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Forgotten Ruin #4
Lay the Hate
8 hours, 27 minutes
The war begins....
The world of Ruin erupts into the flames of war as a great evil rises once more from the Tombs of Eternal Midnight. Werewolves and vampires march from the east, the orcs of Umnoth are on the move, and cities disappear beneath the boots of these savage hordes. Kingdoms field desperate armies in a last desperate bid to stop the tides of darkness, but the truth is clear.
The hour of final ruin has come.
Yet the wizard Vandahar has one more card to play: Rangers. Allied with elves and dwarves, they set out to strike at the very heart of the evil Lich Pharaoh’s domain by attacking from a wholly unexpected direction.
Survival. Asymmetrical warfare. Total surprise. This is what the Rangers do best.
But first they must survive the Citadel.
What the forces of evil have started, the Rangers will finish!
©2021 Galaxy's Edge LLC (P)2021 Galaxy's Edge LLC
The war begins....
The world of Ruin erupts into the flames of war as a great evil rises once more from the Tombs of Eternal Midnight. Werewolves and vampires march from the east, the orcs of Umnoth are on the move, and cities disappear beneath the boots of these savage hordes. Kingdoms field desperate armies in a last desperate bid to stop the tides of darkness, but the truth is clear.
The hour of final ruin has come.
Yet the wizard Vandahar has one more card to play: Rangers. Allied with elves and dwarves, they set out to strike at the very heart of the evil Lich Pharaoh’s domain by attacking from a wholly unexpected direction.
Survival. Asymmetrical warfare. Total surprise. This is what the Rangers do best.
But first they must survive the Citadel.
What the forces of evil have started, the Rangers will finish!
©2021 Galaxy's Edge LLC (P)2021 Galaxy's Edge LLC
9 pages, Audible Audio
First published September 1, 2021
250 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Jason Anspach
177 books836 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 47 reviews
September 8, 2021
First off, I love these Authors. Have read so many of their books and they are almost all amazing.
The first book in this series was good. I'm totally into the premise of it, really cool. Only downside from me was the NONSTOP rambling dialogue from Talker, holy ADD Batman. (it was funny at first, but come on..) We get it!! Rangers are badass and you like coffee, sheesh. The dialogue was everywhere.
Next two books more of the same, book 3 was more of a short story, with some interesting origin ideas at the end, that was cool.
This book was just a let down. I literally had to put it down so I wouldn't get a headache trying to keep up with the rambling, disjointed thoughts of Talker. Thoughts that kept jumping back to hint at things told later, and some things that were never in any of the books?? There is a huge gap in the story from book 3-4, I don't get it, did I somehow miss a book between the fight against the dragon and the Seal, and then jump to them on a boat??
I am sad to see it, but I still hold hold for this series, it has tons of potential!
The first book in this series was good. I'm totally into the premise of it, really cool. Only downside from me was the NONSTOP rambling dialogue from Talker, holy ADD Batman. (it was funny at first, but come on..) We get it!! Rangers are badass and you like coffee, sheesh. The dialogue was everywhere.
Next two books more of the same, book 3 was more of a short story, with some interesting origin ideas at the end, that was cool.
This book was just a let down. I literally had to put it down so I wouldn't get a headache trying to keep up with the rambling, disjointed thoughts of Talker. Thoughts that kept jumping back to hint at things told later, and some things that were never in any of the books?? There is a huge gap in the story from book 3-4, I don't get it, did I somehow miss a book between the fight against the dragon and the Seal, and then jump to them on a boat??
I am sad to see it, but I still hold hold for this series, it has tons of potential!
April 4, 2022
Lay the Hate... Feel the LOVE!
Okay, I'll be honest... Warts and all: THIS is my favorite Forgotten Ruins book, so far. Great writing, excellent character development and purely superb story-telling! Anspach + Cole? Well, it's like 1+1=10, or maybe 20! Yeah man, it's that good! Gotta go... Kurtz is giving me the LOOK... (MAN HE'S P*SSED!)
