Review: Paragon of Blood

Title: Paragon of Blood

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T3S5MGS/

Author: Luke Chmilenko, Alex Knight  

Rating: 3.9/5

Comments:  This story was a little better than "It doesn't suck".   It seems to go out of its way to make sure it doesn't fit neatly into any of the genre's that it flirts with.  It has some litrpg elements, some system apocalypse elements, and a few more genres.  That being said the going out of its way bit seems just a little too deliberate, and rather than seeming innovative it just seems calculated to appear innovative.  Also, I'm seeing a lot of stories where blood is the special effect of the powers and that's just kind of gross IMO.  I think anyone who likes this idea needs to see what happens to a lot of blood in real life.

Anyway, I finished it, but I have no burning desire to see what happens next.  Honestly the core story of power and betrayal is pretty good, but all the other bits that are hung off of it drag it down.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Vapor Trails

Title: Vapor Trails (Terran Scout Fleet Book 3)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098RC4WYC/

Author: Joshua Dalzelle

Rating: 4.1/5

Comments:

This is book 3 of the Terran Scout Fleet, and it ties up the story started in book one very nicely.  I like to shift to some gritty sci-fi as a palate cleanser when I have had my limit of fantasy books and this fills the bill nicely.  It does shift POV which in this genre is almost expected, for whatever reason.  There's another series in this timeline which focuses on the events around this protagonist's father which I haven't read, but I might based on this series.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Law of Family and Battlemaster's skirmish

Title: Law of Family: A Litrpg Portal Adventure (Four Laws Book 2)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MPSDDYB/
 Author: David Burke

Title:  Battlemaster's Skirmish: A LitRPG Monster Girl Harem Adventure (Tournion Book 2)

Rating: 3.6/5

Comments:  I am putting these two together because my reaction to them is essentially the same.  I liked previous books better than I liked their sequels.  The first books had more interest because we were establishing the world, and introducing the characters. The book 2's had a lot of stuff going on but not a lot of growth in the protagonist and the relationships with the characters introduced in book 1 didn't significantly develop. It was a lot of "Oh my god my sexy waifu I realized yet again for the fifth time this chapter how much I love you.  Let me worship your meaty dripping sex until you are ruined for any other man!"  And there's a lot of sex.  In some cases it seems to be sex for the sake of sex.  I skipped a lot of pages of thrusting, moaning, and pulsing.  In the case of Battlemaster, he seems to be picking up women like a lint roller.  Bordering on Chad in Vaginaland.

Anyway, I am ambivalent about book 3 on both of these.  I guess it will depend on my mood when they come across my feed.  I don't expect I'll be checking the series page regularly to see if they have a new installment.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Superpowers Unlocked

Title: Superpowers Unlocked: A Superhero Harem Adventure 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09SZRLCXS/

Author: Justin Trublood

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments:

This is not a serious story, this is a very light superhero story, with a lot of sex and magically simple relationships.   I mean all the depth of a raindrop.  It was entertaining, so it didn't suck, but if you apply any critical thinking you will sprain your eyes rolling them so hard.  I thought his other book was a better story, although it had its own issues.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Challenger's Call 5-7

Title: Challenger's Call 5-7

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086XH83JN/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R5Y8XS2/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BLFBVDV/

Author: Nathan Thompson

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments:

This series has continued to be a quality story.  I feel like when I get this deep into a series, the reviews become kind of repetitive.  I mean narratively we didn't break any new ground in these books, but the story has advanced and we have a slew of new and fun characters.  Breena continues to be an awesome character.  Honestly if you liked the rest of the series there's no reason you won't like these 3.  I saw on Facebook that he's actually about done with book 8, so that is looking good.

If there is one observation I have, it's that as we go through this story, the original primary villain is being reduced in importance and relative power without actually being defeated.  I would like some resolution with that asshole.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Dangerous Gamble

Title: Dangerous Gamble (Luck's Voice Book 4) 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09R7ZH1QM/

Author: Daniel Schinhofen 

Rating:  4/5

Comments:  This is the big finale of the first arc of Doc's Weird West adventure, and it's good.  All the big confrontations that have been building for the last 3 books erupt across the page like a herd of buffalo.

At this point it's book 4, so if you've made it this far, you should keep going.  If you haven't tried it, give book one a shot.  

Oh and if you like Posey, well you're going to love this one.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: The Vixen War Bride Series

Title: The Vixen War Bride Series

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094X4D8RK 

Author: Thomas Doscher 

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments: I found this series by one of the most unexpected sources, a Facebook advert.  Since I read a lot I see a LOT of book adverts, and most of them are worthless but occasionally I'll see one that piques my interest and it will go in the TBR pile.  Most of them are DNF's that I never even bother to review.  Vixen War Bride is an exception and a welcome one at that.

The absolute core of the story is the culture clash and language barrier between the soldiers and the Va'Shen and Doscher puts it together in a way that is just perfect.

People who have talked to me about books know I hate it when a story switches POV.  Most of the time it's gratuitous and doesn't really add to the story. The worst, for me, is when we switch to a character who is immediately killed for a quick emotional shot but is the literary equivalent of a grind time sink in a video game.  "We know you're an epic hero who has conquered the Tyrant, but could you go kill us 100 cows please?  The game developers need to stretch out the play time but don't have any ideas on how to do that creatively."

I'm happy to report that with this series, most of the POV switches are done to move the main narrative along and the switches between the happy couple are absolutely necessary for you to understand the unintended consequences brought about by their mutual ignorance of language and culture.

Speaking of Ben and Alacea, Doscher does a great job making them deep and believable characters and while he borrows a lot from existing cultures, he makes it feel authentic.

Besides the main couple there are a host of side characters which add a lot of emotion and humor to the tale, which takes it from a "it doesn't suck" to "this is great".

Anyway if you want a culture clash tale, you could do a lot worse.  I am looking forward to book 4.

Oh and it looks like these are the first 3 from this author.  I applaud his success and hope to see more good stories from him.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Brambles and Thorns

Title: Brambles and Thorns (The Infinite World Book 4)

Author: J.T. Wright

Rating: 3/5

Comments:  I had to let myself cool off for a day after finishing this one, and then I went back and looked at my review of the first three books.  Now I can probably write this without descending into a froth of profanity and invective.

This book was around a 4/5, right up until the last page.  To say the end was abrupt would be a massive understatement.  I literally redownloaded the book and checked it again.  Then I went on the Kindle cloud reader and looked at it there.  THEN I went on his Discord and asked if it was for real.  It was for real.  I broke a personal rule and said on the author's forum that it was a shitty way to end it.

Honestly I have rarely been so enraged by the way a book ended.  It was like 820 pages of foreplay with no happy ending.

If you liked books 1-3, I would pass on this one until book 5 is out so maybe you can get a satisfactory payoff.  Or find out where he's posting updates online and go there (I think he has a Patreon.) Based on the fact that book 4 took 14 months to produce, I wouldn't get too excited to see book 5 any time soon.

For myself, I doubt I will bother. This experience has tainted the entire series for me. 

If I just base my feelings on the first 819 pages, it wasn't bad.  Like most books that try to have multiple POV's you get dribs and drabs of the other important characters, enough to let you know they're not dead, but not enough to make them meaningful.  Cullen, Tersa, Kristin, Orion and the rest make brief appearances, but they don't do anything important.  Then you've got random scenes from people we've never seen before and don't care about and just kind of waste our time.

What a fucking disappointment.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Backyard Starship

Title: Backyard Starship

Author: J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert

Rating: 3.7/5

Comments:  Basically this is a classic story of boy finds spaceship, boy becomes interstellar sheriff.  It's really not bad, but it's very inconsistent.  I assume the jarring shifts are where the 2 authors transition, but you would think someone would have said something in editing or beta reading.  It's a constant bait and switch as you think "Ok, so this is where the story is going" and then they wrap up that bit with a couple sentences off screen, and go on to something else.  It doesn't suck, but it's I found it unsatisfying as a story.  I honestly doubt I'll read the next one despite liking the characters.  

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Challenger's Call 1-4

Titles:

Downfall And Rise

Brace For the Wolves 

Woad Children
 

Lighting Distant Shores
 

Author: Nathan A. Thompson

Rating: 4/5

Comments: This series is LitRPG, which I am ambivalent about, but the crunchy bits are pretty minimal, so it's not a real issue.

Overall the story is very solid with nice character growth and very interesting characters.  The inter-personal relationships are believable if sometimes a little too naive.  The author has a gift for making sweet but funny characters (Breena I'm looking at you).  He also has a penchant for confusing the reader as you don't always understand what's going on, but it holds your interest because you want to find out.

Solid series, I pushed through the first 4 books without a break.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Tayra

Title: Tayra: Would You Love a Monster Girl?

Author: Cebelius

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments:

These books are essentially romance novels, but with one non-human protagonist.  Now generally speaking, I don't read books for romance.  These though are well done, and the characters are relatable.  What really differentiates these books for me, and brings them up above a four is the way Ceb is building the world.  There's no wall of text exposition where he goes on for pages explaining how the world works and all that.  No, he sticks in a detail here, a detail there, and a discussion between characters over here, and slowly builds a picture of a world that has some heft to it.  I knocked off a half a point for gratuitous POV shifting, which I swear he put in just to tweak me.  Worth the read even if you don't do "romance" as a genre.

Bedroom Activities: Some explicit

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Review: Right of Retribution 3

Title: Right of Retribution: Book 3

Author: William D. Arand

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments:

This is the final book in the leadup to the conclusion of the Sovereign-verse meta-arc 1 and it pulls a lot of threads together from a lot of different series.  If you love cameos from his other books this one outstrips them all on that front.

I liked it, but it didn't have the emotional sledgehammer that the first one did.  I'm going to be very excited to see what happens in the next trilogy.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: He Who Fights with Monsters 4

Title: He Who Fights with Monsters 4: A LitRPG Adventure

Author: Shirtaloon

Rating:4.5/5

Comments:  Another big chonky boy from Shirtaloon, but totally worth it.  I always try to finish these in one session, and I always fail.  In this installment Jason is back in Australia and he is the catalyst for a lot of change.  Well worth the read if you liked the others.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Law of Strength

Title: Law of Strength: A Litrpg Portal Adventure (Four Laws Book 1)

Author:  David Burke

Rating: 4/5

Comments: A lot of this book is fairly standard Isekai, monstergirl, harem fare, which would at best get it a "It doesn't suck" rating, but this had enough interesting characters, world building, and humor to bring it up to a 4/5.   Some light POV switching, but nothing egregious.  I'll read the next one, assuming it comes out.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: An Outcast in Another World series

Title: An Outcast in Another World series

Author: KamikazePotato

Rating: 4.25/5

Comments: This is one of those rare LitRPG series that doesn't focus on the crunchy bits and focuses on the people side of the story and that is what makes it work.  When the protagonist gets dragged off to another world, he doesn't just shrug it off and start kicking ass, he's emotionally traumatized. It made everything that came after that work better and be easier to believe.  I read these back to back and I am looking forward to book 3, assuming there is a book 3.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Junkyard Pirates series

Title: Junkyard Spaceship; Junkyard Veterans; Junkyard Raiders

Author: Jamie McFarlane

Rating: 4.5/5 

Comments:

Jamie McFarlane is great for space opera that is easy to read and fast paced.  There's some emotional depth, but nothing that rises to the point of trauma.  I enjoy picking his books up when I need a palate cleanser after an emotional rollercoaster.

This series follows a Vietnam veteran who acquires an alien symbiote and they team up to bring Truth, Justice, and the American Way to the galaxy.  The covers link to the books, and from there you can get to book 1 if you haven't read it yet.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Monster Girls Unlocked

Title: Monster Girls Unlocked: A Mature Harem Fantasy Adventure

 

Author: Justin Trublood

Rating: 4/5

Comments:  So this looked like your typical "story in a virtual game world" book where it's "Chad in Monstergirl Vaginaland" so I didn't expect much when I picked it up.  If I had predicted a rating from the title, blurb, and my innate cynicism, I would have probably said 2.5-3.5 with a high probability of DNF.

I was pleasantly surprised to say the least to find a book that does not merely have "real world" set dressing, but the bulk of the story is in the real world!  I prefer stories where a quick respawn won't solve all your issues.

While this isn't a Chad in Monstervaginaland, the protagonist does have a number of frollick buddies, and there are some definite and clear kinks letting their freak flag fly, so that may skew your rating either way.  Oddly enough there aren't really any more extreme examples of the monstergirls than half-orc and goblin.  Kind of figured he'd go farther with that theme given the title, but apparently not in book 1.

If you share his fetishes, I could see someone going 4.5 or 5 on this book, if you don't well it could be a quick DNF.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit, definite fetish content

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Review: Wyrmshard: A LitRPG Adventure (Savage Dominion Book 2)

Title: Wyrmshard: A LitRPG Adventure (Savage Dominion Book 2)

Author: Luke Chmilenko, G.D Penman

Rating: 2.5/5

Comments: Ok, so I almost didn't write this, but I feel like I have to give the bad with the good.  I really liked book 1, and I thought the characterizations were good, I thought the characters played a smart game.  I don't know what happened with book 2.  I got to about 40% into it, and it just wasn't any fun.  I could see the "twist" at the end coming (independently verified by a 3rd party) and if there's one thing that will put me off a story it's the protagonists being willfully stupid.  If your average 11 year old can see that you're screwing up, there's no excuse for it unless the protagonist is stupid.  Our heroes in this book are not stupid, so why are they acting like it? 

Anyway this was a big DNF for me, and I hope this isn't a trend for books from this group.  I've seen some early chapters of Iron Prince and those are everything I would have hoped for.

So RIP Maulkin, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, but I doubt I'll read it.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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