A paramedic turned arcane warrior.
An unforgiving world that weeds out the weak.
A secret that will bring the Gods to their knees.
James has no idea why he was ripped from his life as a paramedic and transported to a strange new world with rules like those of a video game. But he knows he has to adapt quickly, as ending up in a spider’s belly was never high on his to-do list
With only a vague quest, a mysterious brand, and promises of help from a cantankerous old lady to guide him, James must level up into the warrior this strange, yet beautiful world so desperately needs. New allies join him on his journey, as they venture to the Dwarven City high in the Crimson Mountains in pursuit of the first clue.
Can James figure out the rules of this land in time to save it from its prophecy? Or will the dark secrets contained in his mysterious brand consume him?
My Opinion: 331 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full Disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
A slice of life, transported to a fantasy RPG world story.
The story feels like someone's first novel. In the version I got, there were a few formatting issues, occasional technical writing errors, and story and progression details weren’t properly tracked for consistency. Like the bridges that are part of the directions given to a location but when the main character (MC) eventually gets there, there are no bridges in the city, or the MC getting stat gains but them not showing the next time you see a character sheet. Also, there were some sudden shifts in the story and real wand wavy moments in the mid and end show the story is something someone wrote for fun over a period of time. Now that doesn't mean the story isn't entertaining, just that it is more of a slice of life story.
You follow the MC as he gets sent to the fantasy RPG world, fights monsters, harvests parts, learns spells and skills, and explores and learns about the world. There's a subplot about him completing a quest with the hope of being sent home, but it's just a way to get him to explore.
About 33% into the story it shifts from casual exploration and training to more intense scenarios and shifts again abruptly towards the 60%. It honestly felt like the author got a little bored with the casual start and wanted to try a more serious plot chase or he just had story points he wanted to hit and kinda rushed his character to get there. I'll admit the tension increased but the shift also felt a bit random.
One of the main things that sets the story apart in a positive way would be the detailed description of anatomy, healing, and medicine in the story. It shows the authors medical knowledge and does add something to the story when precise description of monster anatomy is used to harvest monster parts, or human anatomy is used to describe how a broken rib and punctured lung is healed. There's also a sense of humor that pokes fun at LitRPG and RPG tropes. But the gamer mentality and fun of RPG playing comes through well.
The RPG mechanics are fairly standard. Levels, XP, classes, skills, notifications. The MC gets an early boost to get him to level 10. While that rapid level gain was supposed to end there, the author just shifts to letting the MC beat much higher level monsters/enemies to continue the MCs rapid leveling. There are a few classes that are neat, though how the MC gets them is a bit wand wavy.
One of the things that lessened my enjoyment of the story were some seriously wand wavy moments towards the end. With the MC facing enemies and traps 30 times his level, but still coming out alive and virtually unharmed. Or serious consequences for bad decisions that were said to be permanent (which I liked), then magically erased (which disappointed me).
Overall, I have a good enough time reading the story, especially liking the casual tone of the first ⅓ of the novel. It does have some mid and late story issues, but distinguishes itself by adding in realistic anatomy and medical knowledge to healing and monster harvesting.
Score: 7.2 out of 10
Fragment of Divinity: A Litrpg Adventure (Defying Divinity Book 1)