Damien has managed to survive all the challenges thrown at him, and he’s even starting to enjoy his time at Blackmist. With Henry and Sylph by his side, he just might actually make it through Blackmist without getting killed. Herald has other plans. Forces that have lurked at the edge of the Void for countless Cycles have started to move, and their power is growing with every passing day. Damien needs to gain mastery over his magic, but Herald isn’t content to let him sit around for much longer.
As more of the truth behind the Void and its purpose on the Mortal Plane is unveiled, Damien is forced to face the concerning truth that the Cycle might really need to be reset.
He won’t let it go without a fight, though. With Henry and Sylph’s help, he plans to bring the battle straight to the greatest threat the Mortal Plane has seen – but that might be just what its waiting for.
Greenblood is a slice-of-life mixed with LitRPG in a magic school setting. A slow build power fantasy from Actus, the bestselling author of Morcster Chef. It's perfect for fans of Cradle, Iron Prince, and Mage Errant.
Actus has been writing fantasy stories since the age of twelve, and he's been telling them since he could talk. He's currently working on three main series - Morcster Chef, Steamforged Sorcery, and My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror. You can find his works on RoyalRoad & Patreon as well as on Amazon.
In addition to his passion for writing, Actus is capable of clearing a two story building with a single jump. That isn't true, but writing about himself in third person gives Actus delusions of grandeur.
While I enjoyed this one more, I still found it a bit boring.
There is zero character development and just a little progression, which is only expressed as a numerical increase not in any meaningful way. This does nothing but transition for the next book. It is a slice of life without the fun day to day, it is all very repetitive.
Just as good as the first one, still entertaining. But by the end, my main fear appeared: the pacing. In a school setting, you expect progress year by year toward the senior finale, but here we only finish Year One. That worried me. Disclaimer: This review was written after finishing the entire six-book saga, so my perspective is shaped by knowing where the story ultimately goes.
On one hand, this has a lot of what made the first book such solid read, so if you enjoyed that you’ll likely enjoy this. On the other hand, it’s starting to become a bit repetitive, which is likely an influence of the stretched out episodic nature of its development on RR and the difficulties in translating that into book format.
There isn’t much of an introduction of new locations, people or character development beyond stats and ability progression (which is inching along). I hate to give this a lower rating than the first book as I still enjoyed it but it’s unfortunately starting to become a little too static and repetitive for my liking. Hopefully the next release will introduce more characters/development/locations/enemies into the mix (or just move further in the story). Would also be nice to flesh out characters and their emotions/feelings more so they don’t feel so two dimensional.
If you enjoyed the first book you’ll likely still enjoy this, even though you won’t be getting the introduction of a new magical system, new characters (with meaningful depth) and locations to help spice up the story like the first book provided. There are however some fun moments and new developments that make me interested for what’s to come.
Update: The third book does an excellent job of remedying most if not all of the nitpicks I listed above, well worth the read.
Author can't remember how to spell his character's names
These books aren't high literature. They're simpler versions of the Harry Potter story. That said, I enjoy them. The character's motivations are internally consistent, and the struggles they face aren't self-inflicted. I almost stopped reading, though, when the author introduced a new character and couldn't decide how to spell their name. They were introduced as "Mal" but then were mostly called "Mel" with the occasional Mal thrown in, and then eventually we had one instance of "Mell." I screamed out loud. I will pick up the next book in the series, but if we get that kind of sloppiness again I shall write a strongly-worded letter to someone. Be warned.
This book needed a few more rounds of editing. There's repetitive phrasing and repetitive information throughout. The worst offender is an early scene involving Sylph and Wisp, whose names are similar enough the author uses the wrong one several times.
After unofficially teaming up for the solo tournament, Damian and Sylph are now joined at the hip 90% of the time. Every student gets one more class, which they have separately, but those scenes are brief. The other dorm mates fall into the background beyond a few sparring sessions.
Action scenes are cool, developing spells is cool, finally seeing some quests is cool. I'm just disappointed by the execution.
This has the same charm as it’s predecessor though it has its faults too. It’s light and charming in the same way but I will say there are some errors - not too many typos but logical inconsistencies that I feel would have been picked up with more proofreading (or an editor). There were bits where I’d be like wait but this was said just a bit ago and that doesn’t add up - it felt like the author had forgotten exactly what they said earlier and didn’t realise they were stepping on their own toes. I could mostly overlook this though and did really enjoy this book. It’s length I suppose aids in how light it feels but I would argue for a higher page count in the future as though there are parts where another book would have really gotten into the weeds of something and I enjoyed the brevity of smoothly cutting out periods of time here and there there are other things that don’t feel lived in enough - conflicts are resolved perhaps too quickly. The tournament at the end of the last book for example felt more developed than any of the conflicts here and was genuinely exciting - that same detail or energy was missing here as conflict is blink and you’ll miss it. Still, same as the first the books charm is the best thing about it and the relationship between the main two developing, Henry’s little comments and the magic progressing was very enjoyable. Looking forward to the next.
The first book had an interesting premise and a decent narrative arc. This one has its climax in the first third of the book, and the climax doesn't even feel interesting. The fights are getting rather "DBZ". In the first book, where spells and capabilities were much more limited, every tiny action in the fight seemed meaningful, and I enjoyed reading about all the details. Now, it seems just sound and fury. Gravity spheres. Dodge. Gravity spheres again. With the feet. What is this leading up to?
