What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rise of the Winter Wolf #1
The Initialization
What would you do if your entire life was suddenly changed at the drop of a hat?
The entire population of the world that you were born into suddenly transported to another planet along with the rest of the intelligent inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy.
A strange System talking to you about abilities and levels without a care for your opinions.
Thousands of monster spawning dungeons placed around the new world without a care for the new inhabitants.
And if those weren't bad enough, a forced invitation for one thousand random individuals to compete in a livestreamed competition within a dungeon with the rank of Administrator as the prize.
You don’t know?
Well, it’s actually pretty simple.
You survive.
Our story follows Wolf Adler as he, along with every other human on Earth, are faced with a strange blue box filling up their vision, warning them about an upcoming reappropriation of every being of sufficient intelligence to a new planet for the initialization of some sort of System.
Will he perish in this new world? Or will he thrive?
The entire population of the world that you were born into suddenly transported to another planet along with the rest of the intelligent inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy.
A strange System talking to you about abilities and levels without a care for your opinions.
Thousands of monster spawning dungeons placed around the new world without a care for the new inhabitants.
And if those weren't bad enough, a forced invitation for one thousand random individuals to compete in a livestreamed competition within a dungeon with the rank of Administrator as the prize.
You don’t know?
Well, it’s actually pretty simple.
You survive.
Our story follows Wolf Adler as he, along with every other human on Earth, are faced with a strange blue box filling up their vision, warning them about an upcoming reappropriation of every being of sufficient intelligence to a new planet for the initialization of some sort of System.
Will he perish in this new world? Or will he thrive?
626 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2022
1717 people are currently reading
610 people want to read
About the author
Shane Purdy
33 books127 followersShane Purdy is a college graduate with a Bachelors in Computer Science. At a young age he became fascinated with Fantasy books after reading the Wereworld series by Curtis Jobling, which led to a love of reading that continues to this day.
When he was younger you could almost always find him with a book in his hand (when he wasn’t busy with Band activities that is). As he got older, he started reading online webnovels as well. In June of 2021, after reading thousands of books, he decided to take the plunge and write a book of his own, starting with his first series, Dungeon from the Void.
He writes both high and low progression fantasy novels of varying genres, including Dungeon Core, LitRPG, Cultivation, Sci-Fi and more.
He does not use any sort of social media for his books other than Reddit, he has no Facebook pages, and his Facebook account is private and not public. Therefore if anyone finds public Facebook or other social media accounts outside of Reddit or Discord claiming to be him, they are fake.
When he was younger you could almost always find him with a book in his hand (when he wasn’t busy with Band activities that is). As he got older, he started reading online webnovels as well. In June of 2021, after reading thousands of books, he decided to take the plunge and write a book of his own, starting with his first series, Dungeon from the Void.
He writes both high and low progression fantasy novels of varying genres, including Dungeon Core, LitRPG, Cultivation, Sci-Fi and more.
He does not use any sort of social media for his books other than Reddit, he has no Facebook pages, and his Facebook account is private and not public. Therefore if anyone finds public Facebook or other social media accounts outside of Reddit or Discord claiming to be him, they are fake.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
December 26, 2022
2.5/5
Uhhh... What the hell ?!
I couldn't even read the first 100 pages.
A worldwide apocalypse starts but MC and his family are like... "OK. It's nothing unusual, let's go hunt some monsters and level up". I mean come on... Not even a single page for panic or sorrow that usually occurs in this situation ??!!!
I get that the family is trained assassins but still how can they act like nothing happened and the conversation between the family and convo between MC and his friends are the most heartless, emotion less conversation I've ever witnessed. I was like what the hell am I reading !!?
Just...How in the world does this book have so many 5 ⭐ ratings ?!!!
And don't even get me started on the MC name, Wolf. Yeah, Just Wolf Adler. It made me go like... but Why !!?? No matter how hard I tried i couldn't get past it.
Definitely a book to forget 😩
Uhhh... What the hell ?!
I couldn't even read the first 100 pages.
A worldwide apocalypse starts but MC and his family are like... "OK. It's nothing unusual, let's go hunt some monsters and level up". I mean come on... Not even a single page for panic or sorrow that usually occurs in this situation ??!!!
I get that the family is trained assassins but still how can they act like nothing happened and the conversation between the family and convo between MC and his friends are the most heartless, emotion less conversation I've ever witnessed. I was like what the hell am I reading !!?
Just...How in the world does this book have so many 5 ⭐ ratings ?!!!
And don't even get me started on the MC name, Wolf. Yeah, Just Wolf Adler. It made me go like... but Why !!?? No matter how hard I tried i couldn't get past it.
