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The Hero of the Valley #2

The Academy of Steel

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A progression fantasy with litrpg elements.

Duncan moves to the city of Lanport in the far South of the Arnite Empire to study at the famed Academy of Steel. Meanwhile, the otherworldly invaders make their opening gambits in their game of global conquest. Duncan must advance his Techniques and grow more powerful if he's to play a part in resisting the outworlders.

387 pages, ebook

First published December 2, 2021

145 people are currently reading
59 people want to read

About the author

Gary Spechko

5 books135 followers

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5 stars
1,016 (63%)
4 stars
430 (27%)
3 stars
124 (7%)
2 stars
16 (1%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
Profile Image for Henry Eyrich.
244 reviews29 followers
October 17, 2025
This second book in the Hero of the Valley series accomplished something that very few sequels manage to do truly well: it completely changed the course of the story while increasing my interest in the plot, world, and characters.

One of my biggest complaints about the first book was that it started to feel repetitive by the end—Duncan would go into dungeons, loot to get stronger, and repeat the cycle. The author changed that formula here, but in a way that worked perfectly. In this second novel, much more emphasis is placed on world events—city politics, large-scale conflicts, and the undead rising—that take precedence over Duncan’s dungeon delving. Instead of spending most of the story in dungeons, we get real-world battles, especially his fights against the liches.

These encounters completely shift Duncan’s arc. He learns to fight as part of a group after realizing that the liches are too powerful to take on alone. His time at the Academy also adds depth to his character. Duncan goes from keeping his distance from his roommates to supporting and funding their advancement with maybe something special with Amelia at the end.... This friendship dynamic was a welcome change after Duncan spent nearly all of the first book isolated in the dungeons.

I also loved the excellent subplot involving Bente, a six-year-old child with an outstanding Divine Affinity. Through her story, we got a fascinating look inside the Church and how it operates—especially the loyalty tests where priests must enter dungeons once a year to prove their devotion to the gods, knowing that betrayal means death. It was some truly impressive worldbuilding that I didn’t expect from this series.

This book exceeded my expectations in every way. The progression felt natural and believable (with the possible exception of the dungeon where Duncan obtained the swords—but even that was explained in a way that made sense).

Overall, this was a fantastic continuation that improved on everything from the first book. I’m very excited to see where this series goes next.
186 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2021
I do not know what...

I do not know what it is about this book that I find grand, but there must be something, because I do. Actually, there are only a few detractors for me and they are not worth mentioning, because they might not be for other people.

The plot is great, the main character is as well, so is the itemized loot! The main characters personality is refreshing and genuine.

I am having a blast with where the story is heading and am already looking forward to the next book!

Definitely a read worth reading.
9 reviews
December 2, 2021
Same action with more depth

Great follow up book for this series. The second book has just as much action as the first but much more world building and personal interactions. Amazing combination of cultivation and litrpg and a a lit of info about the wider world living me feeling like this series should have a long lifespan.
Profile Image for Jon Svenson.
Author 8 books112 followers
December 12, 2021
I had forgotten about this book when it showed up in my Amazon recommendations, so much so that I had to look up book 1 and see if I had left a review or not.

Turns out I had, so I read book 2. Duncan of the Valley was recommended by the Adventurer's Guild to become a student at the Academy of Steel. He's not there to make friends or socialize, but to take his sword skills to a much higher level.

His roommates have other ideas. One is the daughter of a well respected Duchess, the other a daughter of a count, and the last a son of a poor noble family. Duncan doesn't plan to spend time with them, but they manage to wear him down, and he insists on taking them to the nearby starter dungeon.

As was the case in book 1, Duncan no longer has to eat or sleep much, so he spend many a night off delving higher leveled dungeons. He's still leveling up at an intensely high rate, which doesn't go unnoticed by his friends, fellow students, or teachers.

About halfway through the story changes, but I won't spoil what that is. This is an unapologetic sword and board series, and Duncan is here to set as much of the world right again as he can. He gets some wake up calls later in the book, and there is a setup for book 3

Just like in book 1, I highly recommended this series. The action is well written, and while Duncan could be seen as OP, I took it as if he had a different purpose than the rest of humanity, which means he needs to get much stronger than most of the world.

