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Earthen Contenders #1
Unexpected Healer
Something went wrong. Something went very wrong….
Against his will, Thaden was transported elsewhere in a big flash of light along with millions of other Humans from Earth, to a place where they would train to become Contenders in a whole new world. Unfortunately for him, something occurred during his transference into the “Training” program, and he was ejected from the whole training process and sent into the open mouth of an active volcano for bodily disposal.
Through a miraculous and horrifying series of events, Thaden managed to survive, only to find himself alone in the middle of a dungeon with no clothes, no weapons, and no way to defend himself. Worst of all, the strange new Assimilation System automatically assigned a Class to him without his knowledge, which ended up sticking him with a Support-based Class that has absolutely no offensive capabilities. As an Assistant Healer, none of his spells did any damage and he couldn’t even pick up a weapon to defend himself if he wanted to!
But all hope isn’t lost, as Thaden quickly learns something unique about himself that might just allow him to survive long enough to escape the dungeon. Sure, all his new magical spells might be focused on healing and protection, but what does it mean when he seemingly won’t ever run out of Mana…?
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-combat Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
Against his will, Thaden was transported elsewhere in a big flash of light along with millions of other Humans from Earth, to a place where they would train to become Contenders in a whole new world. Unfortunately for him, something occurred during his transference into the “Training” program, and he was ejected from the whole training process and sent into the open mouth of an active volcano for bodily disposal.
Through a miraculous and horrifying series of events, Thaden managed to survive, only to find himself alone in the middle of a dungeon with no clothes, no weapons, and no way to defend himself. Worst of all, the strange new Assimilation System automatically assigned a Class to him without his knowledge, which ended up sticking him with a Support-based Class that has absolutely no offensive capabilities. As an Assistant Healer, none of his spells did any damage and he couldn’t even pick up a weapon to defend himself if he wanted to!
But all hope isn’t lost, as Thaden quickly learns something unique about himself that might just allow him to survive long enough to escape the dungeon. Sure, all his new magical spells might be focused on healing and protection, but what does it mean when he seemingly won’t ever run out of Mana…?
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-combat Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
381 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2024
About the author
Jonathan Brooks
78 books415 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
March 6, 2024
Not Great
Extremely one dimensional characters. Author insists on telling the reader what conclusions to leap to instead of organic discovery.
Really interesting premise, acceptable prose, but preachy with awful execution. Disappointing overall.
Extremely one dimensional characters. Author insists on telling the reader what conclusions to leap to instead of organic discovery.
Really interesting premise, acceptable prose, but preachy with awful execution. Disappointing overall.
April 7, 2024
This 500+ page book contains less than 200 pages of actual story. The rest is stats, upgrade options, reward descriptions, and rumination on how each upgrade option or new skill would impact the protagonist's path. And those 200 pages of story are not tight prose. Wordy, verbose, rambling digressions are not often fun. I feel like I spent more time skipping filler than actually reading.
So why three stars? The well-concealed short story, shyly peeking out from behind these pages, is good. I wish the author had realized that his research notes, stat tracking, and perk dictionary didn't need to be published as part of his story.
So why three stars? The well-concealed short story, shyly peeking out from behind these pages, is good. I wish the author had realized that his research notes, stat tracking, and perk dictionary didn't need to be published as part of his story.
March 27, 2024
Good story idea. Poor execution.
Too little story. Too much stats. There's only one character in this book. Everyone else gets a paragraph and disappears.
Too little story. Too much stats. There's only one character in this book. Everyone else gets a paragraph and disappears.
March 8, 2024
Too game like.
There were too many arbitrary limits, many of which actually contradicted each other and forces the 'contender' into bad spots. What's fun about that?
What really got me was that at one point he hit the limit for backstocked XP. He knows this. He then proceeds to open more notifications that he must know will have more XP rewards waiting... why? To be wasteful? Not to mention a perk decision that was clearly based on future plot rather than current conditions, needs, and perspective. (Though I got over that fine.)
All together it made for a pretty arbitrary feeling world. Where some things felt even more game like than some games.
I'm at 51%. There's a moderate to decent chance I'll finsih it but we'll see.
TLDR: If you're into game exploits and videos about them this will probably appeal to you. Many times it feels like he's breaking the world and not just in OP ways. It's actually a very brittle, stiff, and narrow system. Some people find that fun though.
There were too many arbitrary limits, many of which actually contradicted each other and forces the 'contender' into bad spots. What's fun about that?
What really got me was that at one point he hit the limit for backstocked XP. He knows this. He then proceeds to open more notifications that he must know will have more XP rewards waiting... why? To be wasteful? Not to mention a perk decision that was clearly based on future plot rather than current conditions, needs, and perspective. (Though I got over that fine.)
All together it made for a pretty arbitrary feeling world. Where some things felt even more game like than some games.
I'm at 51%. There's a moderate to decent chance I'll finsih it but we'll see.
TLDR: If you're into game exploits and videos about them this will probably appeal to you. Many times it feels like he's breaking the world and not just in OP ways. It's actually a very brittle, stiff, and narrow system. Some people find that fun though.
March 7, 2024
likable MC, interesting premise, nurfing the MC not so good.