Definitely a book to forget 😩
August 17, 2022
Yikes.. an MC named Wolf in a family of assassin's
I mean...c'mon, really? I wonder how much mountain dew I need to consume to make this more appealing. I barely made it a few pages in to be honest. This is the worst kind of cringe, the kind that takes itself seriously. It's like something Dwight Schrute would scribble down on his lunch break.
I mean...c'mon, really? I wonder how much mountain dew I need to consume to make this more appealing. I barely made it a few pages in to be honest. This is the worst kind of cringe, the kind that takes itself seriously. It's like something Dwight Schrute would scribble down on his lunch break.
May 2, 2023
You have to go extra far to give this one its premise. And not just for an American named Wolf. You see, Wolf was raised by former assassins (for the US so it's okay) who trained their kids in the family tradition. Of being government assassins. In Denver. I always give a book its premise, though, so I just moved on. Mostly.
Anyway, aliens happen and they move all the inhabitants to another planet and give them their system (because this is LitRPG), but group them by proximity so Wolf and his parents and sister are together. Which leaves them clear to help out by killing things (and leveling up). And then the book takes the jump mentioned in the blurb and Wolf gets pulled into a game located in a dungeon where others follow the contestants as they fight monsters and go down the levels for bigger and better (worse) things.
This is total power fantasy stuff and I have to say that I kind of loved it. Wolf obviously has an advantage being trained as an assassin. So he doesn't just need his super-cool magic ice class to do stuff. Not that he wasn't totally into using both skillsets and killing things efficiently.
Once we get to the game show side of things, the author moves to a PoV jumping style, even in sections about Wolf. Which means that he ends up building some of the viewing channels and hosts into important characters in the story. Which works, at least for giving this the tone I think the author was going for.
I ended up with this as a solid four stars. And yes, I am very good at giving stories their premise, however contrived they might be. I liked Wolf. And his family. And frankly, I liked seeing them be useful for their own sake, but even more for their neighbors. And I'm definitely interested in seeing where this goes as a series.
A note about Chaste: Wolf is still the main character, so his loner personality and being stuck in a dungeon means there's just no room for shenanigans. So this is very chaste, indeed.
Anyway, aliens happen and they move all the inhabitants to another planet and give them their system (because this is LitRPG), but group them by proximity so Wolf and his parents and sister are together. Which leaves them clear to help out by killing things (and leveling up). And then the book takes the jump mentioned in the blurb and Wolf gets pulled into a game located in a dungeon where others follow the contestants as they fight monsters and go down the levels for bigger and better (worse) things.
This is total power fantasy stuff and I have to say that I kind of loved it. Wolf obviously has an advantage being trained as an assassin. So he doesn't just need his super-cool magic ice class to do stuff. Not that he wasn't totally into using both skillsets and killing things efficiently.
Once we get to the game show side of things, the author moves to a PoV jumping style, even in sections about Wolf. Which means that he ends up building some of the viewing channels and hosts into important characters in the story. Which works, at least for giving this the tone I think the author was going for.
I ended up with this as a solid four stars. And yes, I am very good at giving stories their premise, however contrived they might be. I liked Wolf. And his family. And frankly, I liked seeing them be useful for their own sake, but even more for their neighbors. And I'm definitely interested in seeing where this goes as a series.
A note about Chaste: Wolf is still the main character, so his loner personality and being stuck in a dungeon means there's just no room for shenanigans. So this is very chaste, indeed.
June 8, 2022
book one
Family are retired assassins for the government that was one of the dumbest things I have read in awhile. Levels are gotten really quickly and nothing seemed very challenging.
The writing came off as stilted and overly detailed on the wrong things.
I just can’t recommend the book.
Family are retired assassins for the government that was one of the dumbest things I have read in awhile. Levels are gotten really quickly and nothing seemed very challenging.
The writing came off as stilted and overly detailed on the wrong things.
I just can’t recommend the book.
November 20, 2022
I honestly don't understand lit rpg reviews
This was not good. The mc is op in a really boring way, there is no suspense and very little creative power use in battle. The loot is usually ignorable, and the variety of monsters fails to set up any interesting or different battles. Meanwhile all other story telling elements like dialogue, character development and plot seem to be ignored. On the upside, it's a quick read. Mostly because you can skim the whole thing without missing anything important.
This was not good. The mc is op in a really boring way, there is no suspense and very little creative power use in battle. The loot is usually ignorable, and the variety of monsters fails to set up any interesting or different battles. Meanwhile all other story telling elements like dialogue, character development and plot seem to be ignored. On the upside, it's a quick read. Mostly because you can skim the whole thing without missing anything important.
June 11, 2022
It tries... But just falls short.
