Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book, full stop…

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the book that I got was not the book that I thought it would be. What I thought I was getting myself into was your standard LitRPG with funny characters, ridiculous situations, with a little bit of stat crunch thrown in. This book has all of that in it, as any good LitRPG should, but at its core, this book is really about the growing relationship of the two MCs. It’s kind of like if you threw half of a romance novel and a really good game-lit book in a blender and pushed the puree button. The result is something that could go HORRIBLY WRONG, but the care that Bonnie Price put into the mixture made it come out smooth and tasty. Make no mistake about it, this book IS LitRPG. Characters in the book have stat progressions, questing (of a sort), and guild drama. Unlike books such as The Land or War Aeternus, where these elements are front and center to the story, in Fateseal they function much more on the periphery.

Five things I liked about the book:

1. Super-interesting world with great world building.

2. Cool abilities and classes that offer a bit of a unique spin on the standard classes (warrior, mage, priest, rogue, ranger, etc)

3. The demons are the “good guys” as it relates to the story.

4. The relationship building between Seres and Idris after about the half-way point of the book.

5. The fantastic cadre of secondary characters in the demon lands (not even going to try to spell it out correctly).

Five things that I didn’t care for as much (note, I did not say BAD):

1. Pretty much the whole time Idris goes back to Earth with Seres. It almost felt like a completely different book.

2. Not much time was spent on a few “core” mechanics like coinage and crafting.

3. I feel like the preparations for the impending Outworlder “invasion” could have done with more time

4. I wanted to know more about what Seres told Ebonwing to do before she left to become the demon champion. Did they follow her orders? Is it working? We got a little bit of this info, but I was craving more.

5. Bonnie Price writes combat scenes so well, it’s a shame there weren’t more occasions for her to flex those particular writing muscles.

This book is setting us up for a fantastic LitRPG series. One that I hope will be a long one, because I am now invested. I didn’t think I would be if you would have asked me at the end of chapter 20 or so, but I definitely am having now finished the story. There is a TON of groundwork that needed to be laid down to get you to care about the characters (and their relationship) at the end of the book and Bonnie Price does an outstanding job giving us what we need to get there.

This is one that is absolutely worth giving your time and attention. For some, there will be times where you question your choice… stick with it. It pays off big time.

Last thing… How good is Soundbooth Theater? The crew did such an amazing job with the narration of this book. Every decision they made was a good one. I just love it when they do LitRPG. Very few are able to equal the quality of their productions.

It’s another book for the “would recommend to friends list” from me.

**Note: I was given a promotional copy of this book by the author at my request in exchange for the honest review above**