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Forgotten Ruin #3
Violence of Action
Speed, surprise, and aggression... Hit on Jackpot is go.
The scourge of the Savage Lands, an ancient dragon allied to a gathering storm of dark forces threatening the world of Ruin, becomes the next target of the most fearsome shock troops ever conceived, prepared, and trained for total war: U.S. Army Rangers.
Deep beneath a once-fantastic ruined empire, a creature more terrible, diabolical, and malevolent than any myth ever told lies atop a vast hoard of wondrous treasure and deadly magic, dreaming dreams of greed and terror. The Rangers of the Ruin will thread the dangerous trap-laden depths of a deadly desolation sinking into a foul swamp in order to get their hit on the ancient prize.
But wyrm be warned, the fight you pick with Rangers... is going to be the last fight you pick.
It’s Rangers vs. Dragon as the saga of Forgotten Ruin continues!
The scourge of the Savage Lands, an ancient dragon allied to a gathering storm of dark forces threatening the world of Ruin, becomes the next target of the most fearsome shock troops ever conceived, prepared, and trained for total war: U.S. Army Rangers.
Deep beneath a once-fantastic ruined empire, a creature more terrible, diabolical, and malevolent than any myth ever told lies atop a vast hoard of wondrous treasure and deadly magic, dreaming dreams of greed and terror. The Rangers of the Ruin will thread the dangerous trap-laden depths of a deadly desolation sinking into a foul swamp in order to get their hit on the ancient prize.
But wyrm be warned, the fight you pick with Rangers... is going to be the last fight you pick.
It’s Rangers vs. Dragon as the saga of Forgotten Ruin continues!
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2021
174 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Jason Anspach
186 books840 followersJASON ANSPACH is the author of Galaxy's Edge, Wayward Galaxy, Forgotten Ruin. and more.
He lives in Puyallup, WA with his wife and their seven (not a typo) children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
June 24, 2021
Violence of Action by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole is our opportunity to see the Rangers go raiding. To do what they do best: kill things and break stuff. The non-linear flow of the pseudo-memoir style of the Forgotten Ruin series works really well here, as we shift back and forth between the actual hit and the weeks of planning that led up to it.
In addition to the military nerdery, there is a bonus at the end of the book, comprising almost a third of its length in the Kindle edition I have. It is the lost pages of the Book of Skelos, the story of how the Ruin came to be. It makes sense in the narrative of the book, and also in a meta way as a bit of service for the fans.
One of the things I enjoy about Anspach and Cole’s writing pace is that they can respond to their fans in almost real-time. After the first two books came out, a common complaint I saw in their fan groups on Facebook was that Talker talked too much about coffee, and that the narrative didn’t follow a straight line. I feel like those things were features not bugs, so I’m glad to see the authors having a bit of fun with this. Your complaints have been filed.
The immense cultural imprint of Dungeons and Dragons has had a baleful impact on adventure fiction, with vast numbers of books being written either as tie-in marketing efforts to existing properties or with the game itself serving as direct inspiration for stories. Unfortunately, this copy of a copy process has resulted in output that isn’t quite as sharp as the original.
Forgotten Ruin is the most fun I have had with a D&D inspired property in ages. I think part of the magic here is that Anspach and Cole have a wealth of their own material to add in to the story, forging something new in the process. One of the strengths of Campbelline-era science fiction was the ability to educate a reader in some principle of science while otherwise telling a story that resembled a Western. If you are willing to cast off the self-imposed shackles of “hard” scifi, you can see that this idea can be extended to just about any field of knowledge, such as linguistics, anthropology, or now military doctrine.
Today, men mostly read non-fiction and women mostly fiction, but this was less true when much of the popular adventure stories for men were this kind of hybrid of fiction and non-fiction. I hope that something like this can gain popularity again.
By drawing on a deeper well than just re-cycled RPG sessions, Violence of Action provides a more satisfying story than a lot of D&D inspired works. The stuff of myth and legend, tales as old as time itself.
