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Victor of Tucson #1
Pit Fighter
From the author of Falling with Folded Wings comes a furious new fantasy series, in which a teenage, hard-case Earthling tries to earn some class . . .
Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see.
Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare. Sold into slavery as a pit fighter, Victor quickly learns his new home is controlled by the “System” and the only way to get ahead is to fight, kill, and collect the precious “Energy” that means the difference between a long life and an early grave. And according to his stats, Victor’s starting out at a solid zero.
Lucky for him, no one in this world has ever met his kind before—which means they have no idea what he’s really capable of. But they’re about to find out . . .
The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see.
Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare. Sold into slavery as a pit fighter, Victor quickly learns his new home is controlled by the “System” and the only way to get ahead is to fight, kill, and collect the precious “Energy” that means the difference between a long life and an early grave. And according to his stats, Victor’s starting out at a solid zero.
Lucky for him, no one in this world has ever met his kind before—which means they have no idea what he’s really capable of. But they’re about to find out . . .
The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 17, 2023
1009 people are currently reading
720 people want to read
About the author
Plum Parrot
26 books134 followersPlum Parrot is the pen name of author MC Gallup, who grew up in Southern Arizona and spent much of his youth wandering around the Sonoran Desert, hunting imaginary monsters and building forts. He studied creative writing at the University of Arizona and, for a number of years, attempted to teach middle schoolers to love literature and write their own stories. If he's not out walking his Airedale Terrier, you can find Gallup writing, reading his favorite authors, or playing D&D with friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
March 4, 2023
Nothing to write home about.
A foul-mouthed, rather simple hispanic young man with a lot of frustrations penned up inside him gets transfered to another world and is forced to fight and kill in pits to survive. Fittingly, he gets some kind of beserk class..
Unfortunately, the character can´t be compared to Logan Ninefinger from Abercrombie´s "First Law" series and his struggle against his dark side. This protagonist is an annoying naive blabber mouth.
A foul-mouthed, rather simple hispanic young man with a lot of frustrations penned up inside him gets transfered to another world and is forced to fight and kill in pits to survive. Fittingly, he gets some kind of beserk class..
Unfortunately, the character can´t be compared to Logan Ninefinger from Abercrombie´s "First Law" series and his struggle against his dark side. This protagonist is an annoying naive blabber mouth.
January 24, 2023
An okay book with a few caveats.
The two big issues are a lot of casual cursing, which some find off putting, and a very immature MC. The action is simple and direct, as is the storyline. There is no character development and the side characters are changed at a quick pace, so don't bother getting attached to anyone. If you want any depth in storyline, this is not for you. If you want a B rated action flick of a book, this one is for you.
The two big issues are a lot of casual cursing, which some find off putting, and a very immature MC. The action is simple and direct, as is the storyline. There is no character development and the side characters are changed at a quick pace, so don't bother getting attached to anyone. If you want any depth in storyline, this is not for you. If you want a B rated action flick of a book, this one is for you.
June 6, 2023
A mixed bag of hybrid isekai, gamelit, and cultivation. If you like one of this author's books, you will probably like the others. Unfortunately, the inverse is also true.
Character - 5/10, Plot - 6.5/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 5/10, Writing - 6/10, Enjoyment - 4/10
This is the second book I've read from this author after Falling With Folded Wings. I didn't really connect with most of the characters in that book and the same happened here. If I had to choose, I would say I disliked Victor more than I liked him. He was immature and couldn't seem to string more than a couple sentences together without dropping an f-bomb. He also wasn't the brightest and seemed like a jackass. The supporting cast were ok, but just a rotating group of people that didn't leave much of a mark. This is probably one of the weaker categories for me with this story.
The plot was okay despite being held back by the characters. An 18 year old jackass from Tucson, Arizona gets pulled into a fantasy land by a summoning ritual. The summoners, reacting like fishermen who accidently reeled in an old boot, quickly sell Victor off to be an enslaved pit fighter. The book basically follows Victor as he struggles to get by as a slave while learning about the new world, the races inhabiting it, and how stats, skills, and cores work.
The setting was within the same universe as the author's other series, which was fine, but didn't really contribute anything to my experience one way or another. The game mechanics were pretty standard and fine as far as that goes, but I feel like the stats and levels were mildly pointless and could have been removed from the story with little effect.
The writing was fairly clean from a proofreading standpoint. The grammar was functional as well, though there are a lot of filler words that cluttered sentences at times. Nothing to complain about since that sort of thing is only an annoyance to certain people. (I'm one of them, though)
I was pretty lukewarm after the author's other book. I had no motivation to read the second volume of that series and decided to try this series out instead for something different. Unfortunately, it was too similar in the ways that made the book a miss for me and I was tempted to drop it at the 60% mark. I soldiered on and kind of regret it.
That being said, I think your average gamelit reader should give this author a try. Your enjoyment levels at about 50% into whatever book you chose will probably be an accurate gauge of your future experience with the rest of the books.
Character - 5/10, Plot - 6.5/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 5/10, Writing - 6/10, Enjoyment - 4/10
This is the second book I've read from this author after Falling With Folded Wings. I didn't really connect with most of the characters in that book and the same happened here. If I had to choose, I would say I disliked Victor more than I liked him. He was immature and couldn't seem to string more than a couple sentences together without dropping an f-bomb. He also wasn't the brightest and seemed like a jackass. The supporting cast were ok, but just a rotating group of people that didn't leave much of a mark. This is probably one of the weaker categories for me with this story.
The plot was okay despite being held back by the characters. An 18 year old jackass from Tucson, Arizona gets pulled into a fantasy land by a summoning ritual. The summoners, reacting like fishermen who accidently reeled in an old boot, quickly sell Victor off to be an enslaved pit fighter. The book basically follows Victor as he struggles to get by as a slave while learning about the new world, the races inhabiting it, and how stats, skills, and cores work.
The setting was within the same universe as the author's other series, which was fine, but didn't really contribute anything to my experience one way or another. The game mechanics were pretty standard and fine as far as that goes, but I feel like the stats and levels were mildly pointless and could have been removed from the story with little effect.
The writing was fairly clean from a proofreading standpoint. The grammar was functional as well, though there are a lot of filler words that cluttered sentences at times. Nothing to complain about since that sort of thing is only an annoyance to certain people. (I'm one of them, though)
I was pretty lukewarm after the author's other book. I had no motivation to read the second volume of that series and decided to try this series out instead for something different. Unfortunately, it was too similar in the ways that made the book a miss for me and I was tempted to drop it at the 60% mark. I soldiered on and kind of regret it.
That being said, I think your average gamelit reader should give this author a try. Your enjoyment levels at about 50% into whatever book you chose will probably be an accurate gauge of your future experience with the rest of the books.
February 28, 2023
Wasn't sure what I'd get here, but it worked. A 4.5 on the old scale as it's paced well, the MC isn't a total bag of hammers and it all adds up to an engaging read, but not quite a full 5. It ends in a good place for the sequel, so I look forward to what Victor can make of his new life.
Hopefully a bit less "fuck" in all its' incarnations in the next book, but people (particularly young people) do speak like that.
Hopefully a bit less "fuck" in all its' incarnations in the next book, but people (particularly young people) do speak like that.
August 26, 2025
new and naive and inexperienced fantasy writers are obsessed with words like RAGE and Berserker
they think that the power of being angry is manifest destiny
i start a fight,get my RAGE on ,black out,win....rinse and repeat the entire book
they think that the power of being angry is manifest destiny
i start a fight,get my RAGE on ,black out,win....rinse and repeat the entire book
February 20, 2023
good story, not a very likable character.
I would give this story five stars, except for the issue of the main character. The main character is a jerk, he curses too much too many F bombs in the story which are not necessary, and the trope of a foul mouth, angry Hispanic, male has been played to death. Hispanic people should be P owed that you made the MC so ignorant. Besides the flaw of the main character, the story progresses very well. The progression is fast and keeps you wanting to turn the page to see what’s going to happen. I hope in the next book the author tones down the F bombs, because all that profanity takes you out of an enjoyable story in my opinion. Will read the next book when it arrives.
I would give this story five stars, except for the issue of the main character. The main character is a jerk, he curses too much too many F bombs in the story which are not necessary, and the trope of a foul mouth, angry Hispanic, male has been played to death. Hispanic people should be P owed that you made the MC so ignorant. Besides the flaw of the main character, the story progresses very well. The progression is fast and keeps you wanting to turn the page to see what’s going to happen. I hope in the next book the author tones down the F bombs, because all that profanity takes you out of an enjoyable story in my opinion. Will read the next book when it arrives.
January 21, 2023
Fantastic
This authors works are awesome. i was hooked from the beginning, a real page turner. Please read this book as a good author. it needs to be rewarded for such good work.
The story is of a young man thrown into a world as a slave and basically a fight to survibe, he meets several interesting characters. Some die some help him, and some betray him.
I need the next book badly, and his next series book as well.
This authors works are awesome. i was hooked from the beginning, a real page turner. Please read this book as a good author. it needs to be rewarded for such good work.
The story is of a young man thrown into a world as a slave and basically a fight to survibe, he meets several interesting characters. Some die some help him, and some betray him.
I need the next book badly, and his next series book as well.
September 9, 2024
DNF
I probably didn’t give this book a chance if you consider that I put it down after chapter one. But never in my life can I imagine someone just telling me that they “own me” and being like, well I guess I’ll just roll with it for now. Right out the gate my only impression of the MC is he’s a bad tempered little asshole with no spine. I’ll pass on this one.
I probably didn’t give this book a chance if you consider that I put it down after chapter one. But never in my life can I imagine someone just telling me that they “own me” and being like, well I guess I’ll just roll with it for now. Right out the gate my only impression of the MC is he’s a bad tempered little asshole with no spine. I’ll pass on this one.
October 10, 2023
"Pit Fighter" by Plum Parrot is a surprisingly good fantasy novel that immerses readers in the world of Fanwath. Follow Victor, a teenage Earthling turned pit fighter, as he navigates a brutal existence in this captivating and unique story.
February 22, 2023
decent read
Had no expectations when I picked up this book. Really enjoyed it , moved at a fast pace. Would recommend
Had no expectations when I picked up this book. Really enjoyed it , moved at a fast pace. Would recommend
June 9, 2024
This was a solid opening novel that did a really good job of getting me invested in the characters, especially the main character and his plight.
The only element that really let it down for me was a lack of balance. This is very action heavy and also leans on the side of negativity. Given the situation of the story, that is understandable but we could do with other elements to balance it out a little more.
There were some interesting friendships that I think did this in small doses, but they never lasted long enough to really matter to the story overall. Also the character was always getting into bad situations and, while sometimes he managed to escape them, he never really did so in any satisfying way. People who treated him poorly remained unpunished in almost all situations and that left me feeling quite unsatisfied by the end of the story.
What I'm saying overall is that this is a solid opening book that could do with some alternate variables to round it out a little more and that will bring it up to five stars. That being said, I'm looking forward to what the next book brings.
The only element that really let it down for me was a lack of balance. This is very action heavy and also leans on the side of negativity. Given the situation of the story, that is understandable but we could do with other elements to balance it out a little more.
There were some interesting friendships that I think did this in small doses, but they never lasted long enough to really matter to the story overall. Also the character was always getting into bad situations and, while sometimes he managed to escape them, he never really did so in any satisfying way. People who treated him poorly remained unpunished in almost all situations and that left me feeling quite unsatisfied by the end of the story.
What I'm saying overall is that this is a solid opening book that could do with some alternate variables to round it out a little more and that will bring it up to five stars. That being said, I'm looking forward to what the next book brings.
December 29, 2025
Pit Fighter by Plum Parrot throws you straight into the deep end of a ruthless LitRPG world and doesn’t let up.
Victor’s sudden transition from an ordinary teenager to a enslaved pit fighter is harsh, violent, and intentionally uncomfortable — and that’s exactly what makes this book work.
The progression system is compelling, the fights are visceral, and the sense of survival is constant. I really appreciated that Victor doesn’t instantly become overpowered; every bit of growth feels earned through pain, loss, and sheer desperation.
The pit fights are brutal and repetitive by design, reinforcing just how dehumanizing this world is, and the emotional toll on Victor makes the story feel grounded despite its fantasy setting.
That said, the pacing can drag at times, especially during extended combat sequences, and some side characters feel more like stepping stones than fully developed people. The heavy focus on violence won’t be for everyone, and readers looking for lighter fantasy or quick world-building payoffs may struggle early on.
Still, as a dark progression fantasy opener, Pit Fighter delivers exactly what it promises: relentless survival, slow-burn power growth, and a main character shaped by trauma rather than destiny. I’m definitely continuing the series.
Victor’s sudden transition from an ordinary teenager to a enslaved pit fighter is harsh, violent, and intentionally uncomfortable — and that’s exactly what makes this book work.
The progression system is compelling, the fights are visceral, and the sense of survival is constant. I really appreciated that Victor doesn’t instantly become overpowered; every bit of growth feels earned through pain, loss, and sheer desperation.
The pit fights are brutal and repetitive by design, reinforcing just how dehumanizing this world is, and the emotional toll on Victor makes the story feel grounded despite its fantasy setting.
That said, the pacing can drag at times, especially during extended combat sequences, and some side characters feel more like stepping stones than fully developed people. The heavy focus on violence won’t be for everyone, and readers looking for lighter fantasy or quick world-building payoffs may struggle early on.
Still, as a dark progression fantasy opener, Pit Fighter delivers exactly what it promises: relentless survival, slow-burn power growth, and a main character shaped by trauma rather than destiny. I’m definitely continuing the series.
February 14, 2024
Life isn’t fair, and Victor is about to ride a wave of unfair bullshit
Magically summoned from his magic dead world, Earth, Victor or Tucson must adapt to a world with magic and new laws. More the Wild West than what we would recognize as civilized, there are still rules in place, laws etc but money and might often allow you to skirt or ignore the laws that apply to the poor.
Victor is quickly tossed into one situation after another where fighting for his life is his only choice! He’s not ready to die so he fights and fights and pushes to survive and even thrive in the fighting pits, until he is caught up in a rich woman’s plans for revenge. Which he becomes the deliverer of, ensign another young noble in mortal combat.
And this is where the story really takes a turn as the boys father buys his contract to take revenge.
With a newly destroyed core, Victor is sold to a mining consortium with little hopes he will survive. Victor on the other hand, isn’t ready to give up yet and he may finally get himself out of this mess if he can just keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.
Magically summoned from his magic dead world, Earth, Victor or Tucson must adapt to a world with magic and new laws. More the Wild West than what we would recognize as civilized, there are still rules in place, laws etc but money and might often allow you to skirt or ignore the laws that apply to the poor.
Victor is quickly tossed into one situation after another where fighting for his life is his only choice! He’s not ready to die so he fights and fights and pushes to survive and even thrive in the fighting pits, until he is caught up in a rich woman’s plans for revenge. Which he becomes the deliverer of, ensign another young noble in mortal combat.
And this is where the story really takes a turn as the boys father buys his contract to take revenge.
With a newly destroyed core, Victor is sold to a mining consortium with little hopes he will survive. Victor on the other hand, isn’t ready to give up yet and he may finally get himself out of this mess if he can just keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.
April 17, 2025
Fun book. I've read a lot of reviews that the main character swears alot which is true. I think I swear a lot, but I found it a bit much and messed with my immersion. he also lacks depth. I feel like the whole book was a series of things happening to a blank slate. however, I enjoyed the side characters and the world that is built and I love how only the relevant part of the character sheet was shown when it was updated
April 13, 2024
I liked it. I am a sucker for gladiatorial fighting. You do get the downside of that thought, the being a slave for a good part of the book. But it isn’t a pity party like some books that follow this trope do. The MC is cool with an OP class. There is a ton of fighting throughout the book.
February 3, 2024
It’s the Pits for you..
Victor was in Tucson walking home from summer school. He had paid for an essay from a kid during the spring semester of school, but it was copied off the internet. Victor was busted. Luckily, he could still finish the class in summer school and still graduate. He was hoping to get on the wrestling team at the local community college to get noticed. It was so hot, that the soles of his shoes were almost melting to the hot pavement. He made it back to his grandparents’ house. He stepped into the house and then everything went black.
He was conscious but he was drifting in darkness. He wasn’t sure what was going on. Was this related to the heat? Suddenly there was a light. It got bigger and bigger. He was now standing in a big wooden room. Four guys were standing there with four glowing rods. They had blue skin and fluorescent hair. He started get messages including that he was integrated into the system.
One of them said he must be from a dead world. He was to be sold to the pits. He was hit with one of the metal wands and he was immobilized. He waved his wand and Victor floated behind the blue man. As the moved, there were odd creatures and beasts on the streets. They came to a huge arena and they slowly went down into the basement. An obese man sat behind a desk and asked what he was. They said that Victor was base 0 but had a high energy affinity. The obese man says he won’t make it out of the pits on his first night. Time to train hard and fast. And so it begins…
Victor was in Tucson walking home from summer school. He had paid for an essay from a kid during the spring semester of school, but it was copied off the internet. Victor was busted. Luckily, he could still finish the class in summer school and still graduate. He was hoping to get on the wrestling team at the local community college to get noticed. It was so hot, that the soles of his shoes were almost melting to the hot pavement. He made it back to his grandparents’ house. He stepped into the house and then everything went black.
He was conscious but he was drifting in darkness. He wasn’t sure what was going on. Was this related to the heat? Suddenly there was a light. It got bigger and bigger. He was now standing in a big wooden room. Four guys were standing there with four glowing rods. They had blue skin and fluorescent hair. He started get messages including that he was integrated into the system.
One of them said he must be from a dead world. He was to be sold to the pits. He was hit with one of the metal wands and he was immobilized. He waved his wand and Victor floated behind the blue man. As the moved, there were odd creatures and beasts on the streets. They came to a huge arena and they slowly went down into the basement. An obese man sat behind a desk and asked what he was. They said that Victor was base 0 but had a high energy affinity. The obese man says he won’t make it out of the pits on his first night. Time to train hard and fast. And so it begins…
August 30, 2023
Great book
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
February 7, 2024
Gotta love it
THis is a good read. I read this back when first released and an very much looking forward to reading the rest. Great plot twists and thankfully the protagonist does not get totally op in the first two minutes.
THis is a good read. I read this back when first released and an very much looking forward to reading the rest. Great plot twists and thankfully the protagonist does not get totally op in the first two minutes.
August 24, 2023
Great book
Stellar work from Plum Parrot! Lots of action and adventure, magic and monsters. Looking forward to reading the next one!
Stellar work from Plum Parrot! Lots of action and adventure, magic and monsters. Looking forward to reading the next one!
February 1, 2024
what a series
Can’t wait to read more this looks like a great start to a fun fast paced and entertaining series cheers
Can’t wait to read more this looks like a great start to a fun fast paced and entertaining series cheers
July 30, 2023
Number 1 of this series is a great addition to the genre. Love these sort of beginnings where lots of things are against the main character, summoned and enslaved into fighting pits is about as stacked as you can get. Interesting characters, betrayals, situations, a scant few grey characters helping the mc out. Pretty interesting power system. Pretty interesting hierarchical class, races and world system.
Probably stop at this book though and you'll be fine. The next series volume loses all of these elements. First story is basically a breakout from slavery and the second story is about what happens when the mc escapes. Author doesn't seem to know what to do and amps up the characters do-gooder penchant, amps up the dependency of supporting characters, to provide some direction. Just comes across as slice of life, directionless creep.
Probably stop at this book though and you'll be fine. The next series volume loses all of these elements. First story is basically a breakout from slavery and the second story is about what happens when the mc escapes. Author doesn't seem to know what to do and amps up the characters do-gooder penchant, amps up the dependency of supporting characters, to provide some direction. Just comes across as slice of life, directionless creep.
January 8, 2024
So I'm guessing PP named it Victor of Tucson to entice readers of BUYMORT???
January 17, 2023
Wish we'd spent more time in the pits
Now this was an interesting story. I loved the description of Tucson. I lived there for several years and it was easy to picture the route described.
I did have a couple of issues though. For a teenager who's grown up with his obviously Catholic Abuela he's really not Catholic and uses the F word way to much. She'd have extreme issues with his swearing.
Now this was an interesting story. I loved the description of Tucson. I lived there for several years and it was easy to picture the route described.
I did have a couple of issues though. For a teenager who's grown up with his obviously Catholic Abuela he's really not Catholic and uses the F word way to much. She'd have extreme issues with his swearing.
July 18, 2023
Awesome read!
This has been a really good read so far. I'm liking how all the concepts are coming together and the magic system is nice to understand as the Mc does. Good touch
This has been a really good read so far. I'm liking how all the concepts are coming together and the magic system is nice to understand as the Mc does. Good touch
February 15, 2023
New author for me
As some other readers have commented, I have never read so many f-bombs in the beginning chapters as I have with this book. I use the word occasionally myself but in my opinion it’s overuse in the first chapters almost made me want to stop reading. I am glad I didn’t because the book got better and better and after halfway I could not put it down.
As some other readers have commented, I have never read so many f-bombs in the beginning chapters as I have with this book. I use the word occasionally myself but in my opinion it’s overuse in the first chapters almost made me want to stop reading. I am glad I didn’t because the book got better and better and after halfway I could not put it down.
February 15, 2023
great action adventure set in dystopian fantasy world
This book is a great action adventure type of book and it is set in a dystopian fantasy world. The author actually makes this work. The main character is pretty true to life with his views and actions. The book actually ends at a natural ending point. Yay! I really want the next book right now!
This book is a great action adventure type of book and it is set in a dystopian fantasy world. The author actually makes this work. The main character is pretty true to life with his views and actions. The book actually ends at a natural ending point. Yay! I really want the next book right now!
February 25, 2023
Great book
This is one of my favorite stories — I’ve read this and the author’s other work set on the same planet and the book is just as good as I remember.
Good story, good characters, good editing. Kinda disappointing on the formatting but that’s not a huge thing — it just makes it more difficult to pick out the messages from the system. All in all, highly recommended.
This is one of my favorite stories — I’ve read this and the author’s other work set on the same planet and the book is just as good as I remember.
Good story, good characters, good editing. Kinda disappointing on the formatting but that’s not a huge thing — it just makes it more difficult to pick out the messages from the system. All in all, highly recommended.
January 18, 2023
Renewed my faith in the genre.
Likable only slightly OP MC, once he stopped using fuck every other word. Interesting magic system, and it doesn't fall into the trope of loser who has never talked to a girl somehow having a greater will than some monster 80 levels higher than him.
Likable only slightly OP MC, once he stopped using fuck every other word. Interesting magic system, and it doesn't fall into the trope of loser who has never talked to a girl somehow having a greater will than some monster 80 levels higher than him.
January 21, 2023
Very entertaining and well written!
This is a fun book. I followed it on another site and it was cleaned up for Amazon. It’s fun, it’s action packed, it’s well written, and it has good character growth. It is definitely worth a read.
This is a fun book. I followed it on another site and it was cleaned up for Amazon. It’s fun, it’s action packed, it’s well written, and it has good character growth. It is definitely worth a read.
February 11, 2023
Really good
Wow, so many twists and turns. Just kept getting better and better. I didn't want it to end. Highly recommend this book. Looking forward to the next installment. This author knows how to tell a story.
Wow, so many twists and turns. Just kept getting better and better. I didn't want it to end. Highly recommend this book. Looking forward to the next installment. This author knows how to tell a story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews