Sean

Oh look, Keith uses a bunch of invulnerability and damage reflect skills to beat another world boss. Who could have seen that coming?

And he's a massive dick while doing it. I'm shocked! I have no idea why people follow him. The chance at loot can't be enough to risk instant death and listening to him be an asshole.

He really didn't even need anyone else anyway. My prediction for the final world boss is that he solos it. I'm serious, why wouldn't he? I doubt the entire rest of the raid even did 10% of the damage, so give him another couple vastly ridiculous skills like he gets every book and it should be barely an inconvenience.

And then the Trickster can screw him in the end. That's my dream anyway, because anyone that's this big of a jerk doesn't deserve a happy ending.

Surprisingly less annoying than some of the previous books. I only sometimes wanted Matt to die horribly. I skimmed all the worthless stuff like building pathways to repair a core and blah blah, because a) you know it is going to work, and b) no one cares. But it wasn't terrible this time. And it is about time he finally remembered poor Jack. I've been annoyed about that for several books.

Still convinced this author is the same as the Backyard Dungeon guy, even more now that he couldn't resist describing women's clothing in some detail. Still cringey pointless sex scenes (although thankfully not explicit this time), still constantly calls enemies “fuckers,” so just a few more descriptions of what women are wearing and we'll have a 100% match.

What in the...?

I'll admit the writing in this series wasn't Shakespeare, but it was nothing that made me notice it either. While it doesn't show it here on Goodreads, my copy says it is co-written by someone named Austin Rising. I sure hope the next one isn't as well.

DNF at 16%, immediately after reading multiple pages of crap like this (full disclosure, paragraph breaks did get lost in the paste):

‘She nodded. Wheeled the scooter around and headed back the way we'd come. We reached the restaurant. There were no necrotons. No people on the street. The restaurant was empty and silent. There were streaks of blood. Torn articles of clothing. Broken tables. The people were gone. Hannah hissed. “They killed everyone and took them.” “Yeah.” I stared back down the street toward the canals. Imagined the fresh bodies being piled on the floor. A necromancer looking at them. Deciding which ones to reanimate first.'

Did your comma key break?? There is no f-ing way I am reading an entire book written in short, choppy sentences like this. Sure, some authors might be able to pull it off, but these guys aren't it. I'm going to read a plot summary and then move on to the next one. If it continues like this, I'm done. The main characters are already unlikable jerks, so no reason to keep torturing myself.

No spoilers since I got to read an advanced copy, but I cannot begin to express how much I needed this book. Not only was this one the most well-written of the series, showing Raley's continued growth as an author, but it was also my favorite.

So many protagonists I've read in the past few years seem to be complete unlikable assholes. King Henry is the likable one, and it makes all the difference. I actively find myself hating all the other ones after I'm several books into the series because they just become insufferable, and who wants to root for a character that you wouldn't give the time of day to in real life? King Henry is abrasive and an acquired taste, but he has a heart of gold, and this book seems like it was literally made to showcase all of those facets together.

Hell, there is even a new character that is literally the epitome of what I hate in pretty much every other situation I've ever encountered this type of character, but I love her. She was almost my pick for favorite new character, just lost by a smidgen. And barely beat out another by a smidgen. So 3 new characters that I absolutely loved, and plenty more that I greatly enjoyed, they just couldn't be given as much screen time because then the book would be 5000 pages long. Which would have been ok with me.

The biggest compliment I can give this book, besides just the utter joy I felt when finally getting it my grubby little hands, is the sadness I felt when it was all over. Not because the book was sad, but because it was done and now I will have to wait any amount of time until reading more. More about these new characters, more about old characters, more about the world of King Henry. Even if that time was only to be a week, I'd still be a little sad. Since it will be longer than that, you see where my despair comes from. Perhaps it is time to do another total series re-read just to keep my spirits up.

If you love King Henry, you will love this book. You already know it, I shouldn't have to tell you!

I changed my mind. I initially gave this a 3 star rating because it was ok, nothing special. But I've removed a star for that absolutely unnecessary and shitty cliffhanger ending. Litrpg doesn't need that kind of ending; we're reading for the progression and story (no matter how sparse that usually is) anyway.

Be better.