This has to be one of my favorite LitRPG series of all time! There’s murder chickens, dragons, love, betrayal, an excellent and unique class… we’ve got it all here. Lots of pop culture references. This LitRPG has a good mix of drama, exciting combat, nerdy min-maxing, and humor. And, this book ends on an exciting note that makes me say, “OOH. I can’t wait for what’s next!” Good thing books 2-5 are already out, then, eh?
It’s a bit surreal that this book came out just before the Pandemic hit, given that the world’s background is a world war mixed with a pandemic. I had pneumonia while listening to this book for review purposes, too, which was even more poignant.
The lists of options for races, classes, and skills are interesting enough that I bookmark them to go back and relisten to make sure I know the options Hector had, and what he chose and did not choose; Noobtown is one of the few other series where I bother with that.
The audio quality is top-notch. My only quibble with this book is that some words of relevance are mispronounced, and since they’re major terms for the book, consistency requires sticking with those pronunciations for Drachen, dragoon, and geas. Still, that’s a minor complaint overall. If I had to pick a second complaint: I find that remembering Hector’s skills isn’t easy. Which ones are AoE? Which ones restore HP or AP on hit? I dunno. Which ones chain together in a combo? Eh, I should physically list them so I remember.
In short: if you want a unique isekai/LitRPG experience with unique races and combat, plus (later on) dragons: give this one a go. Lancers don’t usually get the limelight, and this series fills that niche well.
Notes: 1. I consider 4 stars to be 100 points out of 100, with five stars being utterly exceptional. 2. While I did not receive this title for free, I am receiving codes for other books by Soundbooth Theater in exchange for reviews, including (eventually) book five of this series.