Ovid wrote:
… vigil nitido patefecit ab ortu
purpureas Aurora fores et plena rosarum
atria: diffugiunt stellae, quarum agmina cogit
Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit
Aurora, awake in the glowing east, opens wide her bright doors, and her rose-filled courts. The stars, whose ranks are shepherded by Lucifer the morning star, vanish, and he, last of all, leaves his station in the sky – Metamorphoses 2.114–115;
However, that isn’t to say that absolutely everything in the book is serious. The book largely shares the deviant sense of humor that military men often have, a survival technique when you deal with death on a regular basis.
Overall, I find this blend just about perfect. Action, adventure, humor, and mythic resonance all together. Hopefully there will be more like it to come. This review is for the ebook version, but I did the first book in audio, and I think the audio version was exceptionally well done. The audio version of Violence of Action won’t be out for some time, but I expect that Christopher Ryan Grant’s narration will be just as good as the first time.
Violence of Action is highly recommended.
I received a free review copy from the authors.
In addition to the military nerdery, there is a bonus at the end of the book, comprising almost a third of its length in the Kindle edition I have. It is the lost pages of the Book of Skelos, the story of how the Ruin came to be. It makes sense in the narrative of the book, and also in a meta way as a bit of service for the fans.
One of the things I enjoy about Anspach and Cole’s writing pace is that they can respond to their fans in almost real-time. After the first two books came out, a common complaint I saw in their fan groups on Facebook was that Talker talked too much about coffee, and that the narrative didn’t follow a straight line. I feel like those things were features not bugs, so I’m glad to see the authors having a bit of fun with this. Your complaints have been filed.
The immense cultural imprint of Dungeons and Dragons has had a baleful impact on adventure fiction, with vast numbers of books being written either as tie-in marketing efforts to existing properties or with the game itself serving as direct inspiration for stories. Unfortunately, this copy of a copy process has resulted in output that isn’t quite as sharp as the original.
Forgotten Ruin is the most fun I have had with a D&D inspired property in ages. I think part of the magic here is that Anspach and Cole have a wealth of their own material to add in to the story, forging something new in the process. One of the strengths of Campbelline-era science fiction was the ability to educate a reader in some principle of science while otherwise telling a story that resembled a Western. If you are willing to cast off the self-imposed shackles of “hard” scifi, you can see that this idea can be extended to just about any field of knowledge, such as linguistics, anthropology, or now military doctrine.
Today, men mostly read non-fiction and women mostly fiction, but this was less true when much of the popular adventure stories for men were this kind of hybrid of fiction and non-fiction. I hope that something like this can gain popularity again.
By drawing on a deeper well than just re-cycled RPG sessions, Violence of Action provides a more satisfying story than a lot of D&D inspired works. The stuff of myth and legend, tales as old as time itself.
Ovid wrote:
… vigil nitido patefecit ab ortu
purpureas Aurora fores et plena rosarum
atria: diffugiunt stellae, quarum agmina cogit
Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit
Aurora, awake in the glowing east, opens wide her bright doors, and her rose-filled courts. The stars, whose ranks are shepherded by Lucifer the morning star, vanish, and he, last of all, leaves his station in the sky – Metamorphoses 2.114–115;
However, that isn’t to say that absolutely everything in the book is serious. The book largely shares the deviant sense of humor that military men often have, a survival technique when you deal with death on a regular basis.
Overall, I find this blend just about perfect. Action, adventure, humor, and mythic resonance all together. Hopefully there will be more like it to come. This review is for the ebook version, but I did the first book in audio, and I think the audio version was exceptionally well done. The audio version of Violence of Action won’t be out for some time, but I expect that Christopher Ryan Grant’s narration will be just as good as the first time.
Violence of Action is highly recommended.
I received a free review copy from the authors.
June 14, 2021
A great big knock-off of the desolation of Smaug, just without a hobbit. The plot started out real strong and moving forward well. But like most of this series, it gets dragged down into too much self-rumination and waits for it...... Coffee. After three books, I get the point coffee is good. The whole dragon story could have been done in maybe three or so chapters, then move onto a new problem. Not kill the flow of the storyline with useless backfill and narrative. And the additional mystery Ruin information, in the end, was a complete waste of time. There was almost no useful information mentioned except a little about the Spider Queen. For the rest of the narrative, I skipped thru because it useless for the plot of the series. This will be the last novel in this series unless the fourth novel is free.
