Review: Battlemage Farmer 7

Title: Separation: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Battle Mage Farmer Book 7)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CFMDHXWS/

Author: Seth Ring

Rating: 4.8/5

Comments:  This story has come a long, long ways from book 1.  It's evolved to the point where it's almost unrecognizable, but the important parts are still there.  Honestly, I am amazed I not only still read the series, but that I like it so much.  I have the impression that the overall story is about to wrap up in a book or two, but I don't know that for sure.

Nice work Seth.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Krieg Chess

Title: Krieg Chess: A SciFi LitRPG Adventure

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CR9FQRYD/
 

Author: Phil Tucker

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments: I picked this up because it was recommended on the Warformed reddit.  I have sampled Phil's stuff previously and it didn't grab me.  I actually finished this one, so yay I guess.

Krieg Chess borrows from the venerable "People are living chess pieces" concept and adds in power armor and LitRPG elements.  The result is ok.  I mean the idea is kind of interesting, but the logic of it is questionable.  To go back to the first example of this I can think of, which is Chessmen of Mars.  The Chessmen were slaves and if they didn't fight they were executed.  In this case, what's the motivation to risk your life playing this game?  How does this make sense?   The world is clearly dystopian from the parts of it we see, but there's nothing in the bits we see that would explain why a society would expend significant resources and time to play a game when survival is threatened.

Beyond that, the characters are just ok.  There are some parts I found fairly identifiable and even admirable, but there's a lot of points where I find myself confused by the protagonist.  

It didn't suck, but I doubt I'll read book 2.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Sentenced to War book 1&2

Title: Sentenced to War, Children of Angels 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X451XLJ 

Author: J.N. Chaney, Jonathan P. Brazee

Rating: 4.25/5

Comments:  I picked these up as part of a 6 book omnibus.  Nothing ground breaking for mil-scifi, but both authors are pretty solid with their stories.  I will be reading book 3 (and most likely 4,5, and 6).  Do I expect it to be something I go back and re-read?  No.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Challenger's Call 9

Title: Trial of Horns (Challenger's Call Book 9)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CKH41HSD/

Author: Nathan Thompson

Rating: 4/5

Comments: This book has some great parts, and some parts where it just drags.  Overall it's as good as the previous books, but doesn't really set a new bar.  At 9 books in, if you liked the previous 8, you will like this one, but it won't convert someone who doesn't like the series.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Vixen War Bride 6

Title: The Dark Ones: Part 6 of The Vixen War Bride series

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CLN7ZKC8/

Author: Thomas Doscher

Rating: 5/5

Comments: This is the finale of the Vixen War Bride series.  It's a great ending, I cannot adequately describe how much I liked it.  I'm dropping the Hall of Fame tag on it, just because the whole series is exceptionally good.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Beware of Chicken 3

Title: Beware of Chicken 3: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel

Author: Casualfarmer

Rating: 5/5

Comments: Ok, despite the POV shifts I rank Beware of Chicken as one of my favorite book series in the last few years.  I really like the characters and the overall "humble ass kicking power" motif.  This one is very good, I think I've read and listened to it 2 or 3 times since it was released in mid November.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Binding Words 11

Title: Divine Agreements (Binding Words Book 11)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQ4NX6FX/

Author: Daniel Schinhofen

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments: This is the big finale for Binding Words.  If you've made it this far, definitely read the finale.  It's a satisfying if not really surprising wrap-up.  A slow start but a good ending.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Unbound book 8

Title: Vault: A LitRPG Adventure (Unbound Book 8)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C428YLN1/ 

Author: Nicoli Gonnella 

Rating:4.3

Comments: Somehow, 8 books in, this series has continued to find new ways to make things fresh.  There's a lot of big events in this book and I honestly can't wait to see how some of them work out.  I hope he doesn't drag the big ones out too long.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: The Crippled King

Title: The Crippled King (The Dwarves of Ice-Cloak Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BKH4MNCT/

Author: A. Trae McMaken 

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments: This was a Facebook ad and as with most, I approached it with some measure of cynicism, but a dwarf protagonist is always a draw for me, so I grabbed it.

Honestly it's one of the most well developed presentations of a culture I've seen recently.  The dwarves do things differently than humans.  They have different norms, and goals.  It's pretty fascinating.

Maybe this is appropriate, or perhaps ironic, but the story takes a while to get rolling.  I was close to dropping it at a couple points.  I'm glad I didn't because the story just keeps gaining momentum and the ending just clobbers you.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Path of Ascension 5

Title: The Path of Ascension 5: A LitRPG Adventure

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CHFXQ3QH/

Author: C. Mantis

Rating: 4.25/5

Comments: After 2 pretty mediocre books this one is much more engaging with a much better story.  It's rare that a later book is better than the early books, but this is at least as good as book 1, and much better than 3 and 4.   If you made it through book 4, this one will make you weep tears of joy.  The various and sundry POV skipping is stepped up a bit, which is not necessarily a good thing, but I powered through.  Hopefully some of these threads that have been sown throughout books 1-5 will start being brought back in book 6.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: System Universe series (1-4)

Title: System Change: A LitRPG Adventure (System Universe Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6215Z5F Series page

Author: SunriseCV 

Rating:4.1/5

Comments: As a general rule, I dislike system apocalypse stories.  Ok, I will cop to pretty much hating the genre.  With that, it was with a good deal of trepidation that I picked up this series but it came highly recommended on my Discord, (hat tip to Malkolis).  

It's pretty good.  Not quite great, but good, and it's an interesting twist on the genre in that while Earth has been hit by the dreaded system apocalypse foolishness, Our Hero gets sucked out of the Earth dimension and into another System, and hilarity and cheats ensue.

I will be reading book 5 when it comes out later this year.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Star Trader

Title: Star Traders: Hot Cargo

Author: Tom Shepherd

Rating: 3.4/5

Comments: This is a ridiculous story.  It's so completely improbable that your suspension of disbelief will eventually just surrender and sulk in the corner.  At that point you can enjoy this story.  It's the prototypical the guy gets ALL the girls with token resistance.  I'm not sure why I finished it, but I did. If your idea of a fun story is Our Hero stacks up all the hot women despite his attempts to get free of them, then THIS IS YOUR STORY.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Space Junk

Title: Space Junk: A Military Sci-fi Series (Waymaker Wars Book 1)

Author: Rachel Aukes 

Rating: 3/5

Comments:  This was another Facebook ad, and it's almost "Ok".  There are a lot of plot points that are flimsy and the most flimsy gets revealed at the end.  I won't spoil it but it is one of those things that make you question a lot of the underlying premises of the entire story.

I won't be reading the next book and I expect in a year I won't even remember reading it.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Gunpowder Geishas

Title: Gunpowder Geishas (The Phoenix Initiative Book 8)

Author: Carolyn Kay

Rating: 4/5

Comments: This one drew my eye for the cover and the title.  From my investigations, this series seems to be a shared world where each book done by a different author is a different story in the same world., so I didn't mind jumping in at book 8.  All of them seem to be centered around a company of mechs of various types.  This one was pretty fun, and I might pick up others when I have a chance.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Junkyard Commandos

Title: Junkyard Commandos (Junkyard Pirate Book 7)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CH1T5BHY/

Author: Jamie McFarlane 

Rating: 4.25/5

Comments:  I enjoyed this book, much like the others in the series.  The on and off relationship between Al and Barb is honestly the thing I find most annoying.  Hopefully it stays in one state for more than a book now that it seems to have reached a resolution.  The overall story is pretty entertaining and some new characters have been brought in that are a good addition to the ensemble.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Loremaster

Title: Loremaster - A Progression Fantasy Adventure (Ascension of a Street Rat Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJDLCGM6/

Author: M.E. Robinson

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments: This book has some pretty cool bits, but also some parts that are just ok.  It pretty much defines the "It doesn't suck" rating.   There are a lot of threads laid down that indicate a larger plot beyond book 1, but it's all fairly standard stuff.  I would say it's 50/50 if I read the next book. 

Bedroom Activities: None

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Post holiday update start

Hey everyone, apologies for the long gap, but Christmas was busy busy, and I had lots of things to work on.

I'm going to get started with reviews today and I have a pile of them to do.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.