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Immortal's Ascent #1
Death and Glory: A Progression Fantasy Adventure
Gavin fights for freedom, Sadira for glory. Together, they will face death.
Together, they will seek ascension.
In the Domains, those born with magic have only one place where they can prove themselves worthy of it: the brutal pits of the arena, where they will either grow in power and build a following with every victory, or risk dishonor and death in defeat. For these “Gladiators”, the ultimate prize for their struggle is a place among the Chosen, the immortal rulers of that vast and decadent empire.
Gavin is an unlikely warrior trying to find his place in the savagery of the arena. Sadira, a star Gladiatrix already favored by all. When happenstance brings them together, the pair set out to earn themselves a place at the Grand Championships, vying to see their names carved in the annals of history.
With survival and immortality on the line, can they hold together against the vicious realities of the fighting grounds and the machinations of the Chosen?
Monsters and magic await them.
The white sands call for blood.
Together, they will seek ascension.
In the Domains, those born with magic have only one place where they can prove themselves worthy of it: the brutal pits of the arena, where they will either grow in power and build a following with every victory, or risk dishonor and death in defeat. For these “Gladiators”, the ultimate prize for their struggle is a place among the Chosen, the immortal rulers of that vast and decadent empire.
Gavin is an unlikely warrior trying to find his place in the savagery of the arena. Sadira, a star Gladiatrix already favored by all. When happenstance brings them together, the pair set out to earn themselves a place at the Grand Championships, vying to see their names carved in the annals of history.
With survival and immortality on the line, can they hold together against the vicious realities of the fighting grounds and the machinations of the Chosen?
Monsters and magic await them.
The white sands call for blood.
668 pages, Paperback
Published May 28, 2022
260 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Luke Chmilenko
40 books1,567 followersBorn in 1987, Luke Chmilenko grew up in the city of Mississauga, Ontario spending the majority of his life within the city. Always a fan of writing and storytelling, Luke continuously wrote small short stories over the years, but never embarked on writing a full novel until much later in life, thinking it was something beyond his ability.
With his interesting in writing waxing and waning as the years passed, Luke focused on his studies, eventually finding a job in the field of IT Security and working between various jobs for several years. It wasn't until after he was married and with his wife's encouragement that he finally decided to try writing a novel, this time deciding to focus on a new genre that he had just discovered called LitRPG.
Diving into his work, Luke wrote his first book over the course of several months, releasing the book as a web serial chapter by chapter for free online, garnering valuable feedback and confidence from his readers. By the time Luke finished his first book and published it on amazon, he already had a hungry audience waiting for next installation, to which he immediately threw himself into working tirelessly at his newfound passion.
Today, Luke now writes full time with his wife and two cats in their Burlington home, working away on his next issue of his Ascend Online series and a brand new science fiction series named Starfall.
Books of Ascend Online:
Ascend Online (Book 1) (2016)
Ascend Online: Hell to Pay (Book 1.5) (2017)
Ascend Online: Legacy of the Fallen (Book 2) (2018)
Ascend Online: Glory to the Brave (Book 3) (Forthcoming 2019)
Books of Starfall:
Starfall (Book 1) (Forthcoming 2019)
With his interesting in writing waxing and waning as the years passed, Luke focused on his studies, eventually finding a job in the field of IT Security and working between various jobs for several years. It wasn't until after he was married and with his wife's encouragement that he finally decided to try writing a novel, this time deciding to focus on a new genre that he had just discovered called LitRPG.
Diving into his work, Luke wrote his first book over the course of several months, releasing the book as a web serial chapter by chapter for free online, garnering valuable feedback and confidence from his readers. By the time Luke finished his first book and published it on amazon, he already had a hungry audience waiting for next installation, to which he immediately threw himself into working tirelessly at his newfound passion.
Today, Luke now writes full time with his wife and two cats in their Burlington home, working away on his next issue of his Ascend Online series and a brand new science fiction series named Starfall.
Books of Ascend Online:
Ascend Online (Book 1) (2016)
Ascend Online: Hell to Pay (Book 1.5) (2017)
Ascend Online: Legacy of the Fallen (Book 2) (2018)
Ascend Online: Glory to the Brave (Book 3) (Forthcoming 2019)
Books of Starfall:
Starfall (Book 1) (Forthcoming 2019)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 11, 2022
The blurb and premise was great so dived in, but was a disappointment all round.
The book was just a series of arena matches with not much of a overarching plot or character goals. By the third or fourth fight within first 25% of the book, I was skipping ahead to see if the plot would start/pick up and by around 40%, I gave up and DNF'd this.
