is just plain stupid. Half the novel he is constantly asking questions. I get it, the author wants to give the reader info on the world but it's MC is just dumb and complainer.
Raeg I like better, mostly to try to shut Max up, which doesn't happen often. He has some good qualities for a murderer and way more competent than Max. Ciara is also decent character. She is headstrong and competent.
Dilogue - woof. So the author has Max insert a lot of earth references in this new world and they often miss. None of the characters know what boney is talking about and makes for awkward cringe moments. The MC constantly antagonize people with so much angst over his neglecting father that I side with the father. This man is useless. The dude is the weakest thing in the universe and still picks fights with stronger beings that kick his butt over and over.
Ive read a good amount of litrpg. It fails as a compelling one. Doesn't have a hook or interesting characters. Not enough at least. I give it 3 cause it's avg to slightly below avg at 2.5.
I really enjoyed this. If I have any complaint its that it's a very short book, and I would probably have combined the first 3 books into one. But at the kindle price of £2.99 it's acceptable.
I can't think of a single criticism. I enjoyed the story, the under dog beginnings, the unusual twist in character selection, the world building, the fight dynamics and the character of the denizens of the world. The dialogue wasn't juvenile, which I see in a lot of litrpgs, the MC Max wasn't over powered, in fact he was drastically underpowered with major stat penalties, and he didn't have amazing finds that were lying around just for him. He survived by being clever, adapting what he had, bravery and luck. It made it more relatable. You really get invested in the story and root for him and Reag. It's not your typical Litrpg world either, which is nice. The light forces have ruled unchallenged for so long that they have become corrupt, evil, callous and sadistic, they even have airships that are fuelled by unicorn blood, and compared to Max and what few creatures of Dark alignment that still exist they are massively over powered.
The story has a fast pace, good dialogue, creative writing, reasonable world building, and is immense fun to read.
I stress again. This was a really enjoyable read which I highly recommend. I've now read books 1 -7 and I want to say that each book surpasses the previous one. Books 6 and 7 are simply awesome. This book on its own is well worth reading, but the series as a whole is a MUST read. Its awesome. The author had fun writing this and that seeps through and infects the reader tenfold.
This is a decent story for anyone who likes RPG's and role-playing.
Max has always been indifferent about people. He was always more of a loner since the only reason kids wanted to come over was because of who his dad was. He disliked his co-workers and usually found his best release when he played RPG games.
One day, he believes he is dreaming when he sees a beautiful girl is chains who asks him to free her, all he has to do is agree to a contract. He wakes up before he thinks he has agreed, but when going home from work the next day he suddenly feels excruciating pain and wakes up screaming. He then finds out he is just a skeleton.
He realizes that he seems to be in an alternate world that works just like an RPG. He also finds out that he is weaker than any character he has ever started out with. He has been told that he has a month to complete the contract or he will die forever. When he finds it hard to gain any levels, he decides to create a party. He then finds out that is difficult because no one wants to talk to a skeleton.
This is just the beginning of the story and is a good read for people who play RPS's. I am interested in reading the rest of this series at some point.
More of a 3.5 stars. “Can I interest you in a pamphlet for our lord and saviour Paper Mario?”
This book was exactly what it said on the tin. Not a crazy amount of plot or character depth but definitely a fun time. (I managed to nab it for free so that’s a bonus.)
Everyone getting annoyed at not understanding Max’s random modern day lingo was funny. RPG mechanics were pretty well and concisely explained. I liked the implications of the light side and dark side systems.
Not a major gripe but I feel we didn’t dig into the protag’s backstory/distain for the real world enough to justify him staying. Also I foresaw the Chekhov's Gun and thought the book could have got to using it a bit quicker since the reader could probably figure out when/how it needed to be used.
In my meagre experience of LitRPGs they don’t wrap up/end the story at a particularly good point, (aka cliffhanger of sorts) this is no different but obviously not the end of the world.
TLDR: a fun time, light and frothy but enjoyable nonetheless.
Audiobook: This was my first experience with Tim Paulson's work, and I was very entertained. Although I don't play digital games, I enjoyed the format of this story. Max was drawn into a new world filled with terrifying creatures and given the task of freeing the daughter of the god of death. The worldbuilding was fascinating. I liked the creatures and the fight scenes. I was often amused by the dialogue and the unique circumstances that Max experienced. Tim Paulson's narration was great, and his performance kept my attention. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.
