LitRPG Podcast 215

LitRPG Podcast 215 - Red Mage Book 2, Crematoria Online Book Two, GUARD, Tree Dungeon, Tusk and Blade, Spells for Sale, Disgardium Book #3 Feb. 28th, 2020 Hello everyone, welcome to episode 215 of the LitRPG podcast. I'm Ramon Mejia. I'm here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 7 new reviews just for you. For the full show notes visit us at: https://litrpgpodcast.com/litrpg-podcast-215 New Releases and Reviews: Temper: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (Red Mage Book 2) A bit less tension but a good sequel Score: 7.5 out of 10 https://amzn.to/2OSSQho Legacy of the Bloodreaver: Crematoria Online Book Two A more settled story world Score: 7.4 out of 10 https://amzn.to/2I12lHi GUARD [Web of Worlds: Empire] A LitRPG Series. Book 1 Better than I thought it would be Score: 7.2 out of 10 https://amzn.to/2I196sU Ian's Picks Of the Week Tree Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Epic (Divine Seed Book 1) Tree stories Score: 7.3 out if 10 https://amzn.to/2vaGXgf Tusk and Blade (Exodus Online) Book One: A LitRPG Novel campy with extra gore Score: 7.7 out of 10 https://amzn.to/32vPTJ7 Spells for Sale: Magik Volume I (Magik Online Book 1) Big story Score: 8.1 out of 10 https://amzn.to/3854xbm The Destroying Plague (Disgardium Book #3): LitRPG Series Power gaming Score: 8.7 out of 10 https://amzn.to/2PtOjlN (Play Music 2) LitRPG News This amazing book is FREE right now. Get it while it lasts. https://amzn.to/3abfEB7 Life Reset (New Era Online Book 1) is available this weekend only for $0.99. Go grab it now. https://amzn.to/2vsVbsT Out Now! Inheritance: A LitRPG Space Adventure (The Last Enclave Book 1) https://amzn.to/39rk72a The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) https://amzn.to/37JMBTu Waking Up in Arcania: A LitRPG GameLit Fantasy Adventure series (Non-Player Character Book 1) https://amzn.to/39b32d0 Tales of Dungeons 2 https://amzn.to/2I1UA40 New LitRPG Audiobooks The Crafting of Chess - A LitRPG Adventure https://amzn.to/2PwdaFI The Other Core: A Dungeon Core Epic - Station Cores, Book 5 https://amzn.to/2I589Q1 Second Story Man - Bad Guys Series, Book 2 https://amzn.to/2VpseZj Bibliomancer - Wolfman Warlock, Book 1 https://amzn.to/2Tkzx1H The Fourth Realm - The Ten Realms, Book 4 https://amzn.to/2Tm2OsP Cole Blooded https://amzn.to/3aevKKh Upcoming LitRPG: Gods of Ash and Amber: A Gamelit Novel (Seeds of Chaos Book 4) (Feb. 29th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2CqekeF Path of Soul: BlackFlame Online Litrpg/Gamelit Universe (Glory of Formation Emperor Book 3) (Feb. 29th, 2020) https://amzn.to/303uu8W The Last Time Loop: Max of the Rebellion (Volume 2): A Time Travel LitRPG Series (March. 2nd, 2020) https://amzn.to/2QH5WzF Caym: A Fantasy LitRPG (Enora Online Book 7) (March 2nd, 2020) https://amzn.to/2PuA6F9 Neon Dark: A LitRPG Adventure (Zero.Hero Book 1) (March 3rd, 2020) https://amzn.to/2RqgJ1z Journey Never Ends: A Dystopian GameLit Adventure (Project Chrysalis Book 5) (March 3rd, 2020) https://amzn.to/38tM0GI The Incarnator (Project Stellar Book 1): LitRPG Series (March 9th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2qhDQAw Viridian Gate Online: Insurrection (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 3) (March 10th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2tDrpAS Traveling the Dungeon (Dungeon Travels Book 2) (March 14th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2HW0AeN The Hive [LitRPG series:The Beetle] Book 2 (March 17th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2tUQuHs Darkworlds Paris: A Cthulhu LitRPG (March 19th, 2020) https://amzn.to/37KVPyW The Dark Continent (Underdog Book #3): LitRPG Series (March 20th, 2020) https://amzn.to/34SKoE6 The Starlight Sword (Rogue Merchant Book #1): LitRPG Series (March 23rd, 2020) https://amzn.to/39OUetn Stranger is Coming [LitRPG Series: Class Neutral] Book 1 (March 25th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2TiQppH Quest for Freedom: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 5) (March 30th, 2020) https://amzn.to/2EMZ4dg Sentenced to Troll 3 (April 1st, 2020) https://amzn.to/2FUwxmw Noa in the Flesh (World of the Changed Book #3): LitRPG Series (April 2nd, 2020) https://amzn.to/38ohw96 Eastbound and Town: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 8) (April 2nd, 2020) https://amzn.to/2PRJzHb Expedition Newb (Sun & Shadow Online Book 2) (April 10th, 2020) https://amzn.to/39Nl455 Dragon Heart: Sea of Sorrow. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 5 (April 15th, 2020) https://amzn.to/39cwT5u Resistance (Disgardium Book #4): LitRPG Series (April 29th, 2020) https://amzn.to/3bM1mbT Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book III (April 29th, 2020) https://amzn.to/39LWodg Gauntlet: A LitRPG Journey (Legends Online Book 5) (April 30th, 2020) https://amzn.to/3akbzLd Warsinger: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 4) (May 1st, 2020) https://amzn.to/39RC7Ut Aberrant Quest: The Blood Crown Book 2 (A LitRPG Adventure) (May 5th, 2020) https://amzn.to/38lNwL4 Path of Alchemy: BlackFlame Online Litrpg/Gamelit Universe (Glory of Formation Emperor Book 4) (May 31st, 2020) https://amzn.to/2Hm7Dgm Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6): LitRPG Series (June 9th, 2020) https://amzn.to/3886nbx Onto New Releases and Reviews (Play Music 3) New Releases and Reviews (Picture 1) Temper: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (Red Mage Book 2) A haven for humanity. Factions forming and fracturing. The seeds of a new empire. Drew and his team are racing to create a system-recognized 'Habitat'. To make this happen, they must conquer more nodes, deal with an antagonistic superior officer, and possibly worst of all: their own fear. Freeing the troll's sacrificial captives was only the beginning. Now the remnants of humanity must find a safe place to call home. But Nat's Park isn't the safe haven he was promised it would be. Not only do internal politics threaten to rip the survivors apart, an unknown danger haunts the stadium. Drew and his allies will struggle to survive in the changed world after the Advent as fate works to temper them. My Opinion: 345 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited Full disclosure: I received an advance copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available. This is a good sequel with all the good RPG action from book 1, but with less emphasis on the survival aspects of an apocalypse story. There's still an RPG apocalypse going on but less worry about single person survival or resources. Instead, its focus is more on community building, gathering of survivors, beating dungeon monsters to gain control of nodes, and a smaller intrigue storyline. Good RPG progression from everyone's powers but nothing bigger than what was in book 1. Overall, a good book 2 in the series with a bit less tension than was in book 1. Score: 7.5 out of 10 Temper: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (Red Mage Book 2) https://amzn.to/2OSSQho Legacy of the Bloodreaver: Crematoria Online Book Two Crematoria Online: A dark fantasy LitRPG series from Matthew J. Barbeler! For fans of Diablo, Bloodborne, Devil May Cry, and The Elder Scrolls. Making friends has never been Lucas Hutchins' strong suit, but now he has no choice in the matter. He has a promise to keep, but he's not strong enough to do it alone. Lucas forges friendships and alliances with a bunch of ragtag player characters: a purple-haired Apothecary with a passion for baking, a mysterious Occultist who takes role-playing way too seriously, and a Hellkin who just wants everyone to get along. Meanwhile, the armies of the Crimson Queen are gathering in the realm of Sanguinaria. They mean to invade the Four Kingdoms and bend every man, woman and child to the Crimson Queen's will. Lucas must use his wits and his Investigator abilities to find out what the Crimson Queen is up to before it's too late to fight back. My Opinion: 455 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited This has a good recap that explains the main game main characters powers and what happened in book 1. It really helped me get right back into the story and recall who everyone was and the major plotlines. The story starts in the real world and does a good job of establishing some IRL stakes and does some decent fleshing out of why people would be willing to be stuck in an MMO. I actually liked this 2nd book quite a bit more than book 1. It felt more...settled. Book 1 felt like the author wasn't 100% sure what kind of story it was going to be. Trapped in the game? Detective? Magical fantasy? What game mechanics were going to be there? What's this romance going to develop as? The detective game mechanics felt like a way to lead the MC through the story. In book 2 a lot of that is settled so the story is much clearer and it's easier to do world building and character development. Overall still a good story with a use of some unusual classes. Good action adventure but also a better fleshed out game world. Score: 7.5 out of 10 Legacy of the Bloodreaver: Crematoria Online Book Two https://amzn.to/2I12lHi GUARD [Web of Worlds: Empire] A LitRPG Series. Book 1 The God of Light fell. The Demon Lord rules the world. Sentient beings were forbidden to develop technology, and people were never able to shift from the steam era to the age of electricity and the internal combustion engine. But as long as you are the Light host, you can hope for the best. Even if your house is burned to the ground, even if you lose your family, even if your overlord sends you to your death, the Black Guard never gives up and continues on his way. Every word here is true. And every word here is a lie. Where is the truth? You can't guess... Choose what you want... ******************* The WWE series (Web of Worlds: Empire) was the first project in which most of the main character's decisions were made by the dice roll and readers' votes (at the end of each chapter). As a result, the plot often developed contrary to the author's plan and plenty of quite funny characters appeared. Dice rolls make the story unexpected—not only for readers, but also for the author who didn't even know about the end of each fight. The plot of the book developed thanks to the four-sided dice rolls. In addition to dice rolls, there were Basic characteristics remaining the same and a Bonus depending on the opponent, conditions, or luck. Read and play the new game Web of Worlds: Empire (Rules inside!) My Opinion: 547 pages, $0.