Okay, I'll be honest... Warts and all: THIS is my favorite Forgotten Ruins book, so far. Great writing, excellent character development and purely superb story-telling! Anspach + Cole? Well, it's like 1+1=10, or maybe 20! Yeah man, it's that good! Gotta go... Kurtz is giving me the LOOK... (MAN HE'S P*SSED!)
October 13, 2021
Well, I'm getting a little tired of this series in that I was never a fan of "fantasy" sci-fi and that's what this has definitely turned into. A very weird kind of story with Army Rangers fighting 10,000 years in the future agains orcs, wizards, witches, ogers and other such creatures that just don't exist. Now, these fully equipped Army Rangers are resorting to sword and dagger fights when closing with these weird enemies. There's also some magic thrown in and I'm just getting a little tired of it!
For some reason that hasn't been fully explained, this Ranger unit is off on sailing ships heading for another part of this strange world. They believe they have to defeat another Medusa creature at this other locations just after defeating a dragon thing that was causing them problems where they were. Our Private Talker is still narrating the story as though he is writing about what is happening to the Rangers in this world. The writing is pretty straight-forward and easy to read, but it's there's just too much fantasy in the story now and more seems to be coming.
We spend a lot of time in the story just getting back to shore where we have to setup our attacks against this new Medusa. Of course she has her own forces that are trying to kill all the Rangers, but they don't faire real well against modern guns and bullets. From a distance, the Rangers can pretty much hold off all sorts of bad guys, but there are just so many that keep coming. Some of these creatures are huge and take a lot of punishment before they go down. Even Private Talker isn't immune to some of this fantasy stuff when he gets to listening to some mermaids lyrical songs that captivated the Rangers minds and also made them a captive of these vampire-like mermaids.
So, there's a lot of fighting against some pretty tough enemies and Rangers are getting killed. The Sergeant Major and even the Captain get tied up in separate battles so it takes awhile for the Rangers to sort things out and get back on mission. Still, there is an interesting twist to the story which specifically involves Talker. He's attempting to rescue on of his fellow Rangers and that might not be possible. We'll have to see how this comes out in the next book.
Book five, "The Book of Joe", is up for pre-order on Amazon and should be available 1 Dec 2021. I'll probably get it, I guess!
For some reason that hasn't been fully explained, this Ranger unit is off on sailing ships heading for another part of this strange world. They believe they have to defeat another Medusa creature at this other locations just after defeating a dragon thing that was causing them problems where they were. Our Private Talker is still narrating the story as though he is writing about what is happening to the Rangers in this world. The writing is pretty straight-forward and easy to read, but it's there's just too much fantasy in the story now and more seems to be coming.
We spend a lot of time in the story just getting back to shore where we have to setup our attacks against this new Medusa. Of course she has her own forces that are trying to kill all the Rangers, but they don't faire real well against modern guns and bullets. From a distance, the Rangers can pretty much hold off all sorts of bad guys, but there are just so many that keep coming. Some of these creatures are huge and take a lot of punishment before they go down. Even Private Talker isn't immune to some of this fantasy stuff when he gets to listening to some mermaids lyrical songs that captivated the Rangers minds and also made them a captive of these vampire-like mermaids.
So, there's a lot of fighting against some pretty tough enemies and Rangers are getting killed. The Sergeant Major and even the Captain get tied up in separate battles so it takes awhile for the Rangers to sort things out and get back on mission. Still, there is an interesting twist to the story which specifically involves Talker. He's attempting to rescue on of his fellow Rangers and that might not be possible. We'll have to see how this comes out in the next book.
Book five, "The Book of Joe", is up for pre-order on Amazon and should be available 1 Dec 2021. I'll probably get it, I guess!
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October 28, 2021Gung-Ho Nerd Prose
Ever play Dungeons and Dragons? Or serve in the armed forces? Then this book series is for you. A wonderfully written intersection of nerd and badass. Anspach and Cole deliver yet another masterpiece for their readers.
Ever play Dungeons and Dragons? Or serve in the armed forces? Then this book series is for you. A wonderfully written intersection of nerd and badass. Anspach and Cole deliver yet another masterpiece for their readers.
