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The Primal Hunter #2
The Primal Hunter 2
The Tutorial has progressed in unexpected ways as Jake is soon forced to confront reality…
Jake has finally found a personal goal of his own as he gains a quest to defeat three more Beast Lords before he can face the final opponent of the Tutorial: The King of the Forest. Something he happily does, fully immersing himself in grasping power and gaining levels as he hunts through Dungeons to kill stronger and stronger foes.
In another region of the Tutorial, turmoil amongst the humans quickly died down after a disastrous battle leaves nearly everyone except the Metal Mage William dead.
Will Jake be able to hunt down the King of the Forest before the Tutorial ends? Does William wake up in time to create even more chaos and fulfill his goal of killing everyone? Who will survive till the end and return to Earth once more?
Oh, and will Jake ever get a shirt that doesn’t get ripped apart in every single fight?
Jake has finally found a personal goal of his own as he gains a quest to defeat three more Beast Lords before he can face the final opponent of the Tutorial: The King of the Forest. Something he happily does, fully immersing himself in grasping power and gaining levels as he hunts through Dungeons to kill stronger and stronger foes.
In another region of the Tutorial, turmoil amongst the humans quickly died down after a disastrous battle leaves nearly everyone except the Metal Mage William dead.
Will Jake be able to hunt down the King of the Forest before the Tutorial ends? Does William wake up in time to create even more chaos and fulfill his goal of killing everyone? Who will survive till the end and return to Earth once more?
Oh, and will Jake ever get a shirt that doesn’t get ripped apart in every single fight?
740 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2022
3088 people are currently reading
911 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 338 reviews
July 10, 2022
Goes on and on about every simple choice
The plot seems nice,
But the book (and former one) over analyzes every decision the hero makes. I find myself skipping pages since it's so boring, almost an entire chapter dedicated to choosing a skill where 4/5 of the skills are not even relevant. This happens again and again as if the author is simply attempting to add more pages to the book.
The plot seems nice,
But the book (and former one) over analyzes every decision the hero makes. I find myself skipping pages since it's so boring, almost an entire chapter dedicated to choosing a skill where 4/5 of the skills are not even relevant. This happens again and again as if the author is simply attempting to add more pages to the book.
August 9, 2022
I’m interested enough to continue to read if nothing else is available, but it’s just ok.
June 17, 2022
Book 2 picks up where book 1 left off, with Jake in the inner area of the tutorial and facing off against the four dungeon beasts. I won't spoil what happens, but I think it's fair to say that the tutorial ends and people return to Earth.
As was true in book 1, this series has a lot of internal dialogue as Jake tries to figure things out in his head. How does this skill work? What can I do with my alchemy profession? Things like that.
What's different from book 1 is that we hop heads much more and see different characters points of view. Some are for obvious reasons, some less so. But it does help flesh out what the tutorials were like for other humans, and the variety within them.
I enjoyed book 2. It did drag a couple of times, which isn't unexpected for a book this long, but once the tutorial ended things picked back up. I really hope this series doesn't end at book three, but I have a feeling it will as that tends to be Aethon's preference based on what I've read from other authors in their stable.
The editing is above average but not perfect, and the stat sheets are infrequent but so long I can only imagine how disconcerting they will be to a narrator. Whatever. It's not my problem, and they're easily skippable.
Recommended. 5/5*
As was true in book 1, this series has a lot of internal dialogue as Jake tries to figure things out in his head. How does this skill work? What can I do with my alchemy profession? Things like that.
What's different from book 1 is that we hop heads much more and see different characters points of view. Some are for obvious reasons, some less so. But it does help flesh out what the tutorials were like for other humans, and the variety within them.
I enjoyed book 2. It did drag a couple of times, which isn't unexpected for a book this long, but once the tutorial ended things picked back up. I really hope this series doesn't end at book three, but I have a feeling it will as that tends to be Aethon's preference based on what I've read from other authors in their stable.
The editing is above average but not perfect, and the stat sheets are infrequent but so long I can only imagine how disconcerting they will be to a narrator. Whatever. It's not my problem, and they're easily skippable.
