One man. Assassin. Caster. A new world. And a Game that is as brutal as it is complex.
Michael finds himself in the realm of the Forever Kingdom, with no memory of how he got there and who he is. Even so, he must participate in the Grand Game and forge a new destiny for himself.
Dropped into a dungeon of monsters, and strange magics, would you survive in a Game where to lose means death?
Alone, and with little more than his wits to aid him, Michael must advance as a player, slay his foes, and gain experience. All while navigating the intrigues around him and discovering his purpose.
A world of Powers, Forces, and mysterious factions. A Game with endless opportunities for advancement and power.
Join Michael on his epic adventure as he deals with the Game’s challenges, the machinations of the Powers, and the ambitions of his fellow players.
The start of an exciting new portal fantasy epic!
My Opinion: 434 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is a rather good story that gets better as it goes on. The first half is mostly a solo journey through caves with the main character (MC) choosing a stealth class to avoid the dangers of going with less savory players in a forced dungeon dive. There’s enough setup to get the dive started pretty quickly but the good stuff doesn’t really happen till you get to about halfway through the novel. At that point the MC hits a point where he’s figured out his build and gotten some decent equipment and skills. The story expands to include other players and a faction plot line between several groups of kidnapped players. It was surprisingly good with enough hints given about betrayer and hidden agendas that it felt good to follow through on the results.
Game mechanics - This is rather well done and though the fundamentals of the system aren’t new with levels, classes, skills, pools of resources (mana, stamina, mental points, etc), and other similar LitRPG mechanics. The story has a smart MC who uses stealth and the system gives players three class slots, so the eventual combinations of chosen classes gives lots of room for customization and unique builds. There’s plenty of detail about stats, class building, synergizing abilities, equipment and ability notifications, etc. for those that really like that. But the thing I appreciated was that the MC was never too overpowered and used his skills intelligently so that the growth that eventually happens felt earned.
Overall, the story has a good bit of action and adventure with some mid story shifts to larger group/faction stuff. It was never tedious and I finished the story in just a couple of sittings.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
The Grand Game, Book 1: A LitRPG Adventure