September 15, 2021
Lay the Hate is the fourth book in the Forgotten Ruin book series, Jason Anspach and Nick Cole’s prose poem to the Rangers and D&D. In book four, the Rangers decide to get into the domain-level game, Talker has an urban adventure, and the best of plans are waylaid by an unfortunate wilderness encounter. If you understood all that, you should just go buy this book. If you did not, allow me to explain.
However, in order to do so, we are going to need to take a detour into D&D internet sub-cultures. Trust me, this will be worth it.
Part of the magic of Forgotten Ruin is its juxtaposition of the brooding machismo of the Rangers with the utterly dweeby conceits of tabletop roleplaying games. That this works so well, when it seems like it should not, tells us something. In its current state D&D has lost touch with its roots in stereotypically masculine pursuits such as wargaming and an obsession with history. A largely Twitter based movement called the BROSR has arisen to join together what time and chance have sundered.
I’ve talked before about the OSR, a Biblicist back-to-the-texts type movement of the early 2000s that attempted to recover the early magic of D&D from forty years ago. Some real fruit came out of that, but the movement petered out as it became lost in the attempt to make money selling systems and supplements, an example of Emperor Norton’s thesis that social media has distorted artistic communities by turning hobbies into businesses.
The BROSR is very much a movement of the current moment, saturated in memes, deliberately performative in the manner of professional wrestling, and utterly without respect for anyone or anything. It is also very funny, so long as you can stand their style of humor. A major part of the BROSR message is that long-neglected parts of the infamously complicated and baroque AD&D 1st edition rules work together to create a more interesting, more enduring, and more flexible style of game.
One of those elements is known as the domain game. The domain game comes from a provision in the AD&D rules that certain classes attract followers at a certain level, and may also construct a stronghold. Construction of a castle or tower or religious sanctuary allows a player to control a “domain”, to collect taxes, and to have standing military forces.
There are a variety of reasons this was neglected over the years. I’m sure to some the idea of administering a feudal mini-state seemed really boring. It was also notoriously difficult to raise a character to the required level in the high lethality 1st edition rules. The antiquarian interests of the OSR paved the way to recover this mode of play by looking to see what had been done before, especially the film Secrets of Blackmoor.
But the BROSR showed us how it could be done now, in the extravagantly ridiculous Trollopulous campaign. First, players could try to do anything they wanted within the game world, and so were free to start changing it in any method they could devise. You needn’t wait to establish a base of operations until the point at which you became so famous you automatically attracted followers. You can band together with other adventurers and buy something small, or find something small to call your own.
The other key recovery was the practice of allowing players to run what would normally be powerful or influential non-player characters in the campaign world. In theory, once domain play was established, this would just happen naturally, but like the in famous D&D precursor game of Braunstein, the dungeon master can create factions and their leaders and let players decide what those factions are going to do. Multiple levels of play are possible in the same campaign world, from grand strategy down to individual combat. This allows for players to have different play styles and interests in a bigger world.
So what does all this have to do with Lay the Hate? If we step back from Anspach and Cole’s characteristic grunt’s POV and look at the bigger picture, in the first book, a charismatic leader of a war band assaults and seizes a base of operations. In the second book, the company defends their base against an attempt to retake the castle. In the third, the war band’s alliance with an indigenous group is cemented by killing their ancestral enemy, which both provides security for the castle and a source of money to fund operations. This is the domain game that is hinted at in the D&D rules.
And now Lay the Hate can be situated in its context. With a solid base established, the charismatic leader, Captain Knife Hand, has gathered intelligence on the other factions in the world, and attempts to improve his strategic position by launching an expedition against a key enemy. But in a world without airplanes, that means months of travel. In the book, we never even get close to the objective the Rangers set out for, because they ran into a hostile force en route and needed to defend themselves.
This too, is a classic and often maligned D&D mechanic, the random wilderness encounter. In this kind of world, traveling takes time, and there are only a few methods for information to travel any faster than people can in the game world. The richness and dynamism of the campaign world require a fair bit of logistics to work out, and the now common practice at the gaming table of allowing the players to begin outside of wherever they were going robs the game of the texture of the world that more naturally emerges when it takes weeks to travel to a seaport and then weeks more to sail to your destination. A huge part of the story is just getting there.
