Books

Desert sands. Arcane magic. A love lost.Finn Harris should have been the one to die. But he wasn’t – his wife took his place. What was worse, he only had himself and his company to blame. They let their passion outpace their prudence, determined to revolutionize the world. While all innovation comes with a price, he never imagined it would cost him Rachael.Nearly a decade later, Finn is content to hole himself up and wait out the rest of his life – what little he has left. That is, until his daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game developed by his old employer. They’re calling it Awaken Online, and she believes there’s something unusual going on inside the game. And since Finn knows the company, knows their tactics – she might be right.Finn wasn’t sure what he expected to find when he logged in. But it certainly wasn’t a manipulative fire god or a school for mages – where the students are pitted against each other in deadly duels and the faculty isn’t shy about maiming or injuring novice mages to prove a point.Now Finn must learn to fight, for his own life and a chance at redemption. He’ll need to prove that his fire hasn’t been snuffed out.That there’s still an ember burning…

Both Cal and Dale have become stronger, each in spite of the other. The dungeon - Cal - knows exactly how much their strength has increased, and is working hard to become exponentially more powerful. His schemes are becoming more complex, and his dungeon - his body - more deadly. Dale has a nasty surprise waiting for him as he works to thwart the plans of the devious dungeon. You see, he is hearing a voice in his head that tries to distract him in critical moments, and so must fight his mind as he fights deadly creatures. Unbeknownst to both, they are in for the fight of their lives as madness threatens the land...

Just yesterday, Ben was a neckbeard weeb with a weakness for Red Bull and tendies. Today, he's got a new name, a new face, and a new body, and he's watching the Glaton City Guard fight a twenty-foot-tall ooze that crawled forth from the sewers. Tomorrow, he'll need to find a guild to join, save a girl, steal a crown, and most importantly, convince an innkeep about the gloriousness of chicken fingers.

Jason's back! And he's ready for some revenge!Roughly a month has passed in-game since Thorn's attack on the Twilight Throne. In that time, the dark city has managed to recover and rebuild - growing the ranks of Original Sin at the same time.Which is good, because that brief respite is over. The Avatar of Flame has risen within the depths of the northern desert and has thrown down a digital gauntlet to Jason - with a gate piece hanging in the balance. Even worse? His opponent is none other than Finn Harris, the 'father of modern AI.' The same man that may have been behind Thorn's attack on the Twilight Throne.And in the wake of recent events - the committee hearing back in the real world and the attack on his people - Jason is no longer content to just react; to wallow in the safety of his kingdom. If he's to be painted the villain... well, then it's long past time he fully embraced that role.Because now it's personal.And there'll be no holding back...

Heroes don’t stand for themselves. They stand for others who cannot.Betrayed by those they’d taken in and narrowly avoiding a disaster of untold proportions, Lyrian and his friends are once again thrust into a fight for their very survival, this time against Carver and his band of murderous adventurers. But as their newfound war quickly reaches a stalemate, both sides find themselves scrambling for a way to break it, while viciously battling one another for every inch of ground that they can steal in the process.Yet just as Lyrian and the others manage to gain an advantage that could very well end the conflict, they find their world turned upside down as an even greater enemy appears on the horizon. Pushed to the brink, it will take every ounce of cunning and courage they have to find a way to survive.Assuming they can at all.

Guess I'm the only one who didn't love this book. For me, this book basically killed the series. First it destroys a bunch of established rules. Such as "essence" not being used up but being drawn back into the body after the cultivator used it. Now it's used up and people need to refill. It also ignores how essence was supposedly being "generated" rather than a constant. We see that in book two where the underground river he finds is concerned.All of this is a setup for the absolutely atrocious ending. One of the most cliche and personally most hated ones. (view spoiler)[It was earth all along! The magic just went away for a time because of Cal! (hide spoiler)]

A side quest adventure in the best selling world of Awaken Online!In the aftermath of Thorn's attack on the Twilight Throne, Frank is in an awkward position. Jason and Riley have outpaced him and everyone is hard at work rebuilding the Twilight Throne, establishing new towns, and trying to get their fledgling manufacturing operation off the ground. Everyone except Frank - who finds himself with no immediate task or goal.So Frank decides to strike off on his own. He sets his eyes on the north, heading toward the snow-capped mountains that loom over the undead kingdom's border in the hope of improving his shapeshifting abilities.He soon stumbles into an unexpected adventure. A journey that may unearth the secrets behind his class and finally force him to reach his true potential.

With the third realm new challenges arise. Erik searches for Old Hei while Rugrat deals with his broken mana system. For both, their path takes them towards the alchemist association's trial. They didn't mean to get into trouble, they swear, but in the ten realms trouble is not far behind the duo. They'll have to fight across the third realm to complete the alchemist association's trial. All isn't peaceful in the first realm as Alva and Vermire will face one of their greatest challenges yet. Chaos or creation, there's no knowing what might happen in the ten realms.

When Erik and Rugrat entered the ten realms they didn’t know what was going on. They only knew that they had contracted the two week curse.When entering the second realm they came to understand their character sheets, and part of the system that is called the ten realms. A place that the strong make the rules and the weak cling to them for protection and hope that they might be left in peace.They passed through the trials of the Beast Mountain Dungeon, taking control of it and becoming the leader of nearly two hundred people.Now in command of the Alva Dungeon and looking to forge a new future, they need more power, mana stones, dungeon cores, monster cores, if not then the Dungeon will stop functioning and they will need to relocate once again.As they ascend to the second realm, Erik and Rugrat need to grow their skills, gain information and find a dungeon. It’s hardly ever that easy.

