LitRPG Podcast 255 - The Range Book #1, A Lonely Dungeon, Interworld Network Book #3, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Delvers LLC: Golden Handcuffs, Path to Villainy
LitRPG Podcast 255 - The Range Book #1, A Lonely Dungeon, Interworld Network Book #3, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Delvers LLC: Golden Handcuffs, Path to Villainy
Dec. 18th, 2020
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 255 of the LitRPG podcast. I’m Ramon Mejia.
I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 6 new reviews just for you.
Special thanks to Adam Rosen who recommended A Lonely Dungeon to us to read.
New Releases and Reviews:
The Keepers of Limbo (The Range Book #1): LitRPG Series (09:53)
Action apocalypse with some game mechanics for progression
Score: 7.7 out of 10
A Lonely Dungeon (20:06)
Dungeon Core w/o Dungeon Divers
Score: 7.2 out of 10
The Dark Champion (Interworld Network Book #3): LitRPG Series (25:38)
Entertaining but could tell when the twists would happen
Score: 7.1 out of 10
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor (32:37)
VR LitRPG manga sets the standard
Score: 8 out of 10
https://tapas.io/series/legendarymoonlightsculptor/info
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week (38:45)
(Pic 0)
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.
(Pic 6)
The gang's all here
Score: 8.4 out of 10
Path to Villainy: An NPC Kobold's Tale
It's the heroes fault
Score: 7.8 out of 10
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐒 - 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐑𝐏𝐆!
James Hunter, Author of Viridian Gate Online, Rogue Dungeon, and Bibliomancer, announced that the Viridian Gate Online 1 – 3 Audiobooks (Cataclysm, Crimson Alliance, and Jade Lord) as well as VGO: Firebrand 1 – 2 Audiobooks are now available in the Audible Plus Catalog! That means all five books are 100% free to listen to for Audible members—no money, no credits, just awesome LitRPG goodness.
Out Now!
Retribution: The Rise Of Resurgence Book IV
The Tribute (Project Stellar Book 3): LitRPG Series
The Dungeon Destroyer: A LitRPG Level-Up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 2)
Drawing the Line: A LitRPG/GameLit Novel (The Underhill Chronicles Book 2)
Dinosaur Warlord 3 (Dinosaur Warlord a 4x LITRPG Series)
Dungeon Heart (The Singing Mountain Book 1)
The Guild Core 2: Core Sworn (A Dungeon Adventure)
Sidekick: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure (Henchman Book 2)
Mana Daemons: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure (Essence Wave Book 1)
Collide (EvoBorne - A LitRPG Saga Book 2)
Sunscorch (Rise To Omniscience Book 8)
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 5
Tower of Damnation (A LitRPG and GameLIT Saga): Book Three: Abyss
Mutamancer (Tower Lords Book 2)
Monster Hunting 301: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination Book 3)
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Tears of Alron -Alchemist Series, Book 3
World-Tree's End - World-Tree Trilogy, Book 3
Aether Knight - A LitRPG Light Novel
The One-Armed Warlock: Book Two
Bio Dungeon: Parasyte The Body's Dungeon, Book 2
Station Cores Complete Compilation
A Dungeon Core Epic Books 1 through 5
Glory to the Brave - Ascend Online Book 4
Dragon Heart: Land of Magic - Dragon Heart, Book 6
Dragon's Realm: A 4X Strategy LitRPG Series
Awaken Online: Inferno - Tarot Series Book 3
CivCEO - Accidental Champion Series Book 1
The Forgotten Faithful -UnderVerse Series Book 2
Upcoming LitRPG:
Alpha Zero (Alpha LitRPG Book 1) (Dec. 21st, 2020)
High Gloom: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Bad Guys Book 6) (Dec. 22nd, 2020)
Into the Wild: An Epic LitRPG Series (Axe Druid Book 6) (Dec. 22nd, 2020)
A Doomed Fight and Not So Great Landing: Boneknight Series Book 2 (Dec. 25th, 2020)
Small Unit Tactics (Volume #2): LitRPG Series (Dec. 28th, 2020)
Keys of Four Elements (Primacy Online Book 5) (Dec. 30th, 2020)
Labyrinth of Fright (Underdog Book #5): LitRPG Series (Jan. 4th, 2021)
Glitch King: A LitRPG Adventure (Mythrune Online Book 2) (Jan. 5th, 2020)
Black Dawn: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure (Fae Nexus Book 1) (Jan. 5th, 2020)
Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 (Jan. 6ht, 2020)
Reborn: Evolution: A LitRPG Series (Warlock Chronicles Book 2) (Jan. 12th, 2021)
Unity: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure (Henchman Book 3) (Jan. 15th, 2020)
Couch Potato Crisis - (Couch Potato Chronicles Book 2) (Jan. 15th, 2020)
Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series (Jan. 18th, 2021)
The Call of the Forces: A LitRPG Wuxia Series (The Heavenly Throne Book 4) (Jan. 19th, 2020)
Watcher's Repose: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 4) (Jan. 19th, 2021)
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book IV (Jan. 20th, 2021)
Underpowered Howard: A LitRPG Adventure (Jan. 26th, 2020)
Rifleman: A LitRPG / LitFPS Adventure (Battlegrounds Online Book 1) (Jan. 26th, 2021)
Spear of Destiny: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 5) (Jan. 30th, 2021)
Ascension: A LitRPG Journey (Legends Online Book 8) (Jan. 31st, 2021)
True John Crusade: A Dark Fantasy Gamelit (The Adventures of Dan Book 2) (Feb. 2nd, 2020)
Eat, Slay, Love (The Good Guys Book 10) (Feb. 4th, 2020)
The Great Centurion: Punic Wars 2 (A Real LitRPG Roman Series) (Feb. 5th, 2020)
Dagger of Doom: A LitRPG Adventure (Beta Tester Book 5) (Feb. 17th, 2020)
Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series (Feb. 17th, 2020)
Jeff the Game Master: A LitRPG Series (Feb. 23rd, 2020)
Wasteland [RealRPG Wuxia Series] Book #1 (Feb. 25th, 2020)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
(Picture 1)
The Keepers of Limbo (The Range Book #1): LitRPG Series
Yesterday Altai was a war hero. Today he is a prisoner who chose exile to Rhapsody instead of death. This planet, the Range, knows no mercy. Here, thousands of prisoners fight each other for a place under the strange, cold sun. Here, the leftover alien biomechanisms and out-of-control Terran war machines roam in the ruins, and human life is measured in virtual experience that can be exchanged for armor and implants.
Surviving in the Limbo slaughterhouse, upgrading to the tenth level and getting into the Green Zone is all any dead man can hope for. Except not everyone succeeds. Altai will have to make a lot of effort just to take a breather, and remaining high in the audience’s favor is something worth striving for. After all, the Range, among other things, is the most popular reality show, one of the few where everything is real, and death...death only raises the ratings.
My Opinion: 347 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
Definitely patterned off of survival action multiplayer games with some RPG elements. Early story is about scrounging for basics like food, clothing, shelter, and anything to defend yourself from other prisoners and survivors in a derelict world filled with destroyed building, trailers, and vehicles. Big emphasis on killing/defending self from other survivors and prisoners for XP to level and to gain resources.
The beginning of the story was a little wordy with unneeded background information and quirky internal dialogue making some paragraphs pages long. But once other players, survivors and prisoners that are sent to the world, come into the picture and we get descriptions and dialogue, the story gets good. There's a good consistent tension from the survival premise and the constant expectation of being hunted adds to that. There’s also loads of action in the story.
There's also a story thread with the planet's players being watched by subscribers and a Mega Corp building television plotlines by manipulating, bribing, and coercing gangs. This means viewers can donate coin to players they like, who can eventually spend it if they survive. It added a nice bit of variety to the influences that propel the action.
The game mechanics were surprisingly simple and well described without being an info dump. They also lean more towards a Apocalypse survival shooter with levels. So levels don't confer stats or affect the player on a physical level. Instead, higher levels unlock features like the System store where viewer donated or quest earned coin could be spent on implants, weapons, armor, food, and other items to survive. Levels also gain a player access to other areas of the world. Also, killing higher level players means more XP and likely being able to scavenge better gear, which has its own description but no stats beyond durability and threat.
Overall, the story is pretty fast paced once the other players are introduced and the MC starts interacting with them. There’s hardly a chapter without action or tension and the bad guys are appropriately terrible and its good to see them get beaten. The RPG stuff, while not deep or impactful on a physical level, was enough that power progression came through. A good read if you like action apocalypse type stories with a little hunger games-esq side motivations.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
The Keepers of Limbo (The Range Book #1): LitRPG Series
A Lonely Dungeon
When a new dungeon is born, it wants nothing more than to have the most vicious monsters, the most cunning traps and the most shiny of loot. There is only one problem, but it's a rather big one; it finished its first floor years ago, but it still hasn't been visited by any adventurers! In order to find someone or something to explore its floors, or perhaps just to find someone to talk to, this dungeon will have to go way off script. But it soon discovers that going off script brings problems of its own, and that adventurers are not the only thing this world is missing.
A story about a dungeons journey of exploration and self discovery in a dark and devastated world.
My Opinion: 139 pages, $2.99, Not Available On Kindle Unlimited
It’s a dungeon core novel where the core doesn’t have anyone coming through his dungeon, so he has to use alternative methods to the normal System to gain mana, create new monsters, expand his dungeon, and grow his crystal.
The beginning of the story was a little interesting if you like the design aspect of a dungeon core novel. But at a certain point it got repetitive since no one was coming into the dungeon.
About half way through the story there's some good world building explaining the complete lack of life around the dungeon and shifts the focus more towards world exploration, investigation about why all life is gone, and experimentation. It's this shift that won me over as the dungeon explores more speculative ideas, like how all life could end in a magi-tech world or how it could possibly come back. There's also magical theorizing and experimentation that was interesting. But best of all, there's finally some conflict. It's not the standard adventurers invade a dungeon stuff but something a but more epic and grand.
By the end of the story I was won over, though I'll admit I had to push through the 1st half a bit.
Overall, it's a good speculative LitRPG story whose 1st half would be entertaining for the most die hard of fans of dungeon design, but whose last half would be entertaining to just about anyone that likes a good speculative end of the world story.
Score: 7.2 out of 10
The Dark Champion (Interworld Network Book #3): LitRPG Series
The legendary seal which was keeping the Horsemen of the Apocalypse under lock and key has been broken. Planet Earth is engulfed in a surge of natural disasters which have already claimed thousands of lives. While Sergei is getting ready to fight back, traveling across worlds to learn archery from the powerful giant Vill, the horsemen’s minions also come awake, ready to take on the mythical Guards of the Interworld Network in the name of their dreadful masters.
The enemy circle around Sorrow - Sergei’s hometown - keeps tightening, because this is one place he keeps coming back to. So that’s where the four horsemen are about to head in order to confront the new demigod.
My Opinion: 467 pages, $6.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review and purchased a copy when it became available.
The story follows the formula established by previous books and continues the mix of casual slice of life and intense plot. The early casual stuff was light and fun and the plot sections (four horsemen and Omega) increased in intensity (about ever 25%) until the end when it seemed like an unwinnable situation for the main character (MC) until a last minute twist gave the MC the power he needed to completely overcome the previously unbeatable new foe.
World building is still done well with the MC exploring a few new places and learning new skills. His personal life oddly still goes on, despite being hunted by bad guys, and makes for a nice casual break from the more serious plot.
Game mechanics are more muted since the MC is getting more and more OP with the Avatars he has and he doesn’t need to gain traditional power through the system established. There are still level gains for skills and the MC does a bit of training.
If you enjoyed the previous book, this one follows the same pattern, and the character developments and world building are done just as well. I enjoyed it a little less since I could predict when the twists were coming. It didn’t ruin them as the author comes up with some good original ones, but the pacing was a little predictable this time.
Score: 7.1 out of 10
The Dark Champion (Interworld Network Book #3): LitRPG Series
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
The man forsaken by the world, the man a slave to money and the man known as the legendary God of War in the highly popular MMORPG Continent of Magic. With the coming of age, he decides to say goodbye, but the feeble attempt to earn a little something for his time and effort ripples into an effect none could ever have imagined. Through a series of coincidences, his legendary avatar is sold for 3 billion 90 million won ($2.7 million), bringing great joy to him, only to plunge him into despair at losing almost all of it to vicious loan sharks. With revelation of money through gaming, he rises from the abyss with new found resolve and steps forward into the new age of games led by the first ever Virtual Reality MMORPG, Royal Road.
This is the legend of Lee Hyun on his path to becoming Emperor with only his family loving heart, his boundless desire for money, his unexpected mind, his diligently forged body and the talent of hard work backing him. This is the legend of the lowest becoming the strongest. This is the legend of WEED.
My Opinion: 169+ chapters, First 7 chapters free then paywall English Publisher - Tapas for 1st 53 chapters
One the first highly popular Korean VR stories (2007) that started the trend that would become LitRPG. The world would even inspire the popular online story platform Royal Road.
I’d read the light novel version of the story but eventually gave up on it because of the quality of the translation. However, the manga/webcomic version is just awesome and the translation is much better since it’s just word bubbles. While the art style shifts a bit between volume 1 & 2, the visuals convey the action well and added a layer of comedic fun that made this one of those ‘just one more chapter’ kinda reads. I was surprised by the art style itself as it pictured the MMO the story takes place in as a very western style medieval setting.
Score: 8 out of 10
Vol. 1 ch 1-53
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
https://tapas.io/series/legendarymoonlightsculptor/info
Vol 1. Ch 54 +
https://mangadex.org/title/14676/the-legendary-moonlight-sculptor/chapters/1/
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week
(Pic 0)
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.
(Pic 6)
Delvers LLC: Golden Handcuffs
by Blaise Corvin
The gang's all here
I enjoyed Golden Handcuffs. This really felt like an interim story. Most of the major characters got a section and it transitions from the major events in book 3 to the teams next big thing. We find out more about Dolos, the High priestess and other powerful beings. A lot of sparring and the team gets to field test Henry's newest battle vehicle. I enjoyed the read and it really whet my appetite for the next book. A bit more slice of life than previous books, it makes me want to reread the first three again. I hope 5 comes quickly.
Score: 8.4 out of 10
Path to Villainy: An NPC Kobold's Tale
by S.L. Rowland
It's the heroes fault
I mostly had fun. I like the concept and the execution. I did have a feeling of linearity. I expected the npc kobold to get more surprises. Revenge isn't very sustainable as the central motivation for a series. Protecting the kobolds from the heroes I could get behind. I hope in the future volumes I can tell what the MC was trying to accomplish. A quick read and definitely something different.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
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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