All aboard the hype train for the latest MMORPG Aerda Online!
As an early backer, I get to play the Phylomancer, a mage class that masters spells by bonding with companions.
But little did I expect this game would suck me in unlike any other…
Now, I face the savage Beastfolk, poised to overrun the wild north of Aerda. I’ll need to find my companions, bind them to me, and with their help become the master of the elements.
If I don’t, the North will fall.
Disclaimer: This LitRPG harem fantasy adventure for men is part 1 of 3 in a completed series. It features: - A pure mage-class MC who gets Isekai’d from Seattle into an MMORPG! - An icy northern Priestess (although there are ways to get her to warm up…). - A sweet but fierce Elven Ranger. - Beastfolk, Fauns, Satyrs, and an Ogre that meet the business end of the MC’s fire and ice magic! - Forests, mead halls, medieval hamlets, and dungeon crawling in a rich, Viking-inspired setting. - Crunchy game mechanics inspired by tabletop RPGs, including skill checks, level-based character progression, stats, spell descriptions, loot, and all the LitRPG goodness that comes with them! - Explicit scenes. No NTR, sharing, or cheating.
At my request I received a copy of this audiobook in order to give a fair and unbiased review.
Genre: VR Isekai ish LitRPG fantasy harem
Power dynamics in harem: The girls follow the lead of the MC Explicit/adult material: Explicit and well done. Human. Elf.
Summary: After being an early backer on kickstarter, finally it is time to start up the game. But instead. The MC is teleported to the world, with the class he had selected and find himself with some beautiful women in need of help in a world under siege by all kinds of beastkin.
Narrator Voice diversity: Every character has their own voice that support their personality well Pacing and intonation: Erin Bateman is a great storyteller using pacing and intonation masterfully to engage and captivate the listener. Sex scenes: Very well done. Overall Narration: 5 / 5 stars.
The book’s strengths. - The respawn system and the dynamics it could have on the harem later on is really interesting. - The girls have goals/aspirations of their own, not only to please the MC - The girls feel different and have clear personalities and roles in the harem - The litRPG is used well and doesn't feel overwhelming but gives a framework for the interesting combat dynamics of the book - The narration
The book’s weaknesses. - For me the book could have been even stronger if the girls had stronger flaws.
Knowing how good this author can be and how good the story can be, all I have to ask is: WTF Jack?
"Crunchy" is an understatement. The boom has so many numbers and checks that they dominated. Totally takes away immersion.
The MC is pretty much a lackluster loser who at one point pines for life back on Earth which by his own definition is boring, privileged, spoiled, and everything that is wrong with modern society. I generally don't like characters in an isekai who get sent to a place with literal magic and can use it, wanting to go back to Earth. Unless you give them a really compelling reason for actually doing so, it just doesn't work. Few pull it off well. But when the cited reasons are trash, then it is far more off-putting. "Job security" was cited as one of the reasons, as if that is a thing in the first place, let alone a compelling reason to return to Earth. I get safety to some degree, if I am being realistic, but the point is to escape reality... Having an MC like this just isn't compelling. I don't want to follow a person around who is so spineless.
I get it is haremlit and I don't mind that, but descriptions of the women and other sex-related things sometimes come at very awkward times and it's jarring.
Overall, worst Jack Bryce book I have ever read. Read literally anything else by him, and you'll have a far superior time.
As far as Gamelit Harem books go, it’s a worthwhile start. Having fewer spelling and grammatical errors than I see normally among self published book, it read like a live action game of D&D, complete with experience points for quests completed.
The main character didn’t start out like a lot of MCs do in other books. He wasn’t a badass in search of something, or a lovable nice guy who was just seen as a friend by all the attractive girls. He is a man with a relatively good life looking for something more.
The few supporting characters were suitably fleshed out (pun intended), but I look forward to seeing how well their characters are developed. I’m hoping they don’t become one note girls as the MC looks for his next lay.
