Review: Infinite world series

Title: Infinite World

The Infinite World (3 book series) Kindle Edition (amazon.com)

Author: J.T. Wright

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments:

This series has 3 books in it currently;  Land of the Undying Lord, A Bond Broken, and Moonlight Banishes Shadows.

I read them all in about 4 days.  It's fairly notable that I binged them like that, so you could say I really enjoyed the story.

My quibbles:  Shifting POV for minor characters for little to no story value,  I find Litrpg character sheet dumps annoying and feel they detract from the story.  I guess mainly I don't see the value of crunchy game bits in a story.

Other than that, it's a good story with a unique start.  Beyond that, it doesn't develop the way you think it will, and any time an author can accomplish that with me is enjoyable.

 Bedroom Activities: None

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

Review: Dark Obligations: Book One of the Phantom Badgers

Title: Dark Obligations

Author: RW Krpoun

Rating: 3.9/5

Comments:

This is kind of a fantasy take on military fiction, and it mostly works.  The story gets a little bogged down in world building, and as typical Krpoun likes to jump between POV's.  This slow pace meant it took me a lot longer than normal to get through it, but I'm glad I did.

I think the world has good potential, but I hope there's a little less of the "here's a thing, now let me explain the thing to you for half a page" in the next book.

Bedroom Activities: None

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

Review: The Last Kingdom (Saxon Tales Book 1)

Title: The Last Kingdom

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Rating: 4/5

Comments:

This is not my typical book, partly because it was one I was given rather than one on Kindle Unlimited.

This is a historical fiction book set in the Dark Age England during the wars between the Danes, the Saxons, and the Britons.

I struggled a little with the narration style because it's told by the protagonist in the past tense, as if relating his life as an old man, but I persevered, and it is ultimately a pretty decent story.  For those of you who watch shows, I hear that there is video adaptation of it on Amazon streaming.

I wouldn't mind reading the next one, but it will have to come from the library.  There are 12 more books in the series, and they are more than $10 each, and that's a lot of money to finish the story.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

Review: Wrangler 4

Title: Wrangler 4

Author: Hondo Jinx

Rating: 3.75/5

Comments:

Ok, generally I like Hondo's work.  This one just felt kind of shallow.  We had characters added to the cast with little development, and the big looming threat of the previous books was dealt with almost casually.

There were parts of it that were really good, but my impression after finishing it was that he wanted to wrap up the series in this book, and certain things were abbreviated to make that happen.  If you've read the first 3, I recommend reading it as it does give a satisfying wrap-up, but it's not the grand finale it could have been.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

Review: War's Edge: Dead Heroes

Title: War's Edge: Dead Heroes

Author: Ryan W. Aslesen

Rating: 4/5

Comments:

This is from the same author as War Whore (link to review) and I picked it up based on the strength of that novel.  

The first half is a fairly standard "boot camp" experience which is not groundbreaking but it works. The second half covers the protagonists first deployment, and I got a very Vietnam War vibe from it.  Again, not a problem, just familiar.

All in all, good action, good characters.  There was some POV switching that was apparently there just to give us a broader view of the story, because honestly they didn't get enough screen time for me to care about them.

Bedroom Activities: FTB limited, one "on-screen" but not detailed enough to warrant an Explicit rating.

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

Review: He Who Fights Monsters

Title: He Who Fights Monsters: A Litrpg Adventure

Author: Shirtaloon

Rating:4/5

Comments:

This was originally written as a serial on some web platform, and I hear it's still there.  That introduces a few oddities, where you get information repeated.  Overall it's not a problem.

All in all, it's entertaining.  The protagonist has a very definite way of looking at the world, but he's not one to "do as I say, not as I do" so he shows a level of integrity about his beliefs that you can respect, even if you don't agree.

Detracting from the story is the length, and the number of POV shifts.  Fortunately the shifts are short, and eventually tie together.

I am interested enough in where it's going to read the next volume when it releases this month, but I'm not waiting with bated breath.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities