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Azarinth Healer #1
Azarinth Healer: Book One
Ilea likes punching things. And eating.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many career options for hungry brawlers. Instead, the plan is to quit her crappy fast-food job, go to college, and become a fully functioning member of society. Essentially - a fate worse than death.
So maybe it's lucky that she wakes up one day in a strange world where a bunch of fantasy monsters are trying to kill her...?
On the bright side, ‘killing those monsters right back’ is now a viable career path! For she soon discovers her new home runs on a set of game-like rules that will allow her to punch things harder than in her wildest dreams. Well, maybe not her wildest dreams, but it’s close.
With no quest to follow, no guide to show her the way, and no real desire to be a Hero – Ilea embarks on a journey to discover a world full of magic. Magic she can use to fight even bigger monsters.
She’s struggling to survive, has no idea what will happen next, and is loving every minute of it. Except, and sometimes also, when she’s poisoned and/or has set herself on fire. It’s complicated.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many career options for hungry brawlers. Instead, the plan is to quit her crappy fast-food job, go to college, and become a fully functioning member of society. Essentially - a fate worse than death.
So maybe it's lucky that she wakes up one day in a strange world where a bunch of fantasy monsters are trying to kill her...?
On the bright side, ‘killing those monsters right back’ is now a viable career path! For she soon discovers her new home runs on a set of game-like rules that will allow her to punch things harder than in her wildest dreams. Well, maybe not her wildest dreams, but it’s close.
With no quest to follow, no guide to show her the way, and no real desire to be a Hero – Ilea embarks on a journey to discover a world full of magic. Magic she can use to fight even bigger monsters.
She’s struggling to survive, has no idea what will happen next, and is loving every minute of it. Except, and sometimes also, when she’s poisoned and/or has set herself on fire. It’s complicated.
708 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2022
2307 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 523 reviews
February 16, 2023
I like powerful women so a power-fantasy with a Mary Sue isn't a bad fit. Bear that in mind if you want to adjust this review accordingly. And yes, Ilea is totally a Mary Sue, though on the lighter side of the trope; she's not universally beloved and her romantic life is pretty barren (with a couple outright rejections, though not harshly) but she ends up with a lot of friends wherever she goes and that's a little too fortuitous.
I should also mention that the title is more than a little misleading. Ilea's defining characteristic is that she likes punching things. A lot. Her "class" is named Azarinth Healer, but really, she's a close-combat fighter with some overpowered healing skills. She gets the class through a fortuitous encounter and ends up with this lost art that once dominated the land (see overpowered). And then she goes about butt-kicking for goodness.
It's clear that this was written serially as it's very much beads-on-a-string plot-wise. Ilea hares off on one pursuit after another always looking for the next challenge where she can punch things. For once, I didn't mind this at all. Probably because I liked spending time with her. She's quirky and engaging and doesn't hesitate to do hard things.
The story ends a bit abruptly, though without anything important left in the air. This was kind of inevitable because there just isn't (yet?) an overarching bad guy that we care about. Okay, the elves are scary psychopaths but they're contained (so far?) to their forest redoubts and completely disorganized so only a periodic and singular threat for the most part. I'm going to give this four stars for the adventure with someone I enjoyed. Oh, and significantly better editing than I've become used to with LitRPG stories.
A note about Chaste: Ilea has two "romantic" partners, okay, fine, they're hook-ups. But we don't get in on any of the sexy times. There's enough on the way to the fun times that chaste is a close call. I didn't find it racy, but you could easily vary on that. I was interested that her bisexuality was so matter-of-factly given as simply the way she is and without apology or overthought.
I should also mention that the title is more than a little misleading. Ilea's defining characteristic is that she likes punching things. A lot. Her "class" is named Azarinth Healer, but really, she's a close-combat fighter with some overpowered healing skills. She gets the class through a fortuitous encounter and ends up with this lost art that once dominated the land (see overpowered). And then she goes about butt-kicking for goodness.
It's clear that this was written serially as it's very much beads-on-a-string plot-wise. Ilea hares off on one pursuit after another always looking for the next challenge where she can punch things. For once, I didn't mind this at all. Probably because I liked spending time with her. She's quirky and engaging and doesn't hesitate to do hard things.
The story ends a bit abruptly, though without anything important left in the air. This was kind of inevitable because there just isn't (yet?) an overarching bad guy that we care about. Okay, the elves are scary psychopaths but they're contained (so far?) to their forest redoubts and completely disorganized so only a periodic and singular threat for the most part. I'm going to give this four stars for the adventure with someone I enjoyed. Oh, and significantly better editing than I've become used to with LitRPG stories.
A note about Chaste: Ilea has two "romantic" partners, okay, fine, they're hook-ups. But we don't get in on any of the sexy times. There's enough on the way to the fun times that chaste is a close call. I didn't find it racy, but you could easily vary on that. I was interested that her bisexuality was so matter-of-factly given as simply the way she is and without apology or overthought.
December 26, 2022
As usual, Andrea Parsneau kills it.
As for the book itself, it's a mixed bag.
It's very well written, especially in this category where most authors sound like teenagers.Unfortunately, the tale itself is quite bland and boring.
Half the book is dedicated to the ridiculously rapid path to OPness of the MC,and so it's a cascade of stats leaps. When the MC routinely beats opponents 50 to 100 levels above her, levels stop meaning anything.
The other half of the book, the "story", has no intrigue, no goal, nothing to drive us forwards but the MC's quest for more power.
Not the best in the genre.
As for the book itself, it's a mixed bag.
It's very well written, especially in this category where most authors sound like teenagers.Unfortunately, the tale itself is quite bland and boring.
Half the book is dedicated to the ridiculously rapid path to OPness of the MC,and so it's a cascade of stats leaps. When the MC routinely beats opponents 50 to 100 levels above her, levels stop meaning anything.
The other half of the book, the "story", has no intrigue, no goal, nothing to drive us forwards but the MC's quest for more power.
Not the best in the genre.