I was super disappointed with this book. So much potential, but alas. Have you read the book Cinnamon Bun? Well imagine Cinnamon Bun was reincarnated as a skeleton and made no level progression. This is what you would get.
The MC is dumb as a rock. Makes dumb choices. Makes no progress because of said dumbness, and can’t figure out why the demon responsible for his reincarnation as a skeleton wants him dead. The answer is he is dumb of course!
I quit reading at the 75% mark because the MC was still level one and things weren’t looking like they were going to change.
Overall this book was well written and a fun read. Fairly RPG lite but does a great job giving the world that old school RPG flavor (the menu screens and sprites help with that as well). I've read stories before where the "side of good" has become so corrupt the "side of darkness" has to rise up to oppose them. Our MC is one such heroic villain... only he didn't really get to choose this role and he's actively hindered by his own side. The book includes plenty of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm interested to see more if this world and look forward to the next installment.
This is a bad start. The main character is idiotic and lazy. The other characters are melodramatic and unoriginal, there is nothing to pull you in. The twist with the demon does not work, it is unbelievable. The crippling start and lack of information is not a test, it is an execution. There is nothing here to draw you in to the story, I'll try book two to see if there is any hope.
This was an enjoyable read and not the more standard LitRPG I'm used to. First off, while readers saw stats the MC didn't really know the full game and we only saw them briefly.
The MC is co-opted into the world and set up to be a weakling.
The plot moves along quickly and the story itself is very readable. I enjoyed the dialogue and the growth of the character both literally in game terms and figuratively as Max begins to realize his own worth.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The protagonist never really made sense to me. Why was he so poorly off, in the beginning, yet was willing to have his dad pay for his rent? Was he trying to cut himself off from his father’s wealth, or not?
Once he got to his new world, why did he leave the cave so readily? Why not explore to find anything the barbarian might have missed? Why didn’t he fiddle with and explore his menus?
Tim Paulson's "A Grim Demise and Even Worse Resurrection," a LitRPG fantasy adventure narrated by the author himself, seamlessly weaves humor and tension. Paulson's writing is as engaging as his narration, creating a delightful experience for fans of dark fantasy and old-school JRPG games. This fully complete Bone Knight series is a must-read, offering a unique journey where a part-time barista tackles a perilous world as a weak skeleton with wit and determination.
Max is a gamer who is soon visited by a flying eye. He is then transported to a grimdark world where he is an undead skeleton. He also has terrible stats. Max must figure out how to game the system, and survive.
This book was light on plot, and nothing made much sense. It is humorous at times, and the world does seem have it out for the "evil" characters.
I am sure many people will enjoy the book, and it is written well compared to most on this genre. Unfortunately it's just boring. The MC is an idiot and the banter that is supposed to be funny just falls short. It's a little too basic and conservative to keep my interest.
This book had me laughing out loud a number of times. I was honestly surprised. I really enjoy Max’s sass, and he certainly is sassy even though nobody has any idea what he’s talking about.
A spectacular story that I highly recommend to anyone who likes JRPGs and enjoys pop culture references at opportune times
His dad sold his sons soul, in his defense his dad was a grade schooler and obviously distracted. His son finds himself disgruntled and insults his guide who sticks him with a skeleton body. He spends the book dying left and right, but ultimately manages to defeat a BBEG and prove he’s not some worthless try hard.
It's not just a philosophical question, but one of practicality as well. The question is examined in an amusingly oblique manner throughout this novel.
This Isekai novel will likely appeal to fans of the LitRPG and high fantasy genres and may appeal to those who enjoy playing RPGs.
I only gave it one because I had to give it something but I'm not a gamer so this was a foreign language to me. I play solitare lol. It might be a perfectly nice read to gamers.
Definitely what I was searching for in a litrpg book. I enjoy the set up, the characters, and the bits of humor. (Not to much and actually clever.) I am looking forward to reading more about Max and his adventures for sure.
Skimming is necessary. Nothing novel in this “novel;” poor world building; horrible litrpg elements; the characters and society are barely tolerable. Read if you’ve nothing better to do.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun and entertaining. The story and characters were interesting and engaging. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book is definitely worth checking out.
If you like a book where the MC actually earns their power instead of it just being given to them or getting it in the first chapter then this is a good read for you
This book had incredible pacing. The author does a great job of making each chapter end in such a way that you just want to read the next one. Great book. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series!!!