The characters are flat, the interactions are forced, and the flow of conversation/perspectives reads like an attempt at a manga, but it doesn't work at all. I wanted to like this, but it was just rough all over
The characters are flat, the interactions are forced, and the flow of conversation/perspectives reads like an attempt at a manga, but it doesn't work at all. I wanted to like this, but it was just rough all over
June 21, 2022
KU Review
Super fun format with the contest and viewing parties. Definitely enjoyed the laidback attitude of the mc. Couldn’t put the book down and can’t wait for the next one.
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.
Super fun format with the contest and viewing parties. Definitely enjoyed the laidback attitude of the mc. Couldn’t put the book down and can’t wait for the next one.
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.
June 9, 2022
Loved this book.
This story really got me hooked in the first few pages. The MC is really fun to read about and the tower climbing is well done. The plot is really interesting and I look forward to seeing what happens next.
This story really got me hooked in the first few pages. The MC is really fun to read about and the tower climbing is well done. The plot is really interesting and I look forward to seeing what happens next.
July 12, 2022
It was so stilted that I found myself laughing at it. Maybe it picks up after the first chapter, but I had to put it down.
October 16, 2022
A new contender emerges from this initiation, garnering fans & attention
An interesting read with a core family and their kids friends at the heart. While the eldest son, Wolf, is sent to entertain a universe on a live-streamed survival crawl for all the races that were moved during initiation to the new super sized planet of Aegis.
The winner and survivor of the 84th dungeon crawl will gain the nebulous powers and title of Administrator in the System that controls the know. reality. Not only will deadly traps await but first he has to survive and grow stronger get through defeating the roaming and room bound monsters. As well as overcome the challenge rooms with riddles, obstacle courses, and boss monsters. Oh and the challengers can gain half of the mystical currency owned by another challenge they kill. So there’s few times trust, no real safe places that you cannot make yourself and monsters galore.
Meanwhile your life and death struggle is being televised which earns you more of the system points from those watching at a tiny percentage. But it all adds up for the popular survivors like Wolf whose ice powers grow stronger and support his previous martial training. Funny how the most normal seeming families may hide dark secrets from the past. Those dark secrets and the training from his parents may be all that keeps Wolf alive and overcoming the monsters efficiently as he soars in levels and power. Level 100 has a treat for those who chose mutation classes as they further embrace their chosen mutation in unexpected ways. Painful though the changes may be, they do bring strength and increased control which is sorely needed when failure means death. Could use a grammar and editing run as there are quite a few more than I expected. Still a good read.
An interesting read with a core family and their kids friends at the heart. While the eldest son, Wolf, is sent to entertain a universe on a live-streamed survival crawl for all the races that were moved during initiation to the new super sized planet of Aegis.
The winner and survivor of the 84th dungeon crawl will gain the nebulous powers and title of Administrator in the System that controls the know. reality. Not only will deadly traps await but first he has to survive and grow stronger get through defeating the roaming and room bound monsters. As well as overcome the challenge rooms with riddles, obstacle courses, and boss monsters. Oh and the challengers can gain half of the mystical currency owned by another challenge they kill. So there’s few times trust, no real safe places that you cannot make yourself and monsters galore.
Meanwhile your life and death struggle is being televised which earns you more of the system points from those watching at a tiny percentage. But it all adds up for the popular survivors like Wolf whose ice powers grow stronger and support his previous martial training. Funny how the most normal seeming families may hide dark secrets from the past. Those dark secrets and the training from his parents may be all that keeps Wolf alive and overcoming the monsters efficiently as he soars in levels and power. Level 100 has a treat for those who chose mutation classes as they further embrace their chosen mutation in unexpected ways. Painful though the changes may be, they do bring strength and increased control which is sorely needed when failure means death. Could use a grammar and editing run as there are quite a few more than I expected. Still a good read.
October 20, 2022
Despite those who see 'wolf family of assassins' and instantly claim the book is trash, It's actually a rather fun book if you like battle and action over stuff like romance or some 'big bad' putting extra pressure on the initial storyline.
Get to see Wolf go through dungeon levels and take on mini bosses while also seeing unique viewpoints of others watching him and reactions as well as other dungeon competitors.
My only qualm with this series is the dungeon's length. 1,000 floors? He says he needs to hurry to get back to his family but even at 1 floor a day that would take nearly 4 years. It takes him more like 3-4 days a floor and probably a week or more on the upper floors. so really this 'dungeon run' sounds more like it's going to take 20 years to finish. So why he is rushing when the soonest would be more than four years and the most likely near 20 years....is anyone's guess.
Get to see Wolf go through dungeon levels and take on mini bosses while also seeing unique viewpoints of others watching him and reactions as well as other dungeon competitors.
My only qualm with this series is the dungeon's length. 1,000 floors? He says he needs to hurry to get back to his family but even at 1 floor a day that would take nearly 4 years. It takes him more like 3-4 days a floor and probably a week or more on the upper floors. so really this 'dungeon run' sounds more like it's going to take 20 years to finish. So why he is rushing when the soonest would be more than four years and the most likely near 20 years....is anyone's guess.
October 8, 2022
Basically... basic.
Not real sure why this gets high reviews. Everything in this so far is very formulaic. Unfortunately it is just not very compelling. We are spoon fed a story instead of being given a narrative that we can immerse ourselves in. A lot of different story elements are started but never brought to a conclusion. The characters are very one dimensional. We are simply told about this super secret past but it and a lot of other things feel forced and contrived. Going to read the next book and see if it gets any better.
Not real sure why this gets high reviews. Everything in this so far is very formulaic. Unfortunately it is just not very compelling. We are spoon fed a story instead of being given a narrative that we can immerse ourselves in. A lot of different story elements are started but never brought to a conclusion. The characters are very one dimensional. We are simply told about this super secret past but it and a lot of other things feel forced and contrived. Going to read the next book and see if it gets any better.
April 25, 2024
This book for me was meh - not because the author lacks skill or writes poorly - it's because I just cannot enjoy something that is so game mechanic heavy.
I prefer more story and character development and less game mechanics than what is in this book. I had to skim a fair bit as I was bored to tears with all of the game mechanics. I wanted more story, plot and world development.
So all in all a decently written book, just not the right cup of tea for me so I will not be reading more of this author's works.
I prefer more story and character development and less game mechanics than what is in this book. I had to skim a fair bit as I was bored to tears with all of the game mechanics. I wanted more story, plot and world development.
So all in all a decently written book, just not the right cup of tea for me so I will not be reading more of this author's works.
July 25, 2022
Quit on page 1
This is told in the present tense. Pass this up until the author realizes he isn't writing a TV show script.
This is told in the present tense. Pass this up until the author realizes he isn't writing a TV show script.
November 19, 2022
DNF at 5 percent. Written in present tense from first person. The MC´s name is Wolf and his family are assassins. Only suited for teenagers without high standards...
June 20, 2022
This is a bit bumpy.
Not rough mind you, just bumpy. It lacks a polish to the writing that makes it flow, that is what makes a book easy to read. This takes some effort to keep going. It is not bad, hence the bumpy rather than rough, it just could use some work. I will admit, the size of the dungeon and the number of levels covered so far has me concerned. This is a good start, the next one will be very telling.
Not rough mind you, just bumpy. It lacks a polish to the writing that makes it flow, that is what makes a book easy to read. This takes some effort to keep going. It is not bad, hence the bumpy rather than rough, it just could use some work. I will admit, the size of the dungeon and the number of levels covered so far has me concerned. This is a good start, the next one will be very telling.
July 14, 2022
3.5 This Is Not Going To Have Bunnies Or Unicorns Stars
The Initialization: A Livestreamed Dungeon Crawl is the first book in The Rise of the Winter Wolf series by Shane Purdy.
The initial chapters of this book were disappointing. They painfully highlighted the underwhelming dialogue. Which made me unbelievably relieved to escape Earth's end and get away from the banaal experiences that it offered. The transition to this new world and explaining the system all of the new inhabitants would have to abide by was not seamless, and came across rather clunky.
Honestly, until Wolf was transported to the Administrator Dungeon the book was underwhelming. Once we were in the first labyrinth the intensity and excitement leaped, by bounds, forwards. Introducing us to the different players competing and their representative races. Along with the Viewing Rooms for different species and the potential sponsors, with their cemented political alliances and enemies.
I think it's a deficit on the authors part not capitalizing on the narrative shifting moments that showcase Wolf's family and their safe zone. Underwhelming seems too tame a derogatory to properly describe these limited interactions. I hope the next book recovers from this oversight and allows us to see his family and friends grow. I still don't fully support Lexi's stalker-ish behavior in their "friendship". It seems illogical, rude, and dismissive for her to constantly disregard his dislike of physical contact selfishly and egregiously. I wonder what will become of this nonsensical pairing in future books.
Furthermore, I believe it is only in the authors best interest to give these leading competitiors more back story individually. The widespread mystery has already gotten old by this point. I, for one, would love to know more about Vulcan, Silver Siren, Deadshot, Unbreakable, and Crimson Rose.
The Initialization: A Livestreamed Dungeon Crawl is the first book in The Rise of the Winter Wolf series by Shane Purdy.
