A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more.
These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with Classes, magic and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.
The System Apocalypse world was first introduced in 'Life in the North' and is a LitRPG science fiction and fantasy post-apocalyptic work that features monsters, science fiction technology, character sheets, supernatural races and ancient myths in one heady, LitRPG brew.
Stories and writers featured in this anthology include:
Craig Hamilton - "Hunting Monsters" has our protagonist doing what he does best. Finding those who would exploit the System and the people within. Except this time, there are even more complications than normal.
Alexis Keane - "Tooth and Claw" is a heart-warming tale of friendship that knows no bounds of race or distance.
Ix Phoen - "Rebel Within" tells a tale of hardship in South America, where the monsters are not always the ones outside the walls.
Tao Wong – “Debts & Dances” covers the arrival of the System from the perspective of our favorite Truinnar Lord.
R.K. Billiau – “Phoenix Rising” covers an unconventional hero, one whose mind is slipping from him before the apocalypse. Will the apocalypse be his salvation? Or doom?
L.A. Batt - “Overture to Obliteration” brings us to far-off New Zealand to glimpse the wreckage the System has wrought.
My Opinion: 378 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Anthologies are always a mixed bag. You may love some of the short stories but hate others. They’re a great chance to see new works from authors though. I enjoy them because they have the potential to be delightful little story nuggets. This is definitely one of the best LitRPG short story collections I’ve read. Part of that is due to the quality of writing, but another part is that the RPG world these stories are set in is a very flexible world.
Overall Score: 7.7 out of 10
Intermissions 1-7
These little intermissions take place between each short story and I thought they were an interesting way to spread a short story through the anthology. Each intermission acknowledges the short stories around it, creating a cohesion to the anthology. Very nicely done.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Hunting Monsters by Craig Hamilton
The best story in the anthology for me. It’s a great story about a bounty hunter that survives the System Apocalypse and is on the trail of a System powered serial killer. It’s one of the few stories I’ve read that combines the detective genre with LitRPG well.
Score: 8 out of 10
Tooth and Claw by Alexis Keane
This is an interesting story about a dog who gets system powers and tries to find his human. The story is a bit longer than it needs to be, but nice action, and it's a dogs POV all the way through.
Score:7.4 out of 10
Debts and Dances by Tao Wong
A short story about Lord Roxley a day before the system is established on earth. Dances and dangers abound as he makes plans to stake a claim on earth. The story has a familiar character that it was nice to learn more about. It ties perfectly with the main series without spoiling anything.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Rebellion Within by IX Phoen
It was interesting to have a non-binary main character and a story that dealt with the predujeces of the community and those seeking to take advantage of him. I thought it was most interesting when it stuck to that plot. It felt the most genuine then. However, much of the story meanders away from that. For a short story, it's a bit too slice of life.
Score: 6 out of 10
Overture to Oblivion by L.A. Batt
This short story was really good stuff. It’s about the System Apocalypse in New Zealand from a Māori perspective. Good cultural development, clear and concise background stories, unique classes and powers, and good action. I enjoyed it a lot.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Phoenix Rising by R.K. Billiau
This was a mixed one for me. The story is about the start of the System Apocalypse for a middle aged man with dementia. He gets bound to a phoenix who gives him a class that lets him be reborn. So if he's about to die he can instead be reborn with the ability using his memory to form a new body. It ends up tuning the MC into teen and younger version of himself with little connection to his later life. It was a neat premise but got a little annoying since I had to get to know the MC again and again as he relearned about the system and what happened to his family. The action was ok, but it also wasn't the focus of the story. Still, it was an entertaining story.
Score: 7.1 out of 10
Overall Score: 7.7 out of 10