LitRPG Podcast 264 - Shadow Sun Unification, Lotus Lake, Unbound, Dungeon Walkers 1, Face Genius
LitRPG Podcast 264 - Shadow Sun Unification, Lotus Lake, Unbound, Dungeon Walkers 1, Face Genius
April. 30th, 2021
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 264 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:
Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five (11:22)
The author has no qualms about killing off characters
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Lotus Lake: Rise of the Mystic Mage (16:05)
Casual regressor story, mostly in VR game
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Unbound: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Arcana Unlocked Book 1) (25:04)
Felt more like a messy DnD game with DM fudging rolls
Score: 6 out of 10
Dungeon Walkers 1 (37:17)
Mostly dungeon dive, with romantic relationship building last 25%
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Face Genius (44:42)
Slice of life, High school RPG powers
Score: 7.4 out of 10
https://manganelo.com/manga/pc923856
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LitRPG News
Dakota Krout got an exclusive interview with Business Insider and he guest appeared on the Author & Dragon’s podcast to talk about his success as a LitRPG author and publisher.
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-self-publish-dakota-krout-millions-how-to-write-books-2021-4
Out Now!
Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones (Book #6): LitRPG Series
*Formerly World of Valdira, New book in series)
Primal Sorcerer: Singularity Online 4
The Devil Archetype (Rogue Merchant Book #5): LitRPG Series
Killing Them Awfully: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 11)
Heart of the Forest: Ceres Horizon Book Two - A Gamelit/LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
Age of Stone: A LitRPG Dungeon Core Adventure (Rise of Mankind Book 1)
The Guild Core 3: War Torn (A Dungeon Adventure)
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3)
Derelict, Book 3, Sarton Station (A Litrpg Dungeon Core Adventure)
Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing
Dead-Rock Highlands: A Dark LitRPG / LitFPS SciFi-Shooter (Overtaken Online Book 2)
The Game of Gods 3.5: A Tower Novella - A LitRPG / Gamelit Dystopian Fantasy Novel
The SyStem: Multiverse: Book 3
ChronoTemplar: A Crunchy LitRPG Adventure
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Flowers of Esthelm - The Wandering Inn Book 3
Blast Off - A Fun Science Fiction LitRPG Adventure
City of Fallen Souls - UnderVerse Series Book 3
The Fallen God - A LitRPG Adventure (Eternal Online, Book 3)
The Source - A LitRPG GameLit Fantasy Adventure (Enora Fireborne, Book 1)
Real-Time Starcommander, Book 2
Ground Assault: A Strategy Gamelit Novel
Restoration - The Rise of Resurgence, Book II
Tower Climber 2 - A LitRPG Adventure
Carl's Doomsday Scenario - Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 2
Asgard's Fall - Digital Rebirth Chronicles, Book 1
In Service of the Pharaoh - League of Losers Series, Book 2
Dungeon Duel - A litRPG Adventure (The Rogue Dungeon, Book 5)
Upcoming LitRPG:
Awaken Online: Hellion (May 1st, 2021)
The Guardian of the Dead (An NPC's Path Book #4): LitRPG Series (May 3rd, 2021)
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) (May 4th, 2021)
Manufacturing Magic: An Epic LitRPG Series (Jeff the Game Master Book 1) (May 4th, 2021)
Planet Hero: Sidekick (May 4th, 20201)
Another Online: Clockwork (May 7th, 2021)
Starred Tower: System Misinterpret Book One - A Post Apocalyptic Cultivation LitRPG (May 7th, 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)
Aether Frontier - A LitRPG Adventure (May 10th, 2021)
Iaxiabor's Revenge: A LitRPG Adventure (Beta Tester Book 6) (May 11th, 2021)
Terra Nova: A LitRPG Series (Magnus Book 1) (May 11th, 2021)
Revenant: A Zombie Apocalypse LitRPG (Necrotic Apocalypse Book 2) (May 12th, 2021)
Showdown (Underdog Book #6): LitRPG Series (May 12th, 2021)
Tartila Mine (The Alchemist Book #5): LitRPG Series (May 13th, 2021)
The Great Centurion: Punic Wars 3 (A Real LitRPG Roman Series) (May 14th, 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)
Shackled: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Arcana Unlocked Book 2) (May 19th, 2021)
The Price of Power: A LitRPG Cultivation Saga (May 24th, 2021)
Hexworld: Roll: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (May 25th, 2021)
King: An Epic LitRPG Progression Fantasy Novel (Apocosmos Book 3) (May 27th, 2021)
A Daring Plan and A Cold Shoulder: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (May 28th, 2021)
The Dungeon Leader: A LitRPG Level-up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 3) (May 31st, 2021)
Trial: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure (VR Hero Book 2) (June 1st, 2021)
Reborn: Evolution: A LitRPG Series (Warlock Chronicles Book 3) (June 1st, 2021)
Beastborne: Mist Wardens: An Epic Portal Fantasy LitRPG Saga (Beastborne Chronicles, Book 3) (June 1st, 2021)
The Dreamweaver (Rogue Merchant Book #6): LitRPG Series (June 4th, 2021) https://amzn.to/2QDmHi4
Second Shot (Fantasia Book #1): LitRPG Series (June 7th, 2021)
Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure (June 8th, 2021)
Terramyr Online: An Undiscovered Country: A LitRPG Adventure (June 22nd, 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)
Wild Wild Quest: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 12) (June 30th, 2021)
Engage (EvoBorne - A LitRPG Saga Book 4) (July 1st, 2021)
The Gate of the Feral Gods: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 4 (July 1st, 2021)
Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones (Book #7): LitRPG Series
(July 2nd, 2021)
Pride (Dinosaur Dungeon Book 2) (July 12th, 2021)
Awakening: A LitRPG/GameLit Series (World of Magic Book 1) (July 13th, 2021)
Hexworld 2: Play: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (July 20th, 2021)
They Called Me Madder: A LitRPG Apocalypse Series (July 20th, 2021)
Frostworld: Ice & Blood: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (July 27th, 2021)
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book VI (July 27th, 2021)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
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New Releases and Reviews
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Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five
Allistor just wants to restore the human race. He’s doing his best with the resources he’s gathered to locate other survivors around the world and unite them. His intentions are good, and he pushes hard. The drake eggs are hatching, and his people have dreams of both a murder chicken cavalry and a drake-mounted air force. A small army of class trainers are helping to make his citizens stronger than ever, better able to survive the hazards of their new reality.
But fate, and the aliens who keep throwing stronger and more deadly challenges at him, are working against Allistor. The threat of vengeance from the Fomorian Matron, the machinations of Loki and Hel, and the jealousy of a fellow human with a lesser noble title, all add to the pressure.
When seeming good fortune turns to tragic loss, Allistor must push through and remain strong in order to face the very beings responsible for the apocalypse on earth. The murderers of humanity.
And in this confrontation, even victory has dire consequences.
My Opinion: 347 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
*Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
Another highly entertaining entry in the Shadow Sun series. The scope of the story is only getting bigger as more territory comes under the control of the MC and his faction. But becoming more powerful means that bigger enemies show up to and the author has no qualms about killing off beloved characters. The story has several good antagonists and a setup of a mysterious new one for future stories. But I liked how some major figures finally got taken down and only wonder where the series goes from here.
Action, adventure, and territory expansion are the big highlights of the series and this isn’t any different. Good stuff.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five
Lotus Lake: Rise of the Mystic Mage
Reborn five years in the past. A second chance to do everything over. What would you do?
For Ashlyn, being reborn five years in the past is both a boon and a bane. She’s reborn in the wreckage of tragedy, forced to deal with a life that she messed up before. Now, all she has to show for her life is five years of accumulated knowledge in the greatest virtual reality game ever released - Elysium - and the pain of friendships lost.
This time, Ashlyn is going to make a difference. This time, she’s going to fix the mistakes she made and save the relationships she lost. And to do that, she’s going to use all the knowledge she gained from the future to blaze her way to the top with a new class: the Mystic Mage.
My Opinion: 393 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is a slice of life story where the main character (MC) goes back in time, five years, to relive her life just as the VR game she’d dedicated herself to learning the secrets of the game once it opened to the public. She uses her vast knowledge of the game to avoid the character creation traps the devs had laid for starting players, and gets a head start on creating a powerful character using secret quest lines, an understanding of the RPG rules, and exploits.
That’s the story really. No super serious plot to save the world, get rich, or save people using that foreknowledge. It's a casual and very detailed look into the VR game with some PvP and small group battles, but mostly just bunny killing (like 60% of the story) to get special rewards. You can tell there’s some setup for future relationships and bigger quests, but it’s mostly casual adventuring and XP grinding.
On the game mechanics side of things, everything is pretty detailed with lots of numbers and RPG mechanics in every chapter. That the MC knows the game inside and out is used well as she gets to explain the VR game to newbies and points out the good and bad character builds as well as how she plans to exploit what she knows about the game. It's good stuff that anyone that likes crunchy LitRPG will enjoy.
The big draw of the story, the regressor aspect, gives the MC a confidence that she didn’t have her first time around and it was interesting to see her compare her 1st time around with who she was after being sent back in time. I’d hoped for more IRL use of her future knowledge like investing in stocks, saving people from calamities, or making up for regrets. However, since 90% of the story takes place in the game and the MC didn’t go back in time far enough to save her parents from a terrible car accident, she instead focuses instead on becoming mildly powerful in game as the story tracks her first day there.
Overall, the story is well written and the adventures are entertaining. If you just need a serious plot, this might not be the story for you. But I don’t mind reading a slice of life story and the regressor aspect was interesting enough that I wanted to see what the MC would do next to take advantage of her foreknowledge.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Lotus Lake: Rise of the Mystic Mage
Unbound: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Arcana Unlocked Book 1)
A game too good to be true. A golden opportunity. A nightmare he can’t escape.
If Arthur Mallory plays one more steaming pile of garbage disguised as a virtual role-playing game, he might hang up his gaming hat for good. When he discovers the new “deep dive” game Worlds Unbound, he decides it might be worth a try. If it sucks, he'll just return it the next day and cancel the financing.
The game is everything he could have wanted, even without elves or dwarves or character creation. The magic system has him hooked.
He’s willing to overlook the mangled sleep schedule and crippling nightmares if it means feeling that power running through his veins. But when an accident leaves his headset broken, he realizes he might be cut off from the magic – and the game – for good.
He’s not going to let that happen.
My Opinion: 511 pages, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
*Felt more like a messy DnD game with DM fudging rolls
There is a consistency to the RPG elements of the story that some LitRPG readers will appreciate. But the messy story and magic structure, along with the many times that rolls felt fudged, left me not enjoying the novel on the whole.
Storywise, this is supposed to be a VR story where the first full immersion game comes out and the main character (MC) just happens to get the last copy from his local store. It costs $75K but only if he keeps it past the trial period. The MC plays the game and goes on a series of adventures, not as himself or a character he creates, but as an existing character in the VR world. This means the MC has this person’s full memories downloaded into his mind and all the lore and world backstory that goes along with it. Along the way, the MC suffers from several glitches but cruises through several magic systems as he adventures and levels.
On its own, this isn’t a terrible story. But several aspects ruined what could have been good explorations of either RPG stuff or the story world.
One of the most glaring of which was the VR aspect, which added nothing to the story. Worse, it detracted from what could have been a better Fantasy RPG story. The VR system, which on its face didn’t make sense, was really just a way to justify why there were stats, classes, and notifications and add an weird side element of the MC being controlled IRL and being hurt by the game because of the memory downloads. It’s not actually a terrible side story, but nothing was done with it. Less than 10% of the story has the MC in the real world and there were no real consequences to any of that. On the whole, because the MC took the role of a resident of the fantasy world, I think it would have meshed better if the story didn’t have the VR aspect at all. It would have let the MC learn about the world in a more natural way, through investigations or conversations, instead of many of the game mechanics and world lore automatically being known by the MC without any work whatsoever.
Another aspect of the story that ruined what could have been a good story was the messy exploration of magic and fudged rolls made in the story. I was initially quite pleased with the original choices that the MC made for his class skills. Min/maxing, plus an unusual magic system made me think the story was going to develop a thinking man’s magic character. Instead, as the story progressed it became obvious that the MC kind of had a two year old’s attention span for sticking to one kind of magic as he goes from system to system in what seems like every 10-15% of the story. The story itself, while cool in places, was very slice of life and followed a similar pattern of leaping from questline to questline without much follow through, which made the story feel rather messy. This coupled with the many instances where a failed roll for information, a spell effect, or something similar was miraculously counted as success because of ‘other circumstances’ or ‘tier differences’, really dropped my enjoyment of the story as the game elements felt less important.
A small gripe which probably won’t impact most readers, a majority of the game information (quests, item descriptions, spell descriptions, notifications, etc.) were differentiated from normal story text with underlines. Multiple paragraphs in a row of underlined text. It was a formatting choice that really bothered my eyes for some reason and I would have preferred Italics, text boxes, brackets, or even just a different font to convey game stuff.
On the game mechanics side of things, the story went out of its way to be consistent and show lots of numbers on a fairly regular basis. So, plus there. All the standard LitRPG was there: classes, stats, item descriptions, quest notifications, etc. Added elements included showing rolls for knowledge checks, spell successes, and magical theory checks. However, as mentioned before, many of these rolls felt fudged since failures often turned into successes to keep the story going. I will note that some of the magic explorations that the MC went through, without getting spoilery, were neat on their own. But having so many transitions, all in one book, meant that none of them really got much depth or a chance for a full bodied exploration.