August 21, 2025
Писнало ли ви е от заплетени, претенциозни фентъзита, пълни с интриги, сложни човешки взаимоотношения и връзки, тайнствени и древни загадки, мрачни пророчества и други отдавна издишали клишета на жанра?
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
(Edit: писана в интернет, историята вече е разделена на 5 книги, които могат да се намерят в Амазон или ... другаде ;) )
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
(Edit: писана в интернет, историята вече е разделена на 5 книги, които могат да се намерят в Амазон или ... другаде ;) )
March 2, 2023
This was so exciting to read, and Ilea is such an awesome character. She's funny, brazen and a tad crazy which you kind of have to be to survive in the world she finds herself in. Oh, and she's bisexual! I think I whooped out loud when she beds the hot waitress at the inn she stays in.
I'm so looking forward to reading the next book in the Azarinth Healer series.
I'm so looking forward to reading the next book in the Azarinth Healer series.
February 2, 2023
An extremely long LitRPG that endeared itself to me more and more over time. Wandering, rough, and at times rambling, but with a constant charm that elevated it from decent to very good. Of the hundreds of Fantasy novels I've read, this is one of the few I enjoyed enough to reread.
The first couple chapters are (still) full of errors, and the pace takes a while to pick up. However, when it really gets going, it is top tier.
"Azarinth Healer" is good when it is light, funny, characterful, power fantasy action-heavy nonsense. It is great when it presents clever fights and puzzles with system-based solutions, and when it features fun slice-of-life moments. The worldbuilding is also good, broad and varied without worrying too much about being technical or systematic.
I didn't care for the darker character moments or political intrigue that the author touched on, mostly because frankly it clearly isn't his strong suit. However, I can see how those elements allowed for other, better things to emerge.
The main character begins slightly overpowered for the situations she falls into, and honestly only grows from there. I still enjoyed it all the way to the end, though! I'd be perfectly happy to read stories of other characters in this world, and I'm confident that the author will write plenty that is to my tastes in the future.
The first couple chapters are (still) full of errors, and the pace takes a while to pick up. However, when it really gets going, it is top tier.
"Azarinth Healer" is good when it is light, funny, characterful, power fantasy action-heavy nonsense. It is great when it presents clever fights and puzzles with system-based solutions, and when it features fun slice-of-life moments. The worldbuilding is also good, broad and varied without worrying too much about being technical or systematic.
I didn't care for the darker character moments or political intrigue that the author touched on, mostly because frankly it clearly isn't his strong suit. However, I can see how those elements allowed for other, better things to emerge.
The main character begins slightly overpowered for the situations she falls into, and honestly only grows from there. I still enjoyed it all the way to the end, though! I'd be perfectly happy to read stories of other characters in this world, and I'm confident that the author will write plenty that is to my tastes in the future.
March 6, 2023
Azarinth Healer is the gold standard when it comes to litrpg/isekai works. This series takes you on a journey of incredible depth, quality and creativity. I highly recommend giving it a shot - exploring the incredible world that Rhaegar was able to create is an absolute joy.
March 7, 2023
At 700+ pages I really can't recommend this.
The MC starts as a young and rather immature woman, bored with the grind of a humdrum life in minimum wage work, and uninterested in the future she's decided on. Then she gets transported to a different world with no warning or explanation and almost the first thing she does is joyously grind the same monotonous tasks to "level up" for months on end. . From there things only get progressively worse at remaining consistent with information that's already been established.
She quickly adjusts to her new existence and plows through being an adrenaline junkie addicted to combat and leveling up, to straight up killing wildlife and anyone who even looks like they may threaten her. Despite being a "LitRPG" book there's no indication anything or anyone in this world "respawns" like in a game, yet the MC never seems bothered by murdering innocent creatures, and only pauses once the first time she has to fight against another person, then is never bothered by the idea of killing ever again.
She also never stops to think that fists first may not be the solution to every problem, despite the fact that at the start of the story she was about to head to college as the first step to becoming a doctor. If she can't brute-force her way through something then she just goes away to beat the crap out of something else until she's gained enough levels to try again.
This quickly got boring for me because none of the situations she found herself in mattered. By the end of the chapter or the next I knew she'd have punched her way out of it and in to a superficially different, but in actuality almost exactly the same, one. Even when people were brutally ripped apart in front of her she was still all "eh, whatever, I didn't really know them" and then immediately fine to continue, or even annoyed at the 'inconvenience' of being held up.
I also couldn't stand how any of the other characters were portrayed in this book . Most of the women in it are either super giggly air-heads who need looking after (no matter their age), or emotionally stunted psycho bitches. Most of the men weren't any better, mostly being arrogant arseholes who think they're better than everyone else and/ or potential sexual harrassers!
Honestly nearly everyone in this book is a terrible person and it made it a slog to get through because there's no reason for me to care about any of them. If I don't care about any of the characters then why do I care what happens to them? Feeling like the world would be better off without all these overpowered problem-makers around is not a great way to build tension or interest in anything.
Ugh. Just trying to recall everything that happened in this book and my reaction to it is tiring. So just like the book that I DNFed much later than I should have, I'm going to abruptly finish my not-a-real-review here before I waste any more of my life in connection to this story.
Instead of reading what is essentially a write-up of watching someone else play an RPG with none of the control or emotional connection of being immersed in the world, you could spend the time you'd otherwise waste on this actually playing an RPG yourself.
The MC starts as a young and rather immature woman, bored with the grind of a humdrum life in minimum wage work, and uninterested in the future she's decided on. Then she gets transported to a different world with no warning or explanation and almost the first thing she does is joyously grind the same monotonous tasks to "level up" for months on end. . From there things only get progressively worse at remaining consistent with information that's already been established.
She quickly adjusts to her new existence and plows through being an adrenaline junkie addicted to combat and leveling up, to straight up killing wildlife and anyone who even looks like they may threaten her. Despite being a "LitRPG" book there's no indication anything or anyone in this world "respawns" like in a game, yet the MC never seems bothered by murdering innocent creatures, and only pauses once the first time she has to fight against another person, then is never bothered by the idea of killing ever again.