The world was interesting, pretty good world building. Likable characters in the book especially the MC. The only issue I have with the story is penalizing the MC in the beginning, he has played video games, so why wouldn’t he try to find things like inventories? or other RPG elements. I like the story, but the author makes the MC seem a little addled is a nice way of putting it, why wouldn’t you try all the RPG tropes when you’re thrown into an RPG world? It just seems to make the MC seem a little pathetic. I like the fact that the MC is overpowered, and I want the MC to be able to go through trials and tribulations and use his or her ability to get through the obstacles. But for a healing class, the healer needs offensive spells to go up against living opponents, I think the author should look at metrics as far as other books are concerned. People who want action may not gravitate to this book because of the fact that the MC does not seem to have any spells to counter living opponents. The last issue in this book is why run, you’re overpowered. nobody in this world so far can touch you. sometimes the story just left me shaking my head. But it was so enjoyable I will read the next. I won’t give it five stars because of the fact that the MC has no offensive capabilities whatsoever. The author wrote that he likes playing a healer, but honestly, I don’t think that fits most of your reader profiles, including me. If you’re gonna write a book for yourself, then that’s one thing but if you want mass market appeal, your MC has to have teeth.
The world was interesting, pretty good world building. Likable characters in the book especially the MC. The only issue I have with the story is penalizing the MC in the beginning, he has played video games, so why wouldn’t he try to find things like inventories? or other RPG elements. I like the story, but the author makes the MC seem a little addled is a nice way of putting it, why wouldn’t you try all the RPG tropes when you’re thrown into an RPG world? It just seems to make the MC seem a little pathetic. I like the fact that the MC is overpowered, and I want the MC to be able to go through trials and tribulations and use his or her ability to get through the obstacles. But for a healing class, the healer needs offensive spells to go up against living opponents, I think the author should look at metrics as far as other books are concerned. People who want action may not gravitate to this book because of the fact that the MC does not seem to have any spells to counter living opponents. The last issue in this book is why run, you’re overpowered. nobody in this world so far can touch you. sometimes the story just left me shaking my head. But it was so enjoyable I will read the next. I won’t give it five stars because of the fact that the MC has no offensive capabilities whatsoever. The author wrote that he likes playing a healer, but honestly, I don’t think that fits most of your reader profiles, including me. If you’re gonna write a book for yourself, then that’s one thing but if you want mass market appeal, your MC has to have teeth.
April 18, 2024
Wrongfully focused
Biggest problem i have which might be because i'm 10 years above target audience:
It's forced down your throat that the mc is very analytical, yet at first sign of danger he reverts to animalistic instincts and walks toward danger with little to no testing of his abilities. He also "forced himself to move" for 20 pages in a row, with it seeming that he has the strength of a 10 year old (mc is 30).
To top it off; he doesn't analyze or check his lvl / stats / game mechanic of the world until 20% into the book, which makes no sense considering he's so analytical (stated several times in short order).
Biggest problem i have which might be because i'm 10 years above target audience:
It's forced down your throat that the mc is very analytical, yet at first sign of danger he reverts to animalistic instincts and walks toward danger with little to no testing of his abilities. He also "forced himself to move" for 20 pages in a row, with it seeming that he has the strength of a 10 year old (mc is 30).
To top it off; he doesn't analyze or check his lvl / stats / game mechanic of the world until 20% into the book, which makes no sense considering he's so analytical (stated several times in short order).
May 8, 2024
Not really enjoyable
It's an interesting take is the best I can say it's not really an enjoyable read to protagonist isn't really enjoyable is incredibly antisocials of the vast majority of the book is him by. I get that makes it easier right but it also makes it less enjoyable as a story.
It's an interesting take is the best I can say it's not really an enjoyable read to protagonist isn't really enjoyable is incredibly antisocials of the vast majority of the book is him by. I get that makes it easier right but it also makes it less enjoyable as a story.
March 2, 2024
This book is tagged for kids 12-18 years old. Yet in the first 1/3 of the book we have 6 innocent people die... Just because? I see no real contribution that to the story from that.
Beside that the book is very slow and over-explaining.
Beside that the book is very slow and over-explaining.
June 19, 2024
Interesting in the fun way
The adventure definitely dives right in here, and goes pretty steady.
The frustration of not knowing all the controls and abilities for a game like world, then the intense world/system building was pretty cool.
The double set of leveling did take a bit, but I'm also not big on reading through skills that I'm not using in a game myself.
The adventure definitely dives right in here, and goes pretty steady.
The frustration of not knowing all the controls and abilities for a game like world, then the intense world/system building was pretty cool.
The double set of leveling did take a bit, but I'm also not big on reading through skills that I'm not using in a game myself.
June 3, 2024
KU read.
Well, this was interesting. But it didn't really grip me - the book ended on not quite a cliff hanger (more an oh dear moment), but I have no urge to go find book 2
"It was OK" just about summed it up for me.
As an aside: the formatting of the ebook was all messed up. I'd "turn" the page and the "end of book" notification would just pop up on the kind screen. I eventually figured out if I manually skipped to the next page it was fine. But it really annoyed me
Well, this was interesting. But it didn't really grip me - the book ended on not quite a cliff hanger (more an oh dear moment), but I have no urge to go find book 2
"It was OK" just about summed it up for me.