Either way, I really enjoyed it and unfortunately read it in one day. I wish it had lasted longer.

Highly recommended, with decent editing and a lot of stats, abilities and skills. 5/5*
Profile Image for Wilhelm Eyrich.
366 reviews28 followers
May 3, 2022
Just as good as the first. I was expecting less progression from the academic setting but there was basically the same amount.
5 reviews
December 11, 2021
Amazing story of growth and humility

I read the first book within a few days of release through the almighty algorithm, and I must say, my adoration and undying loyalty has been re-affirmed!! Book can be quite "crunchy" with all the stats from the soul-gem readings, but it ties into the story and the MC's own personal variant of cultivation barring any actual technique being imparted. Was rather refreshing seeing a character grow and overcome his shortcomings by being humble and admitting his flaws by simply being a decent human being. My only real issue with the series... Is the amount of waiting until the subsequent next book in this (hopefully!) long-running fleshed-out story. If you like reading a story where the MC is actually someone with a good heart and a fantastic work-ethic, please don't hesitate and read this immediately!
1,000 reviews13 followers
December 6, 2021
Still going strong

Love this series. This book was and excellent addition. The power progression is both extreme but not. The MC has a job to do he thinks but needs to get stronger as fast as he can. The major powers have started to move and the weak and innocent are getting ground up in their games. Duncan wants to do what he can to save others but has to get stronger faster. He is learning that his strength and power are yet barely registering in the big leagues so more delving and training. Can't wait for the next book. Hopefully soon.
Profile Image for Tony Hinde.
2,153 reviews78 followers
July 23, 2022
I'm just as perplexed with book two. What makes it so good? I don't know!

Part of what tickles my fancy is the focus on the technical aspects of Duncan's build. He takes it so seriously. It's his passion and his job rolled into one. I suppose it's also nice to see Duncan bring a little justice to an unjust world.
Profile Image for Lundos.
405 reviews12 followers
September 18, 2023
More recurrent characters in this one, but it's still mostly dungeon crawls, character builds, and loot. Like an ARPG in book form. We get a little more overall plot but it's only new for the MC.
18 reviews1 follower
December 9, 2021
Where to begin

The MC has power over space, the fabric of the universe. This manifests in the ability to teleport and create portals. The portals also act as immovable objects and, when closed, cut through anything still in the portal. Let me repeat that, he has an unstoppable force and an immovable object. He uses this obscene power to block some hits, but prefers a shield 99% percent of the time, to trip people and to stick his sword in so he can poke holes in things from unusual angles. It takes 1.5 books before he actually kills anything by closing a portal on it and then only does it one more time the whole book. To be clear, he could be cutting limbs and heads off all day. Its just one example of how the author lacks creativity and has poorly thought out the world he's built.
Profile Image for Russell Gray.
681 reviews137 followers
December 23, 2021
I couldn't have asked for a better sequel. The opening gambits of the demigod assault occur, Duncan grows steadily while also getting a reality check that he's only a big fish in a small pond, and a solid supporting cast hang around and add more depth to the book for people who might want more than constant dungeon delving.

If you enjoyed the first book, you will likely love this one. I feel like the battle scenes smoothed out a bit in this book as well with less overly specific info. I can't wait for the next book in what has become one of my favorite gamelit/fantasy series.
Profile Image for William Howe.
1,802 reviews89 followers
January 7, 2022
More of the same

Still mostly solo, still focused on delving. More techniques, some actual friends, and some *very* powerful people (both politically and magically) make his acquaintance.

Still a bit pedantic (do we really need *complete* listings of his loot?). MC is definitely getting OP, though he also finds some vulnerabilities and almost dies quite regularly.

Looking forward to the sequel
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,179 reviews82 followers
December 5, 2021
Book two

Mistakes: I only found one and listed it on Goodreads. A small recap would have been nice.

Plot: School, dungeon diving, and attacks by the undead.

Characters: Plenty of growth. I'd like to see more interesting loot.

8/10
161 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2021
Thick juicy steak no fries

I don’t quite know how to examine this book I don’t know if certain things are done purposefully or not but regardless we see some revelations in this book that fix or perhaps clean up some issues exposed in the first book in the series. Perfect example the first book literally tells us that leveling is broken. In this book we get to understand a little bit of why not enough to be honest but we do understand a little bit of what’s going on perhaps. Now if you read the last book this is not the only issue on the table there are some other things which seem abstract or missing. Certain things that seem like they should be common knowledge to some people at least but aren’t. Anyway we are given some revelations which do smoothed over the story and make things about how the world functions more digestible of course it brings more questions to light as well.

Now overall good story I don’t think it’s a great story this time because we cease one of the main flaws from the first book still present here. A little too much combat and the MC follows the same pattern literally in most of his fights. We do see him grow as a character and there is potential to really expand here but I don’t think we get enough of that here in this book. However the author leave the door open for us to learn more and more interesting revelations I won’t go into much detail don’t wanna spoil anything. However there is a little too much dungeon delving here. We do get to see some more of the world we do get to meet more characters but I don’t think it was enough it’s like being given a thick steak or a thick hamburger and you get no fries. You’re thankful for the steak but you need something else to go with it that’s the biggest problem here we need more of this universe to be revealed to us don’t get me wrong you do get some of the things you wanted if you read the first book but it’s not enough. You will want more likely. Now I get the book for stars it deserves 4.25 stars really. It’s good the author I don’t know if he was cleaning up things the way he wrote the book or if we see the hero get some revelations that no one else seems to have whatever it doesn’t matter a lot of the issues with the first book as far as how the system is introduced are fixed more questions are revealed and you will want to know what is next we also do see some flaws with the MC something we don’t normally find in a book like this but to learn that a character is flawed can grow and see that it takes time that is something worth mentioning. Looking forward to the next book in the series hope I get to see more of this universe and not quite so many dungeons.
266 reviews13 followers
January 5, 2022
A step in the right direction

I had some pretty major (to me) complaints about the last half of the first book and the lack of really anything happening. I'm happy to say that there was definitely more going on in this book and that Duncan even almost kinda made some friends. At this point I think it's less a writing mistake and more my own personal preference, but I still really want more character interaction and fun dialogue. The author leans into jokes and fun dialogue very very rarely but when he does it's a really fun time. The bente arc was a saver for me for sure. Still just a looooooot of monster fight descriptions in dungeons I dont care much about. And I still feel this story is missing the two fundamental aspects of why rpgs are so fun, the role playing aspect where you meet fun people and do fun things, since Duncan is basically a robot. And the hype with beating an unbeatable dungeon, dungeons are so mundane in this world theres not much unique and theres no characters or plot involved except progression so it's hard for me to care about Duncans 17th time through a dungeon. Basically in my opinion the fun part of gaming is NOT the grinding, but that's mostly what this story focuses on. So maybe it's just not meant for me or maybe the author should add some more personality, but that's for you to decide. Either way give it a read it is definitely worth it if you liked the first one.
Profile Image for Izabella.
10 reviews
December 8, 2021
Just going to state right of the bat that I am not one to write reviews, so if I do, it is because I was either positively surprised during the reading (in terms of my expectations) or just plain loving it. I find that the reading did both those things for me. I ended up reading both these books in a day and night span - essentially staying up in the early hours to finish it. This series was great, to state plainly. Im very much a character-centered reader, rather than plot in many ways when it comes to my fantasy readings. Specifically in terms of development, improvement and it being a more character-driven book. I find that some genres, including and especially fantasy, can get me feeling overwhelmed. In short, these books had lots of action, but I enjoyed it being more focused. This series had the best of both worlds. I’m very much looking forward to the next book(s)!
419 reviews9 followers
February 10, 2022
Brilliant sequel