She also never stops to think that fists first may not be the solution to every problem, despite the fact that at the start of the story she was about to head to college as the first step to becoming a doctor. If she can't brute-force her way through something then she just goes away to beat the crap out of something else until she's gained enough levels to try again.
This quickly got boring for me because none of the situations she found herself in mattered. By the end of the chapter or the next I knew she'd have punched her way out of it and in to a superficially different, but in actuality almost exactly the same, one. Even when people were brutally ripped apart in front of her she was still all "eh, whatever, I didn't really know them" and then immediately fine to continue, or even annoyed at the 'inconvenience' of being held up.
I also couldn't stand how any of the other characters were portrayed in this book . Most of the women in it are either super giggly air-heads who need looking after (no matter their age), or emotionally stunted psycho bitches. Most of the men weren't any better, mostly being arrogant arseholes who think they're better than everyone else and/ or potential sexual harrassers!
Honestly nearly everyone in this book is a terrible person and it made it a slog to get through because there's no reason for me to care about any of them. If I don't care about any of the characters then why do I care what happens to them? Feeling like the world would be better off without all these overpowered problem-makers around is not a great way to build tension or interest in anything.
Ugh. Just trying to recall everything that happened in this book and my reaction to it is tiring. So just like the book that I DNFed much later than I should have, I'm going to abruptly finish my not-a-real-review here before I waste any more of my life in connection to this story.
Instead of reading what is essentially a write-up of watching someone else play an RPG with none of the control or emotional connection of being immersed in the world, you could spend the time you'd otherwise waste on this actually playing an RPG yourself.
February 8, 2023
Rating is 3.5 - A really cool book and a great introduction to LitRPG for me. Full review to come soon
December 15, 2020
I loved this.
It was a premise I wanted: a Healer who can fight and level.
This is 1.5 million words at time of this review.
You can see the writer's own skill profession through the story, it gets better and better. So when you start it, it may not seem as fluent or professional as many other stories, but I promise, it grows in leaps and bounds.
I got quite attached to Ilea as she grew in power. It is hard to do a decent over powered character story, very hard, but this one works very well.
Due to it being a Web novel, like many of them the plot isn't a standard style, rather it's more like a string of pearls, all connected. Slices of life, battles, monster hunting, levelling and grinding all feature.
Its an enjoyable litrpg marathon that got me through several weeks of a bad time health wise and I highly rate it.
Thank you for reading.
It was a premise I wanted: a Healer who can fight and level.
This is 1.5 million words at time of this review.
You can see the writer's own skill profession through the story, it gets better and better. So when you start it, it may not seem as fluent or professional as many other stories, but I promise, it grows in leaps and bounds.
I got quite attached to Ilea as she grew in power. It is hard to do a decent over powered character story, very hard, but this one works very well.
Due to it being a Web novel, like many of them the plot isn't a standard style, rather it's more like a string of pearls, all connected. Slices of life, battles, monster hunting, levelling and grinding all feature.
Its an enjoyable litrpg marathon that got me through several weeks of a bad time health wise and I highly rate it.
Thank you for reading.
October 2, 2024
Really, really good!
Seriously, I mean; I like the violent, darker stories so I put this one off for ages, because I didn’t want to read a story about a healer. I mean, they’re at the back, right? They’re hiding out of the way, and that’s no fun, right? WRONG. Read this book. It’s awesome!
Seriously, I mean; I like the violent, darker stories so I put this one off for ages, because I didn’t want to read a story about a healer. I mean, they’re at the back, right? They’re hiding out of the way, and that’s no fun, right? WRONG. Read this book. It’s awesome!
May 15, 2025
Meandering inconsequentials...
I really wanted to enjoy this book. It has clearly resonated with many people and has found plenty of success, but it just didn't work for me. Fortunately, I know exactly why.
Firstly, there is no central plot. There is nothing compelling, no reason to keep turning the pages, no pressure for the main character to keep progressing.
Secondly, the levelling system is arbitrary and inconsistent. The main character regularly beats enemies up to 200 levels above her. She also power levels for months on end over the course of a paragraph.
Finally, I don't care about the main character, or indeed any characters, at all. She isn't very interesting and has next to no motivation other than kill things and get stronger.
The writing is generally fine and the world has some interesting features. I was briefly invested at about 67% of the way through when some new adventurers appeared with an element of mystery about them but they soon disappeared and the "plot" swiftly moved on as though they had barely existed.
Alas, I am incredibly disappointed as I was really looking forward to diving into a new world for a long ongoing adventure. Oh well, onto the next.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. It has clearly resonated with many people and has found plenty of success, but it just didn't work for me. Fortunately, I know exactly why.
Firstly, there is no central plot. There is nothing compelling, no reason to keep turning the pages, no pressure for the main character to keep progressing.
Secondly, the levelling system is arbitrary and inconsistent. The main character regularly beats enemies up to 200 levels above her. She also power levels for months on end over the course of a paragraph.
Finally, I don't care about the main character, or indeed any characters, at all. She isn't very interesting and has next to no motivation other than kill things and get stronger.
The writing is generally fine and the world has some interesting features. I was briefly invested at about 67% of the way through when some new adventurers appeared with an element of mystery about them but they soon disappeared and the "plot" swiftly moved on as though they had barely existed.
Alas, I am incredibly disappointed as I was really looking forward to diving into a new world for a long ongoing adventure. Oh well, onto the next.
August 26, 2025
These are going to be harsh words but... after reading through ~45%, I didn't like it and it's fucking bad.
I suppose if I wanted to read an action/battle story with an OP main character (power fantasy-esque), Azarinth Healer could be servicable but even then, the battle scenes so far are incredibly bland. Every little bit of potential for risk and tension is completely nullified by an absolute bonkers healing/reconstruction ability. Downsides of mana/energy cost or exhaustion don't exist due to a meditation skill that allows regeneration of mana while moving and doing other things (what's the downside of meditation then?). Healing is also not really limited whatsoever so far: Big wounds? No problem. Fatal wounds to the heart or the brain? No problem. Mental damage? Doesn't matter either.
