Let me start by saying that overall I enjoyed this book, but there are glaring flaws that while not book-ruining, definitely damaged my enjoyment and overall impression.
1. The freaking eating noises. What kind of person thinks it’s a good idea to include lip smacking in an audiobook? Who in the world likes that sound? Who likes hearing people talk around a mouthful of food? It’s not a major problem in this book, but the inclusion of it at all signals a serious amount of ignorance from the creator. It adds nothing but annoyance.
2. Repetitive. Not only is the story pretty repetitive (climb tower, exit, eat, sleep, climb tower, exit, eat, sleep) but even the phrasing and vocubulary can be extremely tedious at the time. “Burn down the boss” is a phrase you can expect to hear in this book and the following far more than is necessary.
3. Female voices. The women in this book have two kind of voices. Obnoxiously high pitched or super deep and husky. I seriously don’t know why they aren’t just normal women.
4. Main Female character. Lex is our heroine in this book and Prax does not do her much justice I’m afraid. This is a character that carried the weight of the world on her shoulders for years and is a tough and capable combat veteran, but is somehow also an overly-emotional mess that breaks out crying or tears up at the drop of a freaking hat. Normally I don’t judge male authors too harshly for getting female characters wrong, there’s far more that do than don’t, but this was a glaring issue for me.
5. Unrealistic expectations. *Spoilers in this one* Our hero Jack is conscious in this new world for literal seconds before he’s being weighed for “usefulness”. That’s not hyperbole either, literal seconds and the people who found him are wondering if he’s worth anything to them. It’s ridiculous. The next person he’s introduced to immediately tells him what shes going to demand of him and what’s he’s going to do for this town he finds himself in. Literal minutes after meeting him. These attitudes only fade once he’s actually being useful and doing what they want.
6. HP is already plural! Hit Points! POINTS! SSSSSSS! Every time they say HP’s it’s like nails on a chalkboard.
7. Last one that I almost forgot. All stats are determined by gear. In a litrpg. You have no base stats essentially. Your health, damage, mp, everything, all determined by gear.
I’m having to change my initial review just going back and reading through this. I initially gave this a three stars overall, but really it has so many glaring flaws and terrible characters that it doesn’t deserve even that. If you’re truly desperate for litrpg you could do far worse than this. The world overall is interesting and the MC has a clear goal in mind, which is nice. That said there are huge flaws that I’m only able to tolerate because I’m waiting on the top tier novels like DCC and HWFWM to release.
Sorry Prax, but I just couldn’t hold my tongue on this one.