Unfortunately this also has my other pet peeve, cringeworthy romance. MC calling his girl "my love" every single time, just makes my eyes bleed. Plus the romance is more happenstance and based on physical attraction with some innuendos, rather than having any (non-cheesy) emotional content behind it.
The writing is good, the action scenes are done well (before it got repetitive) and it certainly has a good core/concept that went undeveloped. I just wish there was a more focus on intentions behind characters actions, so we can connect with them.
The book was just a series of arena matches with not much of a overarching plot or character goals. By the third or fourth fight within first 25% of the book, I was skipping ahead to see if the plot would start/pick up and by around 40%, I gave up and DNF'd this.
Unfortunately this also has my other pet peeve, cringeworthy romance. MC calling his girl "my love" every single time, just makes my eyes bleed. Plus the romance is more happenstance and based on physical attraction with some innuendos, rather than having any (non-cheesy) emotional content behind it.
The writing is good, the action scenes are done well (before it got repetitive) and it certainly has a good core/concept that went undeveloped. I just wish there was a more focus on intentions behind characters actions, so we can connect with them.
January 28, 2022
This might be the most terrible example of progression fantasy I’ve seen in a while. One would imagine with how long this book is there would be a cohesive plot with a motivated protagonist. Well you would be wrong, very wrong. The only antagonist appears three times and is a paper thin arrogant archetype with no real reason to hate the protagonist, yet he does for absolutely no clear reason. The progression is confusing made only worse by a lack of continuity and a litany of grammatical errors.There’s no mystery, there’s no conflict, there’s no overarching plot, in fact there’s nothing compelling all. An effort is made to develop the side characters which is hindered by the fact that NOTHING happens and so your left bored. If you want a read about a series of battles that have no real consequence but go on endlessly than this is the story for you.
January 27, 2022
Did not finish - 57 pages.
This is a book in need of an editor. When I notice missing articles and incorrect homonyms within the first chapter of a novel, alarms start ringing. After struggling through two more chapters of forced exposition, inelegant world-building, and needless POV shifts I put it down.
This is a book in need of an editor. When I notice missing articles and incorrect homonyms within the first chapter of a novel, alarms start ringing. After struggling through two more chapters of forced exposition, inelegant world-building, and needless POV shifts I put it down.
March 7, 2022
I read a book
As noted above, I read a book. It was this one. Its not the one I had hoped Luke would publish...... (awkward silence) Anywho! There were some typos and misused words. So...Ummmm...These is probably some progression, and there are fights. And yeah...800 pages of I want my time back.
As noted above, I read a book. It was this one. Its not the one I had hoped Luke would publish...... (awkward silence) Anywho! There were some typos and misused words. So...Ummmm...These is probably some progression, and there are fights. And yeah...800 pages of I want my time back.
January 29, 2022
Fan of the authors other works
This was originally a different book called bloodlust gladiators tale, so if you read that your buying the same book. I bought it twice.
It’s an ok book but not worth buying twice
This was originally a different book called bloodlust gladiators tale, so if you read that your buying the same book. I bought it twice.
It’s an ok book but not worth buying twice
January 26, 2022
A solid first novel in an interesting new series.
This book is somewhat hard for me to rate and review. On the one hand, any time I see a book with Luke's name on it I immediately get excited. But this one just didnt quite set right. The world building was interesting, and the various schools of magic and fighting were really cool. But the main character, Gavin, just fell flat to me. Gavin starts the book with a drive to rise to the top and become a champion of the arena and earn his freedom. However he quickly gets lost in a moral morass, and then is paired up with Sadira who is a much more "vibrant" character. And while I'm glad to see strong female characters in the book, having our presumed main character be fairly bland and "oh I dont care for my lot in life. All I want is freedom and love" was a disappointment. I managed to enjoy the book, but it definitely wasnt up to the standard I've come to expect with the name attached to it. I hope that book 2 knocks Gavin upside thr head with something and that he becomes a more engaging character.
This book is somewhat hard for me to rate and review. On the one hand, any time I see a book with Luke's name on it I immediately get excited. But this one just didnt quite set right. The world building was interesting, and the various schools of magic and fighting were really cool. But the main character, Gavin, just fell flat to me. Gavin starts the book with a drive to rise to the top and become a champion of the arena and earn his freedom. However he quickly gets lost in a moral morass, and then is paired up with Sadira who is a much more "vibrant" character. And while I'm glad to see strong female characters in the book, having our presumed main character be fairly bland and "oh I dont care for my lot in life. All I want is freedom and love" was a disappointment. I managed to enjoy the book, but it definitely wasnt up to the standard I've come to expect with the name attached to it. I hope that book 2 knocks Gavin upside thr head with something and that he becomes a more engaging character.