If all of that wasn't enough already to take away all tension, the pattern/flow of the fights are super simple and boring too: There is no way that 'describing beatiful magical shields of blinding lights' and 'blink in, punch, blink out to dodge, blink in again, get hit, blink out, heal [repeat till opponent is dead]' is the epitome of writing. From feints to locks, kicks, knees, punches vs flat hands (considering risk of breaking fingers), elbows, dodging while staying way closer instead of just blinking 15m back and forth to safety - there's so many more interesting ways to write a fight that can include technical details, strategical details, narratives (sacrifices, overcoming something or even just a little move you struggle with, fighting while greatly outnumbered etc.). Hell, does the teleportation spell ("blink"?) carry momentum? Either way, just with that alone, there could be a few interesting tidbits one could add to a fight scene.
Guess I went on a bit of a rant... Considering the genre of Azarinth Healer to be LitRPG/Fantasy/Action, I think it underdelivered greatly. For me, the mostly bland character interactions, inconsistencies showing up here and there and lack of character or depth of personality could be somewhat overlooked if at the very least the action was good/well written. But in my opinion, it was not.
I suppose if I wanted to read an action/battle story with an OP main character (power fantasy-esque), Azarinth Healer could be servicable but even then, the battle scenes so far are incredibly bland. Every little bit of potential for risk and tension is completely nullified by an absolute bonkers healing/reconstruction ability. Downsides of mana/energy cost or exhaustion don't exist due to a meditation skill that allows regeneration of mana while moving and doing other things (what's the downside of meditation then?). Healing is also not really limited whatsoever so far: Big wounds? No problem. Fatal wounds to the heart or the brain? No problem. Mental damage? Doesn't matter either.
If all of that wasn't enough already to take away all tension, the pattern/flow of the fights are super simple and boring too: There is no way that 'describing beatiful magical shields of blinding lights' and 'blink in, punch, blink out to dodge, blink in again, get hit, blink out, heal [repeat till opponent is dead]' is the epitome of writing. From feints to locks, kicks, knees, punches vs flat hands (considering risk of breaking fingers), elbows, dodging while staying way closer instead of just blinking 15m back and forth to safety - there's so many more interesting ways to write a fight that can include technical details, strategical details, narratives (sacrifices, overcoming something or even just a little move you struggle with, fighting while greatly outnumbered etc.). Hell, does the teleportation spell ("blink"?) carry momentum? Either way, just with that alone, there could be a few interesting tidbits one could add to a fight scene.
Guess I went on a bit of a rant... Considering the genre of Azarinth Healer to be LitRPG/Fantasy/Action, I think it underdelivered greatly. For me, the mostly bland character interactions, inconsistencies showing up here and there and lack of character or depth of personality could be somewhat overlooked if at the very least the action was good/well written. But in my opinion, it was not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2023
This was a solid gamelit story and probably a book I would consider Must Read for fans of the genre. I think I liked it rather than loved it, but I can also see how a person would end up rating it as a favorite.
Character - 9/10, Plot - 8/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 7/10
I'll say first off: I didn't like Ilea much. So why the 9 out of 10 character rating for this book? I'm pretending that I can somewhat separate my objective opinion from my personal enjoyment and discuss them at separate points in my review. My personal feelings on individual characters aside, I think the characterization in this story was a lot better than I usually see in the gamelit genre.
I got the sense that the supporting characters had their own lives outside of their interactions with our MC, Ilea. To me, this was a pretty good indicator that the characters were written well. If I had a complaint for the supporting cast, it was that there were a disproportionate number of air-headed and flaky female characters (our MC was one of them even).
Speaking of our MC, I had a hard time liking her. She just seemed too flaky. I also could have done without the various sexual encounters she had in the book. I'm not against characters having sex, implied and otherwise, but here it just seemed like the author went out of their way for it. It felt like plot boxes being checked off rather than an organic behavior. Maybe this was just me, but I would have rather seen a little more internal monologue regarding Ilea's sex life. There are people out there like this though, so I don't really consider this a flaw as much as just my perspective and preference.
The plot was pretty straightforward but enjoyable. A 20-year-old woman from Earth who works dead-end jobs and pursues kickboxing as a hobby wakes up in a medieval fantasy world with levels and skills. She stumbles into a ruined temple that contains a (as far as we know) forgotten class that's a mix of a martial artist and healer and proceeds to level up her skills with some magical spiritual steroid grass.
I'm not the biggest fan of the cheat skill/hidden class trope, but the author did a decent enough job selling it here. I've also seen the Elves are Evil subversion before, but it's executed pretty well here and mostly stays in the background for this book. If I had a complaint about the plot, it would be that the training montages were a bit too frequent and overly long, especially given how the story handles the levels and power curve. Which brings me to...Game Mechanics.
While the setting was fine and fleshed out to resemble a lived-in world, the Game Mechanics were probably the weakest element of the story for me. Not because they weren't thought out, but rather because they were borderline disregarded. I think a relevant question to ask when reading gamelit is: "Would the story change if you removed the levels and stats?" The answer to that for Azarinth Healer is, "No."
Ilea regularly defeats creatures that are over 100 levels above her. It is also mentioned that levels are weighted, meaning that Level 1 for a human is weaker than Level 1 for a drake. Yet Ilea defeats creatures from higher-caliber species that were over 100 levels higher than her. This is justified by the idea that skill levels play a more critical role than class level, but at the end of the day Ilea inflates her skill levels by using her magical steroid grass.
This made the training montage sequences a bit lackluster for me. They mostly just followed Ilea defeating a bunch of creatures to eventually show an updated stat sheet afterward. But the story routinely undermined that by showing levels didn't matter. So I would rather have seen training that led to an increased understanding of her skills and more skillful implementation of tactics. There was a bit of this, but not enough to make me feel that she really earned her strength.
