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UnderVerse #6

Empire Ascendant

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The brothers are united, but storm clouds gather on the horizon. War has come to Dravith

The Dark Legion have been beaten back, and for the first time the brothers are allied against the savagery that the UnderVerse has thrown at them, but the storm clouds of war are gathering, and not everyone will see the sun rise again.

Jax has one chance to keep his people safe from the storm and the war that’s building on the horizon, but it’ll take balls of steel, brains of mince, and he’s really going to need to be lucky as hell to pull this one off…

The Legion rises along with their Scion, buoyed aloft on waves of hope, but not all are as dedicated as they may seem, and a tiny pin-prick can be all that makes the difference, when it’s made at just the wrong time…

This is Book 6 of the UnderVerse Series. Please Note: As with all my books, this story is a Dark Fantasy, filled with violence, sexual references, swearing and bad jokes, but no Harems...

830 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 26, 2021

173 people are currently reading
124 people want to read

About the author

Jez Cajiao

56 books385 followers

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5 stars
914 (72%)
4 stars
270 (21%)
3 stars
57 (4%)
2 stars
10 (<1%)
1 star
6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
Profile Image for Antonette Rascon.
6 reviews
August 14, 2022
I really wanted to like this book but I had to stop reading. I made it through all the other books in the series fine. Even though I don't find Jax, the main character, likeable at all, I enjoyed the story. It felt like the whole plot was just dragging out. Every time Jax is destroys himself and puts his friends at risk, it just miraculously works out in his favor. I get being a hero but it I feel like he gets his ass demolished, then saved a little too much to keep my attention.
7 reviews
September 17, 2022
Really disappointing

Far too many instances where the author thought simply making reality twist to suit Jax makes for a good story when it actually results in a weak book.
Magic spells being created as needed in the middle of combat, god like powers on demand, etc. Etc. All this combines to remove any doubt that no matter how dire the situation is Jax will simply get out of it by miraculously gaining another overpowered ability.
658 reviews9 followers
January 9, 2022
Outstanding Lit RPG story. Loved this awesome story

It took a few days but finally l stayed up reading through the night until daybreak to finish. Wow!

The MC, Jax continues his quest to restore the Empire of Dravith by reclaiming territory from men and monsters. He and his “posse” as well as the Legion face opposition at every turn from nobles and criminal gangs (think mafia), who just want the wars to end so they can return to “business as usual”. Unfortunately thats not going to happen because “there’s a new sheriff in town”. The worst offenders are receive fatally unpleasant fates, even to being consumed by extra-dimensional entities (demons). Rewn, the exiled City-Lord of Narkolt turns out to be an inept asshat, but he at least provides some good comic relief at his antics. As far as monsters go, there are golems, undead zombies, goblins & steam goblins, SporeMothers, liches, and vampyres to be slain. Lets not forget the armies of Narkolt and Himnel, the Dark Legion, mages and priests of Nimel - the treacherous death god (that wanker) and of course, Nimel himself.

Of course, thats a mountain of opposition, but on his side Jax has his core warriors: Oracle, his soul bonded wisp, lover; Thomas his twin brother (formerly a Dark Legionnaire), Bob his now sentient skeletal warrior, Lydia the winged Valkyrie, Bane & Tang his stealthy bodyguard/assassins, Grizz and Yen, Jian & Sehran and Giint the mental (insane) gnome that loves explosions. There are also Janae and the gods of the pantheon of the flame (the opposition to their brother Nimon), the Legions of Narkolt and Himnel led by Romanus, Augustus & Restun along with Mal & Soween the smugglers, the residents of the Tower and Horkesh with her army of cave spiders.

As you can see there are many characters as this is an in-depth series (and l love it), with lots of detail and world building. I love, love, love the earth sayings, as well as movie and pop culture references that underVerse residents need to have explained to them. These are quite entertaining and provide a segway from the fighting and planning that go into conquering a realm.