Overall, while some of the story arcs in the novel were genuinely entertaining, there were too many elements that made the story less enjoyable for me. It really felt like the novel was based on a custom table top game where the DM was trying to keep the players coming back after each session by switching storylines, opening up unique magic systems, and fudging rolls so that there were few failures. Which didn’t work for me as a reader.
Score: 6 out of 10
Unbound: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Arcana Unlocked Book 1)
Dungeon Walkers 1
Dungeon Walkers brave the depths of the dungeons for personal gain— clearing a dungeon means dungeon points to purchase gear with, but more importantly, perks. Perks are the main reason Walkers put their lives on the line. Every time a dungeon is cleared the first time, a Walker gets a choice of three perks that could change their lives.
Not every Walker makes it out alive. When someone dies in the dungeon, their soul is fragmented into four shards, which can be purchased for dungeon points. Collecting all four shards and taking them to a temple of the Goddess means the dead can live again. There is a sub-sect of Walkers that makes it their goal to bring the dead back from the dungeons— they’re called the Rescue Squad.
Stern is intent on joining the ranks of Rescue Squad. Finally done with his six months at the academy, he is about to make his first run through a dungeon. It will not be easy— he doesn’t have a crew, or a team, to run it with. Stern is an irregular— someone born with unusual perks— and unfortunately, looking like the blighted. Being seen as blighted has made Stern’s life hell, but he keeps pushing on, intent on making his goal real.
Despite his hardships, he’s been blessed with the unusual perk of his life-long friend, Pawly. Pawly is a polydactyl Maine Coon, who is protective of her friend and eager to help him reach his goal. With his friend beside him, Stern is ready to start his adventure.
(This book contains non-standard relationships and touches upon adult situations.)
My Opinion: 481 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
**Mostly dungeon dive, with romantic relationship building last 25%
*Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
This is one of the easiest LitRPG stories to read. The dialogue and world building are done so well it’s effortless to get lost in the dungeon dive story and the pages just fly by. Within 5% of the story I like the main character (MC), I’m aware of his perceived weakness, and there’s enough world building done through conversation that I understand why the MC is going into a dungeon. It’s just smooth writing that draws you in and gets on with the adventure.
Most of the story is a slice of life dungeon diving with some occasional backstory on the MC and his companion, and some world building. The dialogue and action is good and there’s enough conflict between other characters to make the non-dungeon sections interesting.
The last 25% of the story is almost entirely relationship building, leading predictably to a polyamorous relationship. It’s not poorly written and other readers who love romantic relationships will probably like this last 25% a bit more than me. I would have liked to have seen that built up relationship developed over the course of the entire novel and not kinda squished all together at the end with very little adventuring breaking it up. I will also note that though the story does infer sexual relationship, there are no graphic sex scenes in the story. Which may be a negative for some readers and a plus for others.
On the game mechanic side of things, it’s mostly an upgrade system rather than a detailed class or skill system. Three upgrade options come after completing a dungeon for the 1st time and depending on how well the dungeon was completed the dungeon also gives out dungeon points that can be traded for special goods, weapons, armor and other gear like runes. It's not a complex system and since each dungeon diver gets specific upgrade options for them, there’s a lot of possible builds for each character.
Overall, the story is entertaining, though for me it does get a little predictable towards the end. Readers that like a casual slice of life adventure story will enjoy the story, with fans of the author’s other works likely to really enjoy the end of this novel.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Face Genius
The protagonist gets hit by lightning while playing a game beta and gains a special ability to transform into his handsome character from the game in real life. Follows his adventures living as both himself and the game's alter ego!
My Opinion: Ch 30+, FREE, No English License
This is a slice of life high school LitRPG manga where the main character (MC) is a teen in high school who gets an RPG interface. He has the class powers of the game character he was playing IRL, a healer, and looks just like his handsome character from the game while his powers are activated. The story follows him as he tries to help his hospitalized mom, adjusts to his new appearance and the corresponding changes to how the world treats him, and uses his powers to complete quests and generally help people when he can. It’s a very casual slice of life story where the MC being good looking is almost as big a super power as his ability to heal or do RPG quests for XP.
The only downside to the story is that the translations only get updated every couple of weeks.
Score: 7.4 out of 10
https://manganelo.com/manga/pc923856
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