The Shadow has taken control, and Kingdom of Heaven's last hope has found himself trapped somewhere else entirely.
After falling victim of the evil lord Shadow's manipulations, college dropout turned reluctant gaming hero Iron Jack has been trapped in the much fabled but seldom visited lower levels of what was once his favorite video game.
In a dangerous world where the rules are different and nothing is as it seems, Iron Jack must look for a way back to the world he's sworn to protect and the people he's come to care about, including the hottest angel chick in any realm,
When he finds his old crew, the Avenging Angels there, he thinks he's got a leg up on the Shadow and his dastardly plans, but Iron Jack will soon find that things aren't as simple as he hoped, and even a world as complicated as Kingdom of Heaven has a dark underbelly.
Welcome to Hell, Iron Jack. Hope you survive the experience.
My Opinion: 306 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
There’s a nice summary of the events of book 1. It reminds you how the MC was tricked into being pushed into lower levels of world, essentially hell. There, he’s given the simple choice. Kill a member of your old guild and go back to the surface or don’t and stay stuck there in hell as the surface is taken over by the Shadow.
Most of the story is a series of events in which the MC tries to rescue his guild mates so they can go back to the surface. The RPG mechanics still exist in the story but they’re severely muted and limited to the main character's progression. It’s all waved away as a product of the level they're on.
A good portion of the plot feels forced. Everything from the overly antagonistic female member of the guild Glitter, to why the MC just can’t tell his guild mates how he’s stuck in the game world, to the retconning done to advance the plot and give the MC the ability to absorb Banshee powers. Even the plot twists at the end feel forced.
What the story does do well is the improve the cast of the story. With the addition of the MC’s guildmates, the story just feels more fleshed out. There’s more backstory to appreciate what kind of person the MC is and the banter between characters is nicely done.
Overall, it’s an ok story that feels very forced alot of the times and drops a good bit of the RPG mechanics.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Escape from Hell: A LITRPG Adventure (Kingdom of Heaven Book 2