Finally, the urban adventure. One way of looking at the kinds of things that can happen in a D&D game is to divide up play sessions into dungeon delves, wilderness encounters, and urban adventures. As we have seen, this only does justice to one possible level of play, but the different environments do tend to have different flavors. Since the Rangers needed to sail, they went to a seaport. And while they were preparing for their trip, Talker, our POV grunt, gets involved in some classic tavern roleplay.
This portion of the book is relatively short in the amount of space it occupies, but it looms large in the development of the story. I shan’t get too deep into it here, as I found the way Talker’s elliptical style tends to orbit around his point rather than engage with it directly enhanced the impact of this particular element. Here, the form of a novel takes pride of place. Much of the development of D&D over the last forty years has been attempts to create narratives like the one Anspach and Cole create here. I suspect that the novel is always going to win this contest, as the kind of improv theater combined with the illusion of player choice the game has settled into cannot create what you will find in the book. Read it for yourself and see. Or, wait a bit and hear the audio version performed by the exceptional Christopher Ryan Grant. This story is like the chansons de geste, meant to be performed in the firelight.
There is some pretty cool Ranger stuff that goes on in this book too, if you are into that.
I received a free review copy from the authors.
However, in order to do so, we are going to need to take a detour into D&D internet sub-cultures. Trust me, this will be worth it.
Part of the magic of Forgotten Ruin is its juxtaposition of the brooding machismo of the Rangers with the utterly dweeby conceits of tabletop roleplaying games. That this works so well, when it seems like it should not, tells us something. In its current state D&D has lost touch with its roots in stereotypically masculine pursuits such as wargaming and an obsession with history. A largely Twitter based movement called the BROSR has arisen to join together what time and chance have sundered.
I’ve talked before about the OSR, a Biblicist back-to-the-texts type movement of the early 2000s that attempted to recover the early magic of D&D from forty years ago. Some real fruit came out of that, but the movement petered out as it became lost in the attempt to make money selling systems and supplements, an example of Emperor Norton’s thesis that social media has distorted artistic communities by turning hobbies into businesses.
The BROSR is very much a movement of the current moment, saturated in memes, deliberately performative in the manner of professional wrestling, and utterly without respect for anyone or anything. It is also very funny, so long as you can stand their style of humor. A major part of the BROSR message is that long-neglected parts of the infamously complicated and baroque AD&D 1st edition rules work together to create a more interesting, more enduring, and more flexible style of game.
One of those elements is known as the domain game. The domain game comes from a provision in the AD&D rules that certain classes attract followers at a certain level, and may also construct a stronghold. Construction of a castle or tower or religious sanctuary allows a player to control a “domain”, to collect taxes, and to have standing military forces.
There are a variety of reasons this was neglected over the years. I’m sure to some the idea of administering a feudal mini-state seemed really boring. It was also notoriously difficult to raise a character to the required level in the high lethality 1st edition rules. The antiquarian interests of the OSR paved the way to recover this mode of play by looking to see what had been done before, especially the film Secrets of Blackmoor.
But the BROSR showed us how it could be done now, in the extravagantly ridiculous Trollopulous campaign. First, players could try to do anything they wanted within the game world, and so were free to start changing it in any method they could devise. You needn’t wait to establish a base of operations until the point at which you became so famous you automatically attracted followers. You can band together with other adventurers and buy something small, or find something small to call your own.
The other key recovery was the practice of allowing players to run what would normally be powerful or influential non-player characters in the campaign world. In theory, once domain play was established, this would just happen naturally, but like the in famous D&D precursor game of Braunstein, the dungeon master can create factions and their leaders and let players decide what those factions are going to do. Multiple levels of play are possible in the same campaign world, from grand strategy down to individual combat. This allows for players to have different play styles and interests in a bigger world.
So what does all this have to do with Lay the Hate? If we step back from Anspach and Cole’s characteristic grunt’s POV and look at the bigger picture, in the first book, a charismatic leader of a war band assaults and seizes a base of operations. In the second book, the company defends their base against an attempt to retake the castle. In the third, the war band’s alliance with an indigenous group is cemented by killing their ancestral enemy, which both provides security for the castle and a source of money to fund operations. This is the domain game that is hinted at in the D&D rules.