The writing was pretty solid and well above average for the genre. I don't remember any grammar, proofreading, or syntax errors that were egregious or frequent enough to pull me out of the story. Most of the issues I had were storytelling choices rather than problems with the prose itself. I don't feel like nitpicking and at the end of the day, I'm not going to criticize the story the author didn't write. So in that vein, I think the author accomplished what they set out to do and put together a solid story that made me feel like I had really covered a lot of plot ground by the end of it.
My enjoyment was a bit up and down, probably due to feeling mostly neutral toward Ilea while sometimes dipping into active dislike. But overall, this book felt like an experience, which isn't something that I would say about many gamelits. So I think that everyone who's a fan of the genre should read this book. Whether or not you end up liking it, I think this is an important read to have on your Gamelit Resume.
Character - 9/10, Plot - 8/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 7/10
I'll say first off: I didn't like Ilea much. So why the 9 out of 10 character rating for this book? I'm pretending that I can somewhat separate my objective opinion from my personal enjoyment and discuss them at separate points in my review. My personal feelings on individual characters aside, I think the characterization in this story was a lot better than I usually see in the gamelit genre.
I got the sense that the supporting characters had their own lives outside of their interactions with our MC, Ilea. To me, this was a pretty good indicator that the characters were written well. If I had a complaint for the supporting cast, it was that there were a disproportionate number of air-headed and flaky female characters (our MC was one of them even).
Speaking of our MC, I had a hard time liking her. She just seemed too flaky. I also could have done without the various sexual encounters she had in the book. I'm not against characters having sex, implied and otherwise, but here it just seemed like the author went out of their way for it. It felt like plot boxes being checked off rather than an organic behavior. Maybe this was just me, but I would have rather seen a little more internal monologue regarding Ilea's sex life. There are people out there like this though, so I don't really consider this a flaw as much as just my perspective and preference.
The plot was pretty straightforward but enjoyable. A 20-year-old woman from Earth who works dead-end jobs and pursues kickboxing as a hobby wakes up in a medieval fantasy world with levels and skills. She stumbles into a ruined temple that contains a (as far as we know) forgotten class that's a mix of a martial artist and healer and proceeds to level up her skills with some magical spiritual steroid grass.
I'm not the biggest fan of the cheat skill/hidden class trope, but the author did a decent enough job selling it here. I've also seen the Elves are Evil subversion before, but it's executed pretty well here and mostly stays in the background for this book. If I had a complaint about the plot, it would be that the training montages were a bit too frequent and overly long, especially given how the story handles the levels and power curve. Which brings me to...Game Mechanics.
While the setting was fine and fleshed out to resemble a lived-in world, the Game Mechanics were probably the weakest element of the story for me. Not because they weren't thought out, but rather because they were borderline disregarded. I think a relevant question to ask when reading gamelit is: "Would the story change if you removed the levels and stats?" The answer to that for Azarinth Healer is, "No."
Ilea regularly defeats creatures that are over 100 levels above her. It is also mentioned that levels are weighted, meaning that Level 1 for a human is weaker than Level 1 for a drake. Yet Ilea defeats creatures from higher-caliber species that were over 100 levels higher than her. This is justified by the idea that skill levels play a more critical role than class level, but at the end of the day Ilea inflates her skill levels by using her magical steroid grass.
This made the training montage sequences a bit lackluster for me. They mostly just followed Ilea defeating a bunch of creatures to eventually show an updated stat sheet afterward. But the story routinely undermined that by showing levels didn't matter. So I would rather have seen training that led to an increased understanding of her skills and more skillful implementation of tactics. There was a bit of this, but not enough to make me feel that she really earned her strength.
The writing was pretty solid and well above average for the genre. I don't remember any grammar, proofreading, or syntax errors that were egregious or frequent enough to pull me out of the story. Most of the issues I had were storytelling choices rather than problems with the prose itself. I don't feel like nitpicking and at the end of the day, I'm not going to criticize the story the author didn't write. So in that vein, I think the author accomplished what they set out to do and put together a solid story that made me feel like I had really covered a lot of plot ground by the end of it.
My enjoyment was a bit up and down, probably due to feeling mostly neutral toward Ilea while sometimes dipping into active dislike. But overall, this book felt like an experience, which isn't something that I would say about many gamelits. So I think that everyone who's a fan of the genre should read this book. Whether or not you end up liking it, I think this is an important read to have on your Gamelit Resume.
May 4, 2023
DNF at 21%
MC slowly, steadily, then all-at-once got on my nerves. I'm surprised I made it this far - the novel skipped most of her early progression to just get her almost to level 50, which is tier 3 in a 5-tier system. So instead of levelling with the MC, we just get all her skill-ups in exposition, something I find boring in this genre since litRPG is all about levelling.
There's loot but only if you strip the corpses yourself, so if you ruin clothes in a fight, you'd have to clean and repair the pieces before you sell them. And inventory is what you can carry either manually or in a pack.
The skills she gained were preordained so it was nothing she actively chose to get. She was isekai'ed directly to the mysterious place perfect for her interests.
The class of Combat Healer is cool, granted, but not when the character has no choice what skills to gain and limited slots for the relative skills.
I understand creating a character like a Healer Monk or an Affliction Specialist as in He Who Fights... but the narrative would benefit greatly if it was something the character chose instead of the environment trapping them into it or peer pressure insisting they follow that choice. Out of everything they could learn and how to choose classes/essences that complement each other - they know nothing about their options until they are stuck with DEM deciding for them. That system is too passive for my tastes.
When she uses her teleportation skill, the author should have Blink capitalised - an editor needs to go through and fix those errors. Setting off appositives with commas and hyphenating words like free-for-all and rough-hewn should be fixed as well. There are commas missing with words like "though", "then", and "too" - I'd reccommend only using "too" as in "also" only in Earthers' dialogue or thoughts, since it's incorrect in circumstances other than "too difficult" or "too bright" - in prose, use "also". Despite the author saying this went through edits, it could use a fine-toothed comb and maybe someone to check for contradictions.
It's my dream to find a LitRPG series that's not VR, has no political savant MCs, is stat crunchy, full of loot, doesn't gloss over months at a time in favour of levelling and items through later exposition, and is decently edited. There has to be at least one, right?
MC slowly, steadily, then all-at-once got on my nerves. I'm surprised I made it this far - the novel skipped most of her early progression to just get her almost to level 50, which is tier 3 in a 5-tier system. So instead of levelling with the MC, we just get all her skill-ups in exposition, something I find boring in this genre since litRPG is all about levelling.
There's loot but only if you strip the corpses yourself, so if you ruin clothes in a fight, you'd have to clean and repair the pieces before you sell them. And inventory is what you can carry either manually or in a pack.
The skills she gained were preordained so it was nothing she actively chose to get. She was isekai'ed directly to the mysterious place perfect for her interests.
The class of Combat Healer is cool, granted, but not when the character has no choice what skills to gain and limited slots for the relative skills.
I understand creating a character like a Healer Monk or an Affliction Specialist as in He Who Fights... but the narrative would benefit greatly if it was something the character chose instead of the environment trapping them into it or peer pressure insisting they follow that choice. Out of everything they could learn and how to choose classes/essences that complement each other - they know nothing about their options until they are stuck with DEM deciding for them. That system is too passive for my tastes.
When she uses her teleportation skill, the author should have Blink capitalised - an editor needs to go through and fix those errors. Setting off appositives with commas and hyphenating words like free-for-all and rough-hewn should be fixed as well. There are commas missing with words like "though", "then", and "too" - I'd reccommend only using "too" as in "also" only in Earthers' dialogue or thoughts, since it's incorrect in circumstances other than "too difficult" or "too bright" - in prose, use "also". Despite the author saying this went through edits, it could use a fine-toothed comb and maybe someone to check for contradictions.
It's my dream to find a LitRPG series that's not VR, has no political savant MCs, is stat crunchy, full of loot, doesn't gloss over months at a time in favour of levelling and items through later exposition, and is decently edited. There has to be at least one, right?
December 4, 2022
This is my first book by this author.
Ilea Spears likes fighting, but not much else about Earth. Fortunately for her, she's not on it much longer as she is portaled to another world where she has to fight to grow in power and abilities.
The world she shows up on is slightly different from a classical fantasy world. Elves are not the nice guys here, and we don't meet any dwarves (although we do see what they left behind long ago). Humans are doing okay but not exactly thriving as they are always under threat from animals such as packs of dire wolves, wyverns, dragons, and much, much more.
My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that Ilea makes a random choice early on that turns out to be exactly what she needed. The editing is fine for such a long book (not quite Wandering Inn long, but close) and the stats are consistent but do grow in size. They start out taking up a half page at most, and by the end we're wading through four pages of stats, abilities, skills, and much more.
I could see people complaining that Ilea is overpowered, but I don't think that's the case. We see all the fights she's in, and she earns every single upgrade as her flesh is torn and blood is spilled. Again, this is a fairly bloody book so the squeamish should be aware of what they're getting into.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It does have some slow spots, and the dungeons takes up quite a large portion of the book, but other than that I enjoyed it. It's the kind of book where I read until something prompts me to check the clock, and I find out it's after midnight.
Recommended and I will read book two. 5/5*
Ilea Spears likes fighting, but not much else about Earth. Fortunately for her, she's not on it much longer as she is portaled to another world where she has to fight to grow in power and abilities.
The world she shows up on is slightly different from a classical fantasy world. Elves are not the nice guys here, and we don't meet any dwarves (although we do see what they left behind long ago). Humans are doing okay but not exactly thriving as they are always under threat from animals such as packs of dire wolves, wyverns, dragons, and much, much more.
My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that Ilea makes a random choice early on that turns out to be exactly what she needed. The editing is fine for such a long book (not quite Wandering Inn long, but close) and the stats are consistent but do grow in size. They start out taking up a half page at most, and by the end we're wading through four pages of stats, abilities, skills, and much more.
I could see people complaining that Ilea is overpowered, but I don't think that's the case. We see all the fights she's in, and she earns every single upgrade as her flesh is torn and blood is spilled. Again, this is a fairly bloody book so the squeamish should be aware of what they're getting into.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It does have some slow spots, and the dungeons takes up quite a large portion of the book, but other than that I enjoyed it. It's the kind of book where I read until something prompts me to check the clock, and I find out it's after midnight.
Recommended and I will read book two. 5/5*
October 7, 2025
Писнало ли ви е от заплетени, претенциозни фентъзита, пълни с интриги, сложни човешки взаимоотношения и връзки, тайнствени и древни загадки, мрачни пророчества и други отдавна издишали клишета на жанра?
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
Спомняте ли си умиление книжките за Конан, дето главният герой (демек Конан) изрива като булдозер де що има вражеска гмеж, наебава де що има секси мадама и накрая се възправя полугол, мускулест и омазан в кърви (не негови) и въздал справедливост, върху планина от черепи на злодеи и чудовища? Да, аз също си спомням.
А искало ли ви се е тия книжки да не са 200, а примерно 7000 страници, Конан да е слабичка мацка и да пребива вражеската гмеж с голи ръце, да наебава не само секси мадамите ами и някой секси пич помежду другото, и след непрестанните битки да се възправя обвита в пепел и омазана в кърви (не нейни) и въздала справедливост, върху планини от трупове на злодеи и чудовища?
Да, и на мен не ми беше хрумвало, че може да искам точно това, но се оказа че го искам и още как...
December 21, 2019
I adore this series. It's just battle junkie slice of life with the attitude and class selection I would hope to pick myself.
I used to associate Slice of Life with urban setting stories, which I always found dreadfully boring. It took reading Azaranth Healer to realize that while world ending scenarios are fine every once in a while, all I really want out of my fantasy novels at the end of the day is to follow a cool and relatable protagonist around a sweet fantasy world exploring and adventuring. So Slice of Life in a Fantasy World is just what the doctor, or Healer in this case, ordered.