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited Honestly, the cover art and novel description weren't big sellers for me. Even the 1st 5% felt more like portal fantasy. Then the author explains in an interlude that all the major story decisions and whether an action succeeds, were determined by dice rolls and reader polls when the story was originally written. It gives the novel a real 'choose your own story' vibe. Especially since the author shows the dice rolls, bonuses or penalties, and DCs for success. Some of the most interesting moments in the story were definitely when there was a critical failure and the author had to figure out the consequence. On the game mechanic side of things, this is LitRPG. There's a trapped in a game aspect but the MC doesn't remember thing going on. But practically, the story feels like a RPG fantasy world. The system messages are part of the culture as is choosing a class, crafting, levels, and combat notifications. There's some less common classes in the story and a whole trial/dialogue system I liked. On the story side of things it feels like a serial or a slice of life story. Especially since many story decisions where made by dice roll or early reader polls. There's still fantasy RPG action-adventure but the story takes some odd twists sometimes. Overall, a good story if you can appreciate the 'choose your own story' style. The author also has a tabletop system based on his story world that he has a link to at the back of his book. Score: 7.2 out of 10 GUARD [Web of Worlds: Empire] A LitRPG Series. Book 1 https://amzn.to/2I196sU Ian's (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week (Pic 0) New Segment from Ian Mitchell a long time LitRPG community member who reads and reviews as much as me. He was nice enough to agree to join the LitRPG Podcast family as a new reviewer. (Pic 6) Tree Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Epic (Divine Seed Book 1) Tree stories Not the usual dungeon core story. No stats. No levels. It has all the activities as other dungeon core tales without the game aspect. I liked the story of the tree that made a dungeon inside itself. It treated with the gods of the world as it was divine but not a god. First person and good reading, it was unique in the world with no sidekick for it to interact with. Score: 7.3 out if 10 Tree Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Epic (Divine Seed Book 1) https://amzn.to/2vaGXgf Tusk and Blade (Exodus Online) Book One: A LitRPG Novel campy with extra gore Fun and amusing. Light. Thag smash. Thag smash real hard. Impress orc babes. I can't say it was sophisticated. It was brutal in a visceral satisfying way. I felt a bit askew when the guy who failed at suicide turned into a very confident bruiser. Once past that, well it's a fantasy. Go for it, big guy. There were stats and things. I enjoyed it. Score: 7.7 out of 10 Tusk and Blade (Exodus Online) Book One: A LitRPG Novel https://amzn.to/32vPTJ7 Spells for Sale: Magik Volume I (Magik Online Book 1) Big story Dragons conquered the earth. Our standard of living is better, we just are a defeated species. Given magical abilities by the Administrator a series of adventures follow.Will the hero protect his friends and family or will they be killed or shipped of to jail. Some challenging tests and choices await. A great read. Score: 8.1 out of 10 Spells for Sale: Magik Volume I (Magik Online Book 1) https://amzn.to/3854xbm The Destroying Plague (Disgardium Book #3): LitRPG Series Power gaming Wow! That was awesome. I found it very exciting. Levels, grinding, and totally unfair perks. Wonderful. It starts out with some great sneaking around. And ends with becoming the target of a holy war (title of the next book). A great adventure that kept me up late reading. I'm glad the next one comes out soon. Score: 8.7 out of 10 The Destroying Plague (Disgardium Book #3): LitRPG Series https://amzn.to/2PtOjlN That's it everyone! Thank you for watching/listening. You can follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/litrpgpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LitRPGPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3-eBvpm-g7IkjfVktObGAA Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/geekbytespodcast Our Webpage: www.litrpgpodcast.com Other LitRPG facebook pages https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFantasyNation/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/541733016223492/ If you enjoy the podcast and want to support us you can also find all the other ways to support the podcast at www.litrpgpodcast.com/support Thanks for hanging out with me today. Until we can hangout again, remember to go read some LitRPG! (Music 4) Music Credits "Blip Stream" "Mighty Like Us" "Big Shift" "Vivacity" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/