J.A. Hunter

Viridian Gate Online: Darkling Siege (The Viridian Gate Archives Book 7)

Not even gods are safe from the power of the fabled Doom-Forged weapon.

Grim Jack didn’t set out to be the leader of Eldgard’s united armies, but with dungeons falling one by one and hordes of Vogthar pouring into the material plane, it’s up to him to save both citizens and travelers from digital destruction.

His doomsday weapon will take him straight into the heart of Morsheim, but once there, even the combined might of the Empire and the Crimson Alliance might not be enough. He’ll have to uncover secrets buried for millennia just to get within striking distance of a death god gone mad, and the choices he’ll make will change him and the world forever…

War God's Mantle: Underworld (The War God Saga Book 3)

A Marine turned Greek God. An Army of Beautiful Amazons. One Final Battle against Death Itself.

Jacob Merely has secured the ultimate weapon against evil, the Crystal Scythe, and now it’s time for him to bring the fight to Hades himself.

Unfortunately, Earl Necro Earl and his undead forces stand in the way, so if Jacob is going to defeat the god of death, he’s going to have to take out Earl first. Knocking Earl’s teeth into the back of his throat? Yeah, Jacob is totally okay with that.

And when a mysterious new woman arrives unexpectedly at their gates with no memory of who she is—but seems to know of a secret passageway into the heart of the Temple of Hades—Jacob finally has the last piece of the puzzle. But with every new battle won, Jacob is tempted to give into the rage and arrogance that consumed Ares.

Can Jacob resist the temptation to become a total douchebag? Can he and his Amazons unravel the mystery behind the ancient Olympian War and finish a battle as old as time itself? And what new demons does Hades have to throw against the War God?

Continue reading War God’s Mantle by James A. Hunter, author of Rogue Dungeon and the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online, and Aaron Crash, author of the bestselling American Dragons series.

Rogue Dungeon: A litRPG Adventure (The Rogue Dungeon Book 1)

Roark von Graf—hedge mage and lesser noble of Traisbin—is one of only a handful of Freedom fighters left, and he knows the Resistance’s days are numbered. Unless they do something drastic…

But when a daring plan to unseat the Tyrant King goes awry, Roark finds himself on the run through an interdimensional portal, which strands him in a very unexpected location: an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. He can’t log out, his magic is on the fritz, and worst of all, he’s not even human. He’s a low-class, run-of-the-mill Dungeon monster. Some disgusting, blue-skinned creature called a Troll. At least there’s one small silver lining—Roark managed to grab a powerful magic artifact on his way through the portal, and with it he might just be able to save his world after all.

Unless, of course, the Tyrant King gets to him first …

From James A. Hunter, author of the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online, and eden Hudson, author of Legend of the Treesinger and the Jubal Van Zandt Series, comes an exciting new litRPG, dungeon-core adventure you won’t want to put down!

War God's Mantle: Descent: A litRPG Harem Adventure (The War God Saga Book 2)

A Marine turned Greek God. An army of beautiful Amazons. An infernal enemy out to burn the world down.

It’s been three weeks since Jacob Merely crash-landed on the mythical island of Lycastia, and the newly minted War God finally has things under control. He’s grown into his power, built his city, and earned the respect of his gorgeous, hard-charging Amazons.

He’s not in the clear yet, though. Hades still lives, and the mystical sigil holding him at bay is rapidly failing. Worse, a horde of new enemies is battering Lycastia’s gates daily, slowly grinding down Jacob’s forces. But Jacob has a plan to get the upper hand. He’s learned about a legendary weapon buried in a prehistoric world deep in the bowels of the island. A weapon with the power to kill even gods. If he can defeat the weapon’s primordial guardians and subdue an exiled Titan, he might just be able to save the world.

But that’s an awfully big if …

Viridian Gate Online: The Lich Priest: A litRPG Adventure (The Viridian Gate Archives Book 5)

The Vogthar Horde has come, and they bring real death with them. Not even players are safe from the power of Malware Blades …

Worse, the Realm of Order, dominion of the Overmind Sophia, is in danger—slowly being corrupted by an ancient evil, the Lich Priest. And if he is successful, it could mean the end of Sophia and the downfall of the Crimson Alliance. Grim Jack never thought he’d find himself siding with the Empire, but now that this terrible new threat has arrived, making friends of old enemies may be the only way to survive.

War God's Mantle: Ascension: A litRPG Adventure (The War God Saga Book 1)

The gods walk again …

When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over.

After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil—and he is now its newest recruit.

The island once belonged to the Amazons, daughters of Ares, the God of War, and stood as the final bastion between the human world and the monstrosities of the Great Below. But Jacob’s arrival has awakened the old gods and disturbed the seal holding the ravaging darkness at bay.

Now, with the help of a sacred gem containing Ares’ power, Jacob must recreate the Amazonian defenders of humanity and fortify the island stronghold. And if he fails, Hades will unleash his army of the damned and the world of men will fall, giving rise to an age of walking nightmares.

Viridian Gate Online: Imperial Legion (The Viridian Gate Archives Book 4)

December, 2042

The Imperial Legion marches, and war looms on the horizon ...

Jack Mitchel and his misfit crew of rebels never wanted a fight with the Empire, but the time for diplomacy has passed.

Ruthless tech-genius Robert Osmark is coming, and trailing behind him is a vast army determined to wipe the Crimson Alliance from the face of Eldgard. Impossibly, Jack has united the warring Murk Elf clans under his banner, but even with their aid, the Alliance is still badly outnumbered, and Osmark has some nasty tricks up his sleeves.

And while the long-awaited battle unfolds, an ancient evil stirs in the heart of Viridian Gate Online—one that will change the game forever.

The Artificer: A Viridian Gate Online Novel (The Imperial Initiative DLC 1)

October, 2042

In two weeks, the world will die, murdered by a nine-mile-wide, extinction-level asteroid.

And Robert Osmark—billionaire and savvy tech-genius—couldn’t be readier for the fiery apocalypse.

Unlike the shortsighted masses, he’s been diligently preparing for this day from the moment the asteroid first appeared. Through his relentless efforts, digital salvation now awaits anyone bold enough to take the leap and permanently transition into the brand-new, ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. And Robert Osmark will lead this new world he has created.

But even with every advantage skewed in his favor, Osmark faces powerful opposition. A rogue faction of global elites led by US Senator Sizemore isn’t content to merely survive the apocalypse. They have their sights set much higher, and are recruiting dangerous allies, undercutting Robert’s efforts at every turn, and hiring VGO’s most deadly assassins to get what they want. To win, Osmark will need to viciously crush all opposition before his plans turn to ash.

Viridian Gate Online: The Jade Lord (VGO book 3)

November, 2042

It’s been a busy month for thirty-two-year-old Jack Mitchel:

Three weeks ago, he died.

Two weeks ago, he founded the first Faction in the ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online.

A week and a half ago the world ended, destroyed by a cataclysmic asteroid.

Seven days ago, he conquered the Imperial city of Rowanheath, bringing all of Eldgard to the brink of war.

Though Jack’s Faction, the Crimson Alliance, has a tenuous truce with tech genius and Imperial lord, Robert Osmark, Jack knows it can’t last. Osmark is devious and power hungry, and it’s only a matter of time before he sends his forces to wipe Jack and his underdog crew off the map for good.

If Jack hopes to survive another month inside of VGO, he must find a way to beat Osmark and his army of bloodthirsty thugs, and a new quest—the Path of the Jade Lord—may be just the ticket. But this quest will be far harder than anything Jack’s faced before, pushing him to his mental, physical, and moral limits. And if Jack isn’t careful, his quest to defeat Osmark and the Empire may end up turning him into the despot he’s been fighting against.

 

My Opinion: 274 pages, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited

This is a fun action filled novel, that took some turns that were completely unexpected. The scale of the story has been knocked back a notch. With the exception of the very beginning of the story, there’s no faction vs faction fighting. Instead, it focuses on the quest for the Jade Lord, a rare quest line that asks Jack to find three artifacts scattered in the world. If he succeeds he’ll unite the entire marsh region of the game under the banner of the Crimson Alliance. Which means more cities, people, and resources for the faction.

However, this quest is so challenging that a single respawn means failure. It has a component called, Death Head. Which I thought raised the stakes of the story nicely. Features of ‘Death Head’ quest: If the quester dies, he fails and can’t repeat the quest. Additionally, the quest has a time limit, and the quester becomes progressively weaker as time goes on. However, this type of super hard quest has the potential to change the balance of power in the game world.

In addition to the many action scenes, there’s also a bit of kingdom building, crafting, pet raising, a even an Ocean’s Eleven style heist. However, the thing I liked the most was that Grim Jack grew a pair by the end of the story and decided what kind of man he’s going to be and just how far he’s willing to go to protect his friends and faction. It’s a good story.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Viridian Gate Online: The Jade Lord (VGO book 3) (June 8th)

http://amzn.to/2rFEPIG

Viridian Gate Online: Crimson Alliance

Three days ago, Jack Mitchel saved his life. By dying.

He dodged a world-ending bullet—in the form of an extinction-level asteroid cannonballing toward Earth—by successfully uploading his mind into the brand-new, ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. Unfortunately, he’s also stumbled headlong into a secret conspiracy that will transform V.G.O. into a new feudal dark age.

Jack expected to live out his new fantasy life in peace, but now he and his misfit crew of rebels are the only ones preventing a tyrant emperor and his regime from taking power. Thankfully, everything isn’t quite as hopeless as it seems—Jack has a plan. Sort of. With only a handful of supporters, he’s going to get the jump on the bloodthirsty empire by snatching one of their key cities right from underneath their noses. In order to pull off the impossible, however, Jack’s going to have to develop his formidable Shadowmancer powers, raid some ridiculous dungeons, and make some shady allies—allies who may be more dangerous than the empire itself.

Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm

If I had to describe Viridian Gate Online in one sentence it would be: A trapped in the game story with a hint of political intrigue. 

The story doesn’t spend much time in the ‘real world’ since it’s going to be destroyed by an asteroid. Instead it jumps right into Viridian Gate Online where Jack plans to upload his mind instead of dying on earth. When Jack or “Grim Jack” as his game character is called, logs into the game, he finds himself in a dungeon and has to escape with sneaky thief named cutter. Along the way he tries to save an old woman and is sent on a difficult game quest that will eventually help him establish his character class.