The initial chapters of this book were disappointing. They painfully highlighted the underwhelming dialogue. Which made me unbelievably relieved to escape Earth's end and get away from the banaal experiences that it offered. The transition to this new world and explaining the system all of the new inhabitants would have to abide by was not seamless, and came across rather clunky.
Honestly, until Wolf was transported to the Administrator Dungeon the book was underwhelming. Once we were in the first labyrinth the intensity and excitement leaped, by bounds, forwards. Introducing us to the different players competing and their representative races. Along with the Viewing Rooms for different species and the potential sponsors, with their cemented political alliances and enemies.
I think it's a deficit on the authors part not capitalizing on the narrative shifting moments that showcase Wolf's family and their safe zone. Underwhelming seems too tame a derogatory to properly describe these limited interactions. I hope the next book recovers from this oversight and allows us to see his family and friends grow. I still don't fully support Lexi's stalker-ish behavior in their "friendship". It seems illogical, rude, and dismissive for her to constantly disregard his dislike of physical contact selfishly and egregiously. I wonder what will become of this nonsensical pairing in future books.
Furthermore, I believe it is only in the authors best interest to give these leading competitiors more back story individually. The widespread mystery has already gotten old by this point. I, for one, would love to know more about Vulcan, Silver Siren, Deadshot, Unbreakable, and Crimson Rose.
May 1, 2024
It was not as bad as it could be. The author has an interesting idea, and it can go into a good development, but it forgone the idea that it is a new reality with games dynamic and only focuses on the idea of a 'game'. Yes, it does present issues with real life, but the games aspects of the story are more developed that the real-life implications. As an example, how little we have on an exposure to life in the safe zones, we barely know what the day-to-day issues are, like how us the food situation, housing, hygiene, social gatherings, security? We do not know who is responsible for those things, not how they are been resolved or how the residents are reacting to it. No the author foregone all those issues by making a jump into dungeon diving, monster hunting and levelling-up; and the justification the author comes for it is. The are other paves I might have but this one unground the story more than anything, wish makes it drop the quality of what it could be.
April 13, 2023
The beginning is rubbish - mc is son of two assassins, the whole galaxy is pulled into some kind of game show? the MC is chosen to be a contender for an Administrator job and so on.
But - the progression through the dungeon levels is kinda nice, the loot okay and the interaction with the other administrators is at least interesting.
I don't care much about his family and friends and we took a whole book to get the frist 10 dungeon levels - calling out to have it 1000 levels till finish will give you another 99 books in this pace. I will read the next one in the series but I hope the author has an idea how to bring this forward. It was a nice leisure read for a lazy saturday but i certainly wont read even 10 more books of this.
But - the progression through the dungeon levels is kinda nice, the loot okay and the interaction with the other administrators is at least interesting.
I don't care much about his family and friends and we took a whole book to get the frist 10 dungeon levels - calling out to have it 1000 levels till finish will give you another 99 books in this pace. I will read the next one in the series but I hope the author has an idea how to bring this forward. It was a nice leisure read for a lazy saturday but i certainly wont read even 10 more books of this.
August 4, 2022
The main issue I found with this was that the MC is so "blah". He uses the term "laid-back" but I find him so emotionless that I can't really care too much what's happening to him. Writing is ok if not spectacular otherwise.
I've got book two and I'll check it out, in the hope that with practice the author's work will gain more fluidity and that our cold-blooded MC develops more personality than that of a eunuch on valium.
I've got book two and I'll check it out, in the hope that with practice the author's work will gain more fluidity and that our cold-blooded MC develops more personality than that of a eunuch on valium.
November 19, 2022
1.5 stars
Laughable “raised by family of assassins” aside, there are some interesting ideas in the book. Unfortunately, the writing isn’t yet strong enough to fully support them.
Flat characters and plot/action that teeter between too fast and too slow bored me. The leveling information was repetitive and didn’t add much.
Maybe this style is what other readers are looking for, but it wasn’t for me.
Bonus 1/2 star for avoiding the icky harem tropes that infect the genre. Much appreciated!
Laughable “raised by family of assassins” aside, there are some interesting ideas in the book. Unfortunately, the writing isn’t yet strong enough to fully support them.
Flat characters and plot/action that teeter between too fast and too slow bored me. The leveling information was repetitive and didn’t add much.
Maybe this style is what other readers are looking for, but it wasn’t for me.
Bonus 1/2 star for avoiding the icky harem tropes that infect the genre. Much appreciated!