And now Lay the Hate can be situated in its context. With a solid base established, the charismatic leader, Captain Knife Hand, has gathered intelligence on the other factions in the world, and attempts to improve his strategic position by launching an expedition against a key enemy. But in a world without airplanes, that means months of travel. In the book, we never even get close to the objective the Rangers set out for, because they ran into a hostile force en route and needed to defend themselves.
This too, is a classic and often maligned D&D mechanic, the random wilderness encounter. In this kind of world, traveling takes time, and there are only a few methods for information to travel any faster than people can in the game world. The richness and dynamism of the campaign world require a fair bit of logistics to work out, and the now common practice at the gaming table of allowing the players to begin outside of wherever they were going robs the game of the texture of the world that more naturally emerges when it takes weeks to travel to a seaport and then weeks more to sail to your destination. A huge part of the story is just getting there.
Finally, the urban adventure. One way of looking at the kinds of things that can happen in a D&D game is to divide up play sessions into dungeon delves, wilderness encounters, and urban adventures. As we have seen, this only does justice to one possible level of play, but the different environments do tend to have different flavors. Since the Rangers needed to sail, they went to a seaport. And while they were preparing for their trip, Talker, our POV grunt, gets involved in some classic tavern roleplay.
This portion of the book is relatively short in the amount of space it occupies, but it looms large in the development of the story. I shan’t get too deep into it here, as I found the way Talker’s elliptical style tends to orbit around his point rather than engage with it directly enhanced the impact of this particular element. Here, the form of a novel takes pride of place. Much of the development of D&D over the last forty years has been attempts to create narratives like the one Anspach and Cole create here. I suspect that the novel is always going to win this contest, as the kind of improv theater combined with the illusion of player choice the game has settled into cannot create what you will find in the book. Read it for yourself and see. Or, wait a bit and hear the audio version performed by the exceptional Christopher Ryan Grant. This story is like the chansons de geste, meant to be performed in the firelight.
There is some pretty cool Ranger stuff that goes on in this book too, if you are into that.
I received a free review copy from the authors.
March 28, 2022
Enjoyable Action and Page Turner!
Ok! Not your typical war, killing, fighting story! 10,000 years forwards of their time line and life has become Hobbit, Dungeons and Dragons in a crazy way!
Talker, the "writer" of their, the Rangers, life in this future time period they will never return from, tells a page turning account of how the Rangers lay the hate on evil they have never dreamed of seeing, let alone actually fighting against!
I highly recommend delving into this series and have your brain shaken by a true Science Fiction like none I have ever read before!!
Ok! Not your typical war, killing, fighting story! 10,000 years forwards of their time line and life has become Hobbit, Dungeons and Dragons in a crazy way!
Talker, the "writer" of their, the Rangers, life in this future time period they will never return from, tells a page turning account of how the Rangers lay the hate on evil they have never dreamed of seeing, let alone actually fighting against!
I highly recommend delving into this series and have your brain shaken by a true Science Fiction like none I have ever read before!!
March 17, 2022
Jimmy Pickett's review sums up my thoughts exactly...
Overall the premise of the series, mixing Army Rangers with D&D is amazing, but it deserves a better origin explanation. This explanation was attempted in Book 3, but it was disjointed and unconnected completely to this next book. And one of the stronger characters and only woman, Last of Autumn, is completely abandoned from the story now.
But the worst part of the entire series is the narrator, Talker, who cannot focus on the story line. Yeh, we get it you're not the best Ranger, and not that familiar with D&D, and you like coffee. Bummer then that you were the one chosen to tell the the story. As a linguist it would have been nice if you had translated more of what others had to say. However, based on the unresolved ending of this shorter book, it appears the authors seem committed to continuing with this style of narration. If there is a Book 5 it needs to tie up loose ends, that's what Rangers do. Amirite?
Overall the premise of the series, mixing Army Rangers with D&D is amazing, but it deserves a better origin explanation. This explanation was attempted in Book 3, but it was disjointed and unconnected completely to this next book. And one of the stronger characters and only woman, Last of Autumn, is completely abandoned from the story now.