There should however, be more chapters focused on things occurring away from the MC so that when they intersect its more interesting & engaging because of the depth of understanding (backstory) of how situations came to be. For example, there was nothing at all about how or why Nimon exiled his fellow gods and caused the cataclysm? Yeah, yeah, he’s the god of death, but other than that he’s the culprit, we know next to nothing about him or his machinations. Aside from announcing a bounty, what were his nefarious plans to thwart the re-birth of Imperial rule once he became aware of Jax? How did he empower his priests and supplicants? Other than being an idiot and believing that “might makes right”; why would he allow his priests and minions to weaken his forces by assassinating each other and torturing his warrior assets to the point that multiple assignations in the Dark citadel, in a narrow timeframe were NOT suspicious? Did he receive personal boosts from his minions’ suffering and demise? How did this outweigh the loss of knowledge and manpower their losses generated for his other minions? What was his reaction and thinking when 2 of his 4 allied gods (50% loss) abandoned him and joined the pantheon of the flame? Why were Belladonna & Edvard along with Thomas’ former Dark Legion team, now Dark Hunters caged at City-Lord Barabarattas’ throne room instead of being still sequestered in the Dark citadel?

All said, this is a great representation of the LitRPG genre. Jax leveled up from a descendent of Amon unwillingly thrust into a realm of magic and strife to become the Spellsword, Justicar, Champion of Jenae, Imperial Magekiller and Imperial Overlord. He leveled up swiftly but painfully in his physical, mental and magical prowess as a badass melee fighter, alchemist, and spell-crafter. By crafting battlefield triage, gravitational compression and other spells along with some help from the ghost of his ancestor, Amon the eternal emperor, he started to get a deep understanding of the structure of mana and has received a quest to uncover 4 hitherto unknown branches of magic. Jax has also empowered his allies and forces providing them with the ability to cast healing and ranged attack (magic missile) spells as well as facilitated the development of armaments such as the ripple-fire cannons.

Everyone loves a winner! l’m looking forward to finding and reading other works by Jez Cajiao, starting with “the age of stone”. Of course, I’m waiting for the next book in the underVerse series to come out too…… go Jax, go!!
3 reviews
October 28, 2021
Such a grand adventure!

This was a treat. The whole “season” , actually, but this volume specifically was a blast. The characters attained even more depth and nuance, the different threads of back-story and the faint connections hinted in prior volumes came together in fun revelations, and just enough of the mysteries were revealed to
set a reader’s mind to speculation and anticipation of what will happen next “season”. The main protagonist has an excellent sense of humor that is reminiscent of my days in the past spent with other soldiers, rock musicians, and martial artists - I loved every bit of it, though you need not come from a background like mine to appreciate and relate to the hero. Cajiao’s knack for creating a wide cast of vivid and lifelike characters, developing them all at their own paces, and evolving them through storyline events in common with each other while maintaining a unique evolution and personality for each of them is exceptional. As a prolific reader, this sort of uncommonly skilled work sets a story apart from the masses and puts it into my list of favorites. Jez Cajiao’s Empire Ascendant is firmly set in my favorites.
Profile Image for The Legend.
194 reviews10 followers
April 23, 2022
Almost all of the loose ends of earlier books are tied up and this book has a lot of climax points of where things were building up.

Lots of development, settling of conflicts and things resolved. It has plenty of plot, character growth and forward motion with very few down times.

The ending while abrupt in some ways not able to see the results of what happened fully, it isn't a true cliffhanger either.

Honestly this is about as full and good as a book can get while not being a conclusion to a series. True there is still a bit of plot armor and 'instant win rage' moments still but not too bad. After all, if a magic missile barrage from one person can take off someone's head easily, why has it never happened to any of their party or important characters.

Still great book and heroes need some plot armor so it's acceptable. Can't wait for the next one.
Profile Image for Thomas Angus.
45 reviews6 followers
November 4, 2021
An outstanding conclusion to season 1!

I started this series when book 4 was released and devoured all 4 books in 2 days! Book 5 took me 24 hours.....book 6 has taken me 3 days, purely based on the length!

This book culminates a number of plot threads, whilst introducing a number of new ones I can see being key in season 2. At points the book can feel rushed and chaotic, but this adds to the overall tempo highlighting the chaos that is war, especially when new technology and tactics are introduced!

