LitRPG Podcast 289 - The Wandering Inn 7, Arise: Alpha, Portal to Nova Roma, Path of Relics: Aether Shard
LitRPG Podcast 289 - The Wandering Inn 7, Arise: Alpha, Portal to Nova Roma, Path of Relics: Aether Shard
Sept. 14th, 2022
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 289 of the LitRPG podcast. I’m Ramon Mejia.
I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 4 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
Rains of Liscor: The Wandering Inn, Book 7
Fantastic narration for slice of life story
Score: 8 out of 10
Arise: Alpha: A Dark LitRPG Adventure
Good urban fantasy action, lighter on the LitRPG side
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Slow start but packs in the action later
Score: 7.4 out of 10
Path of Relics: Aether Shard (The Lore Seeker Odyssey Book 1)
Not for me
Score: 6 out of 10
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LitRPG News
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DragonCon ended and it took us a whole week to recover. But we’re here and it was a blast to see all the LitRPG authors that were on panels and at various events. There were lots selling books and signing too. A good time was had by many.
Cindy Koepp, author of a number of clean family friendly LitRPG stories has a kickstarter campaign for a game called Stellari. The game is based on the two of her novels: Like Herding the Wind and Into the Open. There are a number of neat reward tiers including books and game pieces. It’s not a big Kickstarter goal, but it does end soon.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/animaleye1/stellari-a-quick-game-from-the-stars
Out Now!
Solo Leveling, Vol. 5 (novel) (Solo Leveling (novel))
The Way Ahead 2: A LitRPG Adventure
The Trickster's Tale 2: Gnome's Don't Rule: (A LitRPG Adventure) (The Tricksters Tale)
Alpha Physics! Book 6: Home Bound: A LITrpg Apocalypse, changed earth progression fantasy
The Court Bard (World of Chains Book 4)
Deathless Dungeoneers : A LitRPG Dungeon Diver Adventure
Kairos III: War of the Pantheon: A Greek Myth & Pirate LitRPG
Defiance of the Fall 6: A LitRPG Adventure
Cane Whirling Lunacy: A LitRPG Adventure (Vaudevillain Book 3)
Untamed Lands: A Four Laws Litrpg Adventure
Noah the Red: A LitRPG Adventure (Neverstone Book 3)
Vigil's Justice: A LitRPG Adventure (Vigil Bound Book 1)
Germination: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Battle Mage Farmer Book 2)
Rogue - A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure (Legends of the Six Realms Book 1)
Second Chance Swordsman (A LitRPG Adventure, Book 1)
Alt System (Natural Laws Apocalypse Book 5)
The Primal Hunter 3: A LitRPG Adventure
A Grave Threat and Ultimate Illumination: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Bone Knight Book 9)
Harbinger of Destruction: A LitRPG Adventure
Dungeon World Drifters: A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless Book 2)
Eternal Dominion Book 10: Lorafir
Station Company Core: Detain and Extract: Interns
Summoner's Shadow 3: A LitRPG Adventure
Battleborne Book III: Dungeons & Guardians
The Chosen One: A LitRPG NPC Adventure (Prophecy Approved Companion Book 1)
Sky Raiders: An Epic Lit RPG Adventure (King's League Book 4) (Sept. 6th, 2022)
Chrysalis 2: Upping the Ante: A LitRPG Adventure
The Fall of Elysium (The Range Book #5): LitRPG Series
Eight: A LitRPG Novel of Magical Survival
Eight 2: The Way of the Hunter, A LitRPG Adventure
Way To The West. Dragon Heart (A LitRPG Wuxia) series: Book 16
The Dungeon Assault: A Dungeon Core LitRPG (Dungeon from the Void Book 3)
Threadbare Volume 6: An End to All Tails
Rise of the Last Star: Core - A LitRPG Adventure
Small-Town Crafter: The Artificer's Apprentice (Small Town Crafter Book 1)
The Exodus. First Circle [RealRPG Wuxia Series The Way] Book #6
Dreadwar: A LitRPG Adventure (Badges of Dorkdom Book 3)
Revived: A LitRPG Adventure (Monsters, Maces and Magic Book 7)
He Who Fights with Monsters 7: A LitRPG Adventure
Steamforged Heresy: A LitRPG Adventure (Steamforged Sorcery Book 2)
Ascension Core (Superhero Dungeon Book 2)
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Legendary LitRPG - An All Genres LitRPG Anthology
The Sixth Rune - Divine Apostasy, Book 6
The Chosen One - A LitRPG NPC Adventure (Prophecy Approved Companion, Book 1)
Character Creation - Mystic Seasons Upload, Book 1
The Primal Hunter 3 - A LitRPG Adventure
Eight: A LitRPG Novel of Magical Survival
Magnus: The Complete Series A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure
Rogue - Legends of the Six Realms, Book 1
Germination - A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Farmer Mage, Book 2)
Vigil's Justice - Vigil Bound, Book 1
Finding Honor - Realms of Power and Fury, Book 2
Cane Whirling Lunacy - A LitRPG Adventure (Vaudevillain, Book 3)
Age of Iron - Rise of Mankind, Book 3
Flat Out - The System Apocalypse: Australia, Book 2
A Greek Myth LitRPG Kairos, Book 3
A LitRPG Dungeon Diver Adventure
The Mechanical Crafter: Book 3
The Next Step - Cultivator vs. System, Book 2
Chiwaukee Nights - Tower of Somnus, Book 2
The Way Ahead 2 - A LitRPG Adventure
The Storm's Rage! - A LitRPG Adventure (Age of Doom, Book 1)
Tiny Souls - A LitRPG Portal Fantasy
Fluff - A Wholesome LitRPG (Fluff, Book 1)
Tooth & Paw - A LitRPG Adventure (Fate & Freedom Online, Book 1)
Overlord of the Dungeon - In the System, Book 4
The Dungeon Phoenix - The Dungeon Slayer, Book 4
A LitRPG Adventure (He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 7)
Upcoming LitRPG:
The Delving Bard (World of Chains Book 5) (Sept. 15th, 2022)
Nomad Healer: A LitRPG Healer Adventure (Sept. 17th, 2022)
ChronoTemplar 2: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure (JustInTime) (Sept. 18th, 2022)
Broken Interface - Kernal: Post Apocalyptic Zombie LITrpg Progression Fantasy (Sept. 22nd, 2022)
Tower Apocalypse 2: An Isekai Apocalypse LitRPG Series (Sept. 25th, 2022)
Prism Academy- Demis: A Litrpg Supers Adventure (Sept. 26th, 2022)
Blackmist: A LitRPG Adventure (My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror Book 1) (Sept. 27th, 2022)
Deathless Dungeoneers - Book Two: A LitRPG Dungeon Diver Adventure (Sept. 27th, 2022)
A Temperamental Enchantress: A LitRPG Adventure (A New Home Book 2) (Sept. 27th, 2022)
Savage Webs: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Apocalypse Cultivation Book 2) (Sept. 27th, 2022)
Blackmist: A LitRPG Adventure (My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror Book 1) (Sept. 27th, 2022)
Fury: A LitRPG Adventure (Unbound Book 4) (Sept. 28th, 2022)
The Founder (Mirror World Book #5): LitRPG Series (Sept. 30th, 2022)
Awaken Online: Armageddon (Oct. 1st, 2022)
The Treasures of Alexander: A LitRPG Adventure (Salvos, Book 8) (Oct. 2nd, 2022)
Halloween Core: A Holiday Dungeon Core Novella (Oct. 5th, 2022)
A Dream of Wings & Flame: A LitRPG Adventure (Oct. 11th, 2022)
The Hedge Wizard 2: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Oct. 11th, 2022)
Renaissance (Alpha Rome Book 5): LitRPG Series (Oct. 12th, 2022)
Mana Harvest 3 (Oct. 15th, 2022)
Breaker of Horizons: A LitRPG Adventure (Oct. 18th, 2022)
Awakened: The Ascendancy: A LitRPG Wuxia Series (The Heavenly Throne Book 10) (Oct. 18th, 2022)
Astral Threads (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 4) (Oct. 21st, 2022)
Harbinger of Vengeance: A LitRPG Adventure (Oct. 25th, 2022)
The Final Step: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Cultivator vs. System Book 3) (Oct. 25th, 2022)
Swarm: An Army Building LitRPG / LitRTS Series (I Don't Want to be the Hive Queen Book 1) (Oct. 25th, 2022)
Rorkh Book 3: LitRPG Series (Oct. 26th, 2022)
Endarkened Spire: System Misinterpret Book Two - A Post Apocalyptic Cultivation LitRPG (Oct. 31st, 2022)
Threat from the Deep (The Rise of the Winter Wolf Book 3) (Oct. 31st, 2022)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
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New Releases and Reviews
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Rains of Liscor: The Wandering Inn, Book 7
Pirateaba returns once again, bringing you the thrilling seventh installment of chart-topping LitRPG series The Wandering Inn.
It's raining in Liscor.
The spring rains have come and Liscor's entire geography changes with the dawning of the new year. The Floodplains of Liscor live up to their name, and the only way anyone is going to travel is by boat.
With the rains come more monsters, dungeon delving, more goblins...not to mention some unwanted attention for the Wandering Inn.
Erin Solstice is going further abroad than she's ever dreamed: as far as the Walled City of Pallass, the City of Invention. With the magic door drawing the attention of world powers and the looming crisis of the Goblin Lord, Erin Solstice's inn is busier than ever.
My Opinion: 1163 pages, $3.99, Not Available On Kindle Unlimited
The latest entry into the slice of life series returns focus to the continent of Liscor and the characters there. There are some interesting events to do with the floodplains there, monsters that are released, and some very interesting side stories that develop because of it. I was glad to see the stories focus mostly on the characters that the series had started out with and continued developments for newer ones. All good stories, though not all connected. It's what you should expect from the series by this point.
Narration was, as usual, so good it gave me tingles.
Score: 8 out of 10
Rains of Liscor: The Wandering Inn, Book 7
Arise: Alpha: A Dark LitRPG Adventure
When you steal a hundred grand from some very bad people, the best way to survive is to stay small and quiet...
Possibly its not to save a pair of drowning girls, not go 'viral' on social media and certainly not to let the local police take your passport, trapping you on a small 'party' island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
But Steve isn't the average guy, he's ex-military, ex-enforcer and ex-human. He's a one man nanite fuelled nightmare for those that cross the line, and he's decided that its time to clean up his act. He's going to make up for the things he's done, and save 'the little guys'.
It's a nice fantasy, but even he has to admit, it's really just a justification, because he's a very bad man, with horrifying abilities, and he's only just learning what he's capable of. He needs a reason to not go to the dark, and if thats hunting down the creatures of the night and beating them to death with their own femurs?
Well, he's just the man for the job.
Stolen money. Greek Islands. Werewolves and Enforcers... what could possibly go wrong?
My Opinion: 382 pages, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Audiobook: 21.5 hours,
This a review of the audiobook edition. I picked it up before I went on a trip and overall thought it was a pretty good listen for the credit.
It’s mostly an action oriented urban fantasy story with rather light RPG elements and more of an upgrade system that grants the main character (MC) powers as he defeats enemies and takes their nanites. The upgrades are nice, but there are some long stretches between them sometimes.
The actual story has pretty good pacing, though there are a few scenes that went on for a bit longer than needed. The big focus is definitely the action with the MC being introduced into this supernatural world that gives a decently interesting spin on an explanation for werewolves, vampires, and all the other monster lore in the world. Fights are great and though some of the romantic interests felt a little forced, the relationships gave the MC enough motivation to push the story progression.
Overall, a good action oriented audiobook.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Arise: Alpha: A Dark LitRPG Adventure
Portal to Nova Roma: Venice
Book two in the breakout hit series Portal to Nova Roma is now available. With over 12 MILLION pages read on Kindle Unlimited, thousands of Kindle copies sold, and 2,700+ ratings with a 4.8 star average, make sure to pick up the sequel today!
Alexander and his growing legion have managed to escape Nova Roma and, more importantly, learned that the rest of the world may not be as ravaged by monsters as they had all thought.
Join them as they set sail for ancient Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, to try to learn more about the wider world outside Nova Roma. Along the way, they'll encounter a growing plague of deadly pirates, deceitful old merchant families out to quash any new competitors in the region, mysterious new allies, and much more.
Just as Alexander is starting to feel hope that humanity may actually survive, something happens to tear him away from everyone and everything he has come to care about. Lost, shackled, and without the majority of his skills, Alexander will be forced to confront a new side of himself, a darker, more violent side that threatens to take control of his mind and the new powers he has managed to craft for himself.
If he can't manage to resist the growing corruption of his mind, he may not just be a danger to himself and those he cares about, but may become a danger to the very world itself.
My Opinion: 630 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
A very good 2nd entry in the series. Though the start of the story is a little slower because of the time skip and longer summary of events, most of the story is quick paced action and adventure. There are some surprising progression elements as the main character (MC) and his crew expand their horizons and explore the world finding other remnants of humanity and other foes to fight. Overall, it’s a good story though some of the storylines feel a little stretched in places.
Score: 7.4 out of 10
Path of Relics: Aether Shard (The Lore Seeker Odyssey Book 1)
He entered the contest to win cash...
Now millions could die.
Random gigs and ramen noodles... that's how out-of-shape gamer Terry survives the job-starved future of 2044. Until he's accepted into the Path of Relics tournament—the most anticipated virtual reality RPG event of the decade—where he has the chance to win some real loot.
But does he have a fighting chance against the world's top Active-VR athletes?
Not to mention the ancient dungeons, puzzles, scorpion-wolves, and all-too-realistic NPCs the game world throws at him. And just how advanced is this "Portal Rig" that lets him physically experience the fantasy world as if he were transported there?
Worse, could his suspicions be true?
Are the strange and deadly malfunctions plaguing Manhattan somehow triggered by Path of Relics?
Now, outmatched and exhausted, can Terry's mysterious ability to level-up quickly and his meager martial arts skills help him avert catastrophe in the real world?
My Opinion: 449 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
I’ll start off by saying that the writing in the story isn’t bad. No technical issues. There’s a good bit of front loaded world building that was done well. I felt for the main character (MC) and the world that had been put out of work due to A.I. advancement. One in the game, combat is pretty good when it appears and there are a variety of game puzzles that stretch out the questline.
This is a story that tries to bring in too many elements and doesn’t do any poorly but also doesn’t end up doing any really well. It starts off as a competitive PvP tournament for a new VRMMO, then switches to the main character (MC) abandoning that to explore the RPG side of the MMO, then it adds in some cyberpunk A.I. affecting the real world elements. If the story had focused more on any one of those elements I think I would have enjoyed the story more. As it is, none were developed too deeply before the story shifted to the next.
Additionally, the A.I. cyberpunk element felt like a huge stretch. Like no one in the entire city wouldn’t have noticed the intrusion of a foreign A.I. in a world where A.I. have taken over everyone’s jobs? I also wished the A.I. that ends up being an antagonist were actually shown the entire story instead of just seeing the results of intrusions and supposition about what was happening. It would have made the A.I. feel more like a character I could root for or against and less of an ambiguous condition of the game.
It takes a good bit of time before the MC gets to the game and even more before there are RPG elements. There are RPG elements, leveling, and automatic stat increases that are based on real world increases in health and athleticism while playing the game. A novel element but not really put to a particularly interesting use in the end. Also there’s a game mechanic hole that if the game was based on how in shape you were, the pro gamers or people that were in shape would automatically have huge starting stats. And that’s really what most of the RPG elements felt like to me. Since there were no choices of how to apply stats or class power choices the stats and levels didn’t end up feeling like a major part of the story, just a way to show the MC had gained more game power and why he could somehow beat professional gamers. If the RPG stuff was removed from the story, it wouldn’t change much about the plot since the MC could still gain the same story powers by reading scrolls and all the A.I. stuff would unfold exactly the same.
Overall, I struggled to stay interested in the story. In the ads for the novel, the author says that it may not be for everyone and I don’t think it was for me. There are folks that will still enjoy the story, but because the RPG elements didn’t feel like they really mattered I lost interest and had to force myself to finish reading the story.
Score: 6 out of 10
Path of Relics: Aether Shard (The Lore Seeker Odyssey Book 1)
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