But the worst part of the entire series is the narrator, Talker, who cannot focus on the story line. Yeh, we get it you're not the best Ranger, and not that familiar with D&D, and you like coffee. Bummer then that you were the one chosen to tell the the story. As a linguist it would have been nice if you had translated more of what others had to say. However, based on the unresolved ending of this shorter book, it appears the authors seem committed to continuing with this style of narration. If there is a Book 5 it needs to tie up loose ends, that's what Rangers do. Amirite?
September 4, 2021
The endgame looms
The Rangers have been through hell and rained hell down upon Orcish Hordes and the undead, and they���ve added dragons layers to their feats, but now the true and terrible threat to the Ruin has set his eldritch sights on these new players from another time, and there is nothing to do but take the fight to the enemy first.
Because hey, Rangers.
And if you didn’t think the stakes could get any higher, then dear reader you haven’t been paying attention.
So pick this one up, catch up, and brace yourselves for the finale to come!
The Rangers have been through hell and rained hell down upon Orcish Hordes and the undead, and they���ve added dragons layers to their feats, but now the true and terrible threat to the Ruin has set his eldritch sights on these new players from another time, and there is nothing to do but take the fight to the enemy first.
Because hey, Rangers.
And if you didn’t think the stakes could get any higher, then dear reader you haven’t been paying attention.
So pick this one up, catch up, and brace yourselves for the finale to come!
September 19, 2021
Great series, great book with a lot of action
This is a great series with incredibly interesting characters. The narrative style may be one you will love or hate, I personally love it.
Lay The Hate is full of action and a plot twist that had me cursing the authors.
I highly recommend this.
This is a great series with incredibly interesting characters. The narrative style may be one you will love or hate, I personally love it.
Lay The Hate is full of action and a plot twist that had me cursing the authors.
I highly recommend this.
November 19, 2021
A perfect blend
While Galaxy's Edge may be more famous, this series is a masterful blend of military fiction and fantasy. The characters feel real and catch your attention. The seeting in mystical and deadly. The stakes are always life or death, and Talker, the narrator battles realistic struggles that hit close to home for many. One of the best new series out.
While Galaxy's Edge may be more famous, this series is a masterful blend of military fiction and fantasy. The characters feel real and catch your attention. The seeting in mystical and deadly. The stakes are always life or death, and Talker, the narrator battles realistic struggles that hit close to home for many. One of the best new series out.
February 14, 2025
This is the 4th book in the series, and time jumps forward a little in the story arc. The rangers now have an established base in Tarragon (what used to be France), and have moved to Portugon (Portugal) in order to hire the best sailors to help them sail through the Great Inner Sea (the Mediterranean Sea) to Sustagul (Alexandria).
The plan is to locate Sut the Undying pharoah, who is allied to the Nether Sorcerer, and the Rangers ultimate enemy. Naturally this plan gets off to a bad start when a storm drives the three ships into The Rift, an area known for shipwrecks, and fierce orc tribes lead by a Medusa. The story then tells of the battles the Rangers face trying to kill the medusa, and the rest while trying to survive.
The book ends on a cliff-hanger, and sets up the story for the next book.
The plan is to locate Sut the Undying pharoah, who is allied to the Nether Sorcerer, and the Rangers ultimate enemy. Naturally this plan gets off to a bad start when a storm drives the three ships into The Rift, an area known for shipwrecks, and fierce orc tribes lead by a Medusa. The story then tells of the battles the Rangers face trying to kill the medusa, and the rest while trying to survive.
The book ends on a cliff-hanger, and sets up the story for the next book.
September 3, 2021
I’m wrecked
I don’t think I’ve been this emotionally compromised since the finally of End Game. I generally read through my books with the Kindle unlimited access but I make an exception for this series. I have to pre-order and buy each and everyone. The series has been absolutely phenomenal and I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. That being said, this one had me a soul crushed, tear jerking mess that hasn’t been seen since Spider-Man got snapped into oblivion. I think I am still in shock over this one. This book in the series takes such a hard right turn that I cannot believe it actually happened. Warning, there is a cliffhanger in this book that is illegal in eleven states. It was fantastic, I’m a mess, when is the next one coming out?