May 5, 2023
Honestly couldn't make it past a few dozen pages due to the writing style. The first thing I checked was to see if the author was a native English speaker, thinking it was perhaps a translation issue. When that wasn't the case I thought for sure it was a Young Adult novel. The dialogue is forced, abrupt, and awkward. The government assassin in training background is contrived. I read a lot of LitRpg and this is one I cannot recommend.
November 2, 2023
So they are a family of assassins, but KITCHEN KNIFE is the only thing handy they could find??? Yeah ok!!
If you like training montage then this book is for you. I love isekai but this is non stop combat. The concept of live telecast Dungeon is not new, but without any breaks it just gets old very fast. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fan favorite coz it was lovalble characters. Comic relief. I don't think the author knows what that is. I don't know I would be going forward with this series.
If you like training montage then this book is for you. I love isekai but this is non stop combat. The concept of live telecast Dungeon is not new, but without any breaks it just gets old very fast. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fan favorite coz it was lovalble characters. Comic relief. I don't think the author knows what that is. I don't know I would be going forward with this series.
January 22, 2023
Although the Galaxy Game-Like backstory is not new (Movie The Running Man, Book Series/Movie Series Hunger Games) I appreciate that the main characters, The 4 Adlers, Lexi and Aiden, all, Accept and Adapt as soon as humanly possible. I hate, totally despise, people that are whiny, weak and stupid... What is the point of reading thousands of stories that have underwhelming underdogs that cry, that complain and then die from their ignorance?? It's the difference between being and elite and being just a regular "Joe"... Do you think that a person that has trained his/her entire life in martial arts/survival/etc. is going to show fear, avoid reality and die crying??
Wolf, main character should have chosen the Assassin Profession. It was what he trained for, and it doesn't put such a big target/attention on him as the Harbinger Elemental Ice Profession does...The thing this is not a game (even if it is within a broadcast that earns money from watching people compete in this game)...
Things that I did not appreciate: the thousands of -=-=-= that the author places before every "system announcement". The author places at least 10 sets per announcement, so my computer and I actually read the "dash equal sign hundreds of thousands of times" just for this Book 1. The second thing was that the author changes the point of view at a drop of a hat without really identifying who the first person narrative (thoughts and conversations) is... I understand that this Sci-Fi/Fantasy series is at least at three levels (Wolf (1), Adler Family (2) and the administrators who are running the show (3)) but if the author does not specify and find an easy way to tell this story without making it a movie, then it is confusing to read...The third thing is that Orcs are not really "honorable"...they tend to be a kind of mob/species that rape, pillage and lack ethical and moral values as a whole (at least in almost all of the fantasy series, except this one)... The skills that the Adler Family and Wolf choose are nonsensical...they save up for the communication skill 100 SP each and then it has an additional cost per use...I mean his family can constantly see him in the Dungeon, and they pay for that as well, so what is the point? Same goes for the skills that Wolf purchases as well, the author writes that the Elf contestant found an exact copy of the necklace, expensive SP, that Wolf ends up buying, so why have two exact same necklaces?? Usually game-systems to keep a balance have rules that you can only wear one necklace at a time, one ring in each finger or a total of 3-4 rings, etc. What is the point of having so many human contestants if its a universal game broadcasted and represented from all species and races??? What did the author run out of ideas?? Run out of Fantasy Beast/Spirit-folk races???
Wolf buys "nose-plugs" while he could have made them from ice, with the banshees could have made ear-plugs from ice, eats and sleeps while the rest of the competitors don't... The loot is scarce and really bad... This story series would be the anti-loot and let's make it impossible for the main characters to win, thanks to the author Sci-Fi/fantasy series... At 10 Dungeon levels on this first book, this series is going to take forever...
Wolf, main character should have chosen the Assassin Profession. It was what he trained for, and it doesn't put such a big target/attention on him as the Harbinger Elemental Ice Profession does...The thing this is not a game (even if it is within a broadcast that earns money from watching people compete in this game)...
Things that I did not appreciate: the thousands of -=-=-= that the author places before every "system announcement". The author places at least 10 sets per announcement, so my computer and I actually read the "dash equal sign hundreds of thousands of times" just for this Book 1. The second thing was that the author changes the point of view at a drop of a hat without really identifying who the first person narrative (thoughts and conversations) is... I understand that this Sci-Fi/Fantasy series is at least at three levels (Wolf (1), Adler Family (2) and the administrators who are running the show (3)) but if the author does not specify and find an easy way to tell this story without making it a movie, then it is confusing to read...The third thing is that Orcs are not really "honorable"...they tend to be a kind of mob/species that rape, pillage and lack ethical and moral values as a whole (at least in almost all of the fantasy series, except this one)... The skills that the Adler Family and Wolf choose are nonsensical...they save up for the communication skill 100 SP each and then it has an additional cost per use...I mean his family can constantly see him in the Dungeon, and they pay for that as well, so what is the point? Same goes for the skills that Wolf purchases as well, the author writes that the Elf contestant found an exact copy of the necklace, expensive SP, that Wolf ends up buying, so why have two exact same necklaces?? Usually game-systems to keep a balance have rules that you can only wear one necklace at a time, one ring in each finger or a total of 3-4 rings, etc. What is the point of having so many human contestants if its a universal game broadcasted and represented from all species and races??? What did the author run out of ideas?? Run out of Fantasy Beast/Spirit-folk races???
