LitRPG Podcast 196- Greenways Goblins, Seven Worlds, Myriad Stars, GalaxSec, Melee, and more
LitRPG Podcast 196- Greenways Goblins, Seven Worlds, Myriad Stars, GalaxSec, Melee, and more
Oct. 17th, 2019
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 196 of the LitRPG podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. I have 10 new reviews just for you and more.
New Releases and Reviews:
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1) (04:37)
Lots of action, adventure, and murder
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Seven Worlds: Volume 1 (A litrpg / Wuxia Short Series) (11:14)
Awkward beginning
Score: 6 out of 10
Myriad Stars: Humanity's Potential (Twelve Evolutions, Book 1). A LitRPG Universe (13:39)
More Wuxia than LitRPG
Score: 6 out of 10
GalaxSec: A Sci-Fi LitRPG (Skeleton in Space Book 2) (16:42)
Even better than book 1
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Melee: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 1 (19:21)
Good action, not much is though
Score: 6 out of 10
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week (23:21)
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New Segment from Ian Mitchell a long time LitRPG community member who reads and reviews as much as me. He was nice enough to agree to join the LitRPG Podcast family as a new reviewer.
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Star tec
Score: 8.6 out of 10
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Dungeon World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience
On the Run
Score: 7.8 out of 10
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Dungeon Lord: Ancient Traditions (The Wraith's Haunt - A litRPG series Book 4)
A busy guy.
Score: 9.0 out of 10
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Road Show
Score 8.0 of 10
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Distortion (Somnia Online Book 5)
Wren wakes up
Score 8.3 of 10
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Guardian Craft: Iron Age Demons: Book Two
More adventure, less crafting
Score: 8.4 out of 10
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
Magic Dome books has a new interview with one of their authors, Alexey Osadchuk. The interview is about his newest LitRPG series, Underdog.
https://magicdomebooks.blogspot.com/2019/10/interview-with-alexey-osadchuk.html
Out Now!
Dungeon Dive: A LitRPG short story (Tales from the Gods' Game Book 1)
Second Story Man: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (The Bad Guys Book 2)
Universe ICS: Keymaster. LitRPG Series. Book 2
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Hunters Dream Online: Ascension: Hunters Dream Online, Book 1
Dungeon Eternium - Divine Dungeon Series, Book 5
Upcoming LitRPG:
RiftWorlds Online: Book 2 - Raiding Fantasy: a LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Oct. 18st, 2019)
Deadman's Retinue (An NPC's Path Book #3): LitRPG Series
(Oct. 21st, 2019)
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) (Oct. 22nd, 2019)
A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5): LitRPG Series (Oct. 23rd, 2019)
Mythian (Chronicles of Ethan Book 1) (Oct. 25th, 2019)
Silver Peak: (Sky Realms Online Book 2): A LitRPG Series (Oct. 29th, 2019)
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) (Oct. 30th, 2019)
Varnoth: The Black Blade: Book Two (A LitRPG Story) (Oct. 31st, 2019)
Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1) (Nov. 1st, 2019)
A Dark Path: Grimdark LitRPG (Forsaken Talents Book 1) (Nov. 1st, 2019)
Excise: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 2) (Nov. 1st, 2019)
The Way of Deception (World of Karik, Book #2, Part 1): LitRPG Series (Nov. 4th, 201)
Avatar of Light (Interworld Network Book #2): LitRPG Series
(Nov. 7th, 2019)
The Last Time Loop, Book #1: LitRPG Series (Nov. 11th, 2019)
Dragon Heart: Blood Will. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 3 (Nov. 22nd, 2019)
Level Up: Update (The Knockout Book #2): LitRPG Series
(Dec. 9th. 2019)
Quest for Justice: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 3) (Dec. 13th, 2019)
The Bare Hunt: A LitRPG/GameLit Novel (The Good Guys Book 7) (Dec. 14th, 2019)
The Wastes (Underdog Book #2): LitRPG Series (Dec. 23rd, 2019)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
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Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1)
Gamers everywhere share a hidden desire deep in their hearts— that their mundane, humdrum world be replaced by the ones they play in. When freakish storms envelope the Earth, people start disappearing without a trace. Wild theories abound; is it aliens, spontaneous combustion, or perhaps quantum entanglement? The only ones who might know are those who have vanished.
An average group of gamers is setting up to start a new campaign. The storms rage across the world, but they only care about the game they are about to start. Little do they know that they would be next to disappear from the face of the Earth.
Shifted to a different world, the group of friends find that the gamer’s dream they had always harbored has come true, but not in the way they would have hoped. They are not there as themselves, but as the level one characters they had been preparing to play. Standing on a road with smoke rising in the distance, they would soon be given their first quest— but not the one they would have chosen.