I don’t think I’ve been this emotionally compromised since the finally of End Game. I generally read through my books with the Kindle unlimited access but I make an exception for this series. I have to pre-order and buy each and everyone. The series has been absolutely phenomenal and I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. That being said, this one had me a soul crushed, tear jerking mess that hasn’t been seen since Spider-Man got snapped into oblivion. I think I am still in shock over this one. This book in the series takes such a hard right turn that I cannot believe it actually happened. Warning, there is a cliffhanger in this book that is illegal in eleven states. It was fantastic, I’m a mess, when is the next one coming out?
August 11, 2025
The Rangers are on the move on their next HVT and requires ships manned by Italian Sailors or decedents thereof. Talker gets himself into some trouble but the sailors get him out of it, you'll find out the details at the end. They hit a major storm and end up where they do not want to be, shipwrecked and surrounded by weird fish men, screaming sea hags that fly and ships full of Orc. Rangers shift to plan B and hit the beach. A lot more fighting, beautiful mermaids, spell casters, shapeshifter demons and of course a Genie and a Medusa. Hard fight to take the objective. Does not end like you think it will.
April 20, 2025
Serviceable fantasy, great action, and intriguing story of a group of real-life soldiers adrift in a fantastic land clearly inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. Overall, worth the time for sure.
My main criticism is that the authors allow the narrator's reflections and digressions to take over the story. It throws off the pacing, and some of it is not only unnecessary, but actively annoying.
Still, despite the criticism it is worth a read. I hope the authors refine their style and work on limiting that tendency.
My main criticism is that the authors allow the narrator's reflections and digressions to take over the story. It throws off the pacing, and some of it is not only unnecessary, but actively annoying.
Still, despite the criticism it is worth a read. I hope the authors refine their style and work on limiting that tendency.
February 3, 2023
The adventure continues and this book does not disappoint. It’s got all the great action, fantasy and discussions of coffee that were in the previous books but kicked up yet another notch. This series keeps getting better and I didn’t realize how invested I was until a surprise near the end. As late as it was when I finished I still had to read at least the first chapter of Book of Joe before I got some rack time. It’s a REALLY good read. Enjoy.
February 8, 2022
We got a side-quest booo
The story really irked me has it felt like that quest to unlock anew area you have to do no matter how annoying it was the whole book seemed like that has the rangers are forced to go a monster island like out of a Greek classical and complete a multiple choice type side quest that all have bad outcomes over all I came to hate this book.
The story really irked me has it felt like that quest to unlock anew area you have to do no matter how annoying it was the whole book seemed like that has the rangers are forced to go a monster island like out of a Greek classical and complete a multiple choice type side quest that all have bad outcomes over all I came to hate this book.
June 1, 2022
Wow! Unbelievable
Wow unbelievable! What were the authors thinking? As usual there is lots of excess dialog and Talker whining about his coffee addiction but the ending of the book is pathetic; another ending sort of like a cliffhanger but less interesting because it is obvious (hopefully) what's going to happen. Eck!
Wow unbelievable! What were the authors thinking? As usual there is lots of excess dialog and Talker whining about his coffee addiction but the ending of the book is pathetic; another ending sort of like a cliffhanger but less interesting because it is obvious (hopefully) what's going to happen. Eck!
June 1, 2022
Better than I expected.
The story has my attention & I enjoy every minute. Talker is a total character; like someone you know & wish you could be. His life revolves around being a Ranger now; unlike in the beginning when he was processed quickly to fill the need of the Operation to Save the World. Talker is one-of-a-kind. Great story.
The story has my attention & I enjoy every minute. Talker is a total character; like someone you know & wish you could be. His life revolves around being a Ranger now; unlike in the beginning when he was processed quickly to fill the need of the Operation to Save the World. Talker is one-of-a-kind. Great story.
October 13, 2023
Awesome with a side of Black Company
Jason and Nick brought a tear to my eye in this installment of the Rangers in The Forgotten Ruin. They made me think of Glen Cook and the Black Company in the best way. So, so, good. On to the next.