Wolf buys "nose-plugs" while he could have made them from ice, with the banshees could have made ear-plugs from ice, eats and sleeps while the rest of the competitors don't... The loot is scarce and really bad... This story series would be the anti-loot and let's make it impossible for the main characters to win, thanks to the author Sci-Fi/fantasy series... At 10 Dungeon levels on this first book, this series is going to take forever...
April 8, 2023
good story with some minor quirks.
Very good book, fast paced very interesting. Action from beginning to end. A group of characters who actually know what’s going on when the apocalypse happens unlike other characters and other books, who scratch their heads, and seem like hayseeds. I figured this was a young author because walking around with your hands in your pockets isn’t cool. It sounds like the author wants to be a hipster. He must have never been in a fight because by the time you get your hands out of your pockets, you’ll be punched in the face. The other issue I have is the having to buy a communications suite and then having to pay to use it. You’ve already bought it, so why should you have to spend extra s p points to use it? Third issue no loot drops from the enemies, only from the chest. You would think the characters would have more to trade in the stores if they could pick up loot along the way. And last but not least the MC is not very likable or friendly. But besides these little quirks the story is pretty good. I will read the next book.
Very good book, fast paced very interesting. Action from beginning to end. A group of characters who actually know what’s going on when the apocalypse happens unlike other characters and other books, who scratch their heads, and seem like hayseeds. I figured this was a young author because walking around with your hands in your pockets isn’t cool. It sounds like the author wants to be a hipster. He must have never been in a fight because by the time you get your hands out of your pockets, you’ll be punched in the face. The other issue I have is the having to buy a communications suite and then having to pay to use it. You’ve already bought it, so why should you have to spend extra s p points to use it? Third issue no loot drops from the enemies, only from the chest. You would think the characters would have more to trade in the stores if they could pick up loot along the way. And last but not least the MC is not very likable or friendly. But besides these little quirks the story is pretty good. I will read the next book.
November 18, 2023
It's a good book, more unique than great writing. The story is engaging and fun.
This book has almost no introduction to the story it just.. happens. The author dumps the reader right into the story with only a couple of pages of buildup. The game Dynamics are basic but what makes the book stand out, is that it's relating the story in a live stream. I found the story unique in the characters likable, however in maintaining a live streaming action story, the author jumps from multiple characters points a reference and view and it can become tiresome to the reader. The story remains cohesive as the author jumps around however you lose that sense of "being lost in the story where pages fly by as you can't wait to find out what happens next!" Because of the constant change of view it keeps disrupting the pace of the reader. It's a simple good likable story, there is no real in-depth look at any of the characters personalities so it doesn't have much weight. Again just a good simple story if you enjoy the game matrix genre.
This book has almost no introduction to the story it just.. happens. The author dumps the reader right into the story with only a couple of pages of buildup. The game Dynamics are basic but what makes the book stand out, is that it's relating the story in a live stream. I found the story unique in the characters likable, however in maintaining a live streaming action story, the author jumps from multiple characters points a reference and view and it can become tiresome to the reader. The story remains cohesive as the author jumps around however you lose that sense of "being lost in the story where pages fly by as you can't wait to find out what happens next!" Because of the constant change of view it keeps disrupting the pace of the reader. It's a simple good likable story, there is no real in-depth look at any of the characters personalities so it doesn't have much weight. Again just a good simple story if you enjoy the game matrix genre.
April 14, 2024
Nothing really special or new, but with some annoying missteps along the way.
Spoilers ahead!
MC's parents are Assassins. Not just that, but they have told this to their children and started training them in the "Arts". Not only they entrust their teenage children with this, we later find out this secret was known by some random friends.
Why go through all this trouble? - No reason at all. They could have been in the army, law enforcement, martial arts enthusiasts, anything really, and achieve the same result without pushing.
As the world changes, they find out about this super dungeon - and is dismissed as unimportant.
About 5 times. Everyone keeps bringing it up and the parents keep dismissing it as too dangerous and not a priority. Are we then supposed to be surprised the MC gets selected for it?