January 5, 2022
Sort of a mishmash of 80's military gun porn and D&D claptrap in a sort of readable format if you don't mind first person narrative by a pretend snarky genius who isn't as smart as he thinks he is and the creator isn't quite capable enough to make him that way. Way too much coffee and repetition of catch phrases, but if you don't mind skimming at times entertaining.
June 22, 2021
Greetings Poor Readers,
Are you ready for a mind numbing experience?
I read the first book in this series- and I said - "Well just give it a chance." I went ahead and read the second book and I said - "Now come on!. Give it a chance!" Then I read number 3 - and the content lessened and the yapping increased to the point where the author spent the entire book on one military exercise. (One exercise.)
In a nutshell - this author has mastered the art of useless anecdotal page filling.
I am not keen on first person narratives to begin with - and this series has a supposed Linguistic Hero (a supposedly educated individual)- yapping about the mundane at every opportunity.
The easiest (and quickest) way to read this series is open the book - read the first action statement - then (rapidly) move ahead ten pages to pick up the next action statement.
Essentially - I read book three in about 40 minutes.
I shall not read another book by Jason Anspach.
Are you ready for a mind numbing experience?
I read the first book in this series- and I said - "Well just give it a chance." I went ahead and read the second book and I said - "Now come on!. Give it a chance!" Then I read number 3 - and the content lessened and the yapping increased to the point where the author spent the entire book on one military exercise. (One exercise.)
In a nutshell - this author has mastered the art of useless anecdotal page filling.
I am not keen on first person narratives to begin with - and this series has a supposed Linguistic Hero (a supposedly educated individual)- yapping about the mundane at every opportunity.
The easiest (and quickest) way to read this series is open the book - read the first action statement - then (rapidly) move ahead ten pages to pick up the next action statement.
Essentially - I read book three in about 40 minutes.
I shall not read another book by Jason Anspach.
June 23, 2021
Very fun
I’m really enjoying this series. The mix of fantasy and military fiction is done very well. In the first book, I felt it jumped around a bit too much, making things hard to follow. I had to chuckle in this one when the main character admits he jumps around too much.
I also liked the parts after the main story, where the beginning of the Ruin is depicted. I couldn’t help but to wonder… wouldn’t it be cool if this somehow tied into the Galaxy’s Edge series? The start of the Ruin was similar to when “early days” part of GE. I’m not sure how a story would work there, but I’d have fun reading it!
I’m really enjoying this series. The mix of fantasy and military fiction is done very well. In the first book, I felt it jumped around a bit too much, making things hard to follow. I had to chuckle in this one when the main character admits he jumps around too much.
I also liked the parts after the main story, where the beginning of the Ruin is depicted. I couldn’t help but to wonder… wouldn’t it be cool if this somehow tied into the Galaxy’s Edge series? The start of the Ruin was similar to when “early days” part of GE. I’m not sure how a story would work there, but I’d have fun reading it!
March 6, 2025
Another great one with Talker and our unique setting of a far future Earth invasion of fantasy creatures.
November 13, 2021
pretty good!
A great and entertaining read and a good continuation of the saga. A couple of things I noticed were some continuity errors and terminology when referring to weapons and tactics. Most stuff is spot on, but for example in the military we don’t use “single fire,” it’s “semi” or “semi-auto.” There’s no such thing as “anti-personnel” shells for a mortar system. It’s just HE set on a proximity fuse.
The “Scrolls” after the story ends are kinda cool in that they give the background to the ruin. These aren’t all that important to the overall story as of yet. There is one of them where a guy talks incessantly and says absolutely nothing that continues the story forward.
Overall, good read.
A great and entertaining read and a good continuation of the saga. A couple of things I noticed were some continuity errors and terminology when referring to weapons and tactics. Most stuff is spot on, but for example in the military we don’t use “single fire,” it’s “semi” or “semi-auto.” There’s no such thing as “anti-personnel” shells for a mortar system. It’s just HE set on a proximity fuse.
The “Scrolls” after the story ends are kinda cool in that they give the background to the ruin. These aren’t all that important to the overall story as of yet. There is one of them where a guy talks incessantly and says absolutely nothing that continues the story forward.
Overall, good read.
June 11, 2021
If you can cut thru the BS you will find a good story.
Aside from huge BS in this book there is a good yarn. A saga of men and courage. Much good action and very little really dead time. The authors were writing tongue in cheek for a lot of this or perhaps chomping on peyote buttons. But still a fun read and worth the time.
Aside from huge BS in this book there is a good yarn. A saga of men and courage. Much good action and very little really dead time. The authors were writing tongue in cheek for a lot of this or perhaps chomping on peyote buttons. But still a fun read and worth the time.
July 8, 2021
I really like this series even though it's got stuff in it that I never read, like Dragons and cat ninjas, dwarfs, wizards and other fantasty stuff. I just don't like fantasy science fiction, but these books are well written and are more about US Army Rangers than anything else. This whole series is a tribute to Army Rangers who, if they're half as bad as portrayed in these book, are some seriously bad, bad dudes!
The story is told through the writings of a former PFC now just Private Talker (a.k.a., Private Walker) who is a linguist assigned to this Ranger Company for this specific mission. Now that mission had been to go forward in Earths timeline to about 10 years and determine if the plague was still around. Only something went wrong and the Ranger Company got thrown 10,000 years into the future and Earth is almost unrecognizable. There are things existing now that come straight from the "Lord of the Rings" movie and most of those things you just don't want to meet.
Private Talker (he was demoted for not obeying orders in their last mission), is now serving extensive and extend guard duty at FOB Hawthorn. That's the place the Ranges took back from the now non-human SEAL who has joined the Dark Side! The Forge is located here and that's the miracle machine that can make just about anything. It is now busy making lots of weapons and ammo for the Rangers so they can defend this fortress for as long as it takes. Then the dragon attacks!
Now, this isn't you're normal run-of-the-mill dragon, if there is such a thing, because this one is huge! And, it has a toxic breath that forces the Rangers into MOPP gear, which in their case are Protective Masks. It's hard enough fighting anyone with just the battle rattle you normally have on, but putting that damn masked on makes it really, really miserable! Still, getting one whiff of that dragon's toxic breath and you're dissolved into powder. I'll keep the mask on. Oh, the Rangers are shooting back something fearfully, but when you can see 50 cal. rounds bouncing off the Dragon, then you kind of get the feeling you're over matched here. The Dragon does his damage which includes outright killing of eight Rangers by spitting some kind of poisonous acid gel on them during the attack. But finally, with all the Rangers firing everything they had and even getting the anti-tank stuff involved, they drove off that Dragon, but certainly didn't kill him.
So, you know Captain Knife Hand, as the CO of the Ranger Company has been named by Private Talker, is not going to let the killing of eight of his Ranges be a done and forgotten thing. No, he sits down with his Sergeant Major and the rest of his staff and Senior NCOs and starts a planning session that will result in the violent death of the Dragon in about six weeks. The book is about how the Rangers don't go running into battle with crazed intent, but actually plan, strategize and apply killing tactics to end their opponent. It's a pretty interesting account although it is a short book. I'm not sure if they'll ever be a time when a Ranger Company needs to kill a dragon, but if that time ever really comes, here's a pretty good way to get it dead.
At the end of this short book, you'll get to read some information as to how the world or Earth came to be as it is now. It wasn't some fantastic World War III, although there have been wars all during the past 10,000 years, but humanity almost killed it self off with a virus. Sound familiar?
This isn't the end of this series yet. There appears to be a book four, "Lay the Hate", coming on/about 1 September 2021. I recommend you get it on your reading list. I've already done that.
The story is told through the writings of a former PFC now just Private Talker (a.k.a., Private Walker) who is a linguist assigned to this Ranger Company for this specific mission. Now that mission had been to go forward in Earths timeline to about 10 years and determine if the plague was still around. Only something went wrong and the Ranger Company got thrown 10,000 years into the future and Earth is almost unrecognizable. There are things existing now that come straight from the "Lord of the Rings" movie and most of those things you just don't want to meet.