As an aside: the formatting of the ebook was all messed up. I'd "turn" the page and the "end of book" notification would just pop up on the kind screen. I eventually figured out if I manually skipped to the next page it was fine. But it really annoyed me
March 20, 2024
This was fun
The usual trope. A new system and somebody is glitched bugged or has a slight advantage. This is an interesting one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Frustrating to be a healer only. Normally not my shtick This particular book Made the healer class fun. The only negative I found was the thick skull of the MC and his, Let's go with stupidity, Lack of figuring out the simple parts of the system. It was funny when he learned about them later. Overall a good book that I enjoyed and look forward to the next one.
The usual trope. A new system and somebody is glitched bugged or has a slight advantage. This is an interesting one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Frustrating to be a healer only. Normally not my shtick This particular book Made the healer class fun. The only negative I found was the thick skull of the MC and his, Let's go with stupidity, Lack of figuring out the simple parts of the system. It was funny when he learned about them later. Overall a good book that I enjoyed and look forward to the next one.
March 1, 2024
Fantastic new entry in this genre.
Don’t let the simple cover fool you, this is one of the best LitRPGs I’ve read this year. It is extremely well edited and put together. It is cohesive, professional and has good pacing. The story is fun and keeps you invested. The MC is very well written, realistic, strong, and most importantly. It an asshole. The side characters aren’t introduced until closer to the end but they have good potential as well. Finally, the LitRPG components and the MCs build are rather unique as far as I’ve read with plenty of numbers and interesting achievements. I wish I didn’t binge this book in a single day because now I have to wait for the next.
Don’t let the simple cover fool you, this is one of the best LitRPGs I’ve read this year. It is extremely well edited and put together. It is cohesive, professional and has good pacing. The story is fun and keeps you invested. The MC is very well written, realistic, strong, and most importantly. It an asshole. The side characters aren’t introduced until closer to the end but they have good potential as well. Finally, the LitRPG components and the MCs build are rather unique as far as I’ve read with plenty of numbers and interesting achievements. I wish I didn’t binge this book in a single day because now I have to wait for the next.
March 16, 2024
Is the word I’m looking for ‘crunchy’? Too many stats and skill descriptions, everything’s a little bit gross, and everyone is kind of a prat. Not my style for sure.
April 18, 2024
Needs quite a bit of work
It's a very generic premise, which is not a problem for me. The problem is everything else.
-There are really no characters other than the main character.
I don't mean viewpoint characters, I mean characters in general. There are named individuals, but they're some of the flattest interactions I've read.
-Too much suspension of belief.
I don't mean the premise or magic or anything like that. It's things like the main character falls multiple times in the first chapter or so. Ordinary falls, but he's somehow shattering his ankle with the bone poking out and blood spurting everywhere, pulping his wrist, flattening his nose. Nothing trips him, nobody pushes him. Too much is like that, where it's not how humans work. People stare at each other for MINUTES without saying anything. Just randomly, not because some big news was announced.
-Not always consistent.
Things like a spell requires you to be stationery to channel it which causes issues, but a chapter later he's running around while channeling the same spell.
-Too much lore dumping.
At one point, a character is telling the protagonist details about various things, and it reads like you were given access to the author's world building document. Just pages of flavorless info that does not read like a person is saying it.
-this one is subjective, but I don't care for the powers the main character gets. It's flat, not scalable. Either you can win no matter what or you instantly die.
-Finally, the main character is just not interesting or consistent.
There's no friend, no companion, no pet, nothing to break up the monotony. When he finally spends time with a group, they're just... there. He asks them questions like they're Alexa and they give him info. That's it. He is told that due to their presence, he is getting boosted XP. He also gets achievements he wouldn't have without them. Net positive all around. But later he feels that he would have somehow gotten more levels without them?
Most of the book is his thoughts, and it's just not interesting and often there is whiplash. Things happen near the beginning of the novel and he doesn't bat an eyelash. Barely thinks about it. This happens over and over throughout the book. Later it happens while he's around people and suddenly he's traumatized and blames them.
-So why did I finish the book?
It's pretty short, especially if you swipe through pages of excessive character sheet data and ruminations about abilities. I was about 65% of the way through when I realized it wasn't getting better and decided to just grind it out. I am a sucker for isekai style books as well, so I forgive a lot. Ultimately, I finished it because I hate leaving a book unfinished. I will not be ready any further books in this series.
I think this is the first draft, and could have used some feedback and rewrites.
It's a very generic premise, which is not a problem for me. The problem is everything else.
-There are really no characters other than the main character.
I don't mean viewpoint characters, I mean characters in general. There are named individuals, but they're some of the flattest interactions I've read.
-Too much suspension of belief.
I don't mean the premise or magic or anything like that. It's things like the main character falls multiple times in the first chapter or so. Ordinary falls, but he's somehow shattering his ankle with the bone poking out and blood spurting everywhere, pulping his wrist, flattening his nose. Nothing trips him, nobody pushes him. Too much is like that, where it's not how humans work. People stare at each other for MINUTES without saying anything. Just randomly, not because some big news was announced.
-Not always consistent.
Things like a spell requires you to be stationery to channel it which causes issues, but a chapter later he's running around while channeling the same spell.
-Too much lore dumping.
At one point, a character is telling the protagonist details about various things, and it reads like you were given access to the author's world building document. Just pages of flavorless info that does not read like a person is saying it.