Overall this book is a fantastic conclusion and sets the scene for season 2, I hope the story continues with Jax and Oracle, but as long as the Empire ascends I will continue to support this fantastic author!
Profile Image for Scott.
1,484 reviews12 followers
October 26, 2021
Immersive Action

Just love how these characters have developed so much and how far the world building can go. With only a sample size of the Empire touched upon and so many hints this is going to be Epic.
Love the humour as it just suits me and with some of the barriers they face makes me glad im just reading them.
A massive read and just as much fun to enjoy ,my only negative is that this is big but so is the wait in between so any encouragement from others to make the gaps smaller would be great as reading in 1 go doesn't relieve the pain of the delay in between my next fix.
70 reviews1 follower
October 31, 2021
A superb Novel

Wow !!!!!! Thanks Jez for your wondrous work ! Please consider moving up your timetable for this series . There is much to expound upon this story as to our heroes future . The road to become emperor , in fact for our new prince . The invasion from earth... marriage and fatherhood for our Hero . The evolve ment of the supporting cast will be fun as well . But most of all as the new prince learns that with great power comes great responsibility ! To continue his quest to serve the people always. I am sure that Oracle and his friends will help him stay true to his legacy !!
10 reviews1 follower
October 31, 2021
He out does himself again.

As he continues to write, Jez Cajiao continues to improve. Easily one of my top 5 LitRPG writers, he has a way of making believable and memorable characters. Consistently, across the series, these books have gotten better in every conceivable way. From pacing to jokes, relationships to the underpinning system, each book is better than the last.
This book is everything anyone who reads this genre wants. I cannot recommend enough that people read this series. I look forward to reading any and all other books produced by Jez.
33 reviews
November 3, 2021
Thank you!!!!

The story line is amazing, character development is awesome, the underverse is huge. Loved this series, happy to know you are going to continue the story arc, I was horrified thinking this could have been it. So many good stores come to an end as they have to but it would have been to soon to end this one. Looking forward to next couple of books in the "age of men" series too. Thank you, thank you, thank you, again thank you. Jez Cajiao, you sir are taking a seat at the adults table of authors in my opinion.... Epic!!!! Keep writing and we'll keep reading.....
187 reviews
November 17, 2021
Amazing as Usual!

Been waiting not so patiently for book 6, and you lived up to the mastery of the first 5 books. I found UnderVerse as my first LitRPG novel, and got spoiled. since then I have read dozens of other LitRPG authors, and while some are great, none live up to the standard set by Jez. Fabulously written, great plot twists, amazing detail that puts you right into the scenes, humor, violence, action, adult themes, and truly feeling what it’s like to “level” and increase “stats”. Thank you Jez! Can’t wait to read your next books!
340 reviews2 followers
November 22, 2021
Fucking Amazing Finale!!

Wow, is all I can say at the moment after reading the last page. I can't wait for the next books to come out for the Underverse chronicles. I will have to hide my time by reading Jez's other series he is writing. Man, I can't day enough good things about this series, it's so Badassery. It has the right amount of everything that a great series should have in it to keep you coming back for more, and thinking about what is going to happen next for our heroes. 👍👍👊👊
1 review
October 29, 2021
Great end to the first arch of a series.

I'm not usually one for LitRPG books, I prefer a lot of your more standard high fantasy but this series has been extremely enjoyable.
Sometimes you just want a feelgood hero fantasy and Jez Cajiao delivers that with humour and feeling.

If the author reads this (as I know individual authors sometimes do) well done mate! It's great to see a well written story come with a protagonist that isn't American for once.
56 reviews4 followers
October 31, 2021
A damn good ride

I've been a fan of the style and character of this series from book 1, and I am happy that it carries strong all the way through. This is the last book of "season 1", and I'm excited to see where this eventually goes when Jez gets back to it. This series is great and this entry finishes strong. It does leave the door open for continuation, but definitely closes this chapter. Anyone who enjoys litrpg will enjoy this, I think!
Profile Image for Curtis.
774 reviews20 followers
January 11, 2022
Epic and Outstanding

This latest book far was together many threads and characters, sending them all into a cohesive epic climax that levels the playing field. You can’t help but have a mad grin on your face most of the way through it. Fantastic work: excellent writing and editing. If you love fun stories, epic adventure, fighting for more, and the GameLit genre, then this series is a must-have. Highly recommended (16+)
45 reviews
January 21, 2022
Good but needs editor now