Private Talker (he was demoted for not obeying orders in their last mission), is now serving extensive and extend guard duty at FOB Hawthorn. That's the place the Ranges took back from the now non-human SEAL who has joined the Dark Side! The Forge is located here and that's the miracle machine that can make just about anything. It is now busy making lots of weapons and ammo for the Rangers so they can defend this fortress for as long as it takes. Then the dragon attacks!
Now, this isn't you're normal run-of-the-mill dragon, if there is such a thing, because this one is huge! And, it has a toxic breath that forces the Rangers into MOPP gear, which in their case are Protective Masks. It's hard enough fighting anyone with just the battle rattle you normally have on, but putting that damn masked on makes it really, really miserable! Still, getting one whiff of that dragon's toxic breath and you're dissolved into powder. I'll keep the mask on. Oh, the Rangers are shooting back something fearfully, but when you can see 50 cal. rounds bouncing off the Dragon, then you kind of get the feeling you're over matched here. The Dragon does his damage which includes outright killing of eight Rangers by spitting some kind of poisonous acid gel on them during the attack. But finally, with all the Rangers firing everything they had and even getting the anti-tank stuff involved, they drove off that Dragon, but certainly didn't kill him.
So, you know Captain Knife Hand, as the CO of the Ranger Company has been named by Private Talker, is not going to let the killing of eight of his Ranges be a done and forgotten thing. No, he sits down with his Sergeant Major and the rest of his staff and Senior NCOs and starts a planning session that will result in the violent death of the Dragon in about six weeks. The book is about how the Rangers don't go running into battle with crazed intent, but actually plan, strategize and apply killing tactics to end their opponent. It's a pretty interesting account although it is a short book. I'm not sure if they'll ever be a time when a Ranger Company needs to kill a dragon, but if that time ever really comes, here's a pretty good way to get it dead.
At the end of this short book, you'll get to read some information as to how the world or Earth came to be as it is now. It wasn't some fantastic World War III, although there have been wars all during the past 10,000 years, but humanity almost killed it self off with a virus. Sound familiar?
This isn't the end of this series yet. There appears to be a book four, "Lay the Hate", coming on/about 1 September 2021. I recommend you get it on your reading list. I've already done that.
December 5, 2025
After giving up on this series due to a lack of plot structure, I couldn't shake its world from my mind. I'd regularly think of this barbaric, chaotic version of Middle Earth and wonder what else might exist there.
So I gingerly started reading and, this time, the authors made it easy for me. The structure was similar to Melville's Moby Dick... a single event but enriched by many significant digressions and flashbacks that offered context and meaning.
It's hard to compare this book to the classics however, when you regularly get phrases like "get our kill on" and other military rah-rah colloquialisms. Admittedly, after listening to the real-life rangers in the post-credits, they seem in competition to speak in nothing but well honed, pithy, tough-guy phrases. So I'm not saying its unrealistic, just jingoistic.
I may return for a taste of this interesting world. However, I'd love to see this homogeneous military cast livened by some contrasting cultures. Where are the bucolic Hobbits?
So I gingerly started reading and, this time, the authors made it easy for me. The structure was similar to Melville's Moby Dick... a single event but enriched by many significant digressions and flashbacks that offered context and meaning.
It's hard to compare this book to the classics however, when you regularly get phrases like "get our kill on" and other military rah-rah colloquialisms. Admittedly, after listening to the real-life rangers in the post-credits, they seem in competition to speak in nothing but well honed, pithy, tough-guy phrases. So I'm not saying its unrealistic, just jingoistic.
I may return for a taste of this interesting world. However, I'd love to see this homogeneous military cast livened by some contrasting cultures. Where are the bucolic Hobbits?
February 7, 2022
10,000 years and Rangers still lead the way
Before I review the story I want to say about the bonus content at the end was wired that didn’t really get her reason on doing the endgame for the why she did it but I did understand where she got the idea.
The book finish is several storylines and begins other that been hinted at for awhile to get the story set for bigger and badder wars only a RANGER can fight win has we’ve seen to truly stick to a good brand of story to keep the reader hipped till the end. It wasn’t a story that one can really see often has the story become a tell of heroes and growth( are as we know the RUIN revels) threw almost a Journal type writing of what’s happen in the past to them and how they got there future end.
Before I review the story I want to say about the bonus content at the end was wired that didn’t really get her reason on doing the endgame for the why she did it but I did understand where she got the idea.
The book finish is several storylines and begins other that been hinted at for awhile to get the story set for bigger and badder wars only a RANGER can fight win has we’ve seen to truly stick to a good brand of story to keep the reader hipped till the end. It wasn’t a story that one can really see often has the story become a tell of heroes and growth( are as we know the RUIN revels) threw almost a Journal type writing of what’s happen in the past to them and how they got there future end.
October 4, 2025
Another solid outing highlighted by balls to the wall military action and augmented with a heaping dose of epic fantasy world building. This time the structure is a bit different as the chapters alternate between descriptions of the military planning for a targeted attack and the actual events of said attack. The structure makes for an interesting and entertaining read for those already invested in the characters and world. The latter portion of the book is a separate tale beginning to dig into the origin of the Forgotten Ruin, kind of a “how did we get here” tale. It is also quite entertaining with a healthy dose of Dungeon and Dragons to boot. All in all, another high testosterone tale!
June 5, 2021
First Orcish hordes.
Then undead legions.
What’s next for a band of skilled dealers in death and destructions stranded in a fantastic world?
The answer is quite obvious, and the execution is everything we could want.
As a bonus, we also get a glimpse into the other side of things with a horrific chronicle of what can happen when killers in a strange place do everything wrong. The ruin reveals what people truly are, and not everyone is ready to deal with some of the horrors within finally brought to the surface.
The series is getting better with every installment...
Then undead legions.
What’s next for a band of skilled dealers in death and destructions stranded in a fantastic world?
The answer is quite obvious, and the execution is everything we could want.
As a bonus, we also get a glimpse into the other side of things with a horrific chronicle of what can happen when killers in a strange place do everything wrong. The ruin reveals what people truly are, and not everyone is ready to deal with some of the horrors within finally brought to the surface.
The series is getting better with every installment...
June 14, 2021
Best of the 3 so far albeit shorter..already looking forward to book 4. Spoiler from here on:
Really not happy about the “Lack” of Autumn in this one. Her character has evolved so much and we are learning more about her as things progress.. however she was all but written out of this novel. Even without the romance angle, which appears to be getting the kabash (and without much of an explanation either), she is still an intriguing character that brings much more variety and color to the storyline. I hope we haven’t seen the Last of Autumn (see what I did there?) lol..
Really not happy about the “Lack” of Autumn in this one. Her character has evolved so much and we are learning more about her as things progress.. however she was all but written out of this novel. Even without the romance angle, which appears to be getting the kabash (and without much of an explanation either), she is still an intriguing character that brings much more variety and color to the storyline. I hope we haven’t seen the Last of Autumn (see what I did there?) lol..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2022
S'sruth the Cruel: dragon, magician & ... other.
I do enjoy a good story, especially if told in a different way. There was action everywhere they went; & real coffee from Portugon.
Talker was growing in psionics as he battled the Evil along with his "brothers", (& he thought they'd never accept him) Captain Knife Hand, Chief Rapp & the Sargeant Major; Last of Autumn, & the Lost Boys along for the killing. A complicated story laid out with humor & decisive action, this was an exciting read.
An then came the Epilogue.
I do enjoy a good story, especially if told in a different way. There was action everywhere they went; & real coffee from Portugon.
Talker was growing in psionics as he battled the Evil along with his "brothers", (& he thought they'd never accept him) Captain Knife Hand, Chief Rapp & the Sargeant Major; Last of Autumn, & the Lost Boys along for the killing. A complicated story laid out with humor & decisive action, this was an exciting read.
An then came the Epilogue.
June 12, 2021
Very, Very Good
I enjoyed this book in the series much more than the previous one. Probably because the authors cut back on the protagonists wandering off on tangents and spent a lot less waxing rhapsodically about coffee. My only complaint is that tis book was much shorter than the previous two books, and was more of a novella. For a $6 Price plus tax this might not be a buy but rather wait until it goes to KU. A 4-star for shortness and price.
I enjoyed this book in the series much more than the previous one. Probably because the authors cut back on the protagonists wandering off on tangents and spent a lot less waxing rhapsodically about coffee. My only complaint is that tis book was much shorter than the previous two books, and was more of a novella. For a $6 Price plus tax this might not be a buy but rather wait until it goes to KU. A 4-star for shortness and price.
June 27, 2021
Man, that was just way too good. I feel like a spoiled kid
I manage to get belly laughs out of the random tidbits of humor and wit seeded throughout these stories. In expected an attack on tue dragon but got way more. The planning, the execution, the outcome, the other side, and the backstory. Just a great, multi faceted yarn. We finally find out how it all happened and how the world ended because of the Spider Queen and arrogant humans.
I manage to get belly laughs out of the random tidbits of humor and wit seeded throughout these stories. In expected an attack on tue dragon but got way more. The planning, the execution, the outcome, the other side, and the backstory. Just a great, multi faceted yarn. We finally find out how it all happened and how the world ended because of the Spider Queen and arrogant humans.
July 6, 2021
4.5. They tightened up on "Talker" and his rambling, even mentioning it in the story. The later bit on the origin of the Ruin wasn't as good, dragging the rating down. I really liked the main story, so I didn't knock it down to a 4.
From the perspective of the "kinetic" main story, I think it's the best one of the series so far, since we didn't have to hear anywhere near as much about the narrator's coffee addiction. Still too much, but no longer overwhelming.
From the perspective of the "kinetic" main story, I think it's the best one of the series so far, since we didn't have to hear anywhere near as much about the narrator's coffee addiction. Still too much, but no longer overwhelming.
February 4, 2022
Love This Series
I’ll be quick to the point - I read Clancy, Thor, Greaney, Flynn, etc. who write in the techno-thriller world. Love those authors. However, I’m also a fan of Michael Stephen Fulkes (Arisen Series), JR Jackson (Up From The Depths series) and and anything from Peter Nealen and Steven Konkoly.
If you read any of those authors then do yourself a favor and jump in to the Ruin! You won’t be disappointed, I promise!
Have a fun, these books are a blast!
I’ll be quick to the point - I read Clancy, Thor, Greaney, Flynn, etc. who write in the techno-thriller world. Love those authors. However, I’m also a fan of Michael Stephen Fulkes (Arisen Series), JR Jackson (Up From The Depths series) and and anything from Peter Nealen and Steven Konkoly.
If you read any of those authors then do yourself a favor and jump in to the Ruin! You won’t be disappointed, I promise!
Have a fun, these books are a blast!
February 8, 2022
Well, we know the Rangers have been do for a confrontation with an evil dragon ever since he was mentioned in Book 1. And here it is. It is satisfying, and more than a little relaxing, as it is less the tea gets fighting for survival and more the Rangers being proactive and taking the fight to the enemy. In a second part, we dive into the origins of the Ruin, and we get a glimpse of why the Ruin is what it is— including why so many things line up so nearly with D&D. Satisfying all around,l.
February 22, 2022
My favorite of the series thus far.
It is "two books in one". The first part is the continuing story of the Rangers and is my favorite. Even though predictable, the story telling, action and growth of the story more than made up for it.
Also, the change in the way the story was told was better.
The second part of the book is how the Ruin came to be. Very different and very good. I was sad that the book ended...
Really enjoying the series.
It is "two books in one". The first part is the continuing story of the Rangers and is my favorite. Even though predictable, the story telling, action and growth of the story more than made up for it.
Also, the change in the way the story was told was better.
The second part of the book is how the Ruin came to be. Very different and very good. I was sad that the book ended...
Really enjoying the series.
May 28, 2022
Entertaining,detailed
Violence of Action is entertaining,detailed and somewhat confusing. The authors again describe the battles in extreme detail sometimes in excess but that doesn't cause the reader to lose interest. However the epilogue is just a filler: I don't know what the Authors were trying to accomplish. Again like the first 2 books of this series the flaws are minor and the exciting action overwhelm any perceived flaws! I do recommend this book .
