Title: Crow's Fortune: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Iron Tyrant Book 2)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DK5NJ373/
Author: Seth Ring
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: This is a book 2 review, which I am trying to avoid, but in this case, I was undecided about how I felt about the series after book 1. Book 2 clarified my feelings that I like the series. The story in the second book really expands and matures, and most importantly, it has some unforeseen developments. I will be reading book 3 when it comes out May 14th (2025).
The parts I really like are the relationship between Mateo and his friends, the unorthodox way Mateo's powers work, and the aforementioned unforeseen development. I still hate the Empire that they're attached to.
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Comments: This is the author's first book, and he essentially volunteered for this because he messaged me on Discord and told me he had published a book. That shows he's either insanely brave, or unaware that I have earned my title of curmudgeon. Out of respect for his courage, I'm going to focus on being constructive with my commentary in the off chance he reads this.
Ok so the good parts, the characters are, for the most part, engaging. He avoids the lewd scene trap that is all too often tripped by new authors. He makes the protagonist and Sally Love Interest interactions (mostly) believable in portraying an attraction. The world setting is, again mostly, interesting. The book one plot arc, is decent.
Now for the bad part, the book suffers from things being inconsistent. The characters' behavior is inconsistent. The world has inconsistencies that you could, pardon the pun, drive a truck through. When I mentioned this to another author, he responded with "So it's like every first book ever."
I'm going to avoid the trope of "the ugly" and make my third category "Stuff that made me go 'WTF'?" This is stuff that made me think "He needed either an editor, or better research." There was a lot of this. I mean every chapter had holding down my suspension of disbelief with a submission hold metaphorically saying "It's his first book, just go with it." I'll give you some examples that have stuck with me. The rig "The Long Haul" which is central to the story, is a massive mechanical behemoth, -=with three cars, fifteen foot tires, armor, and self-defense turrets. It is described as having a six speed manual transmission. If you know anything about trucks, this is simply not plausible. A normal tractor trailer rig in the US today would have 15 to 21 gears, and those aren't for show, it needs them all. Then later we're told it has a V16 radial engine that's 12' (or maybe 20', it changed; see previous paragraph). An engine is either a V form, or a radial, I can't even conceive how you could have an engine that's both. Then there's the "Vault" on the 3rd floor of car 3, which is described as being extremely heavily armored. So car three is going to be very top-heavy and unstable. There's more and varied examples of all of this, but I'm not going to keep going.
As with most first books, it really needs a good competent editor, and it is obvious it didn't get it.
Now after all of this, my final opinion is that Mr. Jones has some talent as a writer, and he needs to battle through it. Give him another 3-4 books of experience, and enough cash flow to engage with a good editor and he could carve himself out a niche.
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I struggled through to the end of this. I wanted to like it, but it was just kind of a slog. I kept expecting it to get funny, but it came across like a comedian who's trying too hard. I almost gave it the 3.5 rating, but honestly it doesn't deserve it. I can't see any circumstance where I will look at the sequel.
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Comments: This is something I never expected to find, a system Apocalypse book that I don't hate. It actually recognizes that humans are social animals and non-sociopaths benefit from having social connections. It takes a novel approach to non-combatants, at least from my reading, and doesn't make them helpless cannon fodder.
Surprisingly, I will be looking forward to the next book.
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Comments: This is a fairly straightforward setup. You have the apparently weak and disrespected protagonist without any apparent potential. You have his best friend who's capable and unfailingly loyal to our Hero. All good things, great basis of a story. What I found exceptional with these books (1 and 2) was the pacing and the banter and repartee between the characters. The pacing is fast without being too fast, and the banter is great.
I will be looking for book 3 because I read 1 and 2 in two days.
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Comments: This is kind of an odd beast. It's an isekai but the protagonist has some power before being reborn. He's isn't so much reborn as inserted into the body of someone else who has met an unfortunate end. It is actually really good. Only the first of the eight books is on Kindle Unlimited, but I bought and read all 8 of them in less than a week. Strong characters, good plot twists, and a good over-arching arc.
I am only putting up a review for the first one, but I give the whole series a recommendation.
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Comments: This book is one I have been anticipating for years. Mr. Sutherland had put it up for pre-sale back in 2023, and then had a bout of clinical depression which utterly derailed his writing. He worked past the depression and has gotten back in the writing groove. After having all my creative energy destroyed during the Great Hiatus of 2024, I have a lot of sympathy for him.
For those who are unfamiliar with this series, it's heavily inspired by the Golden Age of Sail but in space. The stories are great and I was curious to see if he could match the previous books' quality. I was pleasantly surprised. In typical Carew style, the stories have great emotional impact, but also have a signature dry humor. My only real quibble is that the pacing during part of it was a little slow. Fortunately for me, he says he's well into book 8, and I will be waiting for it with as much patience as I can muster.
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Comments: I read this back in July, during the Great Hiatus of 2024 and I'll be honest, I don't remember a lot of specifics. I do remember finishing it and I enjoyed it. Grog stories are great and this one lived up to the standard.
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Title: Start Menu: New Game: A LitRPG Adventure Kindle Edition
Author: Kos Play
Rating: 2.9/5
Comments: I'm not including a link to this book because I wouldn't do that to you. It wasn't terrible until you got to the end, and then it really screwed the pooch.
A 3 means I finished it and question whether that is wise. In this case it doesn't earn a 3 because I know it was a waste of time.
The protagonist is contemptible, and you're really only reading this out of morbid curiosity and the vague hope that he might redeem himself.
Just save your time.
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Comments: Generally, I have made a decision that I'm not going to bother reviewing books that are deep into a series unless they really suck (Looking at you Infinite World book 4).
This however is the last book of the series.
A good book or a good series can be utterly ruined if the author can't bring it to a satisfying conclusion so wrapping up a series is really a high risk endeavor for an author. The master of the satisfying conclusions is of course Professor Tolkien, but any comparison to the Professor is inherently unfair.
All in all Mr Potato brought it all together in a satisfying manner. The protagonists have to pull out some surprises, there are some unforeseen twists and turns, and at the end, an actual conclusion.
If you haven't read the series, I don't regret the hours I spent reading it, so take that for what it's worth. If you have, I think you'll enjoy the epic conclusion.
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Comments: This is a new series from the author of Battlemage Farmer (which has reached Plaid Power level).
Pretty good series, but there are certain parts which evoked an extremely negative response. They are perpetrated by the bad guys which is why it wasn't an instant DNF. I'll see how I feel after book 2, but I will read it.
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Comments: This is one of the books that I read in an effort to branch out from my usual fare. It's not LitRPG, GameLit, or Isekai.
All in all, very good. It's got some skipping around, and the pace could be faster, but the world is interesting and the characters are good. If I had to describe it, it's kind of an alternate history with magic. There are many elements that are clearly inspired by the real world, but it's neither annoyingly plaigiaristic nor incongruous, so it meshes together seamlessly.
Book 2 is out next month and I will most likely pick it up
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Comments: This might have been my most anticipated book of 2024. I was thrilled that it did not disappoint. After the last book's explosive ending, this book inevitably had to be a slower pace, and that's managed in a very good way. It's a "back to the farm" and "kick back" kind of book. A lot of the mysteries we've been reading about for 3 books are fully fleshed out and revealed, which is pretty fascinating.
Looking forward to book 5!
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Comments: This is my first review after the Great Hiatus of 2024.
Full disclosure, M. Tress is someone I've conversed with more than once on Discord, and it goes back long before he started publishing books.
This book was one of the more innovative stories that I have read in the last few years. It has good characters and a really interesting storyline. His best book so far.
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Well here we are, 2024 is over, and it's a whole new year.
I don't know if this picture is a sunrise or a sunset, and that's oddly appropriate because it could be the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.
2024 was a pretty crap year for me, mostly because of the loss of my brother by another mother. In July I was struggling with coping with the grief, so I took the step to see a grief counselor, and she was very helpful. I feel like I have gotten past the primary danger there. I have struggled with having any creative energy and while I have kept up my reading, I have not felt like doing reviews.
I'm going to try reviving CBR, and we'll see if I can find the motivation to keep up with it. Lord knows I have a large backlog.
So last Saturday I went to a gaming event with my best friend. I've known this man for 34 years. He was the best man at my wedding, and I was a groomsman at his. Our sons were born 2 months apart. I have had to talk him down a few times when things were going sideways for him. I'm not exaggerating when I say he saved my life when my life went sideways.
He dropped me off at my house on his way home. He lives 3 blocks from me. Thirty minutes later my wife hears sirens. Pulse Point says it's at his house. Their neighbor texts my wife that one of his sons (5 kids) is in the front yard hugging the neighbor. That was enough to send me down there.
He had called 911 before handing off the phone to his 15 year old daughter, then collapsed. She started CPR on him, and switched off with his 20 year old son.
The EMT's worked on him for an hour before taking him to the ambulance. His wife was out of town at a work conference, and she asked me to go to the hospital with him. I took his 20 year old son with me and he was pronounced dead almost as soon as we got there. I will never forget the anguish in his son's voice when he screamed "You mean he's fucking dead?!!! Why!? I'm only 20, what the fuck am I going to do now?!"
My wife said I may have gotten 5 more kids, and honestly I'm ok with that. We mutually pledged to take care of each other's families if anything happened, and I guess it happened.
I'm not sure when CBR will pick back up, but now you know why it just stopped.
Fair winds and following seas my friend. I will see you on the other side. You will be missed.
Eighty years ago today, the Allies breached the wall of Fortress Europe and began the liberation of France and the final defeat of Nazi Germany.
My ability to sit here, read dozens of books, and gripe about their quality, or extoll their quality is directly related to the sacrifices made on a beach in France in 1944.
Comments: I should start a tag for "Time travel isekai" but I don't think I will be able to convince myself to try another one.
This is not a great story. It is so full of plot holes that I used the phrase "plot colander" when discussing it. I am amazed I made it half-way through it. I can't even describe all the issues with the story.
Disappointing, hopefully Mr. Tanner cleans up the story in future books.
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