After rereading the Cradle series, I decided to look into another frequently recommended series from the Progression Fantasy genre, where I can basically read a video game. This one tends to have mixed reviews, as apparently many people can’t stand the protagonist. So far, I don’t mind him, in part because I knew what was coming.
This book is aggressively and unapologetically progressive fantasy, with a heavy dose of literary role playing game elements. The main character has a stat sheet and skill descriptions like a video game character, and levels up like a video game. If that isn’t disqualifying for you, this ends up being a fairly solid book. The writing is not great, but good for this genre. As mentioned above, the protagonist can be a bit much. He’s written as someone super edgy and clever, but often does not pull it off. I still enjoy his schtick more often than not, so it gets a pass from me.
For a book that’s main plot is “characters get more powerful”, this book has a surprisingly good main storyline. The supporting characters are also fairly well done. All in all, its a strong first entry into a series like this, and gets a 7.
My Score
Goodreads Score (out of 5)
4.38