LitRPG Podcast 261 - He Who Fights with Monsters, Real-Time Starcommander 2, The Good Guys Book 10, Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2, Worn and Torn Newbie
LitRPG Podcast 261 - He Who Fights with Monsters, Real-Time Starcommander 2, The Good Guys Book 10, Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2, Worn and Torn Newbie
Feb. 20th, 2021
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 261 of the LitRPG podcast. I’m Ramon Mejia.
I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 5 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
He Who Fights with Monsters: A LitRPG Adventure (08:26)
Slow start, but great story
Score: 8 out of 10
Real-Time Starcommander 2: Ground Assault: A Strategy Gamelit Novel (15:07)
Now with land battles
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Eat, Slay, Love: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 10) (20:25)
Slice of life with Meh ending
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 (24:22)
Maintains the quirky weirdness
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Worn and Torn Newbie (28:24)
Regressor story with MMO Player exploiting
Score: 7.7 out of 10
https://mangadex.org/title/58325/worn-and-torn-newbie
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LitRPG News
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Out Now!
Sands of Blood and Bone: A LitRPG Adventure (Defying Divinity Book 2)
Dungeoneer (The Weight Of It All): A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
Tower Climber 2 (A LitRPG Adventure)
Battle for the North (Rogue Merchant Book #4): LitRPG Series
Exodus of Gnomes (God Core #2) - A Dungeon Core LitRPG
Aetherocalypse: A Fantasy LitRPG Series (Mephisto's Magic Online Book 3)
Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2)
The Font of Life: A Mecha LitRPG Adventure (Overdrive Book 3)
Cause for War (Reality Benders Book #7): LitRPG Series
Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination Book 4)
Condition Evolution 4: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure
Asses to Asses (Caverns and Creatures)
Towers of Acalia: The Reincarnated Core Volume II
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Mark of the Founder: A litRPG Saga (Beastborne Book 1)
CivCEO 3 - Accidental Champion Book 3
Reborn: Evolution (Warlock Chronicles, Book 1)
The Tribute - Project Stellar Series Book 3
Village of Hawkshead - The Abduction Cycles Book 1
Tower of Ruin: Volume I (Pandemonium - Afterlife - A Dark Dungeon Realm LitRPG Series, Book 1)
Exodus of Gnomes - God of Gnomes Series Book 2
Seas the Day - Bad Guys Series Book 5
This Quest Is Broken! - This Trilogy Is Broken Book 1
Dinosaur Warlord 3 - Dinosaur Warlord a 4x LITRPG Series
The Boneless Dungeon - Experiment
Upcoming LitRPG:
The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) (March 22nd, 2021)
Ravenous: A Zombie Apocalypse LitRPG (Necrotic Apocalypse Book 1) (March 24th, 2021)
Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) (March 30th, 2021)
The Call of the Coven: A LitRPG novel (Shadow Kingdoms Book 2) (March 31st, 2021)
A Lost God and A Hostile Land: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Bone Knight Book 4) (March 31st, 2021)
Sovereign's Choice (The Gods' Game, Volume V): A LitRPG novel (March 31st, 2021)
Serpentlord (Rise To Omniscience Book 9) (April 1st, 2021)
Visceral: A GameLit Fantasy Adventure (Nullifier Book 2) (April 2nd, 2021)
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3 (April 2nd, 2021)
Nullform (Book #1): RealRPG Series (April 5th, 2021)
City of the Undead (In the System Book #2): LitRPG Series (April 12th, 2021)
Volper (Alpha Rome Book 1): LitRPG Series (April 12th, 2021)
Killing Them Awfully: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 11) (April 15th, 2021)
The Devil Archetype (Rogue Merchant Book #5): LitRPG Series (April 20th, 2021)
Ash. The Legends of the Nameless World. Progression Gamelit Story (April 22nd, 2021)
The Guild Core 3: War Torn (A Dungeon Adventure) (April 30th , 2021)
Awaken Online: Hellion (May 1st, 2021)
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) (May 4th, 2021)
The Path of the Strongest Mortal: A LitRPG Wuxia Series (The Heavenly Throne Book 5) (May 4th, 2021)
Manufacturing Magic: An Epic LitRPG Series (Jeff the Game Master Book 1) (May 4th, 2021)
The Guns of Keldora: A Crafting Automation LitRPG Adventure (Factory of the Gods Book 4) (May 10th, 2021)
The Rebel (Project Stellar Book 4): LitRPG Series (May 10th, 2021)
Iaxiabor's Revenge: A LitRPG Adventure (Beta Tester Book 6) (May 11th, 2021)
Showdown (Underdog Book #6): LitRPG Series (May 12th, 2021)
Lords of the Ruins (The Range Book #2): LitRPG Series (May 14th, 2021)
He Who Fights with Monsters 2: A LitRPG Adventure (May 18th, 2021)
The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series (May 18th, 2021)
The Guardian of the Dead (An NPC's Path Book #4): LitRPG Series (May 20th, 2021)
The Great Centurion: Punic Wars 3 (A Real LitRPG Roman Series) (May 21st, 2021)
The Price of Power: A LitRPG Cultivation Saga (May 24th, 2021)
Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones (Book #6): LitRPG Series (May 25th, 2021)
The Dungeon Leader: A LitRPG Level-up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 3) (May 31st, 2021)
City of Skye (Primacy Online Book 6) (June 29th, 2021)
Tower of Ruin: Volume II: A Dark Dungeon Realm LitRPG (Pandemonium - Afterlife - A Dark Dungeon Realm LitRPG Series Book 2) (June 30th, 2021)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
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New Releases and Reviews
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He Who Fights with Monsters: A LitRPG Adventure
Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters.
It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil.
He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.
My Opinion: 680 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The beginning of this serial transported to an RPG world LitRPG is a bit ponderous but once the main character (MC) meets some other people the pacing and action pick up.
The banter between characters is a highlight of the story with jokes and friendly jabs breaking up the fights and slice of life adventures. I also really enjoyed the mid story logic arguments/discussions about moral responsibility, divine power, and aristocratic power. They provided a good opportunity to world build and show just how different the MC is from the locals and also a different way for him to grow.
There's regular power progression as the MC completes quests and good world building to explain why he has that RPG interface. The MC's power set: stealth, curses, and stackable DOTs, are used well and there's even a little moral struggle as the Mc grapples with the gruesome nature of his powers versus what other adventures can do.
Overall, a great read once the MC meets other people and the adventuring starts. It kept me up reading late into the night to keep up with the adventuring.
Score: 8 out of 10
He Who Fights with Monsters: A LitRPG Adventure
Real-Time Starcommander 2: Ground Assault: A Strategy Gamelit Novel
From gamer to battlefield commander, the war grows!
Recruited from Earth and tasked with putting his gaming skills to work commanding vast fleets of starships, Evan secured a victory considered impossible. Now the Hegemony is asking him to repeat that accomplishment before the deadly forces of the Children consume their empire.
Whilst searching for a suspected enemy base, Evan discovered a secret the Children are desperate to hide. One that will determine the entire course of the war. Victory will require winning in an entirely new theatre of battle.
With a new suite of units at his fingertips, the ground assault begins!
My Opinion: 186 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is the 2nd book in one of the only GameLit novels to utilize real time strategy game mechanics like: base building, resource gathering, and unit production. It doesn’t have RPG aspects like leveling, instead power is gained in the books through strategic use of mechanics to build space and land based automated fighting units to defeat enemies. As the story progresses new units are unlocked as the main character’s (MCs) faction, the Hegemony, trusts him or the MC’s crew scans defeated enemy spaceships.
There was a little story manipulation, sci-fi justifications and cultural histories, to explain the RTS mechanics existence in the story. Like book 1, the space fights had both sides using similar technology to create and deploy their fleets, with strong stakes to add tension to the RTS battles outcome.
However, the land based RTS battles, while still having good action, only had one side using the game mechanics. Why this happens is explained away well with appropriate and logical background for the robotic Children side. But I would have liked to have seen a better use of the mechanics since they were built up so much.
Other aspects of the story were better than book 1. In particular I liked how the Children of the Hegemony, the antagonist, were developed. A believable, if predicted, history gave depth to the enemy faction, and clear and consistent motivations leant enough of a twisted culture to explain some quirks that made that faction interesting. Plus there’s a good lead into the next foe for the MC.
Overall, it's still an enjoyable story. It loses a little on the RTS side but makes up for it with the expanded universe building.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Real-Time Starcommander 2: Ground Assault: A Strategy Gamelit Novel
Eat, Slay, Love: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 10)
An endless night, full of hungry shadows.
The most dangerous night of the year is upon Coggeshall. Fiends’ Night, when the boundary between Vuldranni and hell is the weakest.
And so hell comes out to play.
To survive the night, Montana must put his entire holding on lockdown, and turn hastily made cave apartments into an actual, inviting home for thousands of Coggeshall residents. Most of whom don’t really know or like each other. And all of whom have different ideas of what needs to be done on Fiends’ Night.
So, intent on becoming the duke his people deserve, Montana spends the night flitting about Imperial balls, handing out gifts to children, squeezing through kobold tunnels, and building with the dwarves. It’s his hand-shaking, baby-kissing time to shine.
Oh, except that The Master he just took care of in Osterstadt? That was the wrong one.
The real Master is hiding in Coggeshall, and Montana has to catch him before the entire holding becomes his dinner.
Eat, Slay, Love is high-drama, fast-paced LitRPG at its finest. Pick up this page-turner today for palace intrigue, deals with the devil, and yes, even a little romance.
My Opinion: 428 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
*Slice of life with Meh ending
Finally, there’s some resolution to the whole ‘kill the Master’ quest. It didn’t end quite like I expected, and most of the story felt like it was dipping into a couple slice of life storyline with the Halloween/Christmas kinda event called Fiend’s Night. But it was a good chance to just see the MC talk to various characters he’d been neglecting on some adventures and get them involved with the quests. I wished there was more action, but what was there was good. Though I could see some readers a little annoyed with the way the story ended, I thought it showed a little growth on the MCs part even if it was a little wand wavy.
Overall, still a good read.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Eat, Slay, Love: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 10)
Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2
"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.
They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.
Carl still has no pants.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.
My Opinion: 364 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The second book in the authors twist on dungeon diving and the RPG apocalypse. It manages to maintain the quirky weirdness of the 1st book and adds in an element of horror into the quests. There’s slightly less emphasis on the RPG progression, though there are many levels gained and the team members finally get a class. Instead the story focuses on action, the next level of the dungeon, and some interesting questlines used to push the main character (MC) into some twisted scenarios he and Princesses Donut will have to survive. Its a creative work that I enjoyed.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2
Worn and Torn Newbie
15 years remain till termination of service. The ending is known only to me.
'I am a veteran'.
My Opinion: 34+ chapters, FREE, No English license
This is a regressor story, a story where someone dies and then wakes up at an earlier point in their life with all their future memories. It focuses on the main character (MC)s chance to become the strongest and most powerful player in an MMO that he’d devoted his life to, just as its starting. He knows all the game's secrets since he’d devoted all his time to studying and leveling in it. Now he just has to accomplish it all while facing off against the games most powerful monsters, PKers, Guilds, and PvP sports teams.
It’s a really good story that focuses on the exploit nature of the game with the MC overcoming the odds stacked against him not only by the game and boss monsters, but also by the competitive players also striving to be the best and rake in money from their streams.
Art work is really solid and conveys the MMO experience pretty well.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Worn and Torn Newbie
https://mangadex.org/title/58325/worn-and-torn-newbie
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week
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Contributor Ian Mitchell, a long time LitRPG community member who reads and reviews as much as me. was nice enough to agree to join the LitRPG Podcast family as a new reviewer.
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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/