February 7, 2022
Death and Glory is set in an Ancient Roman Empire-like world, where because of a terrible event in the past the Gifted, people born with the ability to use magic, are now forced into becoming gladiators and fight their way to freedom. Beyond the magic, there are also monsters and some steampunk/clockwork/artifice elements.
The worldbuilding is quite shallow, with things like monsters and machinery existing seemingly just because the author(s) wanted them, feeling a tad out of place in the world. Also, there is quite a bit of an anachronistic feel to things, especially the way characters talk.
Speaking of characters, the protagonist is your average good guy with vanilla personality, though he has some internal struggles that add some flair to his character. There's another character I would say is a protagonist, who happens to be his romantic partner. She's not very interesting, being basically super amazing at everything and that's that. The rest of their team is also often present and get some (very brief) moments in the spotlight, but basically she is running the show. I will say that one of the main characters is an asshole with no redeeming qualities. She is constantly rude and throw barbs at her team, and yet somehow they think of her as a friend. Very frustrating to read.
The magic is okay, being cleary inspired by RPGs skills. Though fortunately this is not a litRPG, so no character sheet or levels nonsense.
The book, even though it's pretty big, is action packed. Almost every chapter has a fight. The fights are easy to follow and visualize. Also, there are a few mid-sized (month-long) timeskips throughout the story.
There are very few attempts at diving into complex topics, like freedom and servitude and even a bit of politics, but it's not that deep and it gets lost in the middle of all the fighting.
The author likes to remind the reader how the society is hedonistic and how characters have no compunctions about being naked. Also, there are plenty of lewd jokes and sexual innuendo. The sex scenes are thankfully fade to black. Adding in the occasional cursing and, of course, the plenty of violence and gore, you should be wary of letting your kids read this.
A pet peeve of mine is the fact that the author(s) seem to have an allergy to the expression "war cry". There are plenty of "war shrieks" and "war screams", but I think there isn't a single "war cry".
There are a number of typos, grammatical errors, words that should've been deleted etc. This could use some editing.
In all, Death and Glory is about what I would expect from an average web novel at Royal Road. As a book, it's hard to call it anything more than dumb fun. I might checkout a sequel, but I wouldn't be enthusiastic to recommend this anyone.
The worldbuilding is quite shallow, with things like monsters and machinery existing seemingly just because the author(s) wanted them, feeling a tad out of place in the world. Also, there is quite a bit of an anachronistic feel to things, especially the way characters talk.
Speaking of characters, the protagonist is your average good guy with vanilla personality, though he has some internal struggles that add some flair to his character. There's another character I would say is a protagonist, who happens to be his romantic partner. She's not very interesting, being basically super amazing at everything and that's that. The rest of their team is also often present and get some (very brief) moments in the spotlight, but basically she is running the show. I will say that one of the main characters is an asshole with no redeeming qualities. She is constantly rude and throw barbs at her team, and yet somehow they think of her as a friend. Very frustrating to read.
The magic is okay, being cleary inspired by RPGs skills. Though fortunately this is not a litRPG, so no character sheet or levels nonsense.
The book, even though it's pretty big, is action packed. Almost every chapter has a fight. The fights are easy to follow and visualize. Also, there are a few mid-sized (month-long) timeskips throughout the story.
There are very few attempts at diving into complex topics, like freedom and servitude and even a bit of politics, but it's not that deep and it gets lost in the middle of all the fighting.
The author likes to remind the reader how the society is hedonistic and how characters have no compunctions about being naked. Also, there are plenty of lewd jokes and sexual innuendo. The sex scenes are thankfully fade to black. Adding in the occasional cursing and, of course, the plenty of violence and gore, you should be wary of letting your kids read this.
A pet peeve of mine is the fact that the author(s) seem to have an allergy to the expression "war cry". There are plenty of "war shrieks" and "war screams", but I think there isn't a single "war cry".
There are a number of typos, grammatical errors, words that should've been deleted etc. This could use some editing.
In all, Death and Glory is about what I would expect from an average web novel at Royal Road. As a book, it's hard to call it anything more than dumb fun. I might checkout a sequel, but I wouldn't be enthusiastic to recommend this anyone.
May 4, 2022
I'm on the fence on this one.
For once I see a genuine attempt at writing a "realistic" MC, with believable flaws and relatable inner turmoil. For the most part, this succeeds.
The problem is that the book reads like a travel blog. Or a diary. We move from station to station. We get some training, some fights, some off-court socializing... and not much else. We have very little sense of urgency because there is nothing urgent in the plot. No world event, no personal drama, no real antagonist...
The MC is a support character (a bold attempt that I salute), but while his inner conflicts and general outlook give him a rare and quite welcome depth of character in this genre and helps sparks very profound bits of dialogue, his lack of ambition makes it hard to invest in him. We end up wishing for the Red Scorpion's more pragmatic POV instead.
While we're on the subject, POV is mostly MC-only, with a few exceptions that are rare enough to excuse, but should have been avoided altogether because they didn't really bring much.
World-building is... Ok, I guess. I don't really see the economy of this world making any sense, but I can let it slide. The caste system society is now structured in is barebones to say the least. It's like little exists besides arena entertainment. This may be due to the restricted POV (generally a good thing), but the MC has so little exposure to the world outside the arena that it might as well not exist. It may make sense, for the character to be so isolated, but it doesn't help the world coalesce into tangibility.
The magic system is one of the book's weakest points. Lots of inconsistencies, especially with regards to in-arena vs off-arena usage. Battletime is also a hit-and-miss affair; decent in solo fights, but downright ridiculous whenever teams were involved.
The authors attempt to insert a bizarre emulation of the US party system, but to me it was too blatant, which broke immersion, so I glazed over it. Just like I glazed over all the social commentary; it had all the finesse of an elephant in a china store.
This is not a "bad" book it doesn't deserve one star in my books (pardon a pun). I'm not angry at it for wasting my time.
But it's not good enough to be "good" either... It sits in the no-man's land between contempt and true appreciation. A perfect candidate for 3 stars.
For once I see a genuine attempt at writing a "realistic" MC, with believable flaws and relatable inner turmoil. For the most part, this succeeds.
The problem is that the book reads like a travel blog. Or a diary. We move from station to station. We get some training, some fights, some off-court socializing... and not much else. We have very little sense of urgency because there is nothing urgent in the plot. No world event, no personal drama, no real antagonist...
The MC is a support character (a bold attempt that I salute), but while his inner conflicts and general outlook give him a rare and quite welcome depth of character in this genre and helps sparks very profound bits of dialogue, his lack of ambition makes it hard to invest in him. We end up wishing for the Red Scorpion's more pragmatic POV instead.
While we're on the subject, POV is mostly MC-only, with a few exceptions that are rare enough to excuse, but should have been avoided altogether because they didn't really bring much.
World-building is... Ok, I guess. I don't really see the economy of this world making any sense, but I can let it slide. The caste system society is now structured in is barebones to say the least. It's like little exists besides arena entertainment. This may be due to the restricted POV (generally a good thing), but the MC has so little exposure to the world outside the arena that it might as well not exist. It may make sense, for the character to be so isolated, but it doesn't help the world coalesce into tangibility.
The magic system is one of the book's weakest points. Lots of inconsistencies, especially with regards to in-arena vs off-arena usage. Battletime is also a hit-and-miss affair; decent in solo fights, but downright ridiculous whenever teams were involved.
The authors attempt to insert a bizarre emulation of the US party system, but to me it was too blatant, which broke immersion, so I glazed over it. Just like I glazed over all the social commentary; it had all the finesse of an elephant in a china store.
This is not a "bad" book it doesn't deserve one star in my books (pardon a pun). I'm not angry at it for wasting my time.
But it's not good enough to be "good" either... It sits in the no-man's land between contempt and true appreciation. A perfect candidate for 3 stars.
November 19, 2024
This is a very powerful 1st book in a new series, a tome not a book in fact, and one which I just could not stop reading. The world in the domains after the war of the reckoning has become a brutal one, the people fear those who are gifted and these are forced to either renounce their magic and become taskbound, or else keep their gift through becoming arenabound. In the arena only those most brutal and cunning survive, the sands call out for blood. Gavin trains hard to become a great gladiator, however sometimes he questions whether this is the life for him, and he never feels he is good enough, whilst Sadira is a magnificent gladiatrix, she is fearless, and aims to become one of the chosen and gain immortality. The chosen are like gods in the eyes of the rest of the people and their power is unquestionable. These two unlikely heroes become partners and gather a team of friends who together aim to face the championships. However though the whole team is amazing in their own right, it is Sadira, the red scorpion who intends to pull them all up with her to the highest pedestals. They face monster fights, they tackle deathmatches, they face the stitched, and the robotic warriors, and every match is a deadly one. The tension in this book is very high, makes the reader fear for our heroes' lives every time, however they stay strong through loyalty and love, but can they make it to the top together? This is a book not to be missed, it is quite gruesome, so maybe not for the faint of heart but I personally cannot wait to continue reading book 2 which I am sure will be just as awesome!
January 27, 2022
Decent story with lots of mistakes
Interesting world building, lots of action, but a lot of spelling mistakes and continuity mistakes. One chapter they are fighting I an arena match together as a team and the next fight Gavin is thinking about how he hasn’t seen one of his teammates fight since the previous arena, which is blatantly false. Then he talks about how his teammate traded out her tower shield for a razor shield like him, but a few paragraphs later somehow she is using her tower shield to defend. Lots of mistakes like that, and they jar you right out of the story.
Interesting world building, lots of action, but a lot of spelling mistakes and continuity mistakes. One chapter they are fighting I an arena match together as a team and the next fight Gavin is thinking about how he hasn’t seen one of his teammates fight since the previous arena, which is blatantly false. Then he talks about how his teammate traded out her tower shield for a razor shield like him, but a few paragraphs later somehow she is using her tower shield to defend. Lots of mistakes like that, and they jar you right out of the story.
December 5, 2024
Love Chmilenko, but didn't really find this book to be very great. Premise was super interesting, but I felt a lack of depth on the skills/powers/systems in the book. The political intrigue ALMOST was great, but every time I thought it'd jump in more, the story diverted to more interpersonal relationships (which were rather droll and redundant). All in all, this book seemed repetetive across scenes - not a page turner unfortunately. Loved the settings tho and descriptions of scenery - really feel like this imagery in this book is where it shines.
March 4, 2022
It's not progression and it's not gamelit. The story is somewhat clunky as we keep fast forwarding to the next stage of the main character's life as a gladiator, where he very quickly becomes a secondary character.
Gavin does tackle some really interesting ideas as he goes through his transformation throughout the book, which keep things interesting.
3 star story with a 4th star for Luke Daniels as a narrator.
Gavin does tackle some really interesting ideas as he goes through his transformation throughout the book, which keep things interesting.
3 star story with a 4th star for Luke Daniels as a narrator.
August 11, 2025
I really enjoy Iron Prince and between the gladiatorial combat and same narrator and Luke Chmilenko co-authoring that book...I had an issue focusing on this book as opposed to comparing the two of them.
May 10, 2022
It made me think of 'Iron Prince' (incredible book, BTW) but with some of Joe Abercrombie's influence. It's great overall, but not up to 'Iron Prince' standards IMO. A bit heavy on the self-loathing/esteem/moping for my tastes.
Audiobook narration is well done.
Audiobook narration is well done.
January 25, 2022
Great start for a new series!!
Great first book! Interesting concepts with exciting and engaging characters! I can’t wait for more!! Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!!!
Great first book! Interesting concepts with exciting and engaging characters! I can’t wait for more!! Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!!!
January 25, 2022
Lots of action!
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
A great start to a series. Heaps of action. Great character development. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more.
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
A great start to a series. Heaps of action. Great character development. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more.
March 15, 2022
good book
This is a book for those who like PVP. Maybe not entirely my cup of tea. It contains a lot of fight scenes, but the story progressed a little too slow.
This is a book for those who like PVP. Maybe not entirely my cup of tea. It contains a lot of fight scenes, but the story progressed a little too slow.
September 11, 2022
Nonstop action
This book doesn't slow down at all. It has more fighting than most completed series in the first book. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to what is next!
This book doesn't slow down at all. It has more fighting than most completed series in the first book. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to what is next!
November 7, 2023
2.5 stars.
December 29, 2023
Great re-write!
This is a fantastic update to one of my favorite series. It definitely smoothed out the rough edges.I can't wait to read the rest!
This is a fantastic update to one of my favorite series. It definitely smoothed out the rough edges.I can't wait to read the rest!
February 7, 2022
If you are into less story and more fighting with a few sex scenes mixed in. This is for you.
Not for me tho. dnf
Not for me tho. dnf
October 13, 2024
I want to like this book more. Very heavy on gladiator type fight scenes and not enough meat to the
story.
story.
May 2, 2023
Great start to a series. Each chapter was action packed, keep writing and I will keep reading.
CA
CA
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews