A second chance at life on a new world.
Morgan used to be a pretty normal guy. He went to college by day and played online games by night, leading his guild into new conquests—until he got hit by a car, and a dude wearing a wetsuit appeared in front of him. The man offered him a new chance at life in a world that he had created, a world with similar rules to the games that Morgan loved to play. There is the promise of great rewards and power, he says, if Morgan manages to complete the Tower of Power. Stupid name, I know.
Morgan didn’t usually trust strangers who seem to have god complexes, but he was in a pinch. There’s a crazy-looking dude saying that he is technically not a god on one end of the tunnel, and a blinding light on the other end—and he was really not digging the light.
So he accepted the offer from the surfer god-not-god.
Getting dropped into a strange new world with no idea what the rules are was not something that Morgan was a fan of; and in this strange world, it seems like everything is out to eat his face. It was a good thing, then, that he stumbled onto two half-elf twins willing to help him get the hang of this strange new world.
Now, all he needs to do is survive long enough to reach this Tower.
My Opinion: 286 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
While initially skeptical of the novel with its Delvers LLC premise of a man that’s transported to a world with RPG mechanics to aid in some experimental testing, the novel proves to be sort of original and definitely entertaining. I say ‘sort of’ because every author is inspired by others and I can see influences from multiple popular LitRPG novels here. The premise from Delvers, the hot redhead companion and dungeon diving, and the town building/imminent raid aspect from Greystone Chronicles. However, the author pulls these aspects together and combines them with a unique sense of humor, a few original game mechanics, an unusual class for the MC to make something new-ish.
While most of the game mechanics are standard D&D stuff, there is the inclusion of multiclassing and an inherent need to kill monsters and consume a special crystal they drop to extend an adventurer’s (aspect’s) life. This adds a little variety and keeps the reader interested in how the classes develop. There’s lots of information that the author provides about all the game aspects and it’s relatively crunchy and thorough.
On the story side, it’s pretty simple. It’s a transported to fantasy game world story, a dungeon dive, and then kingdom building story. There’s good action and adventure, RPG progress, and town building.
Minor gripes would include a semi-forced relationship that feels like it will turn harem in book 2, and a unique sense of humor that won’t land with everyone. Additionally, for some reason in the middle of the story, the main character (MC) suddenly turns whiney and starts acting like a petulant child, even going so far as to start yelling randomly when he doesn’t get to get his revenge against someone that wronged him. It may be an attempt at humor that I don’t get, but was a little odd and off putting. Thankfully, it’s mostly isolated to that section.
Overall, this is will feel familiar to LitRPG readers but it’s still an entertaining and crunchy LitRPG story that many people will enjoy.
7.3 out of 10