Blissful. I hope this goes to print one day. I will buy it.
I used to associate Slice of Life with urban setting stories, which I always found dreadfully boring. It took reading Azaranth Healer to realize that while world ending scenarios are fine every once in a while, all I really want out of my fantasy novels at the end of the day is to follow a cool and relatable protagonist around a sweet fantasy world exploring and adventuring. So Slice of Life in a Fantasy World is just what the doctor, or Healer in this case, ordered.
Blissful. I hope this goes to print one day. I will buy it.
December 4, 2022
a good start
I am very pleased to be able to pay the author for the hours of enjoyment. I previously read the first 800 chapters elsewhere.
Female MC, gradually becomes OP, but always finds stronger opponents. Not quite a Murderhobo, simply a battle fanatic.
I will gladly pay for the next book.
I am very pleased to be able to pay the author for the hours of enjoyment. I previously read the first 800 chapters elsewhere.
Female MC, gradually becomes OP, but always finds stronger opponents. Not quite a Murderhobo, simply a battle fanatic.
I will gladly pay for the next book.
December 4, 2022
534 chapters of pure awesomeness! Never got old.
January 25, 2022
I tried this web serial again based upon numerous comments suggesting I give it another chance. I made it to chapter 130 this time instead of 6.The beginning was rewritten, and it flowed much better than I remember it before, as it was quite painful the first time. There were still plenty of errors, but I could get past them this time.
The book is very enjoyable until the MC gets to level 200. After this, it is no longer a solo adventure. The author spends a lot of time away from any advancement to introduce her new team mates. That is fine, but then we start getting new person after new person introduced and zero progression. After reading 30 chapters where not too much happens, I decided to give up.
The book is very enjoyable until the MC gets to level 200. After this, it is no longer a solo adventure. The author spends a lot of time away from any advancement to introduce her new team mates. That is fine, but then we start getting new person after new person introduced and zero progression. After reading 30 chapters where not too much happens, I decided to give up.
April 22, 2021
There’s a lot to like. And I do mean *A LOT*. Over 650 chapters when I started reading.
Female MC. Starts from nothing, but gets better quickly. Very focused on progressing and developing. Battle Healer, so she can take the hits and just heal.
You can see growth in the writing, but there are also quite a few typos and mistakes.
I read pretty fast, about a novel a day. This took me most of a week. And it’s still GROWING!!
Female MC. Starts from nothing, but gets better quickly. Very focused on progressing and developing. Battle Healer, so she can take the hits and just heal.
You can see growth in the writing, but there are also quite a few typos and mistakes.
I read pretty fast, about a novel a day. This took me most of a week. And it’s still GROWING!!
December 22, 2021
I stuck with the adventures of Mary Sue Ilea for a while because reviews indicated it would get better but the promised payoff never came. The characters are astonishingly weak, only really existing to tell Ilea how awesome she is after she has punched something big. Ilea is a one-dimensional battle junkie and doesn't face any sort of real hardship in the story.
October 31, 2021
The current benchmark for litRPG isekai novels.
June 4, 2023
Ding! Avid Audiobook Listener is now level 195! You earned the skill "ultra fast listening". You can listen to books at up to x5 the speed. Ding! The skill "Multitasking while listening" is now level 20! You can now eat, listen, play a mobile game, do the dishes, and read an article all at once!
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Sigh.
The short:
Too much level up and skill info. Main char is OP af. Some bits of it were cringey. But overall, I enjoyed the concept and plot.
The long:
The narrator was great in everything but the level up sequences. Every time she said "Ding!" I literally felt a physical twinge of annoyance in my chest. Yes, I actually am using the term literally literally. The super cheery voice she used during level ups was super annoying. I fast forwarded through most of it. And you know what? I started enjoying the book much more once I did.
Just because the book is litrpg doesn't mean that people want to read or listen to a ton of level up notifications and skill descriptions. Describe the skill the first time it makes an appearance and never again unless it gets modified. I don't need to be told "Azarinth healer has reached level 50" then " [insert same line] 51", "... 52", "all the way to Azarinth healer has reached level 60!" Just say it reached 60 in one line.
I found the OPness of the main char to be kind of irritating. It does improve in the latter half of the book though. From a gamer's perspective it makes sense. When you play an rpg it's to be expected that all these villagers and their guards cower and die to a pack of mobs that you dispatch easily. You're godlike and that's the fun of video games. But it doesn't necessarily translate well to a novel format. The author seems to have taken the genre name of litrpg too seriously. I get that what happens in the book is very common in games. Even down to the ridiculous eagerness of your character to kill everything. But again, you have to adapt the material for the format a bit.
Also there were some parts that were sooo cringely reminiscent of some mmo player behaviour. Such as when someone accidentally almost kills the main char and said person's reaction is basically along the lines of "omg! Are you okay? Oopsie! I'm soooo sorry! HUGZ!!" Uh barf.
I do like the concepts and plot of the book though. I just wish it wasn't quite so literally a litrpg lol.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Sigh.
The short:
Too much level up and skill info. Main char is OP af. Some bits of it were cringey. But overall, I enjoyed the concept and plot.
The long:
The narrator was great in everything but the level up sequences. Every time she said "Ding!" I literally felt a physical twinge of annoyance in my chest. Yes, I actually am using the term literally literally. The super cheery voice she used during level ups was super annoying. I fast forwarded through most of it. And you know what? I started enjoying the book much more once I did.
Just because the book is litrpg doesn't mean that people want to read or listen to a ton of level up notifications and skill descriptions. Describe the skill the first time it makes an appearance and never again unless it gets modified. I don't need to be told "Azarinth healer has reached level 50" then " [insert same line] 51", "... 52", "all the way to Azarinth healer has reached level 60!" Just say it reached 60 in one line.
