A Mixed Bag (Not what you might think it is)

Author is a talented writer and I've read their other stuff before.

[Review will discuss tones of the story, ie. tonal shift, initial, etc. If you consider this a spoiler. you can skip]

This book is decently written but the audio sample and description would make you think it is a lighthearted comedy, the beginning of the book even does this, the humour not being the outright best. however things get increasingly more somber to then depressing as a sequence of events unfold. to the point where it can feel oppreseively depressing throughout. if youre fine with this, then power to you! but not what I got it for.

Theming/writing: a lot of Nordic and Arthurian legend hybridized to make a unique world, and seeing how the characters fit in this universe is interesting as well. litrpg stuff can get a bit exhausting and not as interesting as much as other litrpgs. philosophy on having to accept death or not is interesting, and does show elements of hypocrisy from "heroes" , Gods, etc. the protagonist is pragmatic and obsessive but their antagonists are very flawed as well. the problem I have is that the end message/take away after this depressing journey tries to be bitter sweet and self questioning but doesn't do so in a way I personally find satisfying, in fact it seems belittling because it feels like the readers and characters had reached this conclusion far before it and thus it seemed obvious.

Voicework: I'm familiar with the narrator and I do genuinely like their work (voiced vainqueuer the dragon, made by the same author but being a litrpg comedy), with this audible one, it can have some hit or miss moments. some voices are extremely grating (such as a certain goddess) and their range is shown to be limited due to the large cast of characters.

Overall: If you came looking for a satirical comedic litrpg through and through? look for something like Vainqueuer the dragon (again by the same author) instead. If you're going more for something with a pragmatic protagonist and causing chaos to establish order, then this should be for you but it still struggles in some areas: The book brings a lot of interesting philosophy of the meaning or lack thereof of life and death, the preconceived notions we have about it to retain a level of control, the cost reward of pragmatism, fatalism, etc. Raising some perspectives but not many I personally find myself identifying too strongly with. The characters oscillate between likable and frustrating. Overall, probably my least favourite of the void herald's work. I see ideas this book has in terms of philosophizing unseen perspectives and the litrpg system done better in its sibling series (perfect run and Vainqueuer).

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One of my new favourites

The first couple chapters were a bit rocky, and personally I found one or two voices a teeny bit cringe but holy hell this rocked.
My personal favourite aspects were the interesting philosophical approach to immortality along with undeath, and the unique twists to standard characters from folk lore.

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not the best but worth the time.

this story has some major problems. don't go in expectationing a RPG lit or a dungeon management story. the story is a fun and crazy trip of ideas, some working others not.

if you give it some time you will find some gems.

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Excellent Story, Amazing World Building!

Love the narration to death! Haha.
Truly, an excellent standalone story. Enjoyable characters and voices make this a captivating listen. I recommend this story to anyone who likes Overlord but wishes the MC had actual motivations, as well as to anyone who wants to see the world through the lens of undeath.

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Starts off well, falls off and doesn't recover

I've been a fan of Void Herald for a while, The Perfect Run is one of my favorite books of all time. However, this story just doesn't go the distance, it has its moments but the story overall is kind of... bland, the characters don't have much energy or depth to them, the setting in MIDgard is overdone at this point, the magical systems are very barebones, little details about spells are told to us, the names of magical items are sometimes told to us, but the details are left out completely, overall it was underwhelming. I place this book above He who fights with monsters (barely), and far below The Perfect Run, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Kaiju Battlefield Surgeon.

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1 person found this helpful