A good novel, moving the plot along with great fighting scenes. I gave the previous one 5 stars because of those very reasons but specially because it seemed he was getting better at the “cutting excess fat” thing but instead this one got slightly more bloated. Jez, my friend: for the next one (and the omnibus edition); take that nagigata and go at it. You could’ve take at least 15 or 20% off this one…
5 reviews
October 30, 2021
STUNNING

I have been a fan of jez for a while now and his writing just keeps getting better and better with each book . I have been a life long reader of fantasy books and these and age of stone are not only some of the best Litrpg has to offer but I would argue some of the best of all fantasy fiction written in the last decade . Can’t wait for age of Bronze 😀👍
Profile Image for Someone S Name.
95 reviews
November 1, 2021
Good continuation to the series

If you like the series so far then you’ll like this one. Good action scenes, not enough base building, decent worldbuilding, etc. The writing has gotten a bit better since the first book (I binged ‘em all in the last 2 months) and this one was done well.
Give it a shot!
27 reviews1 follower
November 3, 2021
FANTASTIC

You know what I lived about this series and its simple and that is everything from the raw emotion to the comedy it is just simply the best books I've read in years so thank you very much jez I lived it and everything else you have written so far really can't wait for season 2 of this

I would give more stars but 5 is the max sorry
331 reviews5 followers
November 5, 2021
What a rollercoaster ride!

Man! Jez put his foot to the pedal here and never let up! There is just SO much going on here...so many of the plot lines that have been going on for the entire series get wrapped up. New avenues are opened, and general badassery abounds! Theres action, comedy, romance, tension, and excitement! Hot dog what a book! Someone give this man an award!
Profile Image for Tyler.
129 reviews
November 5, 2021
Hot diggity dog

Of course I enjoyed it. There was good pacing and ability growth which can be lacking in later novels of stories. I started wondering how the series may continue as I started getting closer to the end.

Fortunately the last chapter and epilogue set up for an interesting plot. Keep up the good work.
166 reviews1 follower
November 7, 2021
alright d*ck

You are one of my favorite authors absolutely love this series and ready for the rest of the other books. You did absolutely great on the end even though you’re a dick cause I want to continue reading more. I guess I understand you need a break and maybe go to a spa or Greece ;D. Keep up the great work seriously
100 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2021
What a ride !

This book brings to closure the end of season 1 and what an ending this is. It has everything, wondrous riches, powerful enemies, amazing fighting sequences and levelling. Also hints to other secrets like cultivation and other things are thrown in. It’s a long wait for the next one. Hope it comes fast.
Profile Image for John Mazua.
10 reviews
November 28, 2021
Just the beginning

Under verse part one are 6 amazing books, that split from the standard of most literature. My biggest complaint would be that books on the other characters haven't been written. Each character deserves their own book/s being that well written. A!so main character uses a Naginata, huge murder stick.
Profile Image for Dawid L Crook.
92 reviews
February 17, 2022
the best yet

It feels like I’ve walked a journey here. Watching with each book as Jez matures in his writing. I’ve loved the length and breadth of this book and feel like Jez didn’t rush it’s conclusion but didn’t stretch it out either. For me it’s the best yet and I can’t wait for volume 2.
69 reviews1 follower
November 14, 2022
Outstandingly awesome

I can't say enough how much I have loved this series so far and how freaking epic Jax and the legion are. I don't want to throw out spoilers but boy is this book stacked with some damn fine fights and learning. I can't wait to see what Jax and Thomas get upto in the next book.
204 reviews3 followers
October 30, 2021
Great ending to the first arc

Great read. You can see the authors growth in each novel. The MC and supporting characters continue to grow and develop depth of character. Amazing universe and fantastic concept.
119 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2021
Great end to the series

Okay it's not the end end..it continues, but Jez is moving into for other projects.the book itself , loved the progression of the characters, intrigued by how it can go forward! Highly recommend
4 reviews3 followers
October 31, 2021
Satisfying end to Season 1

What a great end to the first “season” of the Underverse. Plenty of action, tons of growth and character development across the board for Jax, his team, and the Empire!
30 reviews
October 31, 2021
A highly enjoyable book

As always with an underverse book you fly from event to event, there are breaks i feel after each of the main arks of the book. This book ties off several long running problems, answers several questions and posses many more
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews

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