I found the OPness of the main char to be kind of irritating. It does improve in the latter half of the book though. From a gamer's perspective it makes sense. When you play an rpg it's to be expected that all these villagers and their guards cower and die to a pack of mobs that you dispatch easily. You're godlike and that's the fun of video games. But it doesn't necessarily translate well to a novel format. The author seems to have taken the genre name of litrpg too seriously. I get that what happens in the book is very common in games. Even down to the ridiculous eagerness of your character to kill everything. But again, you have to adapt the material for the format a bit.
Also there were some parts that were sooo cringely reminiscent of some mmo player behaviour. Such as when someone accidentally almost kills the main char and said person's reaction is basically along the lines of "omg! Are you okay? Oopsie! I'm soooo sorry! HUGZ!!" Uh barf.
I do like the concepts and plot of the book though. I just wish it wasn't quite so literally a litrpg lol.
July 13, 2023
Wow. This book was amazing. I'm really starting to love web serials. The other books I read for the year are gonna find it hard to top this one.
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar is an exhilarating and addictive fantasy that takes readers on a wild journey through a fantastical world. The story follows Ilea, a punch-loving protagonist who wakes up in a strange realm where monsters threaten her existence. With game-like rules and a hunger for adventure, Ilea embarks on a quest to survive, uncover magic, and face ever-increasing challenges. Rhaegar's fast-paced writing style, witty banter, and relatable characters make this book a must-read for fantasy and litRPG fans. Brace yourself for a thrilling ride filled with punches, magic, and plenty of laughs.
--
This book covers only up to chapter 74 of the web series, so you will have to check out the entire series on Royal Road (all 929 chapters). If you want to read it on your kindle device, download Web2ePub for Chrome and use Calibre to covert it to kindle format (AZW3 works really well). Don't forget to support the author on Patreon.
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar is an exhilarating and addictive fantasy that takes readers on a wild journey through a fantastical world. The story follows Ilea, a punch-loving protagonist who wakes up in a strange realm where monsters threaten her existence. With game-like rules and a hunger for adventure, Ilea embarks on a quest to survive, uncover magic, and face ever-increasing challenges. Rhaegar's fast-paced writing style, witty banter, and relatable characters make this book a must-read for fantasy and litRPG fans. Brace yourself for a thrilling ride filled with punches, magic, and plenty of laughs.
--
This book covers only up to chapter 74 of the web series, so you will have to check out the entire series on Royal Road (all 929 chapters). If you want to read it on your kindle device, download Web2ePub for Chrome and use Calibre to covert it to kindle format (AZW3 works really well). Don't forget to support the author on Patreon.
November 14, 2025
I don't go into a book like this expecting something as beautiful as Circe, complex as Game of Thrones, or perfect like Discworld.
I expected popcorn. light. easy. enjoyable. entertaining.
Instead I labored through an infantile book with an infantile protagonist and what is probably the laziest take on the genre I've come across (and the genre is pretty simple to begin with).
One-note characters aren't automatically bad. Things like One Punch Man show that they can really make the story work. make everything function at a higher level. but for that to happen, the singular note the character has needs to actually be good in some way. interesting, unique, SOMETHING. the protagonist here is a meathead who likes fighting. That's it. She also occasionally likes having sex. and believe me when I say that she's one of the most boring characters I've ever read.
There wasn't a single character I cared about. There wasn't a single element of the story I liked for longer than a chapter. the writing was just bad. I'm truly shocked the book has such a high rating.
The audiobook narrator did a good job. Unfortunately polishing a turd does only so much.
I expected popcorn. light. easy. enjoyable. entertaining.
Instead I labored through an infantile book with an infantile protagonist and what is probably the laziest take on the genre I've come across (and the genre is pretty simple to begin with).
One-note characters aren't automatically bad. Things like One Punch Man show that they can really make the story work. make everything function at a higher level. but for that to happen, the singular note the character has needs to actually be good in some way. interesting, unique, SOMETHING. the protagonist here is a meathead who likes fighting. That's it. She also occasionally likes having sex. and believe me when I say that she's one of the most boring characters I've ever read.
There wasn't a single character I cared about. There wasn't a single element of the story I liked for longer than a chapter. the writing was just bad. I'm truly shocked the book has such a high rating.
The audiobook narrator did a good job. Unfortunately polishing a turd does only so much.
March 25, 2023
There’s an interesting concept and I appreciate an op female mc, but the story falls short overall. If your looking for something quick paced without a lot of depth, then you might enjoy this.
There is very little character development throughout the book. The characters are about as deep as a puddle. The mc gets thrown into a new world and becomes a masochistic powerhouse/battle maniac. The leveling makes no sense. She is able to go from 0 to 200 by the end of the book. The mc can also defeat monsters 100+ levels higher than her with little issue, and no injury that she can’t heal right up.
The system updates for levels ups, while helpful for keeping track of the absurd level progression, are irksome. The word “ding,” is overused. It would have been better to use it once to signal the start of the update(s), rather than multiple times for each change.
Also, the addition of laughter sounds by the narrator throughout the story is grating and makes the mc sound unhinged.
There is very little character development throughout the book. The characters are about as deep as a puddle. The mc gets thrown into a new world and becomes a masochistic powerhouse/battle maniac. The leveling makes no sense. She is able to go from 0 to 200 by the end of the book. The mc can also defeat monsters 100+ levels higher than her with little issue, and no injury that she can’t heal right up.
The system updates for levels ups, while helpful for keeping track of the absurd level progression, are irksome. The word “ding,” is overused. It would have been better to use it once to signal the start of the update(s), rather than multiple times for each change.
Also, the addition of laughter sounds by the narrator throughout the story is grating and makes the mc sound unhinged.
May 13, 2023
DNF. Hated the main character right from the start. The narration did not help at all.
April 22, 2025
I almost gave up on this title. It started off a little un interesting to me at the very beginning, but it quickly grew to be enjoyable. Now I can’t wait to start book 2! A lot of similarities to the series the Wandering Inn , makes you wonder…
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