Violence of Action is entertaining,detailed and somewhat confusing. The authors again describe the battles in extreme detail sometimes in excess but that doesn't cause the reader to lose interest. However the epilogue is just a filler: I don't know what the Authors were trying to accomplish. Again like the first 2 books of this series the flaws are minor and the exciting action overwhelm any perceived flaws! I do recommend this book .
June 1, 2021
Book three
Mistakes: I didn't find anything wrong with this book other than it's shortness. The book ends at 70%, but we get some history after that that helps with the world building.
Plot: Time to kill a Dragon and a Seal.
Characters: I like that the Rangers are becoming other but are still Rangers first and foremost.
7/10 Looking forward to more.
Mistakes: I didn't find anything wrong with this book other than it's shortness. The book ends at 70%, but we get some history after that that helps with the world building.
Plot: Time to kill a Dragon and a Seal.
Characters: I like that the Rangers are becoming other but are still Rangers first and foremost.
7/10 Looking forward to more.
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June 9, 2021Far from what I expected but very good
The authors somehow took a miltary action story and combined it with a pseudo Lord of the Rings story. I'm not sure how they did it, but damn it sure was fun reading. Great vivid word pictures, stimulate my already weird imagination. I love both types of stories, put them together, I am a very happy camper!🤩
Thank you both
The authors somehow took a miltary action story and combined it with a pseudo Lord of the Rings story. I'm not sure how they did it, but damn it sure was fun reading. Great vivid word pictures, stimulate my already weird imagination. I love both types of stories, put them together, I am a very happy camper!🤩
Thank you both
July 6, 2021
DnD meets FPS
An excellent blend of military and fantasy themed fiction. The story follows a linguist who suffers an early midlife crisis and joins the military, only to find himself time traveling to the future in an attempt to save human civilization. Too bad he shows up ten thousand years later than intended.
An excellent blend of military and fantasy themed fiction. The story follows a linguist who suffers an early midlife crisis and joins the military, only to find himself time traveling to the future in an attempt to save human civilization. Too bad he shows up ten thousand years later than intended.
October 3, 2021
not a fan of the writing style but a good story
The writing style leaves much to be desired. The story is choppy, starting at the beginning of the final battle then bouncing back to the planning stage. It does this a few times, battle bouncing to background then back to battle. But as with the first two books the story is good and the action is great.
The writing style leaves much to be desired. The story is choppy, starting at the beginning of the final battle then bouncing back to the planning stage. It does this a few times, battle bouncing to background then back to battle. But as with the first two books the story is good and the action is great.
January 9, 2022
Some issues, but still liked it
Not sure what caused me to not like this as much as prior 2, may be the story was to focused on the removal of the dragon. It seemed more like a side story, or a novella.
Still seemed true to the knowledge the authors have of Rangers, SF, Seals,etc.
Not sure what caused me to not like this as much as prior 2, may be the story was to focused on the removal of the dragon. It seemed more like a side story, or a novella.
Still seemed true to the knowledge the authors have of Rangers, SF, Seals,etc.
January 12, 2022
It's just another Tuesday for the Rangers
The Rangers are out for blood against the dragon who did them dirty! Everything I've come to expect from the FR series. We get some further interesting bits about Talkers powers as well as the transformations going around the unit. Bit of a twist ending, some revenge dished out. Great book as usual!
The Rangers are out for blood against the dragon who did them dirty! Everything I've come to expect from the FR series. We get some further interesting bits about Talkers powers as well as the transformations going around the unit. Bit of a twist ending, some revenge dished out. Great book as usual!
March 17, 2023
Really two shorter novels, both were really good. The first half is the peak of the series so far. Hitting the stride in story and characters. The second half is a back story for the Ruin as a whole. This was my favorite part for personal reasons. As a D&D nerd since highschool, I loved the depiction of the fight with the hydra. Top notch story telling for me.
June 7, 2021
Superb guns and sorcery tale
Combining military action with sorcery is a combination that works for these talented authors. The combat scenes are detailed and plentiful. Replete with tough guy dialogue leavened by sarcasm and humor. Think “beach read” with a smile.
Combining military action with sorcery is a combination that works for these talented authors. The combat scenes are detailed and plentiful. Replete with tough guy dialogue leavened by sarcasm and humor. Think “beach read” with a smile.
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