The gods walk again …
When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over.
After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil—and he is now its newest recruit.
The island once belonged to the Amazons, daughters of Ares, the God of War, and stood as the final bastion between the human world and the monstrosities of the Great Below. But Jacob’s arrival has awakened the old gods and disturbed the seal holding the ravaging darkness at bay.
Now, with the help of a sacred gem containing Ares’ power, Jacob must recreate the Amazonian defenders of humanity and fortify the island stronghold. And if he fails, Hades will unleash his army of the damned and the world of men will fall, giving rise to an age of walking nightmares.
My Opinion: 345 pages, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The first 14% of the story is a little rough. It’s very military action oriented but once you get past that and into the RPG game mechanic stuff, the novel really picks up. The novel then starts to feel like a mix of the Wrath of the Titans (1981), Wonder Woman, God of War, and a good RTS game.
This greek mythology themed LitRPG story tries to balance an action adventure story with city building, RPG leveling, crafting, and resource management.
There are great battles between Amazonian women against monsters sent by Hades himself with the stakes being no less than mankind's survival. The action combat is definitely a highlight of the novel.
The RPG leveling of the main character is detailed. There are multiple graphics devoted to showing the three skill trees that are available to the main character (MC) and there are multiple other game mechanic options to show progression for him and the Amazonians. The only tiny complaint here would be that some of the levels seem to come a bit easy for the MC. But that may be because, outside the few character sheets, no XP is shown gained for killing monsters, crafting, or completing quests. That lack of detail in the narrative, along with no levels for monsters, is a missed chance to tell the reader how powerful/difficult the monsters are relative to the MC who has a level.
The RTS aspects, like creating Amazonians, repairing and upgrading buildings, crafting weapons, and collecting and managing special resources is a nice addition to the story. It provides a great break from the action and adds another layer of interest for litRPG readers. Though, again, occasionally there are a lack of consistency in this resource management. Sometimes the resources used are detailed in clear numbers. Making an Amazonian general for example, costs 3-4 divine essence points. On another occasion, the MC magically plants and grows multiple fields of crops, and summons herds of cows and chickens, all for the vaguely defined cost of ‘some divine essence and a splash of Thymos Crystals’.
These tiny inconsistencies don’t take away much, if anything, from the enjoyment of the story and are likely just a result of two authors combining their work. But it does reflect the less RPG gameness, especially in the combat scenes, of this story compared to Viridian Gate Online.
Still, this is a good story with plenty of numbers and detailed information to satisfy most LitRPG fans. The action, though less game mechanic detailed, is fast paced and thrilling. Especially the last 15% of the story. Woah, those battles are great and a bit over the top in a God of War kind of way.
Overall, I had a good time reading the story and personally loved the Mountain Dew jokes.
Score: 7 out of 10
War God's Mantle: Ascension: A litRPG Adventure (The War God Saga Book 1)