Recommended. 5/5*
June 16, 2022
What an amazing follow-up to a great first book. This one was even better than the first which I thought would be difficult to manage. But Zogarth did it and he did it with such awesomeness that I have to say this is without a doubt going to be just as big of a series if not bigger, than series such as He Who Hunts Monsters and other series that are in that category. I love the world-building and the attention placed on more than just the MC. How Zogarth expertly navigates the way of really showing more than just one character's POV while still feeling the same. It didn't detract from the book it enhanced it. I really enjoyed the interludes at the end there as well. I hope that my suspicions are correct and that those people will come into contact with Jake at some point. Master fully done I can't wait for the next one in the series
December 15, 2024
The plot, world, and characters are not bad, but the writting is just so bad... the author seems incapable of getting to the point. He just goes on and on with the terribly annoying thoughts of the MC. He writes an ability's description and then goes on for 4 sentences describing the same skill in the MC's mind. Then he goes on with random guesses on how the system decided to give him that skill (NO ONE CARES, and if they do, they can figure it out themselves; readers aren't idiots, we can connect dots) then he goes on to give the MC's random guesses on how the skill might work. He spends a third of the time, if not more, giving us the same repetitive thoughts the MC has on the system and on his own identity. Every other chapter he spends a paragraph talking about how the MC is a single minded person. We get it, move on! Stop repeating yourself! Yes, a lot of people in real life have circular thought paterns a lot of the time, but this is a fantasy book, no one wants that kind of realism; it just makes the book annoying.
He spends so long on random terrible thoughts that you can skip half the book's pages without missing anything important, let alone interesting.
I had to drop the book halfway through.
He spends so long on random terrible thoughts that you can skip half the book's pages without missing anything important, let alone interesting.
I had to drop the book halfway through.
June 20, 2022
Starts off strong
The first half of this sequel lives up to it's predecessor. However after the midway point, the quality takes a sharp dive, and seems to lose its sense of direction. Jake suddenly becomes extremely preachy, even though he owes most of his success to a "bloodline". The author seems to just want to setup a whole new story, but ended the book without DOING anything with that setup. Jake also seems to have become OP (at least in the context of this book), and the plot is beginning to feel... surface level. Overall a bit of a stumble for the series, but willing to give the sequel another chance.
The first half of this sequel lives up to it's predecessor. However after the midway point, the quality takes a sharp dive, and seems to lose its sense of direction. Jake suddenly becomes extremely preachy, even though he owes most of his success to a "bloodline". The author seems to just want to setup a whole new story, but ended the book without DOING anything with that setup. Jake also seems to have become OP (at least in the context of this book), and the plot is beginning to feel... surface level. Overall a bit of a stumble for the series, but willing to give the sequel another chance.
April 24, 2025
De retour aux côtés de Jake, dans la suite de ses aventures au sein du tutoriel, et quelle aventure !
J'ai encore une fois dévoré ce tome, tout aussi épais que son prédécesseur, avec un Jake qui devient de plus en plus puissant, tandis qu'il poursuit sa mission jusqu'au combat contre le Roi de la Forêt. Pendant ce temps, Jacob et William poursuivent leur chemin respectif, qui vont les emmener là où on ne s'y attend pas... Clairement pas. Il y a eu quelques sacrés retournements de situation qui m'ont surprise ! L'intrigue prend également une tournure très intéressante,
Comme pour le premier tome, j'ai particulièrement aimé suivre les réflexions et les choix du héros, ainsi que l'humour dévastateur de l'auteur qui m'a happée dès le récapitulatif du tome 1. Je ne pensais pas pouvoir aimer autant, et finalement, je suis véritablement FAN de cette saga de Lit-RPG, je ne me lasse pas des combats, des stratégies (même si Jake commence à être trèèèèès puissant).
Vivement le tome 3 !
J'ai encore une fois dévoré ce tome, tout aussi épais que son prédécesseur, avec un Jake qui devient de plus en plus puissant, tandis qu'il poursuit sa mission jusqu'au combat contre le Roi de la Forêt. Pendant ce temps, Jacob et William poursuivent leur chemin respectif, qui vont les emmener là où on ne s'y attend pas... Clairement pas. Il y a eu quelques sacrés retournements de situation qui m'ont surprise ! L'intrigue prend également une tournure très intéressante,
Comme pour le premier tome, j'ai particulièrement aimé suivre les réflexions et les choix du héros, ainsi que l'humour dévastateur de l'auteur qui m'a happée dès le récapitulatif du tome 1. Je ne pensais pas pouvoir aimer autant, et finalement, je suis véritablement FAN de cette saga de Lit-RPG, je ne me lasse pas des combats, des stratégies (même si Jake commence à être trèèèèès puissant).
Vivement le tome 3 !
June 21, 2022
Rating 4.0 stars
This was a good addition to the genre and a good continuation of the series. I can't quite call it great though. I felt there needed to be more balance in the story. World building, magic, leveling, fighting, crafting, and character interaction/banter are the mainstay of these kind of books. Most authors focus on a couple of those to make them great but the best try for a balance between those categories. One or two will always take center stage but unless those are insanely awesome I do notice when the others are lacking. In this one the main one that is lacking is character interactions/banter. The MC is somewhat of a loner but for the first half of the story he talked to nobody. I also felt the first half of the book was focused a little too much on the fighting without a great reason.
This was a good addition to the genre and a good continuation of the series. I can't quite call it great though. I felt there needed to be more balance in the story. World building, magic, leveling, fighting, crafting, and character interaction/banter are the mainstay of these kind of books. Most authors focus on a couple of those to make them great but the best try for a balance between those categories. One or two will always take center stage but unless those are insanely awesome I do notice when the others are lacking. In this one the main one that is lacking is character interactions/banter. The MC is somewhat of a loner but for the first half of the story he talked to nobody. I also felt the first half of the book was focused a little too much on the fighting without a great reason.
December 16, 2025
Definitivamente, estoy dentro de esta saga.
Estos dos primeros libros son el tutorial y un poco más, y ya da lo suficiente como para querer seguir leyendo.
Un constante "pasar cosas", luchando, mejorando, subiendo niveles, adquiriendo habilidades y además de la acción, subtramas, engaños, manipulaciones....
Poco más que añadir. A por el siguiente!!
Estos dos primeros libros son el tutorial y un poco más, y ya da lo suficiente como para querer seguir leyendo.
Un constante "pasar cosas", luchando, mejorando, subiendo niveles, adquiriendo habilidades y además de la acción, subtramas, engaños, manipulaciones....
Poco más que añadir. A por el siguiente!!
May 11, 2025
بتكمل مغامرة جيك في عالم النظام اللي مليان أكشن وتحديات.
بصراحة، الرواية دي عجبتني أوي عشان طريقة الكاتب في وصف المعارك بتخليك تحس إنك جوا الحدث. جيك، البطل، بيطور مهاراته كصياد بشكل ذكي، وده بيدي العمق لشخصيته. اللي يميز الجزء ده إن القصة بقت أكتر تشويق مع دخول شخصيات جديدة وصراعات أعقد.
بصراحة، الرواية دي عجبتني أوي عشان طريقة الكاتب في وصف المعارك بتخليك تحس إنك جوا الحدث. جيك، البطل، بيطور مهاراته كصياد بشكل ذكي، وده بيدي العمق لشخصيته. اللي يميز الجزء ده إن القصة بقت أكتر تشويق مع دخول شخصيات جديدة وصراعات أعقد.
December 17, 2022
the concept is great… execution?
I like the books so far.
The author does spend a lot of time going over decisions like class, skill, and profession. It’s pretty predictable and long.
My biggest issue is with the authors inflated stats, levels, money and points. I get he has to set level distinctions but often they seem arbitrary and something only the author understands. Honestly I think he just throws out numbers and then writes a justification.
The author does a real good job on progressing the character. It feels more real to see them have to actually practice with skills before they master them.
Again cool elements but some weak points.
I like the books so far.
The author does spend a lot of time going over decisions like class, skill, and profession. It’s pretty predictable and long.
My biggest issue is with the authors inflated stats, levels, money and points. I get he has to set level distinctions but often they seem arbitrary and something only the author understands. Honestly I think he just throws out numbers and then writes a justification.
The author does a real good job on progressing the character. It feels more real to see them have to actually practice with skills before they master them.
Again cool elements but some weak points.
June 16, 2022
love it
Again, I am quite happy to pay the author, as I previously read many of the chapters he posted to Royal Road.
This book finally finishes the tutorial. It only takes half the book to do so. In truth not a whole lot happens immediately after the end of the tutorial, as the pace of the narrative does not increase.
I feel like there are a few differences between the chapters that were released on Royal Road and some of what has appeared in this book.
Now to wait for the next book.
Again, I am quite happy to pay the author, as I previously read many of the chapters he posted to Royal Road.
This book finally finishes the tutorial. It only takes half the book to do so. In truth not a whole lot happens immediately after the end of the tutorial, as the pace of the narrative does not increase.
I feel like there are a few differences between the chapters that were released on Royal Road and some of what has appeared in this book.
Now to wait for the next book.
January 29, 2025
I'll be talking about this book over on my YouTube channel, BellTube. It's really an odd book for me as the first half or so was basically a continuation of book 1 and felt extremely (for me) boring and grindy without the drama or cast of book 1. The second half, however, absolutely grew the cast with new and interesting people I want to know more about. I will for sure be continuing The Primal Hunter.
June 23, 2022
3.5 Stars
I wasn't impressed with the first half of the book. Watching the protagonist defeat four dungeons solo was too linear for my taste. The author rightly took breaks to check in with two other POVs but it wasn't enough to keep my interest. Things picked up after that with a strong finish. The reentry of tutorial participants into a changed Earth was interesting and left me wanting more.
I wasn't impressed with the first half of the book. Watching the protagonist defeat four dungeons solo was too linear for my taste. The author rightly took breaks to check in with two other POVs but it wasn't enough to keep my interest. Things picked up after that with a strong finish. The reentry of tutorial participants into a changed Earth was interesting and left me wanting more.
February 4, 2024
The tutorial has ended and Jake is now back on earth and as expected nothing is the same. Jake once again goes off on his own, but he soon finds himself in the company of others. What will this new earth bring and will Jake find hunt that will challenge him in the end. I’m enjoying this series if you can’t tell. Happy the tutorial part is over so we can see how the planet has changed, how the humans will survive the changes and each other.
December 15, 2025
progression fantasy garbage. Jake is unmemorable and lacking distinction. the viper is stupid and much like Jake he is a 1 dimensional character. No one in this book has any real motive that is logical.
August 14, 2023
The world and its characters just keeps expanding! So much fun!
February 3, 2024
4.5 stars. The second book moved along much quicker than the first. I have hope that the MC might begin some relationships.
March 11, 2025
Second round was "meh". Rated 2 stars for becoming stupidly silly and even more overuse of f-bombs. They simply aren't needed on almost every page to tell a story.
June 22, 2025
I <3 Jake
January 1, 2025
Looooove them. Can't stop reading 🔥
December 10, 2025
I’m absolutely LOVING this series! If you enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl you would probably enjoy this also. This series seems to have a more in depth story and characters are frequently being introduced but not in an overwhelming way. There’s always something new happening or new quest that needs to be achieved so you’re constantly on your toes and turning the page to find out what’s next. This may be the first series I complete without taking a break it’s so good!
February 19, 2025
I felt it was just as expected it keeps getting better and I’m enjoying the antagonists and protagonists switching of behaviors a lot. Overall it’s really keeping me on my toes also the malefic viper is a very unique character and you can not tell me any differently!
March 12, 2024
The Primal Hunter 2 by Zogarth is a very weird book. The greatest strength of the book are character interactions, but not only are they few and far between, the main character is more than a little off. His morality is, and remains, warped. Its definitely not a good look when your main character decides to maim a grieving, agitated widower after insulting him for his weakness. Sure he regrets it the next chapter, but when you remember these chapters are released individually, you wonder if it was actually a mild retcon. As for how the second half of the book goes, you can see him getting people to do the work for him a mile away. You can practically see a future where he's the unwilling lord of Earth, or at least a decent chunk of it, in an introverted power fantasy. The new introductions for side characters are promising, but Eron - who we only get a glimpse of - seems like a discount Great Redeemer, while Jacob - someone who was pretty good last book - is preachy in a way that is barely believable. Really, barely believable. His lines are cringey in a way that you can tell that Zogarth has no idea how to write genuinely charismatic or religious people. His way to get around that is to have the surrounding cast still support him and affirm his leadership abilities, but that comes across as rather lazy. If it wasn't for his skills influencing things, it would be completely unbelievable.
Ah well... at least the bird was actually pretty funny in the last chapter.
There's potential here, but a lot of it is being squandered.
Ah well... at least the bird was actually pretty funny in the last chapter.
There's potential here, but a lot of it is being squandered.
January 18, 2024
5/5 audiobook review. A post-apocalyptic OP MC book done right. As always, the Travis Baldree narrative performance was top notch. I really enjoyed the story’s progression as well as the MC’s growth. His mindset as he finished the tutorial and got back to the real world was realistic (if a bit selfish). I’m definitely going ahead to read book 3 on royalroad right now.
*Edit*
Re-read or should I say re-listened to on Jan 17th - 18th 2024. Same sentiment as before. I’m quite happy with this book and the progress of the MC. I’m currently binging all the books to start off the year.
*Edit*
Re-read or should I say re-listened to on Jan 17th - 18th 2024. Same sentiment as before. I’m quite happy with this book and the progress of the MC. I’m currently binging all the books to start off the year.
August 23, 2022
Primal Hunter book 1 was such a fascinating book, not just the normal LitRPG story in which characters are sucked into a Fantasy Realm, because in this one, it is not about being part of just a game, but something much bigger, as the entire Earth is being assimilated into what is known as ‘The System’, being the 93rd Universe to be assimilated in this fashion. In book 1, we followed the main character of Jake Thayne, as he and a group of other characters were taken to a ‘Tutorial’ that was meant to try and prepare them for what was to come when they returned to Earth. In that tutorial, they had 1200 people, and it worked out that ultimately, the System had decided that only 1 person would survive.
During the Tutorial, we did meet several other characters, most notably William, who is also trying to win the Tutorial by any means necessary. We also met Jacob, along with several people who have aligned with him, including his loyal bodyguard, Bertram. Jacob has become the “Augur of Hope”, blessed by the Holy Mother herself.
Jake meanwhile has become quite powerful, as both the Ambitious Hunter and the Alchemist of the Malefic Viper (having been blessed by the Malefic Viper – one of the Primordia Gods). Not only that, Jake has a bloodline, something that is not only very rare, but Jakes bloodline seems to be quite powerful as well.
This is a LitRPG book, and as such, throughout this book, we are provided with the Main Characters stats, detailing his Characteristics as well as all his titles etc. This is something that gets updated quite regularly as a result of Jake getting new levels or titles, abilities, sills etc, and as such, Zogarth makes the effort to provide an updated ‘Character’ sheet as such. This is done really well, not getting too overwhelming, but allowing us to have a good understanding of Jakes character as the story progresses.
And this is really important as the story moves into book 2, because there is a lot that happens to Jake, and it becomes really important that we understand how his character is growing.
Book 2 takes the story to a whole new level, it is an extension of the tutorial, but it is so much more, with this incredibly in-depth, multi-faceted storyline, that starts to explore what comes after the Tutorial, the System, and what is happening on Earth.
I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I am not going to go into the later part of the book too much. The start of the book covers the remaining aspects of the Tutorial, before the story does return to Earth, and we get to see what has happened on Earth, and what happens to anyone left from the Tutorials. (Not just Jakes, but other Tutorials that occurred as well). As such, there is an ‘interlude’ sort of section that covers off on several characters from book 1, but it also introduces a multitude of new characters.
On top of this, we also get to spend some time with what has to be one of the best characters out of book 1 (and I think one of my favourite characters out of any of the LitRPG books I have read this year??), the Malefic Viper himself (not to mention, his sidekick, Duskleaf, who is just hilarious). I don’t want to give any spoilers away about the Malefic Viper, but needless to say, these sections will have you laughing out loud, as he is just brilliant.
That is one of the things that makes this book so good, is that even though this is a serious Fantasy LitRPG story, with a lot of life and death situations, combat, (some very brutal and grizzly combat and graphic at times I should say), there is not only an underlying humour, but just some absolutely hilarious points that you have to stop listening for a minute because you are laughing so hard.
The character work continues to be exceptional in book 2, as Jake works through the Tutorial, and beyond, he tries to come to terms with not only this new reality, but who is has become, and what he is doing. It is interesting watching the person he is, growing, and how he is adapting and changing, and how the ‘loner’ personality he has, is very well suited for this lifestyle. Jake is thriving within this environment, but as he encounters others, he realises that they are not, with many suffering, struggling to survive. Zogarth has done a brilliant job of capturing not just Jakes mentality, but the psychology of those in Jakes Tutorial, and those of other Tutorials, and when people are returned to the new Earth. Some work together, coming together in a group for protection and mutual gain, others turn to violence, either individually or in a group, depending on their skills and levels. It is a fascinating overview of a society with different abilities, all having to survive in an environment in which Humanity are no longer the dominant species.
The world building is just extraordinary and is something that is one of the really outstanding aspects of book 2, as we move from the Tutorial, through various intermissions, and to a very different Earth, with some amazing creatures. Everything is written with such stunning detail, utterly captivating you.
Overall, the sequel is easily so much better than the original, as we learn so much more about the world that the characters are in, delve more into Jakes development, and see more of the Malefic Viper, not to mention meeting so many more fascinating characters. This is a LitRPG story that is an absolute MUST READ for any fan of Fantasy LitRPG stories, as it is one of the best ones on the market by far.
During the Tutorial, we did meet several other characters, most notably William, who is also trying to win the Tutorial by any means necessary. We also met Jacob, along with several people who have aligned with him, including his loyal bodyguard, Bertram. Jacob has become the “Augur of Hope”, blessed by the Holy Mother herself.
Jake meanwhile has become quite powerful, as both the Ambitious Hunter and the Alchemist of the Malefic Viper (having been blessed by the Malefic Viper – one of the Primordia Gods). Not only that, Jake has a bloodline, something that is not only very rare, but Jakes bloodline seems to be quite powerful as well.
This is a LitRPG book, and as such, throughout this book, we are provided with the Main Characters stats, detailing his Characteristics as well as all his titles etc. This is something that gets updated quite regularly as a result of Jake getting new levels or titles, abilities, sills etc, and as such, Zogarth makes the effort to provide an updated ‘Character’ sheet as such. This is done really well, not getting too overwhelming, but allowing us to have a good understanding of Jakes character as the story progresses.
And this is really important as the story moves into book 2, because there is a lot that happens to Jake, and it becomes really important that we understand how his character is growing.
Book 2 takes the story to a whole new level, it is an extension of the tutorial, but it is so much more, with this incredibly in-depth, multi-faceted storyline, that starts to explore what comes after the Tutorial, the System, and what is happening on Earth.
I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I am not going to go into the later part of the book too much. The start of the book covers the remaining aspects of the Tutorial, before the story does return to Earth, and we get to see what has happened on Earth, and what happens to anyone left from the Tutorials. (Not just Jakes, but other Tutorials that occurred as well). As such, there is an ‘interlude’ sort of section that covers off on several characters from book 1, but it also introduces a multitude of new characters.
