Two wingless, rock-spitting dragons. Dozens of warmongering ogres. Hundreds of dynamite-wielding gnomes.
And one normal guy in the middle of it all.
Bad mornings. We've all had 'em. But what if you woke up in a post-apocalyptic land filled with wizards, dragons, and ogres? Not only that, but you woke up as a prisoner of a clan of mages who don’t even speak your language? What if these guys expected you to know magic, but left you to figure out for yourself how to cast it?
These are the problems Isaac must solve. And what's he going to do when death knocks on his door?
He's going to blast a fireball through the letterbox and send death running.
But first...he just needs to learn how to even cast a fireball.
Follow his journey through a land filled with creatures that want to kill him, and watch as he refuses to let them. Accompany him into a land of mystery and danger, where life is tough and learning spells and skills takes work. A land where Isaac is determined to stop being the prey and become the predator.
This is his journey to make allies and friends in this new world. A journey through battles against slaver ogres and wingless dragons and gnome dictators. Through experimentation and adaptation, where he learns that killing one enemy helps him against the next. It’s also his journey to find a warm, comfy bed.
This is the tale of a someone who used to be a normal guy. It's Isaac’s tale of adapting to a world where everything is worth killing.
My Opinion: 502 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is a very light LitRPG story that feels more like straight portal fiction early in the story. Much of the first 25% of the novel feels more like a goblin language lesson, with the main character (MC) trying to learn the language of the green people that saved him from the wild. It’s something that becomes important as he learns their magic and eventually makes it his own. But it also makes that first quarter of the story a little tedious as he’s essentially talking to himself the entire time. After that first quarter of the story and a good months time jump into the future, the goblins start speaking broken english, or more accurately, the MC automatically translates their speech. It’s really here that the story gets interesting as the MC finally knows enough to experiment with their magic system, learn the rules, and even the culture of the local tribes. From there on its a cycle of training, magical practice, and a bit of action now and then as the tribe faces several threats.
The progression in power is denoted by notifications and there is a clear magic system but that aspect is really minor and could be removed from the story completely with little or no impact on the story. There is sometimes 10-15% of the story that passes without any kind of notification. But it does exist and is consistent, so it’s very light LitRPG.
The magic system on the other hand was interesting and well thought out. There were clear rules that the MC worked out through experimentation and intelligent deduction. I think this is the part many readers will enjoy the most.
Overall, I eventually liked the story. Once it got past the first 25% and the MC could actually talk to other people, there was some very interesting world building. Sometimes very dark, but interesting. But I did have to push through that first part and much of the story felt very slice of life with the reader just following along as the MC went through life. Yes, there are conflicts in the story and a bit of action now and again, but the plot meandered a bit. Still, more enjoyable than not.
Score: 7.2 out of 10
Everything is Worth Killing: Isaac's Tale (An Apocalyptic LitRPG)