Vol has brought the people of Efftin to a new place they can build upon and protect. A new place they can call home. It’s a place others can join them in their freedom of oppression. With this new place to live, Vol understands the responsibility he has to protect those that reside there. But in Herst, if you wish to keep anything you must be willing to fight to hold onto it. What challenges will he face, and will he be strong enough to resist the unknown threats that he will encounter.
My Opinion: 428 pages, $4.99, Not Available on Kindle Unlimited
I almost like the novel but there were several things that held me back from getting there.
First, no question that it’s LitRPG. All the same game mechanics are carried over from book 1 and there are additional crafting and kingdom building mechanics which are handled well. I enjoyed the character development path the main character (MC) goes through and the intelligent use of his magic skill. Combat is also pretty good when it happens.
However, there are several things that made it challenging for me to get into. One, it had been almost 6 months since I read book 1 and there was little to no recapp of that novel. So I spent the first part of book 2 trying to remember who everyone is. The author does a decent enough job of giving names, descriptions, and sort of contextually saying who everyone is, but it took a while to recall relationships or plot. Additionally, the first part of the novel is full on kingdom building and there’s no action till the story is almost at the 20% mark. Also, outside of combat, there never seemed to be any real challenges for the MC or his plans. There are some good fights that are challenging but that’s almost the only type of conflict. For example, when the MC wants to free some slaves, he just travels to where he wants to go, is opposed by no one and just happens to find the right groups and funding to help him advance his goals. There are minor quests that he has to advance, but no serious struggles for any of the MCs goals, which left me feeling like his successes meant less. Lastly, the added harem aspect feels a little forced. Again, it may feel that way because it took so long for me to even recall all the female characters that end up in the harem, but I don’t recall that being an aspect of book 1 at all. Also, the harem thing doesn’t add anything to the story and in part feels like a trend that is being chased.
Score: 6 out of 10