LitRPG Podcast 180 - All Trades: Master of None, Eight-Bit Bastards Level 2, Gloominess +1, Extension, Eldritch Night, The Time Master
LitRPG Podcast 180 - All Trades: Master of None, Eight-Bit Bastards Level 2, Gloominess +1, Extension, Eldritch Night, The Time Master
July 18th, 2019
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 180 of the LitRPG podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. I have 6 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
All Trades Book 1: Master of None (07:06)
Didn’t think it was LitRPG when I first saw it, but glad I gave it a chance. Good crafting and resource management aspects.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Eight-Bit Bastards: Level Two (Eight Bit Bastards Book 2) (10:02)
Good retro gaming jokes and references but loses me as it loses meaningful RPG progression.
Score: 6 out of 10
Gloominess +1: Gleam of Darkness. A LitRPG Adventure: Book 1 (13:47)
Nice try for a dark story, but bad dialogue and uninteresting adventures made this boring.
Score: 5 out of 10
Extension (Game World Book 1) (16:45)
Bad dialogue, bad action descriptions, maybe just a bad translation
Score: 4 out of 10
Eldritch Night: A Post-Apocalyptic Gamelit Adventure (The Dark Hierophant Saga Book 1) (19:51)
A good start that peters out on the RPG side mid and late story. Good if you like Eldritch horror.
Score: 6 out of 10
The Time Master (Interworld Network Book I): LitRPG Series (25:08)
Real life RPG story with time rewind powers. Good but not as good as I hoped it would be.
Score: 7.2 out of 10
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
Tao Wong extends submission date for System Apocalypse anthology until he gets at least two more submissions. He also updated the rules just for clarity sake.
https://www.mylifemytao.com/short-story-anthology-update-re-opening/
Out Now!
Dark: Fearless Pioneer (Dark: Fearless Pioneer LitRPG book 1)
Skyflare (Rise To Omniscience Book 3)
Beast Queen: A LitRPG/GameLit Action Adventure (Monster Slayer Online Book 2)
*Sequel to the Goblin King*
Arcane Kingdom Online: The Fallen City (A LitRPG Adventure, Book 3)
*Re-published, with new editing, fixed plot holes, and new cover art, published under the author directly.*
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Web of Worlds: Reality Benders Series, Book 4
Upcoming LitRPG:
Controlling The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 2) (July 19th, 2019)
The Other Core: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 5) (July 19th, 2019)
Renegade (Nova Online #2) — A LitRPG Series (July 21st, 2018)
Cannibal. Demon of the Mind. A Post-Apocalyptic Survival LitRPG Series (July 23rd, 2019)
Quest for Vengeance: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 1) (July 24th, 2019)
The Realm Between: Magic School: A LitRPG Saga (Book 4) (July 25th, 2019)
Raze (The Completionist Chronicles Book 4)
(July 26th, 2019)
Viridian Gate Online: Inquisitor's Foil (The Illusionist Book 3) (July 30th, 2019)
Sky Realms Online: Grayhold: A LitRPG Adventure
(July 30th, 2019)
Imprisoned Online: Gaming the System (A LitRPG Adventure Book 1) (July 31st, 2109)
Shade's First Rule (Divine Apostasy Book 1) (Aug. 1st, 2019)
Varnoth: The Black Blade: Book One: (A LitRPG Story) (Aug. 1st, 2019)
Hero GO! (Champion is Playing Book #3) LitRPG Series (Aug. 5th, 2019)
Shadow Sun Expansion: Shadow Sun Book Two (Aug. 5th, 2019)
Invasion, book 1: A Second Chance (Aug. 8th, 2019)
Eden's Gate: The Ascent: A LitRPG Adventure (Aug. 10th, 2019)
Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains (Underdog Book 1): LitRPG Series (Aug. 12th, 2019)
Scamps & Scoundrels: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (The Bad Guys Book 1) (Aug. 15th, 2019)
Dragon Heart: Iron Will. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 2 (Aug. 22nd, 2019)
A Check for a Billion (Galactogon Book #3): LitRPG Series (Aug. 30th, 2019)
Zones of Alacria: The Dragon Gate: Epic GameLit / LitRPG (The Experimental Alchemist Book 1) (Aug. 31st, 2019)
First Song 2 (Aug 2019)
A Game of Villains (World of Karik Book #1) Dystopian LitRPG Series (Sept. 2nd, 2019)
Cliffs of Eldimar: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (Kazaran Online: Cerulean Server Book 2) (Sept. 6th, 2019)
Blood of Fate (World 99 Book #1): LitRPG Wuxia Series (Sept. 9th, 2019)
Gloominess +2: Congregation. A LitRPG Adventure: Book 2 (Sept. 10th, 2019)
Bibliomancer: A Completionist Chronicles Series (Wolfman Warlock Book 1) (Sept. 17th, 2019)
*Co-Author from Dakota Krout and James Hunter*
Onto New Releases and Reviews
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
(Picture 1)
All Trades Book 1: Master of None
Alex is broke. He's pretty much always been broke. A misspent youth led to mistakes which led to convictions and plea deals. No career, no education, no hope.
