LitRPG Podcast 217 - First Song Book Two, The Incarnator, Neon Dark
LitRPG Podcast 217 - First Song Book Two, The Incarnator, Neon Dark
March 13th, 2020
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 217 of the LitRPG podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 3 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
First Song, Book Two (Anthem of Infinity 2) (10:17)
More post apocalypse, good action
Score: 7.8 out of 10
The Incarnator (Project Stellar Book 1): LitRPG Series (16:07)
A slice of life post-apocalypse sci-fi LitRPG
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Neon Dark: A LitRPG Adventure (Zero.Hero Book 1) (20:33)
Combines superhero stuff with LitRPG
Score: 7.4 out of 10
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
Mountaindale Press has published the 4th book in the Axe Druid series this week. To promote the novel they are doing a great sale on the first three books.
The first book, Into the Light, is free through the 17th and the second and third are discounted to $0.99 and $2.99 respectively in the US and UK through the 20th. Grab these at a great discount or through Kindle Unlimited today!
With the new audiobook release for The Wayward Bard, Soundbooth Theatre has reminded us of the oh so funny D&D song they created. I love the video and song. So here it is.
(Play Video 1)
https://www.facebook.com/justin.t.james.7/videos/10157795268324303/
In a very original way to promote a LitRPG novel Darkworlds Paris, author Tony Walker/Galen Wolf has decided to release his short story Darkworlds London as an episodic podcast. Every week a new chapter is read. It’s a good listen and a short story I really enjoyed. To date, it is still the best combination of LitRPG and Cthulhu horror.
https://darkworlds-litrpg-horror.captivate.fm/
22 authors have put together a GameLit anthology of short stories and are donating the proceeds of sales to support wildlife devastated by the Australian wildfires.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1117687185236605&set=a.146340695704597&type=3
Out Now!
Viridian Gate Online: Insurrection (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 3)
Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4)
Grim Beginnings: The Ashen Plane - Book I, A LitRPG Series
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Stars Awoken (A LitRPG Apocalypse): The System Apocalypse, Book 7
The Fallen Bard - World of Chains Book 2
The Wastes - Underdog Series, Book 2
Dragon's Mist (A 4X Strategy LitRPG Series): Warlords of the Circle Sea, Book 1
PrimeVerse: Forced Login - PrimeVerse Series 1
The Crafter: Trench Warfare - Crafter Series 2
The World's Strongest Wizard Becomes Manaless: A Fantasy LitRPG Series (Volume One)
Upcoming LitRPG:
Traveling the Dungeon (Dungeon Travels Book 2) (March 14th, 2020)
The Hive [LitRPG series:The Beetle] Book 2 (March 17th, 2020)
Darkworlds Paris: A Cthulhu LitRPG (March 19th, 2020)
The Dark Continent (Underdog Book #3): LitRPG Series (March 20th, 2020)
The Starlight Sword (Rogue Merchant Book #1): LitRPG Series (March 23rd, 2020)
Dark: Reincarnate (Dark LitRPG book 2) (March 23rd, 2020)
Stranger is Coming [LitRPG Series: Class Neutral] Book 1 (March 25th, 2020)
Sense: A Fantasy LitRPG Saga (A Touch of Power Book 3) (March 27th, 2020)
Quest for Freedom: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 5) (March 30th, 2020)
Sentenced to Troll 3 (April 1st, 2020)
Noa in the Flesh (World of the Changed Book #3): LitRPG Series (April 2nd, 2020)
Eastbound and Town: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 8) (April 2nd, 2020)
Mageblood (Mephisto's Magic Online Book 1) (April 3rd, 2020)
Expedition Newb (Sun & Shadow Online Book 2) (April 10th, 2020)
Watchers Test: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 1) (April 14th, 2020)
Dragon Heart: Sea of Sorrow. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 5 (April 15th, 2020)
Resistance (Disgardium Book #4): LitRPG Series (April 29th, 2020)
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book III (April 29th, 2020)
Gauntlet: A LitRPG Journey (Legends Online Book 5) (April 30th, 2020)
Warsinger: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 4) (May 1st, 2020)
Aberrant Quest: The Blood Crown Book 2 (A LitRPG Adventure) (May 5th, 2020)
Path of Alchemy: BlackFlame Online Litrpg/Gamelit Universe (Glory of Formation Emperor Book 4) (May 31st, 2020)
Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6): LitRPG Series (June 9th, 2020)
Stars Asunder: Book 9 in The System Apocalypse (July 1st, 2020)
The Enchanter (Project Stellar Book 2): LitRPG Series (July 8th, 2020)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
(Picture 1)
First Song, Book Two (Anthem of Infinity 2)
The entire world has changed, and Noah has changed with it. A year after the Shift, the plans he’d laid, caches he’d hidden, and infrastructure he’d put in place have saved millions, but the world’s death toll has still been astronomical.
Now he continues his struggle to protect the people he cares about and to atone for his past weakness. Journeying with his elite group, the Merriweathers, Noah has been patrolling the eastern United States. He has been helping new communities rebuild from the ashes of civilization, but his true goal has always been a search for Humanity’s enemies, the Aelves.
But when Noah finally hears new rumors about his old foes, what he will encounter will be beyond anything he could have imagined. Ghosts from the past will return and new discoveries will create more questions. Noah will learn that the post-Shift world can be even more dangerous than anything he had planned for.
There might be something out there even worse than the Aelves.
My Opinion: 334 pages, $5.98, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The beginning is a bit slow as it recaps what happened in book 1 and the weeks between then and the start of book 2. The structure of the novel is different than the previous book and it has more of a straight post apocalypse theme so it feels different than book 1. But once the first mission hits, the action really picks up and doesn’t let go.
Game mechanics in the novel are the same as book 1, though I’ll say they show up a little more, the system is still light LitRPG.
I will say I really liked how attached I became to the starting group. It gave some deaths in the apocalypse world some real oomph. There is also an interesting twist in who the real threat to humanity becomes. I did not see it coming from the story in book 1.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
First Song, Book Two (Anthem of Infinity 2)
The Incarnator (Project Stellar Book 1): LitRPG Series
When the shattered fragments of the Black Moon collapsed onto planet Earth, splitting continents apart and flooding them with raging oceans, Darkness descended onto our world. The eruptions of hostile energy from behind the Edge distorted the laws of the physical world, creating new life forms which now threaten to take over the planet. The last remaining vestiges of humankind, too desperate for their own survival, have nothing to offer against their advance.
So it’s time to activate Incarnation: the last instruction issued by Project Stellar. In a situation when there’re not enough living beings to protect planet Earth, the dead fighters will have to rejoin the defenders’ ranks.
My Opinion: 563 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
A slice of life post-apocalypse sci-fi LitRPG.
The main character (MC) wakes up without a memory of his past and as a ghost like entity that can possess a recently deceased body as his own. The setting is definitely more post-apocalypse sci fi. The MC starts with a futuristic gun and armor. He fights mutated monsters, aliens, and augmented humans in a destroyed cityscape. He uses tech and modern items. He also has the ability to upgrade his host body using Azure and the genetics of the monsters he kills while he tries to survive in this new world and unravel the mystery of what happened to humanity and how he's supposed to restore it.
On the game mechanic side of things, there are lots of notifications that are shared with the reader: upgrades possible item descriptions, messages from his snarky AI companion, quests, ability lists. He gathers Azure instead of XP from monsters and from radiation sources to create tech upgrades and bio enhancements. More powerful upgrades require more Azure. When the MC dies, he can spend Azure to bring his host body back to life or he has to find a new host body and start over gathering resources and upgrades. So like respawning versus starting a new character.
Overall this was an enjoyable action focused story that followed the MC as he tried to figure out the world, got in lots of fights, decided how to collect more Azure for upgrades, and peeled back the world lore on how the world got into such a state and what how he was tied to it. There are hints at big factions, intrigue, and other large plots, but this story is mostly a good slice of life action adventure.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
The Incarnator (Project Stellar Book 1): LitRPG Series
Neon Dark: A LitRPG Adventure (Zero.Hero Book 1)
The greatest Heroes have already fallen…
Now it’s up to Claire and her ragtag crew of Zeroes to save the city.
Low-ranked contractors Claire, Elise, Norah, and Piper dream of making it to the top twenty with the Stewards of Light, but their weird RPG powers have them trapped near the bottom instead. Balancing college, part-time jobs, and family matters leaves the girls without much time to fight crime and grind out the experience they need to climb the ranks.
When a new threat emerges, the gamer girls are left standing in a city turned upside down with no hero to save them. The underclassmen are outclassed, but they're also the only ones who can stop the spread of chaos. Claire and her friends will have to unravel the mess with clever teamwork and determination, and find the top-rank heroes in themselves to save the city before it falls into darkness.
From J.D. Astra, author of the LitRPG Epic Viridian Gate Online: Firebrand, comes a new universe of heroes and monsters. If you loved Super Powereds by Drew Hays, I Alone Level-Up, or you crave more anime like One Punch Man and My Hero Academia (with a healthy serving of RPG elements) then Zero.Hero: Neon Dark is for you!
My Opinion: 298 page, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
I had a harder time connecting to the female protagonist and the few touchy feely relationship scenes. There is also a little forced plot with the main character (MC) getting just the magical doohickey she needs early to overcome a specific obstacle later. But beyond those two small things the story was good. I enjoyed the real life application of RPG powers from the characters and the effect those powers had on school, work, and other relationships. The action was well written and even the small XP quests were fun.
Overall a good story that combines superhero stuff with LitRPG.
Score: 7.4 out of 10
Neon Dark: A LitRPG Adventure (Zero.Hero Book 1)
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Thanks for hanging out with me today. Until we can hangout again, remember to go read some LitRPG!
(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/