Humanity on the run. Desperate base building. Dark deeds done during daylight.Joe has started to draw attention to himself and his abilities. While some of the attention is good and allows for personal growth, most of it is from various organizations that feel threatened by the sudden upswing of power that Joe’s guild—The Wanderers—are attaining.As the threat to earth begins to reach its peak, all of humanity has a choice: flee to Eternium, or stay for an uncertain future. Some stay, some go, some don’t make the choice quickly enough. In Ardania, the human Kingdom is seeing an unprecedented influx of people. Supply and demand is an issue no matter where you go, as a civilization of a few million can’t prepare to accept an eighth of earth’s inhabitants at once.Joe sets out to solve problems where he can, but he can’t be there for everyone… especially when a group of smiling enforcers are working to bring him down.

Enemies emerge everywhere. Stagnation starts seeming standard. Results require Ruthlessness.Joe has been moving deeper into his study of ritual magic, and further away from his combat team. He's learning more and more, but more often than not needs to choose between his research and squad leadership. Improving the town is a huge help to the guild, and they have been pushing to increase their power.Their rapid increases have not gone unnoticed. The guild receives an ultimatum, delivered by assassins and signed with blood. If they continue to accrue power and fame, each and every person with a grievance against the guild will come to smash the town back to square one.With tensions coming to a head, all Joe wants to do is leave it all behind and reach the next area. He flatly refuses the guild when they ask him to devise lethal options to use against the gathering army, but when the time comes… even Joe is unsure if he'll step into the limelight and show everyone exactly how Ruthless he can be.

An academy that scrapes the sky. Blight that fills the earth. Two codgers duking it out.Artorian has decided to live, all in order to save his lost village children. His recent battle against a simple raider Captain has proven that if he tries to charge ahead... he'll die.With the help of his captors, who quickly turn into close friends, Artorian takes the first steps onto the path of a true cultivator. Finesse, skill, fine-tuned cultivation techniques, and more is within his grasp. Artorian is more than willing to learn; after all, that's his specialty!This knowledge has strings attached. After meeting the ancient enemy of his trainers, Artorian returns to the place he first studied his true passion of philosophy: the Skyspear. It's under new management, and the alumni have very different ideas about how the students should be trained.

Rating 4.25 stars This is a very good book for people who like 3 things: LitRPG, world building, and complex game mechanics (level ups, stat points, etc). Oren is building up his small goblin village. His goal is to reach boss level 4 in order to try and log out of the game. Oren knows that the players are coming to get him though, so he has to work quickly. Almost the entire book is spent building the village, power leveling his people and himself, as well as learning skills that can help him survive. I love this type of book! Just like the first book, Oren is insanely overpowered for his level, but at the same time the odds are stacked so far against him that even if he was twice as powerful he would still be in trouble. A couple of things pop up throughout the book that complicates matters (view spoiler)[ Oren is starting to think that he really is a goblin. The only way he was able to endure the torture in the last book was to give himself over completely to this world and now he might be losing himself in the process. Another issue is that players have arrived in the settlement playing monster characters. None of them know Oren's situation and this could lead to a problem. Are the players going to help his clan, or are they going to cause problems? (hide spoiler)]

After accepting the fact that he will never know his old reality again, Gunnar looks forward toward building a new life inside Eden's Gate. It's time to form a guild, gather resources, and earn the acceptance of the Edgewood inhabitants. If only things were that easy... The dark elves aren't thrilled about having humans in Edgewood, the mine isn't vacant, and you can't form a guild without at least a few guild mates. Will Gunnar pursue Adeelee? Is Rachel still out there somewhere? And who is Jax exactly? Could he really be a Sparrow?

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted? Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

A side quest in Dakota Krout's best-selling Completionist Chronicles series! \ Vengeful assassins. A treacherous companion. T-Rex Head Hands.\ After the Wolfman nation is shattered, Jaxon has enough spare time to advance his skills and specialize into a better class. Since Joe and his other teammates are either incapacitated or on a mission Jaxon does not believe in, the misunderstood chiropractor turned gamer strikes out on his own. The issue with creating your own path is that you have no idea what awaits you, especially when low charisma guarantees legendary misunderstandings. For Jaxon, that’s half the fun. Rexus is a Completionist Chronicles side quest focused on Jaxon and is meant to be read following Regicide.

Zac was alone in the middle of the forest when the world changed...The whole planet was introduced to the multiverse by an unfeeling System... or God. A universe where an endless number of races and civilizations fought for power and dominion.Zac finds himself stuck in the wilderness surrounded by deadly beasts, demons, and worse. Alone, lost and without answers, he must find the means to survive and get stronger in this new cut-throat reality.With only a hatchet for his weapon, he'll have to seek out his family before the world collapses... or die trying.Experience the start of the hit LitRPG series with over 20 Million views on Royal Road. For the first time, Defiance of the Fall is now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible narrated by Pavi Prozcko.About the Series: Jump into a System Apocalypse story that merges LitRPG elements with eastern cultivation. Class systems, skill systems, endless choices for progression, it has everything fans of the genre love. Explore a vast universe full of mystery, adventure, danger and even aliens; where even a random passer-by might hold the power of a god. Follow Zac as he struggles to stake out a unique path to power as a mortal in a world full of cultivators.

"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive. They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Carl still has no pants. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.