Rangers got to ranger. This reader's got to read.
Jason and Nick brought a tear to my eye in this installment of the Rangers in The Forgotten Ruin. They made me think of Glen Cook and the Black Company in the best way. So, so, good. On to the next.
Rangers got to ranger. This reader's got to read.
September 2, 2021
Talker tones down but doesn't completely bin the coffee obsession, so a 4.5. It's short, and the way it ends makes me wonder if it's just a story arc thing or if this is where it ends. Doesn't seem like a good place to end it, so hopefully it's the former.
September 5, 2021
Book four
Mistakes: I've listed what I found on Goodreads. I found three.
Plot: I really enjoy these stories. The problem is they are to short. This one was under 200 pages and ends in a bit of a cliffhanger.
Characters: Talker still rambles on about coffee to much.
4/10
Mistakes: I've listed what I found on Goodreads. I found three.
Plot: I really enjoy these stories. The problem is they are to short. This one was under 200 pages and ends in a bit of a cliffhanger.
Characters: Talker still rambles on about coffee to much.
4/10
September 10, 2021
boom
Every time I start the newest book I wish for a review of the old one that’s my only criticism.
I always find they start off slow that might just be me tho, and by the end I. Wanting more. I love this series.
Every time I start the newest book I wish for a review of the old one that’s my only criticism.
I always find they start off slow that might just be me tho, and by the end I. Wanting more. I love this series.
September 18, 2021
engrossing plots and characters
Really have enjoyed reading this story since book 1. Everything is on point and very well written. Sometimes the sentences are quite beautifully written and I will read them several times over as one does. Seriously entertaining story.
Really have enjoyed reading this story since book 1. Everything is on point and very well written. Sometimes the sentences are quite beautifully written and I will read them several times over as one does. Seriously entertaining story.
September 27, 2021
Interesting take on Rangers Vs Middle Earth!
Good story. It felt a bit shorter than the last ones however it kept me engaged until the end. I’m looking forward to the next instalment! Ranger gotta ranger!
Good story. It felt a bit shorter than the last ones however it kept me engaged until the end. I’m looking forward to the next instalment! Ranger gotta ranger!
October 1, 2021
Big Fan
Big fan of the series. So many possibilities for this series to continue. I wish this book was longer but definitely worth the read. The entire series is non stop action and this book doesn’t disappoint.
Big fan of the series. So many possibilities for this series to continue. I wish this book was longer but definitely worth the read. The entire series is non stop action and this book doesn’t disappoint.
October 13, 2021
Nope...Nope Nope Nope,I anit going to believe it...
Tanner's going to find em,that's it! Cause they can't be gone,just can't be.Besides Tanner's not a bad scribe he's just not Talker.
Tanner's going to find em,that's it! Cause they can't be gone,just can't be.Besides Tanner's not a bad scribe he's just not Talker.
October 23, 2021
This was a great continuation of the story of Pvt Talker and the Ranger company fighting in the ruin. It follows a naval and shore assault as the rangers fight a Medusa and a genie to turn the tide of the wars being fought.
I think it’s the best one in the series as it was the least predictable.
I think it’s the best one in the series as it was the least predictable.
November 25, 2021
Amazing
Another amazing installment in the Forgotten Ruin saga. Wow! This book took a storyline turn from the previous books. But it was exciting and well-told as usual. I love this series.
Another amazing installment in the Forgotten Ruin saga. Wow! This book took a storyline turn from the previous books. But it was exciting and well-told as usual. I love this series.
June 7, 2025
As Addictive as the rest
Book four in as many days it seems. Rangers versus true type orcs, traveling a world of nightmares and dreams. Real heroes save the world again. Dang it's a fun read.
Book four in as many days it seems. Rangers versus true type orcs, traveling a world of nightmares and dreams. Real heroes save the world again. Dang it's a fun read.
September 8, 2021
Love this series.
Great, fresh spin on a couple of classic genres rolled into one.
If I was going to complain about anything it's that the books always leave me wanting more. :)
Great, fresh spin on a couple of classic genres rolled into one.
If I was going to complain about anything it's that the books always leave me wanting more. :)
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