Between fights, the slice of life is ok, but not great. The call to action isn't strong either. I'm not getting a sense of "we must quickly deal with this pressing problem or bad things will happen" except in the very abstract (save the world), or "we can look forward to some great payoff e.g. when we learn this spell", again except in the very abstract. I feel some but not a lot of incentive to continue reading.
The half forgotten book Blackmist was marked as one of my favorite reads from last year (thank you, Goodreads for being my brain.) And I immediately snatched book 2 up. I found myself 'zactly where Atcus left off, and right where I needed to be! Not that the last book was a cliffhanger as Blackmist had a perfect ending right towards the end of the school year. As Blackmist is a Harry Potter like magical school, but instead of owls, Damien has an eldritch monster. And don't worry in Greenblood we get plenty of summer break as well as year two. Along with Damien, Henry his familiar and Silph his best friend and all the weird teachers. Plus there's so much action it'll keep the most action-starved fan sated. And it's just as lighthearted and fun as the first book was. Peter Berkrot again was the perfect narrator for Damien's story.
I loved this sequel in what has become one of my favorite new series. It builds really well upon the first book and has just about everything you can want. Great plot, with awesome characters, world building is good enough and not really what this series focuses on. I was a bit hesitant at first about this series because it seemed like it was a Y.A book. But I can't really say that it's written as a Y.A at all, which to me is a huge upside. It's a very mature book that is pretty grim and dark in a really good way. I can't stress this enough, Actus is one of my new top 5 authors. If you enjoy this series check out his other amazing series (Monster Chef) it is so worth it!!!
"Greenblood" second book of the series. Damien academy days are getting even more interesting then he ever expected. His partner Henry is a horror from the Void and his roommate is Sylph. After a significant first half of the year, they both aim to grow their powers and magics. But they have a quarrel with an older student who can't take a simple loss and decides to try to go after both. Henry does what he feels is necessary and this paints most of the second half of the year as the acting Dean is watching Damien closely. Lots of action and some cool learning moments on this one. Definitely a series worth following.
Well, this one had a lot of twists and turns. Some were cool, some felt very contrived (like the whole deal with the second year bully and later outcomes). The action was cool. Good to get some more details about the Cycle. Due to the nature of main character's companion, seems like the author decided to cut down actual academic instruction - it hardly felt like they were in a college.
My biggest complaint were the large number of typos. Felt like there was no attempt made to edit the novel fit for publication.
Voice: 4 stars - Decent job, but some of the voices just sound the same. Story:The idea was good but poorly developed. The MC development is beyond slow, there are so many storylines colliding, like there is no clear plot. This Is a world of super developed humans, but there are 2 kids who are so strong fighting instead. I really felt the story was "lost" and because of that, it is confusing and unfocused. Too much of something is not always good. I was looking for a funny slice of life and this is not it. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
Is it possible that the litrpg genre may become my new go-to genre? After book two of the My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror series I may be sold! This one continues Damien's story as he becomes good friends with his roommate Sylph and his relationship with his Eldritch companion, Henry, strengthens. This makes the threesome and powerful grouping as they have to continue with the challenges of college as well and possibly saving the world! This is another great read and I'm on to the next!
Writing is really smooth and skilled. And the story isn't just using old tropes and types. It's truly creating it's own magic, creatures and culture.
For better and for worse, the author didn't rush the story. They continued the first year of mage college, with no skipped steps. So we are getting all the charming little moments as well as big breakthroughs.
I'm curious how he's going to get us to the grand plot completion in the next few books at this pace, but I'm actually thoroughly enjoying the adventure so far.
After book 1, I wasn’t sure how this one would play out. But it was a good read! We get to see the end of year 1 for our dynamic duo, and some serious power progression! The professors are just as crazy, but the danger is rising! Some interesting hints for the future are dropped and summer break promises to be a wild ride! Can’t wait for book 3 in April!
Overall, I like the story. I’m interested in continuing to read it. However, it’s constantly disappointing. A little happens in the books. The story arcs are fairly shallow. For example, this book contained 3 to 6 fights, a couple of visits to a classroom, some rudimentary very quick testing and not much else.
It is a fun book to read. I started reading it and didn't put it down until I was finished. Actually really like that everything is not black and white in the series.
Was able to read the first one last week right before this one released. Book 2 continues the story without any issues. No plot armor or other major issues. Definitely worth the buy.
The students continue to grow and learn. New spells, monsters fought, exams taken. The Corruption begins to take hold and Damien takes a quest to fight it, and maybe save the world. Tom out
I enjoy how the Eldritch and Unknowable Outer Gods are part of the cosmos in these books, and not just a malign force from humanities perspective. The infinite cycle restart is an interesting mechanism for them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
My interest slowly waned over the course of the book. The Corruption is a faceless enemy about which we know almost nothing. It's hard to get invested in a fight with only one participant. I won't be continuing with this series.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like LitRPG and progression type of books in a academic setting. Very good character development.
Really good. Found it to be a nice improvement on the first book as Damien, but especially Henry and Sylph came into their own. Sylph being merged with the blighted monster made for an interesting storyline for her. I love how close they are, and how Henry is more willingly working with Damien
Strong continuation and interesting tiny insight from the teacher. Can't wait to see how book 3 continues and find more out about some of the other characters.