On top of this, we also get to spend some time with what has to be one of the best characters out of book 1 (and I think one of my favourite characters out of any of the LitRPG books I have read this year??), the Malefic Viper himself (not to mention, his sidekick, Duskleaf, who is just hilarious). I don’t want to give any spoilers away about the Malefic Viper, but needless to say, these sections will have you laughing out loud, as he is just brilliant.
That is one of the things that makes this book so good, is that even though this is a serious Fantasy LitRPG story, with a lot of life and death situations, combat, (some very brutal and grizzly combat and graphic at times I should say), there is not only an underlying humour, but just some absolutely hilarious points that you have to stop listening for a minute because you are laughing so hard.
The character work continues to be exceptional in book 2, as Jake works through the Tutorial, and beyond, he tries to come to terms with not only this new reality, but who is has become, and what he is doing. It is interesting watching the person he is, growing, and how he is adapting and changing, and how the ‘loner’ personality he has, is very well suited for this lifestyle. Jake is thriving within this environment, but as he encounters others, he realises that they are not, with many suffering, struggling to survive. Zogarth has done a brilliant job of capturing not just Jakes mentality, but the psychology of those in Jakes Tutorial, and those of other Tutorials, and when people are returned to the new Earth. Some work together, coming together in a group for protection and mutual gain, others turn to violence, either individually or in a group, depending on their skills and levels. It is a fascinating overview of a society with different abilities, all having to survive in an environment in which Humanity are no longer the dominant species.
The world building is just extraordinary and is something that is one of the really outstanding aspects of book 2, as we move from the Tutorial, through various intermissions, and to a very different Earth, with some amazing creatures. Everything is written with such stunning detail, utterly captivating you.
Overall, the sequel is easily so much better than the original, as we learn so much more about the world that the characters are in, delve more into Jakes development, and see more of the Malefic Viper, not to mention meeting so many more fascinating characters. This is a LitRPG story that is an absolute MUST READ for any fan of Fantasy LitRPG stories, as it is one of the best ones on the market by far.
October 3, 2022
more action less thoughts
basically i wish the book to have more doing more action rather than a lot of random thoughts ad pages of deciding, thoughts that doesn't do anything for the story. i just skip pages of trying to choose 5 skills or deciding what to do. looking back feels like not that much happened in the story and the side story was like several side quest that never get mentioned again.
basically i wish the book to have more doing more action rather than a lot of random thoughts ad pages of deciding, thoughts that doesn't do anything for the story. i just skip pages of trying to choose 5 skills or deciding what to do. looking back feels like not that much happened in the story and the side story was like several side quest that never get mentioned again.
October 15, 2025
The story progresses nicely, though I do find the cut-off between the books a bit odd to be honest. Since I'm continuing the series anyway, it doesn't really matter, though.
I like the progression of the main character and some more insight into the supporting characters, as well. Though I'm not quite sure about a few of them, which is, I think, intentional at this point in the story.
Really enjoying this series. And the writing is quite good.
I like the progression of the main character and some more insight into the supporting characters, as well. Though I'm not quite sure about a few of them, which is, I think, intentional at this point in the story.
Really enjoying this series. And the writing is quite good.
May 27, 2024
I want to like these books, I really do, but I just can't. The flaws outweigh the strengths and so I'm calling it quits on this series.
The big issue in this book is the same as it was in the first book: this series is very clearly written by someone whose main experience with story telling is either video games or table top RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. Whole swaths of this book could have been removed and nothing of value would be lost because so much of the book is dedicated to fights that only matter because they're how Jake - our main character - gains character levels. They add nothing of value to the plot because, well, there really isn't a plot beyond a general imperative to survive.