-this one is subjective, but I don't care for the powers the main character gets. It's flat, not scalable. Either you can win no matter what or you instantly die.
-Finally, the main character is just not interesting or consistent.
There's no friend, no companion, no pet, nothing to break up the monotony. When he finally spends time with a group, they're just... there. He asks them questions like they're Alexa and they give him info. That's it. He is told that due to their presence, he is getting boosted XP. He also gets achievements he wouldn't have without them. Net positive all around. But later he feels that he would have somehow gotten more levels without them?
Most of the book is his thoughts, and it's just not interesting and often there is whiplash. Things happen near the beginning of the novel and he doesn't bat an eyelash. Barely thinks about it. This happens over and over throughout the book. Later it happens while he's around people and suddenly he's traumatized and blames them.
-So why did I finish the book?
It's pretty short, especially if you swipe through pages of excessive character sheet data and ruminations about abilities. I was about 65% of the way through when I realized it wasn't getting better and decided to just grind it out. I am a sucker for isekai style books as well, so I forgive a lot. Ultimately, I finished it because I hate leaving a book unfinished. I will not be ready any further books in this series.
I think this is the first draft, and could have used some feedback and rewrites.
March 2, 2024
dnf Short. Not exciting. MC is a bumbling uncoordinated idiot with broken mechanics that make him practically unkillable. Nope. To quote the book summary "Something went wrong. Something went very very wrong."
May 9, 2024
Unexpected Healer
Thaden and millions of humans are teleported from Earth in an instant. Everyone is transported into a training program, where they will learn all about the assimilation process and how they will use this to survive. Everyone expect Thaden that is. Something strange happens and it seems to break his interaction with the assimilation process and his mana bar never depletes. This is an amazing boon, except for the fact that he is assigned the noncombatant support class.
Normally, I am not into the overpowered character trope. I’ve read enough Jonathan Brooks stories to expect good things, so I gave it a shot. I am glad that I did! It was a fascinating set up to a new series and a very interesting world. Miles Meili does an excellent job with the narration!
Content Warning: language
Thaden and millions of humans are teleported from Earth in an instant. Everyone is transported into a training program, where they will learn all about the assimilation process and how they will use this to survive. Everyone expect Thaden that is. Something strange happens and it seems to break his interaction with the assimilation process and his mana bar never depletes. This is an amazing boon, except for the fact that he is assigned the noncombatant support class.
Normally, I am not into the overpowered character trope. I’ve read enough Jonathan Brooks stories to expect good things, so I gave it a shot. I am glad that I did! It was a fascinating set up to a new series and a very interesting world. Miles Meili does an excellent job with the narration!
Content Warning: language
June 9, 2024
MC is not so bright
The MC is like in his late 20's or 30's, not the teen shown on the book cover. He also seems weirdly unknowledgeable for a guy who has played games. At about 75% thru the book the MC has been on a game like world for 3 solid months. He never once tried "inventory" or "loot".
MC is in a town where the townies barely tolerate him. He gets a cloak that has some powers, but is -15 on charm/charisma (I would lable that a cursed item). So of course he decides to wear it all the time when in town (versus putting it on right before entering the dungeon)
MC talks about how he likes to travel - yet continues to hang around the town where everyone dislikes him.
The MC is like in his late 20's or 30's, not the teen shown on the book cover. He also seems weirdly unknowledgeable for a guy who has played games. At about 75% thru the book the MC has been on a game like world for 3 solid months. He never once tried "inventory" or "loot".
MC is in a town where the townies barely tolerate him. He gets a cloak that has some powers, but is -15 on charm/charisma (I would lable that a cursed item). So of course he decides to wear it all the time when in town (versus putting it on right before entering the dungeon)
MC talks about how he likes to travel - yet continues to hang around the town where everyone dislikes him.
September 25, 2024
I'm used to skipping the meaningless descriptions of skills and spells the MC will never use, so the book was much shorter than I expected. The problem is we are getting set up for some super loner who saves the world BS. He builds no relationships with the towns folk. He quickly bails on the only people worth being friends.
Now the other issue that is going to be a deal breaker is if the author doesn't figure out how to add suspense or risk. Right now he is an unkillable, bumbling fool.
Now the other issue that is going to be a deal breaker is if the author doesn't figure out how to add suspense or risk. Right now he is an unkillable, bumbling fool.
May 19, 2024
Antisocial Coward, gets super cheat mode and does everything he can NOT to save people
Seriously this is the kind of person who gets purged out of every organization that finds him in their ranks. Chooses over and over to be disassociated from whatever group he finds himself. Ends up being 3 times everyone else's level and rabbits.
Seriously this is the kind of person who gets purged out of every organization that finds him in their ranks. Chooses over and over to be disassociated from whatever group he finds himself. Ends up being 3 times everyone else's level and rabbits.
March 2, 2024
Book one
This was a really good read.
The MC, once you get past his absolutely ridiculous arrival on the planet, acts in a completely believable manner.
I haven't slept because I needed to finish this book.
You should give it a try. The book not the no sleeping part.
9/10
This was a really good read.
The MC, once you get past his absolutely ridiculous arrival on the planet, acts in a completely believable manner.
I haven't slept because I needed to finish this book.
You should give it a try. The book not the no sleeping part.
9/10
May 2, 2024
I'm really liking these non-dungeon books from Jonathan. Really enjoying the Fusion series, but I like this one a lot too.
