In a world full of super powers, Felix had a pretty crappy one.
He has the ability to modify any item he owns. To upgrade anything.
Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game.
Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities.
At least, that was until Felix leveraged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give himself a great deal of points.
Investing in Super Heroes and Super Villains and owning them. Using them, Felix built up an empire.
An organization by the name of Legion.
Felix has brought it into the world once again, hiding it behind the name of the "Association". A neutral party he's building up to walk the line between the Guild of Heroes and League of Villains.
The foundation for all his plans is now in place. The time has come to work toward branching out into becoming a global power. A power that governments can't touch. Nor would they willingly want to.
It was time to push Legion right into the forefront of everyone's mind, without them ever realizing what they were looking at. Operating from the sidelines while controlling everyone.
There was no way Felix would let go of this chance, nor could he even consider the possibility of failure.
Kit and Lily were going to come home and Felix was going to make it happen.
Regardless of whatever government or organization might try to get in his way.
The narrative is 75% sex and lust talks. Not action, just talks and thoughts. The plot is all over the place, with a bad, very dissatisfying ending. While the previous book was slow to start, with barely anything happening, this one is full of irrelevant stuff, with a chaotic, bad ending that does not make any sense, that basically makes 90 of the book irrelevant. It doesn't just feel forced, it feels like the author gave up somewhere along the way, gave his ripped out notes together with some glue in the form of sex talks and thoughts to semeone else to finish it for him. Absolutely abismal work.
This book was Okay. Mostly fun, getting repetitive, and less morally repugnant than most of his books. Things were wrapping up nicely, and I was looking forward to what I'd read next when William D. Arand decided to be an edgelord and kill a main character. Kill them in a total bullshit way. This is not a spoiler, it's a warning. If I warn you "That chili gives everyone explosive diarrhea" is that a spoiler? Wouldn't you like to know before you put that spoon in your mouth? My review is that this book has a total bullshit ending. A spoiler would be telling you who dies screaming and crying in fear and agony.
Ps. And you know what? This one is on me. He's done this to me before and I've thrown the book swearing. I have vowed to never read another one of this guys books, and yet here I am. and the real bitch of it is that I know in a year or even 6 months I'll go pick up another one of his books, maybe even the next one in this series. I get what I deserve. punched in the guts.
And I am so freaking mad and sad and overwhelmed right now, I could spit, and I don't even care if you don't want your name shortened to "Bill." Had me sobbing at the end. Dammit!
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH MY EMOTIONS LIKE THAT!
So, yes, you are the master of introducing disaster on main characters, but really??? REALLY???!!! And yes you set us up perfectly in Super Sales 4.
Big hint here folks, who may have stumbled on Super Sales 5 by happenstance. Ya gotta read the first four books first. Better yet, start with Mr. Arand's first series, Otherlife, or you'll miss out on knowing background on a lot of characters. And Bill does LOTS of characters. And you'll fall in love with each and every one. Go check out his "sister" Randi Darren's stuff, too. Big, BIG, tent.
If, however, you're not a fan of roleplaying game elements rather seamlessly immersed in great fantasy stories...with a lot of good-natured raunch thrown in...well, I can't help you. You'll have to stay...mundane. Some may be turned off by the descriptions of beautiful women, but c'mon, you expect magical creatures to be hags? Every single one of them is strong, smart, assertive, and funny in their own way.
And things are coming to a head...although I can totally see Mr. Arand stringing us along with additions to his other interconnected series as well as his sister's offerings.
Even better. Can't wait.
p.s. I like his and his sister's work so much I preorder when I see them, or sight unseen if they pop up in my recomnendations. His and her works are the ONLY authors I do that for on Amazon Kindle.
p.p.s. And yes, I know Randi isn't his sister. But as a trans person, I can believe that she is.
In the End it does not even matter *Linkin Park stars playing*
but yes, here were are. Everything that was built introduced in the previous book is dropped, there seems to be some attempt at what's intended as a course correction/redo. Felix goes from couple of hundred points to playing sim city in god mode, with time skips and very few details.
Felix now has too much power, so the story comes up with weak excuses to why he falls into certain situations. Even when the situation is important but not time sensitive, his mind reader is busy with "more important" things, etc. These powers were granted by the author and could have had restrictions placed on them which would allow the personal connection while reducing general utility.
I won't go into any characters because at this point I think I could fill a book of my own with a rant. To simply skim over Felix, one of the main things that bothered me about him in this book is how he seems to wake up each day and spin a wheel to decide what his stance is and how his actions never reflect what he alleges his goals to be.
There seems to be a general outline of goals but story wonders a lot from one unrelated thing to another, occasionally recalling the main goal.
Then there is the ending. In the End it does not even matter.
Ever since ride to retribution the authors books feel increasingly like adaptations of DnD campaigns he might have. The type were party might randomly decide to spend a whole session playing around with a door or decide the main story is stupid and wonder off into a different town. Those might be fun to play but they do not make for good books.
More of exactly the same. We could write these books by now. Except if I were writing it, before publishing it I'd hit ctrl-f, search for "I mean" and just outright delete every instance of it where it starts a line of dialogue. I'm pretty sure every single sentence would have been just fine after removing it. I should start highlighting them so maybe other Kindle Unlimited readers will start seeing them too.
I think I enjoyed this somewhat but also I kinda think I hated it. There's a story in here trying to get out but reading the constantly fractured thoughts of the MC is getting tiresome. For sure it was less satisfying than previous installments. To be fair the author has taken on a huuuuuge scope with this story and some degree of confusion is certainly warranted but it would be nice if the story would hang together a bit more.
The first series was an interesting idea about a kid making mistakes while doing something completely new. This series is a repeat about a man making the same mistakes through lazy indifference.
What are we doing? Like really? I keep trying to give this series a chance only to have it backfire. There are certain elements I stick around for because I want to see how how it develops like the characters' INDIVIDUAL personalities, Felix's mysterious parents, his power (its limits) and its relationship to the overall universe(s), what does "fixing" a universe really mean, etc. But for every smidgen of story development you're forced to sit through sex reference after reference after reference. I like sex just like the next guy but even 10 year old me would have said this was too much. Heck the author introduces a character with amazing potential and devolves her into harem/point fodder, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the female voiced AI somehow joins the harem next book. The ending was ok, considering the previous books I don't understand how things fast tracked leading to said ending without the architect stepping in more often but whatever, that's yet another unimportant story element left unanswered in favor of the real focus, the harem. The epilogue trying to shove in explanation missing from the main story was the cherry on top.
It gets a little bit repetitive with each of the characters reinforcing their particular traits. and the cast is starting to grow out of control. Beyond the multiple Andreas, the three named dryads, we also add a wing of dragons. It was difficult to figure out whether a name was important to remember or simply a convenient place holder.
As this is part of a larger universe, it is easy to see how the complexity get out of hand. I still enjoy the concept of points and upgrades, but I’m starting to lose interest in following the main character. There’s only so many times he can use the same power in the same way to solve problems before it becomes boring.
I will probably get the next book in the series, because I’m hoping to see it brought to a conclusion. But I am hesitant to recommend the series as the story in the first novel has become altered almost beyond recognition.
Clean prose, but often graphically sexual. Massive harem.
Felix and company completed their goal without realizing it. It turns out that Gaia was going to awaken and destroy lots of things, but in contacting her in the previous book and getting on good terms with her (and by doing a ton of environmental cleanup), he prevented the cataclysmic events that he was initially there to weather.
So instead of being a few more years to go save his Lily and Kit, at the end of the book, Uncle/Riker opens a portal and they go to meet up. But... Felix did something to this universe's Lily and Kit so... maybe now there are doubles? Hard to say.
The death of Myriad was rough, but Riker says he can fix it later. Presumably at the conclusion or in the Epilogue of SSoSH 6.
Next up: The big crossover event. Perhaps Wild Wastes 5 will shed some more light on this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Its rare that the death of an imaginary character effects me, Even more so when its a secondary character. And yet, the dirty little truth was that I read the series expressly for the moments she was there! Felix and his collection of severely damaged "family members" were interesting, and made the story enjoyable, trying to make things right ( for a given value of right) and moving forward. Felix's seemingly inexhaustable energy to get back up when the universe knocked him down, again, to protect his people and push forward were fun and kept me entertained. I do hope that there's one more book in the series, to tie all the various storylines from the Arand Universe.
Dropped the book. The new world arc came with a new writing style where he narrowed the harem down, but started writing about them wayyyyy more. It was acceptable but way less enjoyable. However in this book they have started back up introducing new harem potentials and flirting around with them all, on top of writing more about the harem. Its no longer a book about a guy with really cool powers min maxing his community building, and is instead a harem book that happens to have a guy with cool powers that is supposedly building a community, but only ever talks about it in terms of transactions required to build it. Where is the heart that was about legion first, with a more subtle harem that was there to support.
There were a few very interesting new characters, each with really funny commentary with Goldie, Andrea, and some newly introduced characters. Gaia is hilarious in pretty much every scene she’s in and she doesn’t seem to realize it.
I enjoyed how the organization was built with Felix showing what he learned before.
The twist at the end hits like a truck, but I think it will help push the story forward later and not drag it down.
