On the day the System came to Earth, Solomon Gragg had to cut off his own hand. Then things got rough.
The arrival of the System disabled all modern technology in an instant. It exposed humanity to alien life forms for the first time. Society will never be the same after we discovered just how little we knew about the true inner workings of the universe.
Solomon just wants to kill all the invaders trying to take what’s his.
My Opinion: 168 pages, $0.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
I thought the setup for the RPG apocalypse was a little bumpy and the first fights and the loss of his hand for a maxed out skill was a bit wand wavy. It hands the MC a big stack of grid points to develop powers he has no idea if he'll use.
However, once the MC gets to the dungeon the story seems to find its rhythm. Fight monsters, see flaws in combat or equipment, create/find solutions, kill more monsters to gain grid points. The MC shows his fallibility and willingness to experiment and adapt. It gave the reader something to root for.
Game mechanics are familiar: stats, skills, abilities, upgrade points aka grid points, a system store. The only unique mechanic was the grid system in which points needed to be spent to unlock specializations and powers, which led to further specialized development paths. It made the MC have to think about which paths to pursue with his limited grid points gained from increasing skills or killing monsters.
Overall, the story is fairly decent and straightforward dungeon dive more than an RPG apocalypse story. But that may shift in the future once the MC meets other humans or visits a city.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Solomon's Crucible: A LitRPG Apocalypse Begins (Solomon's Crucible Book One)