The concept of the phylomamcer was interesting, if not new, but it was fleshed out appropriately.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Our hero is drawn into a gaming world where he has to power up to defeat that bad guys. He does that by bonding with his companions, thus enter our heroine (soon to be plural).
This is the first book in a Fantasy LitRPG story. The story is well written and easy to read with a lot of the standard elements you would expect in the genre, as well as a few variations. This one is a little heavy of the game mechanics for my taste, as it makes for awkward reading and slows the story down. On the other hand, the relationships actually have a bit more depth to them than the typical harem story, and that is a definite plus. Overall, I thought this was a good start and I look forward to seeing where it goes next.
Recommended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes
The world was pretty bleak and generic, and his companions, while attractively described (a sylvan elf should be petite and lithe rather than well-endowed with wide hips IMO - minor complaint), had almost no depth; they felt like NPCs to the last. The mobs were somewhat interesting, at least.
The gameplay aspects were a little overwhelming and took away from the isekai immersion. Instead of organic fights we get rolls and actions and are expected to keep track of mana and stam points for both MC and enemies.
Finally, the main reason for my low rating: 300 pages of mud, gore and sweat, and not a single bath. The sex scenes were just not enjoyable thinking about how bad they must smell.
If you like stories that give you page after page of dice rolls and whether or not the role is successful or whether or not it fails then this. Story is going to be for you.
If you want tales of high adventure and of magic and sorcery and you want a good story with good sex scenes and a natural plot. Then this story is not for you.
And that's not to mention that at the end of the story. There is page after page after page of stats. And I think it was put in there just to put page fillers in to meet the minimum requirements.
This is an excellent book I really enjoyed reading the story about the characters and the world. The characters were well represented and the world building was interesting. There was lots of action and it also had some light RPG elements and I enjoyed seeing the main character progress and become stronger. The spicy scenes were well done and did not detract from the story but shown the love the main character had for his lady loves and they for him. All together a fun read hope to read the next one soon.
Say what you want about romance elements, but I really enjoyed this regardless and it was remarkably well written. I burned through it in like 2 days. At first I was like 'oh my what am I getting into' and then I was like 'bring me the harem. I need more' Needless to say, quite a fun read. Wish there was a little more to building relationships, guy moves fast haha but that's his power I guess
The series started off ok but wasn't great. After the first couple of times I didn't see any reason to know the actual dice rolls, a simple passed my check would have sufficed.
As the series continues, the characters get less interesting with their one dimensional portrayal and by the third book I stopped caring about what happened to any of them.
Overall I give the series a 2 out of 5. Jack Bryce has written much better series (check out the apocalypse Cultivator series)
There really isn't much to say, it wasn't terrible but it's something I'll probably never re-read. All the characters were pretty flat and the fight scenes were okay. MC fights for his life with for one of his harem members and in the end she's leaving the party to stay in her lands, so it felt like a big waste of time at the end.
A really good beginning for a series!!! No over powered MC nor is magic so overpowering it borders on ludicrous!!! I really enjoyed the story and the adult fantasy. Keep it going !!!! Please
The description doesn’t do the story justice. When it says “crunchy” mechanics it means half the words will be game text, and half the words will be story.
Like opening a jar of peanut butter to find raw nuts.
Convinced me that d&d might not be my game. I enjoyed the story but the multitude of simple math requiring knowledge of or research into books of reference materials for each individual action in battle is just to much for this ancient math impaired
3.5. Ok overall, but seemed uneven in pacing and the characters were pretty 2D. It has some potential (and it's a completed series) so I'll probably try book 2.
It's like reading the must boring table top have ever. There is a build up for smut action, but honestly I couldn't make it that far. It was just to cringe to keep going. Like 70's porn dialogue bad. It reads like someone with zero experience playing games or talking to women tried to write a harem litrpg. It's like some weird and awkward fusion of neckbeard stereotypes and low budget Bollywood.