Twenty-five-year-old janitor turned Professional Gamer, John is so good at the latest virtual reality fantasy game that he attracts the attention of an imprisoned undead magical beast while competing in the Kingdoms & Valor World Championship. Murdered in his gaming chair and summoned to another world full of magic and wonder, John is given a choice: inherit the beast’s power and work to free it, or die...
Accepting the undead creature’s power and a second chance at life, John is given a new name: Grim. As a new man with the ability to use Death Magic, Grim sets off into the Ashen Plane to fulfill his quest. Join him as he befriends a mutated orc, fights an army of gnolls, and works to free his patron in this first book of the LitRPG series, The Ashen Plane.
My Opinion: 311 pages, $2.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The beginning is the hardest to get through. Not because it's poorly written but because the setup of the story feels forced and a bit slow. The first bit, a battle between gods where our main one loses and sees a chance for a long term play, the part reader would get as a sample, feels straight fantasy and isn't really needed for the narrative. I read it and wasn't really interested in the story.
I actually put the book down and only weeks later came back to it. Only after that and an ok setup for the main character (MC) as a gamer did the story become interesting.
Even the first section where the MC is in the RPG world and gets his class and the crunchy stuff occurs is a bit dry. Once on the new world he gets an Orc life debt companion, which felt a bit forced since in later parts of the story it’s revealed there are major tribal taboos against dark magic and soul magic, of which the MC is a user. There are parts of the setup of the story that give clear goals for the series and this story, but they come off as a little forced.
Yet, the story is good when it stops trying to force things. There's good world building and it just takes time, about 30-40% or so, for the story to find its pacing and natural flow. From there it's a bit more slice of life with the MC training and going on some quests, gaining power to deal with the novel goals. The end oddly felt like it was a pause more than a fleshed out conclusion to a story arc.
Still overall, it's an ok story. It has solid writing and is a good try at creating some characters with unique classes. While there is standard questing and monster killing, there are also some good funny moments and good characters. Nothing bad about it. Nothing particularly amazing.
Score: 7.2 out of 10