(This series contains dark themes, including but not limited to: suicide, torture, slavery, and worse.)
My Opinion: 392 pages, $2.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review, but purchased a copy when it became available.
A much more combat heavy novel than the author's other series. The novel still has the good dialogue and banter that the author is known for. There is No Sex or even romance in this one. But this is very much an action adventure story.
I’d say it leans a bit more towards fantasy portal fiction but still manages to bring the tabletop RPG stuff through without notifications or character sheets. It has characters talk about the class powers, spells, and game mechanics they recall from when they made their characters. Then regular references to their powers in story by name.
The story is rather dark in a few places with several characters not surviving the first book. I was initially very put off by the large cast and found the beginning a little hard to get through, but by the 15% mark the seven main characters are broken into three distinct groups which made it easier to get to know the characters. There are also lots of references to other LitRPG authors if you can find them, which I thought was cute. Though I don't appreciate the terrible things done to poor Fibble, I mean Fubble.
Overall, it's an entertaining story.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1)
Seven Worlds: Volume 1 (A litrpg / Wuxia Short Series)
Timothy never anticipated that he'd join an organization that would take his memory and send him from world to world, however, that is what he did and now he's starting in another village in another world underneath the land above...
A mysterious organization is in control of his life, but that won't stop him from fraternizing with the locals and learning about their mysterious traditions, skills and the men and women that make up their world... For a brief sum of money almost any village under the organization's alters are able to call him down to their planet and make him do missions under the rules of the organization... In exchange, he tries his hardest to level up and reach level 30, which will allow him to remember all the worlds he's gone to before and start on his journey of the legendary seven worlds!
His only wish is to move forward as fast as possible towards his goal... Even if it means slighting those who try and fight against him, and killing them without mercy or regard for their families!
Disclaimer: This is a very quick paced short story that tells an entire tale in a brief amount of time... You can expect gore, violence and some minor heart warming moments plus a character that is willing to use his brain... Hope you enjoy.
My Opinion: 35 pages, $2.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The RPG stuff is definitely regular and apart of the story with a whole system in place to convert XP to currency, a larger transfer system, mixed with a summoning system. Yet, the beginning is so awkward and forced that I had a hard time enjoying the story. It improves a bit in the last 10% but not enough to be entertaining overall.
Score: 6 out of 10
Seven Worlds: Volume 1 (A litrpg / Wuxia Short Series)
Myriad Stars: Humanity's Potential (Twelve Evolutions, Book 1). A LitRPG Universe
Humanity barely managed to survive the greatest catastrophe in the species' short history. But from the ruins of civilization, humanity creates new technologies and unlocks hidden, latent potential within themselves, and through the sacrifices of heroes from around the globe, somehow manages to survive.
But dangers lurk within the depths of the oceans, growing stronger. Humanity has caught a moment of reprieve, but must continue to evolve in order to stay alive.
Mu Feng, born mute and weak to a retired battle specialist, may just be the least likely candidate to become the next savior of humanity.
Enjoy this great Xianxia/Wuxia Cultivation novel. Myriad Stars is an universe filled with cultivators and a great deal of LitRPG/GameLit stuff.
My Opinion: 138 pages, $2.99, Not Available On Kindle Unlimited
The only RPG elements are the status screen the main character (MC) sees when he increases his stats, and the combat art descriptions.The story leans much more heavily towards cultivation or Wuxia with the MC training, taking special foods and potions to increase his power. Though he's blessed with a special potential that let's him grow stronger than everyone else. The story itself is slice of life with the MC fighting a few monsters, training, dungeon diving, dealing with family rivals, and rescuing a girl. It’s a decent story, not boring, but while I liked a couple of the progression mechanics, especially the Nightmare Sword Art training, on the whole it didn’t really appeal to me but may appeal to a cultivation/Wuxia reader more.
Score: 6 out of 10
Myriad Stars: Humanity's Potential (Twelve Evolutions, Book 1). A LitRPG Universe
GalaxSec: A Sci-Fi LitRPG (Skeleton in Space Book 2)
A magical skeleton, an office lady, and a corporate mercenary team walk onto a Histaff-infected planet. If only there was a joke in there somewhere.
Douglas crash lands on the planet Evengi Prime and proceeds to do what he does best: repetitive chaos. He tries to set a plastic table on fire and makes a few pretty pink mushroom clouds, but luckily the planet is long dead and its current inhabitants are incapable of lodging complaints. He then finds a new friend in a familiar body, who helps him make sense of the strange world while getting used as a test dummy for new spells.
Fienak, a kidnapped street rat, gets caught up in this particular mess when her mercenary team is sent to investigate a rumored death, namely that of super-corporation owner 'Solan'. Yet before the scouting expedition can truly get started, they stumble across ghosts from the past... and a planet-spanning bioweapon that is much more awake than expected.
Join Douglas on his quest for monotonous tasks, junk food, and maybe becoming a space cop!
My Opinion: 338 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Douglas has left the space station he was stranded on and is now on a new planet that he’ll have to learn the rules for and survive. If only he didn’t have to put himself back together first.
The story still has all the magical manipulation and RPG progression that book 1 eventually had but starts with the magical exploration from the very start. It has a much faster pace and focuses on the things I liked most of the first book: Slice of life adventure, good humor, magical experimentation and progression.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
GalaxSec: A Sci-Fi LitRPG (Skeleton in Space Book 2)
Melee: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 1
What was once virtual, is now reality.
Trapped in the middle of an alien invasion, Logan James, a down-on-his-luck dollar store cashier, discovers there’s only one way out…
Compete in an alien-imposed game, a global battle royale called the Melee.
Forced to fight with his best friend Dwayne and a cute cashier named Alicia, he finds that the rules are simple: battle against the other participants and an army of the galaxy’s worst monsters and villains, level up, amass experience points and loot, and use any means necessary to reach the center of the Earth in 19 days.
Hundreds of people will live.
Hundreds of millions will die.
My Opinion: 350 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Meh. Even though the setup of the story is one I've read before, I hoped for something better than this. Even though the aliens arrive and announce their kill game by the 4% mark, with the exception of one good action scene, you suffer through another 27% of boring background and character description for people that don't matter. Sure, I get it's part of trying to create an emotional bond with them so it feels impactful when they die or create tension with people preparing for 'the bad that may come'. However, I never cared about the main character (MC), much less all the randomly named and killed people and all the talk about preparing wasn't tense, it was tedious.
Once the game actually starts at the 31% mark, the action is good. But the MC seems magically good at shooting and killing when he was just a washed up baseball player a few days before. The game stuff amounts to descriptions of monsters with levels, HP, weaknesses, powers, and strengths. Also XP from player kills can be used to purchase upgrades and levels. The story is more GameLit than LitRPG, and is more like a multiplayer shooter than an RPG.
With the exception of one fight scene I found the first 35% very boring. That's how I felt about most of the story. Good fights, the rest not particularly interesting. Overall, the story didn't entertain me.
Score: 6 out of 10
Melee: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 1
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week - New Segment
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Earth Force 2 (Relict Legacy)
LitRPG in space. Definitely feels like an episodic TV series. This time we have a few battles, gain some crew, redecoracte the ship, do some shopping, and make a bit safer along the way. Stay tuned for the next episode. I like the characters and the way world building is handled. Some nice banter and a few good challenges for the crew. A great continuation and great reading. No cute mascot yet.
Score 8.6 out of 10
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Dungeon World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience
I love the series and the characters. The battles were entertaining. Book 3 spent more time trekking cross country than I like. I miss the dialog between dungeon cores that was in book 2. Overall book 3 was pretty good reading.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Dungeon World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience
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Dungeon Lord: Ancient Traditions (The Wraith's Haunt - A litRPG series Book 4)
It's tough being a dungeon lord. Dungeons to staff. Trap research to oversee. Governments to overthrow. Dungeon Lord event to attend. And then there's the race for the Nightmare Factory. I had a wonderful time. I had about 3 books worth of enjoyment reading book 4. Intense and satisfying battles and conflicts. For comparison, the Wild West movie comes to mind. It was fun. Moderate body count.
Score: 9.0 out of 10
Dungeon Lord: Ancient Traditions (The Wraith's Haunt - A litRPG series Book 4)
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Jade Wolf: Awakening
I liked Eden's new cultivating gameLit book. It has a different take on things that expands the genre(s). Quite a bit of this first story is on the road with an increasing party of travelers. I found the part at the end when we get to find out more about why this trip was so difficult. It's the first SFW story with a young adult feel to it.
Score 8.0 of 10
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Distortion (Somnia Online Book 5)
Distortion was very immersive for me. It flowed well and was really hard to put down (for little things like eating). The intensity and feeling of danger really comes out. If the guild didn't goof around it would be too grim. The various combats bring back memories of times spent in mmo dungeons. Great reading. You can do it Wren! Save the game! Save your friends. Save yourself. This is a great series. Don't miss it.
Score 8.3 of 10
Distortion (Somnia Online Book 5)
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Guardian Craft: Iron Age Demons: Book Two
An excellent follow up for book 1. Some well described fights. We get to see a bit more of the world. A pretty rich one. Crafting tables and creepers, oh my!
Score: 8.4 out of 10
Guardian Craft: Iron Age Demons: Book Two
That’s it everyone!
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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/