The main reason I read this book after being so disappointed by the first book was because I thought several of the bigger story elements were interesting and I wanted to see how they'd come into play once the tutorial was done. I was wildly disappointed by the answer which is:
My other massive issue with this series is that Zogarth keep introducing characters that don't actually matter to the story, though I'm sure they will later on. It's very much a video game style of writing. You get a random cut scene to establish a character who we'll see later and then cut back to questing. Works great in video games, but in a novel? I'm sitting here going, "Why did you waste my time with all these characters who don't ever show up in this book?" I read these because my husband has been listening to them and, according to him, the characters in question won't matter to the story until several books later and I'm just like.... so why did we introduce them in book two? And why did we get their full backstories, too? You don't need to give every character an on-page backstory. It's okay if those are things only the author knows because it is glaringly obvious how little any of these things matter to the overall story.
The most annoying instance of this was Why was this included when it doesn't matter? This is the type of thing you have in your author notes to help you write a convincing character. It's not the kind of thing you actually put on the page!
Another big issue with this series is that the side and background characters are treated like NPCs in a video game, not characters in a fantasy world. The way you write NPCs is generally quite different from how you write side and background characters just because of the differences between the two mediums. In novels, people generally want things like death to have weight to them because we're supposed to feel like we've been taken to another real world. In video games, death is a lot more casual because killing and questing are how characters level, so that element of realism goes out the window. It is glaringly obvious that this story was written by someone who is used to the video game style of story telling where you can kill tons of people without that having any real narrative weight, but I found it incredibly jarring to see that take in a novel and it made it hard to lose myself in the story.
I was going to press on and listen to book three because there are elements I like and these are good listens when you're doing chores because it's so easy to tune the book out and miss nothing of value if need be. But I started book three and it opens with that was where I reached my limit and called it quits. No thank you.
If you like male power fantasies and enjoy listening to twitch streams or RPG podcasts, then you may well love this series, but that's the only audience that I'd recommend it to. I really do want to love litRPG, but they all seem to be like this and it's disappointing.
The big issue in this book is the same as it was in the first book: this series is very clearly written by someone whose main experience with story telling is either video games or table top RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. Whole swaths of this book could have been removed and nothing of value would be lost because so much of the book is dedicated to fights that only matter because they're how Jake - our main character - gains character levels. They add nothing of value to the plot because, well, there really isn't a plot beyond a general imperative to survive.
The main reason I read this book after being so disappointed by the first book was because I thought several of the bigger story elements were interesting and I wanted to see how they'd come into play once the tutorial was done. I was wildly disappointed by the answer which is:
My other massive issue with this series is that Zogarth keep introducing characters that don't actually matter to the story, though I'm sure they will later on. It's very much a video game style of writing. You get a random cut scene to establish a character who we'll see later and then cut back to questing. Works great in video games, but in a novel? I'm sitting here going, "Why did you waste my time with all these characters who don't ever show up in this book?" I read these because my husband has been listening to them and, according to him, the characters in question won't matter to the story until several books later and I'm just like.... so why did we introduce them in book two? And why did we get their full backstories, too? You don't need to give every character an on-page backstory. It's okay if those are things only the author knows because it is glaringly obvious how little any of these things matter to the overall story.
The most annoying instance of this was Why was this included when it doesn't matter? This is the type of thing you have in your author notes to help you write a convincing character. It's not the kind of thing you actually put on the page!
Another big issue with this series is that the side and background characters are treated like NPCs in a video game, not characters in a fantasy world. The way you write NPCs is generally quite different from how you write side and background characters just because of the differences between the two mediums. In novels, people generally want things like death to have weight to them because we're supposed to feel like we've been taken to another real world. In video games, death is a lot more casual because killing and questing are how characters level, so that element of realism goes out the window. It is glaringly obvious that this story was written by someone who is used to the video game style of story telling where you can kill tons of people without that having any real narrative weight, but I found it incredibly jarring to see that take in a novel and it made it hard to lose myself in the story.
I was going to press on and listen to book three because there are elements I like and these are good listens when you're doing chores because it's so easy to tune the book out and miss nothing of value if need be. But I started book three and it opens with that was where I reached my limit and called it quits. No thank you.
If you like male power fantasies and enjoy listening to twitch streams or RPG podcasts, then you may well love this series, but that's the only audience that I'd recommend it to. I really do want to love litRPG, but they all seem to be like this and it's disappointing.
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