The book is well worth the read and reminds me why SSOSH remains my favorite Arand series.
Wow....just wow... SSOSH 5 Was the best precursor to what comes next. It was really cool to see the characters continue to grow and come in to their own personalities more strongly in this book from what was started in book 4. The Campbell's definitely like to break stuff in the best ways. LOL
Looking forward to the culmination in the next book and next series in the Sovereign-verse.
Just absolutely love everything that Will is doing with this universe and what he has planned next.
Keep writing Will! We'll keep reading it! Thank you for sharing your stories with us!
LitRPG alternate universe harem ftb magic Felix Campbell works hard in this new world to rebuild Legion and insinuate his people in such a way that he will be able to unite everyone under his rule. That's the plan anyway. Major story events in the last thirty pages.
Love the series, but shocked by the number of errors; most indie writers work hard, and even with excellent editing, a half dozen in a book this size will slip through. This could stand a major update to fix things. For example, Carlotta is just as often spelled Carlota. Numerous times. V
This would been a 5 but pancakes can not DIE. I stopped reading Dave Willmarth when he killed a love interest in the last book of a series. I love your work but I don't read to vare about the character and then end the book feeling hurt inside. These books get me away from the real world and you are fantastic at that. I won't read an Author who brings me to tears with real world hurt. Those memories are bad enough. Fantasy should not bring it back. Goodbye I loved your work until now. Have a 4 because up to the end it was a 5!!!!!
This book was a full roller coaster ride of powering up and ”Empire” building. One of the few books I had serious issues putting down. Not much I can say without spoiling something so I will keep it brief. A great book which I forgave the few typo’s I found. Looking forward to the next one. Remember that without reading the other interlinked books in this universe this book won’t make a lot of sense.
This was quite the change from the first book. That one went a lot slower but this one was paced with leaps and bounds of time to progress it. And that ending....
Spoiler!!!
Holy shit, Arand! I thought only Schinofen was allowed to write books that brought you to tears, but this one definitely took the pancake. I swear the last few pages took twice as long to read through blurry eyes. Good to know the plot is progressing and everything is now lining up.
I have seen authors do multiverses before, but one of the most important things needed to make it work is book count. The more books out there the more details added. Luckily that’s not a problem between the author’s two pen names.
Arand has done an extremely awesome job and I have loved every minute of it. Plus the ending!?! I can’t wait for the next book!
It is rare that a book, especially in this genre, can hit you straight in the feels. Rarer still, that true to experience a true moment of poignance that in ever conceivable way is just perfect. The epilogue has hit that spot dead center, split the arrow, and destroyed the target. I will remember that passage for years to come. For anyone wondering what the hell I’m talking about, well I will leave you with this …SPOILERS!
Straddles the line between power fantasy and satisfying narrative
Much like the last few books, Felix is horrendously overpowered, has sex with many exotic women, he is largely limited by outside constraints, which he frequently whines his way past through deus ex machina. But, for all that, he does make plans for success, several side characters are interesting, and he does suffer some losses that feel significant, at least until they become undone in the next book or two.
Still creative and interesting but started getting a bit wonky
The MC continues with his plan to be a middleman who is neutral to heros, villians and countries, while in fact seizing control of the world. Many plans worked out, but some didn't, until the world broke. The story is still interesting, but it started veering off into side tangents and rabbit holes. I'd really rather see some sequels to Monster's Mercy, Fostering Faust and Dungeon Deposed.
I found the book interesting and funny, the emotional parts are at the end, and no, I will not do spoilers...... it feels like a 'too many eggs in the basket' type of story, the Mc is always scrambling to put out fires and to keep moving forward. I will definitely get the next book in the series.
This was not the fun romp I signed up for in book one. But I will give the author credit for the epilogue. I've complained a lot about there never being an epilogue. This book has an epilogue and except for the last page its awesome. Gives us readers closure on so many details.
This whole series lays out an interesting plot line with plenty of surprises and twists that are most appreciated. Unfortunately for me, the harem aspect gets too much attention and dominates the story quite a bit. Also the sheer volume of women going after the main character has gotten to ridiculous levels.
No spoilers but I will definitely eat my pancakes with more respect after this. I really think this is one of the best series I have read in a while. I can't wait for the next one. Description on Z said this was part of the second trilogy so I really hope that is the case.
Felix, andrea, and the gang, are back, and trying to make the best of a world they did not belong in. Luckily, at this point they've had the chance to learn a lot, and can use that knowledge to build a foundation for how they want to use this new world to the betterment of Legion.
This is book 5 if you haven't read the others in the series it will make no sense so go do that as for this book an even bigger emotional roller coaster than just previous entries and that ending right as its all starting to go right just oof