Again... why bother setting it up? Is not relevant, is not a surprise, is...
These are just examples, but you will find more things like this throughout the book.
Hope things will improve as we move forward.
Spoilers ahead!
MC's parents are Assassins. Not just that, but they have told this to their children and started training them in the "Arts". Not only they entrust their teenage children with this, we later find out this secret was known by some random friends.
Why go through all this trouble? - No reason at all. They could have been in the army, law enforcement, martial arts enthusiasts, anything really, and achieve the same result without pushing.
As the world changes, they find out about this super dungeon - and is dismissed as unimportant.
About 5 times. Everyone keeps bringing it up and the parents keep dismissing it as too dangerous and not a priority. Are we then supposed to be surprised the MC gets selected for it?
Again... why bother setting it up? Is not relevant, is not a surprise, is...
These are just examples, but you will find more things like this throughout the book.
Hope things will improve as we move forward.
December 29, 2022
Stick with it and it will start to “turn” you …
***SPOILERS***
The starter story is ABRUPT and a bit too convenient. Case in point the parent of the MC are retired assassins. Really?
After the transition to the new world and powers start to be more in line with traditional litrpg, it does get better. After about the 200 page mark once relationships start unfolding and there are multiple and agonists highlighted it gets much better.
The last 150 pages are good allusions to future and broader conflicts.
My two recommendations would be to rewrite the first 150 pages to add more drama. Maybe have someone close to the MC die. The second would be to have the MC struggle more. That pain reduction skill is good but having him go through more emotional/physical trials could be better for the development.
All in all entertaining and ends well.
***SPOILERS***
The starter story is ABRUPT and a bit too convenient. Case in point the parent of the MC are retired assassins. Really?
After the transition to the new world and powers start to be more in line with traditional litrpg, it does get better. After about the 200 page mark once relationships start unfolding and there are multiple and agonists highlighted it gets much better.
The last 150 pages are good allusions to future and broader conflicts.
My two recommendations would be to rewrite the first 150 pages to add more drama. Maybe have someone close to the MC die. The second would be to have the MC struggle more. That pain reduction skill is good but having him go through more emotional/physical trials could be better for the development.
All in all entertaining and ends well.
August 12, 2023
The Rise of the Winter Wolf Book: 1
This is yet another aliens-takeover-the-world-and-make-people-play-RPG story, but the author barely makes an attempt to make it believable. The main character has the unlikely name, 'Wolf', while his sister has a more common name, 'Katie'. Why would the parents be so inconsistent? Oh, and the parents also formerly make a living as assassins and had trained their children in these skills until they decided to retire. Once past this unlikely setup, the story execution requires further suspension of disbelief to get past some truly wince-inducing scenes that follow. It doesn't help that the whole thing is in present tense. Despite all this, the main character at least is interesting and sympathetic. Enough to continue the series in the hopes it gets better.
This is yet another aliens-takeover-the-world-and-make-people-play-RPG story, but the author barely makes an attempt to make it believable. The main character has the unlikely name, 'Wolf', while his sister has a more common name, 'Katie'. Why would the parents be so inconsistent? Oh, and the parents also formerly make a living as assassins and had trained their children in these skills until they decided to retire. Once past this unlikely setup, the story execution requires further suspension of disbelief to get past some truly wince-inducing scenes that follow. It doesn't help that the whole thing is in present tense. Despite all this, the main character at least is interesting and sympathetic. Enough to continue the series in the hopes it gets better.
May 14, 2025
I didn't buy that the protagonist's parents were modern-day assassins who trained their children to be assassins. Who trains their kids to commit murder, outside of fantasy novels?
I didn't buy that immediately after the generic transposition to a game-like world, the entire family decides to go out and grind monsters. "Welp, I'm in a game now, I'll go kill stuff" wasn't a plausible response for an entire family.
I didn't buy that the *entire galaxy* got transposed at once. Reminds me of bad TV SF where the author glibly substitutes "galaxy" for "solar system," with no real grasp of the sheer scale of the galaxy.
Then the author started talking about specifics of knife fighting in a way that reveals he knows nothing about knife fighting.
At that point, I completely lost interest in reading further.
I didn't buy that immediately after the generic transposition to a game-like world, the entire family decides to go out and grind monsters. "Welp, I'm in a game now, I'll go kill stuff" wasn't a plausible response for an entire family.
I didn't buy that the *entire galaxy* got transposed at once. Reminds me of bad TV SF where the author glibly substitutes "galaxy" for "solar system," with no real grasp of the sheer scale of the galaxy.
Then the author started talking about specifics of knife fighting in a way that reveals he knows nothing about knife fighting.
At that point, I completely lost interest in reading further.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews