The reason that Oric Rune became a Player Killer continues to loom at the back of his mind as he makes his way north with Sam Raid and Wolf. All is well until an ambush throws a wrench in their plans, forcing Oric to come to grips with his digital existence, and the fragile lives of those closest to him. With the Red Plague spreading, and the denizens of Unigaea becoming increasingly hostile, Oric must decide if he should go after those who have ambushed and betrayed him, continue his personal quest to rid Unigaea of the Drachma Killers, or ride north to the Rune Lands and address the Red Plague head on. Joining Oric and Wolf this time around are the mysterious Deathdale, a scholarly giant named Lothar, and a powerful Hourglass Mage, whose control over the game-time continuum may be the key to saving Unigaea. Betrayal, vengeance, unspeakable calamity. The second installment of the Last Warrior trilogy offers an unforgettable journey through a dark fantasy world filled with LitRPG elements, intense action, humor, and an ending you won’t see coming.
My Opinion: 298 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Full Disclosure: The author sent me an early copy for review. I purchased it when it was released.
If you loved book 1 in this series, you might like book 2. It has the same sex jokes and there’s loads of action and adventure. Unfortunately for me, it also felt like you could skip most of the novel. There’s a loss of urgency that came at the end of book 1 and there’s no resolution of any plot points established.
At the end of book 1 the big reveal was that there’s a huge threat to the entire world of Unigaea, the source code bomb. It was very urgent that Oric, Wolf, and his group deal with it as soon as possible. There was great urgency!
Book 2 opens up with Oric, Wolf, and Sam on a leisurely raft trip towards a cabin to meetup with a team member. There’s a magic wand that gets waved and the MC gets gifted with 5 new levels and several new powers he didn’t earn. From there most of the story is a meandering journey towards the Drachma Killers in an effort to destroy them like the main character, Oric, promised in book 1. However, even that plot thread isn’t resolved in this book. Instead, it’s a series of unrelated adventures that barely move along the plot. The adventures are funny and very actiony but they feel like filler compared to book 1.
I had a hard time making an emotional investment in book 1 and had an even more difficult time with book 2. The only character I cared about in book 2 was Wolf and if you got to the end of this book you know how that turned out. :(
Overall, it’s still a fine action-adventure story. There’s plenty of jokes and most of them land. However, the novel seemed to meander and you can likely skip the entire thing and go directly to book 3 without missing much plot development.
Score: 6 out of 10