Interesting premise, well developed mechanics and looking forward to where the story goes, there's a lot of potential, especially for an author that finishes stories.
Interesting premise, well developed mechanics and looking forward to where the story goes, there's a lot of potential, especially for an author that finishes stories.
June 12, 2024
The best thing I can say is that the premise is mildly interesting, but the writing is terrible. I suspect this was written by AI, not a human, because it is flat and dull, but without grammar or spelling errors. Everything else is not worth my or your time.
June 27, 2024
An interesting concept but unfortunately the character ends up to be an extremely dull, unsocial cheat character with limitless mana. I rather hated the end of the book.
Excessive info dumps.
Excessive info dumps.
August 22, 2024
Square peg round hole
I was torn with this book. The story is great. It actually took me two starts to get into the book. I really didn’t like the beginning the very beginning. It makes sense later on so if you have an issue with it, stick with the book. Overall great story overall great MC, but this is almost like trying to make a square pig fit in round hole. The author makes it happen, but if you’ve ever played an RPG if you follow, LITRPG genre some stuff here rub you the wrong way. I got over it quickly, but let me explain.
Anybody who’s ever played in RPG knows that every character has a weapon every character can attack might not be the best attacker in the world, but you can hit something. You can do some damage even if it’s minimal. Highly upset that the MC in this story doesn’t have a weapon. Can’t do any physical damage makes no sense to me. Even if he takes on the traditional healer role and just has a cane and barely wax someone with it, it makes no sense he can do no damage. Don’t get me wrong the way the author addresses it is great, but this leads to the second problem. The way the world is built. It’s lopsided. Now when you have a broken character, that’s OK doesn’t matter how lopsided the world is, but when I take a few steps back, it makes no sense. How any other character of his class would make it in this world they would all die. It seems difficult for any character to make it in this world because some of the rules imposed by the author would probably get you killed. Here’s one you’re going into a dungeon level five to get in. Great you don’t know that the boss at the end has a level of 15 I believe, but you go into the dungeon you can’t exit how are you supposed to make it through this dungeon if you can’t level up in a dungeon. Someone who doesn’t read this genre won’t notice this but someone who does follow this type of genre really thinks about the systems at play here and do they make sense. They don’t make sense 100% that’s where the square peg is being forced into a round hole. It’s not the end of the world. The story makes sense ultimately in the end, but this is a bit much. I always argue that when an author writes a book in this genre, make sure your system works, and this system seems to be a bit lopsided. You end up discovering how much the MC can heal for as a healer great you’ll also discover the health of enemies great but they are misaligned significantly. to the point where if this was an average party going through this particular dungeon having to fight they would be having to kill enemies with hundreds of HP more than them. You know something is broken when you are given the MC stats and he almost has no health And no health that makes no sense. Not after so many levels. How is a regular person supposed to survive in this world if they are not him. Again square peg round hole it works. You’ll read it. You’ll love it but you think to yourself these numbers. Don’t quite add up. Something is a little off here needs a bit of a tweak. It makes sense from LITRG numbers perspective.
With all that being said, I’m going to read the next book and the one after that because I love where this story is going, but I just don’t like how the system was built. It’s almost like the blocks are off just a little. It doesn’t affect the story, but you just notice it ever so slightly.
Message to the Author
Spoilers
I always make a note to write a message to the author for the books I really like and please don’t take my criticism above to heart. I really liked this book. Initially, I didn’t like all the death at the beginning and I left the book alone but the cover of the third book in the series really interested me and I came back and once you get past the death in the beginning, and the character finally wakes up and starts moving around you like the story. I do have one issue with the story or rather with the system to me. The numbers don’t add up. Look at the MC before he gets all of his major achievements at the end of the second dungeon look at how much health he has and how he survives. That doesn’t make sense to me so little health after all of those levels, practically nothing still and somehow defeats this beyond his level. to me he should’ve died when he took that major blow because he was so out leveled compared to the boss he was fighting. Actually I thought he probably should’ve died earlier when he took that blow from the necrotic spasm. The numbers just seem off a little this character is growing in magic stats, but he’s not growing in physical health that made no sense and it seemed padded when he got achievements to grow his physicality. What happens if you don’t get those achievements you’re a thin sheet of paper a very thin, wet, see-through sheet of paper. I understand the concept of a healer being weak physically, but to me that was too weak.
Really to be honest characters have two little HP enemies have too much.
I was torn with this book. The story is great. It actually took me two starts to get into the book. I really didn’t like the beginning the very beginning. It makes sense later on so if you have an issue with it, stick with the book. Overall great story overall great MC, but this is almost like trying to make a square pig fit in round hole. The author makes it happen, but if you’ve ever played an RPG if you follow, LITRPG genre some stuff here rub you the wrong way. I got over it quickly, but let me explain.
Anybody who’s ever played in RPG knows that every character has a weapon every character can attack might not be the best attacker in the world, but you can hit something. You can do some damage even if it’s minimal. Highly upset that the MC in this story doesn’t have a weapon. Can’t do any physical damage makes no sense to me. Even if he takes on the traditional healer role and just has a cane and barely wax someone with it, it makes no sense he can do no damage. Don’t get me wrong the way the author addresses it is great, but this leads to the second problem. The way the world is built. It’s lopsided. Now when you have a broken character, that’s OK doesn’t matter how lopsided the world is, but when I take a few steps back, it makes no sense. How any other character of his class would make it in this world they would all die. It seems difficult for any character to make it in this world because some of the rules imposed by the author would probably get you killed. Here’s one you’re going into a dungeon level five to get in. Great you don’t know that the boss at the end has a level of 15 I believe, but you go into the dungeon you can’t exit how are you supposed to make it through this dungeon if you can’t level up in a dungeon. Someone who doesn’t read this genre won’t notice this but someone who does follow this type of genre really thinks about the systems at play here and do they make sense. They don’t make sense 100% that’s where the square peg is being forced into a round hole. It’s not the end of the world. The story makes sense ultimately in the end, but this is a bit much. I always argue that when an author writes a book in this genre, make sure your system works, and this system seems to be a bit lopsided. You end up discovering how much the MC can heal for as a healer great you’ll also discover the health of enemies great but they are misaligned significantly. to the point where if this was an average party going through this particular dungeon having to fight they would be having to kill enemies with hundreds of HP more than them. You know something is broken when you are given the MC stats and he almost has no health And no health that makes no sense. Not after so many levels. How is a regular person supposed to survive in this world if they are not him. Again square peg round hole it works. You’ll read it. You’ll love it but you think to yourself these numbers. Don’t quite add up. Something is a little off here needs a bit of a tweak. It makes sense from LITRG numbers perspective.
With all that being said, I’m going to read the next book and the one after that because I love where this story is going, but I just don’t like how the system was built. It’s almost like the blocks are off just a little. It doesn’t affect the story, but you just notice it ever so slightly.
Message to the Author
Spoilers
I always make a note to write a message to the author for the books I really like and please don’t take my criticism above to heart. I really liked this book. Initially, I didn’t like all the death at the beginning and I left the book alone but the cover of the third book in the series really interested me and I came back and once you get past the death in the beginning, and the character finally wakes up and starts moving around you like the story. I do have one issue with the story or rather with the system to me. The numbers don’t add up. Look at the MC before he gets all of his major achievements at the end of the second dungeon look at how much health he has and how he survives. That doesn’t make sense to me so little health after all of those levels, practically nothing still and somehow defeats this beyond his level. to me he should’ve died when he took that major blow because he was so out leveled compared to the boss he was fighting. Actually I thought he probably should’ve died earlier when he took that blow from the necrotic spasm. The numbers just seem off a little this character is growing in magic stats, but he’s not growing in physical health that made no sense and it seemed padded when he got achievements to grow his physicality. What happens if you don’t get those achievements you’re a thin sheet of paper a very thin, wet, see-through sheet of paper. I understand the concept of a healer being weak physically, but to me that was too weak.
Really to be honest characters have two little HP enemies have too much.
May 17, 2024
This is another book in this sub-genre where I am really frustrated to have to give it such a low score because I really like the premise. However, as is always the case with these books that I have to rate lower than I'd like, it makes the following mistakes:
1. Messes up the balance between Game and Literature
There is a massive difference between using gaming elements to enrich a story, and writing what feels like a journal of someone's experience playing a game. Gamelit novels rely on a delicate balance, and if you're struggling to make the balance work, then you have to lean more on the literature side of the equation because, at the end of the day, this is a book, and it is more important that it works as a story than it does as a game.
2. Keeping the protagonist isolated
It is easily the most common flaw with novels in this sub-genre, but the authors feel the need to isolate the protagonist at the start of every book, and it's always to the detriment of these stories. Unless you are a master storyteller specialising in character studies, the chances are you are not going to create a protagonist compelling enough to carry a story on their own. I think the authors get too excited in their world-building and trying to set up the gamer mechanics, but as with the first point, writing a good story is much more important. Multiple characters, relationships and all the other good stuff that comes from people interacting with one another are vital to telling a great story, and I genuinely can't think of a single GameLit novel that got interesting until the character leaves isolation and starts interacting with people.
3. Info dumping - Telling rather than showing
It's another side effect of not spending enough time on putting the story first, but this book is full of info dumps that tell us information rather than show us. The best example of this is the overuse of stats and gamer info in this book. It is common with all of these books that I simply will not remember a single word of description told to us through a system message. It is simply not interesting. It only becomes interesting when that information is put to use in the form of action that is meaningful to moving the story forward, that's the only time that it matters.
4. Overly detailed in system information
We do not need to see every system message, every option for every character-build decision, every single time a stat is levelled up, and so on. Like with the last point, it just bogs down the story and doesn't meaningfully move the plot forward. When every chapter is half full of system messages, then I no longer feel like I am reading a story and instead feel like I am reading a transcript from someone's game.
Final Verdict
This is a book with a fascinating enough premise that I kept reading to the end. I hoped that this might be like Defiance of the Fall or The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound, where if you can just push past the isolation period, then the story will eventually get awesome. However, while there is a glimmer of light here when the other human characters finally show up, the story seems to lean towards taking the path of the lone wolf, and at that point, I was done.
I'll keep an eye on the reviews for the next book to see if things do change for the better, because I am really hoping that the author could rescue this premise. He just needs to focus more on telling a good story, and not writing his ideal gaming experience.
1. Messes up the balance between Game and Literature
There is a massive difference between using gaming elements to enrich a story, and writing what feels like a journal of someone's experience playing a game. Gamelit novels rely on a delicate balance, and if you're struggling to make the balance work, then you have to lean more on the literature side of the equation because, at the end of the day, this is a book, and it is more important that it works as a story than it does as a game.
2. Keeping the protagonist isolated
It is easily the most common flaw with novels in this sub-genre, but the authors feel the need to isolate the protagonist at the start of every book, and it's always to the detriment of these stories. Unless you are a master storyteller specialising in character studies, the chances are you are not going to create a protagonist compelling enough to carry a story on their own. I think the authors get too excited in their world-building and trying to set up the gamer mechanics, but as with the first point, writing a good story is much more important. Multiple characters, relationships and all the other good stuff that comes from people interacting with one another are vital to telling a great story, and I genuinely can't think of a single GameLit novel that got interesting until the character leaves isolation and starts interacting with people.
3. Info dumping - Telling rather than showing
It's another side effect of not spending enough time on putting the story first, but this book is full of info dumps that tell us information rather than show us. The best example of this is the overuse of stats and gamer info in this book. It is common with all of these books that I simply will not remember a single word of description told to us through a system message. It is simply not interesting. It only becomes interesting when that information is put to use in the form of action that is meaningful to moving the story forward, that's the only time that it matters.
4. Overly detailed in system information
We do not need to see every system message, every option for every character-build decision, every single time a stat is levelled up, and so on. Like with the last point, it just bogs down the story and doesn't meaningfully move the plot forward. When every chapter is half full of system messages, then I no longer feel like I am reading a story and instead feel like I am reading a transcript from someone's game.
Final Verdict
This is a book with a fascinating enough premise that I kept reading to the end. I hoped that this might be like Defiance of the Fall or The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound, where if you can just push past the isolation period, then the story will eventually get awesome. However, while there is a glimmer of light here when the other human characters finally show up, the story seems to lean towards taking the path of the lone wolf, and at that point, I was done.
I'll keep an eye on the reviews for the next book to see if things do change for the better, because I am really hoping that the author could rescue this premise. He just needs to focus more on telling a good story, and not writing his ideal gaming experience.
September 14, 2024
DNF 55%. I almost quit 4 times before, and I skimmed a lot. To show how serious I am, I removed my follow from the person I was following who gave it 5 stars. I don’t even understand how the average can be so high.
I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so upset. I really was. NOTHING about this book works for me. Whether it’s the technical part, the character build, the emotion/psychology of the people, NOTHING.
A few examples (little spoiler):
To have a trampoline effect, the surface has to be flat to avoid a body being thrown to the sides. Even so, if the body itself is not flat, it will still go sideways. Shall I continue?
Between a burn that keeps on burning, a sensation of your body rotting, or a bite with tearing, which is the most debilitating?
A completely created character based on the possibility of not using mana. I can understand that in a short-term context, but not in the long term. NEVER. We can’t assume that this bug will continue, and so taking on a skill that makes ALL spell costs 3 times higher is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a viable idea.
The character is “afraid” of being noticed by the system (and the characters) but clearly spends 100% of his time drawing attention to himself.
His fear is not coherent. He runs towards danger, but when there’s danger, he plays the fool.
A healer is not a logical choice for someone afraid of dying. The person will seek to have as much life as possible. The healer is the glue that holds any group together in any RPG. Except with free and unlimited potions.
I’ll stop now. I don’t understand what the author is trying to achieve. The character has literally no talent other than the use of a bug, and he considers that bug to be permanent. And if that’s not enough, he’ll add more bugs to make him even more cheated. So the healer role is decried, and every action taken to make it interesting is the result of a flawed universe.
Finally. Move to another city to avoid being noticed. STUPID.
I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so upset. I really was. NOTHING about this book works for me. Whether it’s the technical part, the character build, the emotion/psychology of the people, NOTHING.
A few examples (little spoiler):
To have a trampoline effect, the surface has to be flat to avoid a body being thrown to the sides. Even so, if the body itself is not flat, it will still go sideways. Shall I continue?
Between a burn that keeps on burning, a sensation of your body rotting, or a bite with tearing, which is the most debilitating?
A completely created character based on the possibility of not using mana. I can understand that in a short-term context, but not in the long term. NEVER. We can’t assume that this bug will continue, and so taking on a skill that makes ALL spell costs 3 times higher is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a viable idea.
The character is “afraid” of being noticed by the system (and the characters) but clearly spends 100% of his time drawing attention to himself.
His fear is not coherent. He runs towards danger, but when there’s danger, he plays the fool.
A healer is not a logical choice for someone afraid of dying. The person will seek to have as much life as possible. The healer is the glue that holds any group together in any RPG. Except with free and unlimited potions.
I’ll stop now. I don’t understand what the author is trying to achieve. The character has literally no talent other than the use of a bug, and he considers that bug to be permanent. And if that’s not enough, he’ll add more bugs to make him even more cheated. So the healer role is decried, and every action taken to make it interesting is the result of a flawed universe.
Finally. Move to another city to avoid being noticed. STUPID.
April 5, 2024
An okay one time KU read.
The title of this story describes the setup perfectly. If you like quick and easy Litrpg reads, heavy on the rpg and game mechanics, then this might be your cup of tea. It is YA appropriate with some foul language and, of course, violent action.
I started and erased several reveiw attempts as they were more on the negative side and from a writers perspective. Target audience is key, and when an author finds their niche style, it will be desired by some while putting off others. This story does have the quickly published feel, it uses the familiar set up as described in its title and a very specific limitation to the main protagonist that even after the authors explanation at the end of the book annoys me haha. That is, I have never played a rpg of any kind were the healer/support class has zero offensive abilities or even use of a weapon of any kind.
Between worldbuilding, character, and plot, the world building was the strongest portion of the story. It was a decent set up that did build some interest in me. The characters were hindered by the rpg element taking priority over depth, motivation, and even logic. The plot had the feel of what should have been the beginning, lasting for over half the story before what should have been the meaty interesting part being glossed over, and then the story just ends.
It gets a three instead of the two because it has an interest concept with a rough draft of a story with no ridiouslous random element meant to shock the reader.
The title of this story describes the setup perfectly. If you like quick and easy Litrpg reads, heavy on the rpg and game mechanics, then this might be your cup of tea. It is YA appropriate with some foul language and, of course, violent action.
I started and erased several reveiw attempts as they were more on the negative side and from a writers perspective. Target audience is key, and when an author finds their niche style, it will be desired by some while putting off others. This story does have the quickly published feel, it uses the familiar set up as described in its title and a very specific limitation to the main protagonist that even after the authors explanation at the end of the book annoys me haha. That is, I have never played a rpg of any kind were the healer/support class has zero offensive abilities or even use of a weapon of any kind.
Between worldbuilding, character, and plot, the world building was the strongest portion of the story. It was a decent set up that did build some interest in me. The characters were hindered by the rpg element taking priority over depth, motivation, and even logic. The plot had the feel of what should have been the beginning, lasting for over half the story before what should have been the meaty interesting part being glossed over, and then the story just ends.
It gets a three instead of the two because it has an interest concept with a rough draft of a story with no ridiouslous random element meant to shock the reader.
July 20, 2024
At it cores it is a fairly standard litRPG isekai with death game elements. Young man (together with a sizable group of people from Earth) is summoned into a new world with game elements. Something goes wrong for him, and he ends up in the world without getting the tutorial. He ends up with a healer class, not exactly the best when solo gaming, but a "bug" does give him a bit of an edge. The world comes with its mystery though, if only because the official story does not seem to match the MC's experience, raising the question on what is going on. The story itself is not bad, but two things keep me from fully enjoying it. For one thing, the MC is a lone wolf even if not by choice, and I prefer more social interaction in my story and it seems to go towards PvP, a game element I am not that much of a fan off. Secondly, there is a bit too much game stats, a large part of which is rather meaningless and confusing and that is coming from an actual gamer. The fact that the MC seems to be inconsistent in what he remembers from the few games he played does not help. All in all, a decent read, just not for me.
March 2, 2024
Overall good, but just didn't clear the 5-star bar for me. I think that it bogged down too much into stats and lists of skills, and that disrupted the pacing/flow. Some people like more granularity on the game mechanics, but the info dumps (which did provide a lot of that) disrupted story progress for me. Minor spoilers follow.
The author wanted to do a story with a "pure healer" with no offensive capability who is a solo adventurer. It is an axiom of warfare that the best defence is a good offence for a reason. No purely defensive doctrine will ever win a war, and his survival here is that war. He may have boxed his character in, but we'll see in book 2 if: a) he has to crack and give him an overtly offensive capability/item, b) he finds people to party up with, or c) some deus ex machina I haven't thought of. I don't see this working without something like that.
The author wanted to do a story with a "pure healer" with no offensive capability who is a solo adventurer. It is an axiom of warfare that the best defence is a good offence for a reason. No purely defensive doctrine will ever win a war, and his survival here is that war. He may have boxed his character in, but we'll see in book 2 if: a) he has to crack and give him an overtly offensive capability/item, b) he finds people to party up with, or c) some deus ex machina I haven't thought of. I don't see this working without something like that.
May 2, 2024
a pretty good story; a pretty bad narrator
I mostly listened to the audiobook of this one. The narrator is bad, but nowhere near the worst I’ve listened to.
Throughout the book, I kept thinking that either this is being read by an AI, or by someone who learned how to read and speak from a “speak & spell” and never heard actual humans speaking in their life.
It was so distracting that I honestly have a hard time thinking of any criticism to give the actual story. There were about 3 times where the narrator switched from their usual tone-deaf manner of speaking and actually put some emotion in their voice. One of those was when a monster was speaking! Lol
Listen to the sample before buying the audiobook! Otherwise, enjoy the story of an OP MC with a broken ability and zero social skills. 😁
I mostly listened to the audiobook of this one. The narrator is bad, but nowhere near the worst I’ve listened to.
Throughout the book, I kept thinking that either this is being read by an AI, or by someone who learned how to read and speak from a “speak & spell” and never heard actual humans speaking in their life.
It was so distracting that I honestly have a hard time thinking of any criticism to give the actual story. There were about 3 times where the narrator switched from their usual tone-deaf manner of speaking and actually put some emotion in their voice. One of those was when a monster was speaking! Lol
Listen to the sample before buying the audiobook! Otherwise, enjoy the story of an OP MC with a broken ability and zero social skills. 😁
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