Brilliant, Academy of Steel follows directly on from Hero and is even better , Duncan enrols in the Academy of Steel to improve his abilities , and unusually for most academy stories there are no big bad nobles itching for a fight , he signs up for several classes in sword skills and various miscellaneous other classes. His skill levels continue to rise rapidly as he solo delves dungeons far stronger than him. The contest between the evil overlords gets underway with lichs ,undead hordes and dragons appearing. Duncan has occasion to travel outside the Arnite Empire and is shocked to realise that powerful as he is, the Empire is a low mana density area and outside it be is a babe.Much like Hadjar in Dragon Heart the reality drives him even harder,really looking forward to the story continuing, it is looking like an epic.
Profile Image for Micah.
9 reviews
December 18, 2021
Enjoyable, but could be better

The Author does very well with the progression of the MC in terms of power and training. The story progression is decent, could expand more on it. Something that turned me off to the book was social interaction. The MC always has the demeanor that he doesn’t care for people, and has no friends. Beyond that the author doesn’t really write a lot of dialogue with the people he is somewhat close with. To me, it dehumanizes the MC. Where is the emotion, the inner struggle with feelings of decisions? This author has huge potential, but fell short this book.
2,495 reviews17 followers
December 12, 2021
I don’t know if you’ve ever completed all the side quests in an Elder Scrolls game before doing the main storyline, but it feels a lot like this. You breeze through epic battles one after another, and it’s great to start off with, but then it gets a bit boring. It goes on for a bit too long in this book before he gets an adjustment. Yes, he’s super tough, I got that. Can we move on? And I have to say he’s not interesting enough to carry two whole books by himself. Give him a friend or two! It worked fine in the first book. Hope the next book is more like the last third of this one.
2,537 reviews72 followers
December 4, 2021
This book has resolved all the issues the first one had.

The narrative has a definitive direction. The characters, including the main character, have personality. The combat feels more natural. And the general direction feels more of a decision from the MC rather than the author, or the gods from the books perspective, railroading the story. All around, a general improvement.
2 reviews
December 12, 2021
A wonderfully simplistic progression novel

Academy of Steel is a fantastic sequel to Hero Of the Valley, and just a piece of what I imagine will be a very eventful series. For those that like seeing hard work from the protagonist along with an interesting use of abilities, I highly recommend giving this a read.
72 reviews
December 27, 2021
Fantastic read

Really enjoyed both books by this author. Plenty of action, good story development and I was never bored. I think character development was lacking in others in the storyline but that has a chance to change and develop with future books. I think this author has a great future and look forward to what he has in store for the future.
75 reviews2 followers
January 8, 2022
good

Progression feels honest and well earned and the world continues to evolve and show promise for future expansion. Main character tends to like the ability to connect with other people and have much of a personality but I just pretend he’s on the spectrum and get on with enjoying the ride.
Profile Image for Mike Goodman.
1,591 reviews12 followers
July 10, 2022
Adventure Galore

This is a story that makes you sad to finish, and other wordsmiths disappointing to read.
Lots of action and the MC is having a blast solo diving dungeons. He gets quickly overpowered, until he realizes he’s in a small pond and he’s still underpowered. Absolutely fantastic Series
75 reviews
December 1, 2022
another book I blew through

The main character is a bit simplistic in the overt intelligence the author has given him, which doesn’t make a lot of sense given his actions put him as a generally intelligent person. Despite that minor negative, I blew through the book and am really enjoying the series.
131 reviews
December 4, 2021
Awesome book

This Is really turning into one of my favorite series. I think it does a good job of having an interesting MC that is powerful while still having limits. Looking forward to the next.
399 reviews3 followers
December 5, 2021
fun

Very fun book with good action and just enough intrigue. There are unknowns about the world that are being slowly revealed and even though the main character seems overpowered at tones he gets a rude awakening when meeting those far better than him.
147 reviews1 follower
December 6, 2021
Loved it

This book was awesome great continuation of the series. There are some minor issues such as it being slightly to rushed in some parts. The MC is slightly to antisocial but those are small things.
39 reviews
December 9, 2021
Great continuation of the story

The story takes place in the academy. There is good character and story progression. Added element of relationship with new friends adds to the story. Highly recomended.
83 reviews
December 13, 2021
our keeps on kicking butt

The hero continues to get stronger and fight the forces of evil. Along the way he makes friends. He also finds humility when he learns he is not the strongest he thought he was.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews

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