Now he has a chance to make things right for him and his family when the newest immersive MMO comes with the ability to convert money earned in the game into real currency. Well, it's cryptocurrency but that's real-ish, right? Seeing an opportunity, Alex joins The Realms as Jack Alltrades, looking to make money any way he can. He may be a Master of None, but he's determined to learn every way possible to make money and turn his life around. Along the way, he'll find answers to important questions like:
Can he win Employee of the Month?
Do gnomes dream of electric sheep?
How many kobolds does it take to swing a pickaxe?
Can NPCs commit tax fraud?
OK, maybe he won't answer most of those, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't come follow the high margin adventures of Jack Alltrades!
My Opinion: 332 pages, $2.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
*Special thanks to Felicity on YouTube for recommending this read*
Good slice of life story with a main character (MC) who during character creation trades any chance to use magic with enhanced learning and faster skill gains. It's definitely a min max story that initially is pretty normal with action adventuring but later shifts to something else, adding a rather thick middle and late section with crafting, resource management, and gold making aspects.
On the game mechanic side, it’s fairly normal with the exception of ‘jobs’ in addition to class levels. Like in the game FF Tactics, players get an initial class but can also gain ‘jobs’ based on the skills they level and can swap those jobs for special bonuses. However, the players can only advance one job or class at a time. It’s a mechanic that I’ve always liked, though it’s not used to its fullest here, it has good series potential.
Overall, this is a pretty good story if you’re into crafting and resource management stuff. Combat and fighting aren’t the main focus of the novel, but when you get them they’re pretty good.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
All Trades Book 1: Master of None
Eight-Bit Bastards: Level Two (Eight Bit Bastards Book 2)
Sean and the Bastards have entered the Bitrealm, and so far it hasn’t been all 1-Ups and treasure. They’ve tracked Pliny down to a castle in the mountains to the north, and they’ll need every bit of their skills, honed while playing some of the first and greatest video games, to survive its depths.
But it won’t be easy. The castle soon takes its toll, separating the party and pitting them against some of the most dangerous creatures they’ve faced yet—creatures that may not be what they seem. Something has been tormenting the souls of Afterall, transforming them into shadows of their former selves. And with every twist and turn the castle throws at them, that something is getting closer.
Add in a devious AI, a skeleton who’s watched too much TV, and more retro gaming goodness than you can shake a joystick at, and you have Eight-Bit Bastards: Level Two.
My Opinion: 222 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
I enjoyed book 1, but book 2 loses me. There’s simply not very much RPG progression this time, with most of it occurring in a power leveling scene that doesn’t feel like it impacts the story. While there are still lots of 8-bit references, jokes, and puzzles that's kind of all there is. I mean, there's nothing to contrast the 8-bit stuff against like in book 1. In book 1, the story started out with a very interesting history of this vast and varied virtual world as all the characters were introduced. This time, nothing like that exists. Instead the novel shifts to this cyberpunk storyline that just didn't work for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the jokes and the old school gaming references, but it wasn’t enough to carry the story for me when there was such limited action, even more limited RPG progression, and a cyberpunk twist to the story that I didn’t enjoy.
Score: 6 out of 10
Eight-Bit Bastards: Level Two (Eight Bit Bastards Book 2)
Gloominess +1: Gleam of Darkness. A LitRPG Adventure: Book 1
Darkness was always kind to me. And after I got stuck in a non-existent game thanks to a technical glitch in a virtual capsule, the God of Darkness became my Patron. He gave me power and showed me the way. In this dark world, I'm different compared to everyone else, but I think it's for the better.
My Opinion: 393 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
I had a hard time even starting this novel. While the RPG stuff is there from the 2% mark, the setup just didn't make sense. A ghost helped you as a child then transports you as an adult to a RPG world in the body of a kid who is already level 4? Then you're killed but magically respawn with special rules that no one else uses. Also your intelligence is literally zero, but your a functional person somehow?
The story doesn’t get better from there. Story seems to push dark side story but doesn't come off well. Deaths though frequent, aren't impactful, and bad dialogue makes the story feel silly. I'm generally ok with Slice of Life, this one just didn't have any point and it didn't have anything to keep me interested. The MC just kind of wanders around for no real reason and without purpose.
Score: 5 out of 10
Gloominess +1: Gleam of Darkness. A LitRPG Adventure: Book 1
Extension (Game World Book 1)
The main character has never played computer games. By happenstance he finds himself in the Game World. Rules are quite simple – complete quests and get higher level. Firstly, it looks like it’s easy. But how can he fight with stronger opponents, which came to this game earlier, and stay alive? He must do it, because he has only one life left.
My Opinion: 194 pages, $9.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Sort of a meh LitRPG story. Only different thing here is that the main character (MC) hires a couple NPC assistants for quests. The other RPG stuff lacks choice with the MC getting an auto level class of in-fighter. Dialogue and action descriptions are stilted and awkward. There's not much that's entertaining here.This feels like a badly translated story.
Overall this has a ‘meh’ story, but poor dialogue and combat, and general writing make this unenjoyable.
Score: 4 out of 10
Eldritch Night: A Post-Apocalyptic Gamelit Adventure (The Dark Hierophant Saga Book 1)
The world ended as many thought it might — with fire and spectacle.
Eldritch horrors descended from the sky to consume the world. Only a last-minute intervention by a mysterious Hegemony of Worlds saves Earth, albeit temporarily. Skills, levels, and battles with twisted monsters are part of the new reality the survivors will have to face.
Augustus Finn wakes up after surviving countless terrors. He is thrown directly into danger as a twist of fate places him in an area designed to contain and dispose of eldritch lifeforms — areas also known as dungeons. He will have to compete with monsters, alien Peacekeepers, and his own inner demons if he is to survive.
My Opinion: 563 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The story has a pretty good beginning with the main character caught up in an Eldritch RPG Apocalypse. He has a neat power, Reactive Learning that lets him learn or adapt from the monsters he’s attacked by but it’s balanced well with a long cool down timer. From there there is an introduction of some aliens that are trying to contain the madness and eldritch monsters unleashed on earth and possibly offers aid. There’s a good explanation of the RPG system with good progression based on a point skill system. But after the 33% mark, the story loses a lot of the emphasis on the RPG aspects and instead focuses on the Eldritch ones as the main character starts making pacts with this demon entity in his mind. The Eldritch/Old One stuff isn’t bad but you can tell from the amount of time spent on it, that it’s the real focus of the story. From that point on it feels more like less of an RPG system and more like a magic system with spell descriptions. Mid to late story combat increases tremendously but actually loses all RPG aspects that were featured in the earlier parts of the story and while that doesn’t ruin the story, it definitely lessened my enjoyment as it went on.
Overall, it had a strong start but lost me mid way through since the RPG stuff I’d liked so much just getting minimized or even disappearing. Though if you don’t mind light RPG aspects and like Eldritch horror themes you might end up liking this more than me.
Score: 6 out of 10
Eldritch Night: A Post-Apocalyptic Gamelit Adventure (The Dark Hierophant Saga Book 1)
The Time Master (Interworld Network Book I): LitRPG Series
An ordinary Russian guy, Sergei picks a fight in his neighborhood, defending a little boy. Problem is, the guy he's just defeated vanishes into thin air, leaving Sergei to discover he now possesses the ability to turn time around.
On top of that, Sergei can now travel between worlds. He acquires even more mysterious new skills and abilities. And he discovers there're many others just like him in our world.
Sergei finds his own place in the secret community of the Seekers - creatures with superpowers. He even teams up with a few of his new buddies, planning to strike gold in one of the neighboring worlds.
Sergei has no idea that his every step is being watched. He's being shadowed by the Darkest One - one of the oldest Seekers around who'll know no peace until he gets hold of some of Sergei's unique abilities.
My Opinion: 436 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
The cover art makes this novel seem more epic than it really is. That’s not to say there aren’t some nice epic moments, especially the end, but mostly this is a slice of life Real Life RPG story. It’s a Russian translation with very few errors and lots of well annotated Russian cultural flavor.
The main character (MC) becomes a Player or Seeker after accidentally killing some guy he thinks is messing with his neighbor’s kid and then becomes part of this RPG tracked world where he as the magical ability to go back in time a few seconds. The power is used often. The author writes in a bad outcome, then MC rewinds time 3 seconds and we get the good outcome as the MC changes things. It’s not over powered since it is limited to a few charges so no infinite tries. The rest of the game mechanics in the story are familiar: stats, levels, skills, etc.
The story is somewhere between normal urban fantasy and Level Up. Yes, the MC uses his RPG powers and skills in real life, but most of the story is him just earning money going on posted quests and learning about the new system he’s apart of. There’s this sub-story about fate and good and evil, but it doesn’t amount to much till it’s forced at the end of the story. Which by the way has a major cliffhanger of an ending, if that kind of thing bothers you.
Overall, not a bad story but not as good as I was hoping to get from a Real Life RPG kind of story.
Score: 7.2 out of 10
The Time Master (Interworld Network Book I): LitRPG Series
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(Music 4)
Music Credits
"Blip Stream" "Mighty Like Us" "Big Shift" "Vivacity"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/