Uncontrollable: Class Shift Book One
by Sean Oswald
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About the Book
If Tim is to survive his new world; he'll have to combine the skills of his shifting classes.
Whether it be the heroes of legends or the characters in games, few things are more defining than Class. Except maybe Class isn't always static. Tank, DPS, healer, and more. They are all just different sides of fate's die.
Taken from life as an office drone by a trickster god, Tim finds himself in the magical world of Iocusinte, where change is his only constant. It grants him great potential, enough to be sought out by different factions looking to use him for their own ends.
That potential, however, is mercurial. His Class and very appearance change at random even as his Skills and Stats progress. He'll have to solve the riddle of his nature and learn to master the uncontrollable if he hopes to survive.
Experience the next LitRPG saga from the Amazon Bestselling author of Life in Exile, Sean Oswald. It’s perfect for fans of Dakota Krout, Luke Chmilenko, and Troy Osgood.
Categories: LitRPG (GameLit), Fantasy, Magic
My Review
This LitRPG/GameLit audiobook was included in my Audible membership for FREE! so what more could I really ask for? The MC was transported to another world where some demonic presence rolled the dice to see what kind of character he was going to be. Sure the premise sounded familiar, though in this one, the MC starts off at level 19, then every time he goes to sleep he wakes up as a new and interesting class. There's no time to get comfortable or bored in this book, well worth a read and I am definitely looking forward to the next one!
Storyline: 8/10
Character Depth: 8/10
Narration: 9/10
First Life: The River Saga Book One
by Nathan Hystad
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
A dangerous expedition. Extraterrestrial alliances. Unpredictable enemies.
Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last.
The Angor arrived twenty years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable.
When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He’s been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor’s arrival, but he won’t let this stop him.
With the help of his old friend Indie Hart, now the single most powerful human on Earth, he joins the Expedition to Dicore.
They access the River, an alien technology that allows nearly instantaneous travel between worlds, and their universe is quickly expanded.
What they find on Dicore is far from idyllic, and Colton struggles to navigate their new existence while coping with his impending death.
First Life is a gripping science fiction adventure tale from the Best-Selling author of The Event, Lost Contact, and Final Days.
*******Peace by the Stars*******
Categories: Sci-Fi, Military
My Review
I really enjoyed listening to this book, the narrator was well matched to the tone of the characters and the writing style. To be honest, I've been on a bit of a search for a sci-fi book that I liked after reading the REV Warriors series and this certainly scratched that itch. It took me about two days so not a particularly long one and by the end, I must admit I did feel as though the time was right for it to be over. It's not five stars from me but definitely a solid read. In some places, the story was a little predictable, but hey - if it makes me feel smart that I figured it out then that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Storyline: 8/10
Character Depth: 9/10
Narration: 9/10
The Perfect Run (Series)
by Void Herald
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
Ryan "Quicksave" Romano is an eccentric adventurer with a strange power: he can create a save-point in time and redo his life whenever he dies. Arriving in New Rome, the glitzy capital of sin of a rebuilding Europe, he finds the city torn between mega-corporations, sponsored heroes, superpowered criminals, and true monsters. It's a time of chaos, where potions can grant the power to rule the world and dangers lurk everywhere.
Ryan only sees different routes; and from Hero to Villain, he has to try them all. Only then will he achieve his perfect ending... no matter how many loops it takes.
Categories: Military, Action, Time Travel, Time Loop
My Review
OK I admit it, I listened to the three audiobooks back to back and I just couldn’t put them down. Decent length audiobooks too so don’t think I didn’t put the effort into it. I read some other reviews about the series before I started and they were pretty mixed, though the ones that didn’t like it were because of reasons I did. They said that they didn’t like the MC just restarting from a save point over and over was no good – but who doesn’t want that? I loved the MC’s attitude and cockiness that worked perfectly in tune with his backstory; that he was a bit twisted because he had done everything over and over so many times. A bit of Groundhog Day in this one mixed with Greek gods and good old fashioned sarcastic fighting. I loved it start to finish.
Storyline: 9/10
Character Depth: 10/10
Narration: 10/10
11.22.63
by Stephen King
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.
Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.
Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.
Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life – a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
Categories: Time Travel, Action, Romance
My Review
Yes I know it’s a TV show – and it was bloody brilliant by the way. I also got the audiobook AND hardback because it was that good. I listened to it twice and even after the second time through I didn’t want it to end. Actually thinking about it as I write this, it’s kind of like the perfect run (above). Guy finds a time portal to the past (1963, shocker), can stay there as long as he wants and when he returns to the future anything he changed stands. If he goes back again though it is to the start of the time again and all his changes get wiped. Action, adventure, romance and time travelling this one hit the nail on the head for me. Oh and there’s something about JFK too. Whatever, it’s great, read it.
Storyline: 10/10
Character Depth: 10/10
Narration: 10/10
Life Reset (Series)
by Shemer Kuznits
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
The best selling six-books series is now complete! In video games, players hunt monsters.
But what happens when a veteran player finds himself on the monster's side?
Oren, a high-level guild master, wakes in the body of a lowly goblin. Cast out, betrayed by his most trusted advisors, Oren is stuck in New Era Online. However, there are advantages to being on the monsters’ side. Starting from scratch, he’ll have to build up a powerful monster clan to take revenge. But first, he'll have to survive long enough not to be someone else's fodder.
Life Reset is the first book in the bestselling fantasy LitRPG series that follows a monster main character who wields darkness-based magic. Includes heavy elements of town-building, raising a monster clan, magic, powerful enemies, and asking the deep existential questions of what it means to be alive inside a digital reality.
The Soundbooth Theater team for this production: Jeff Hays - Narration, Characters, Production Supervision Dalton Lynne - Proofing Alex Tate - Production, Editing, Mastering
Categories: LitRPG, Fantasy, Progression, Magic
My Review
Ok I admit it, this author was the first time I’ve ever signed up to a newsletter because I just needed to know when the next book was coming out. The perfect book for someone wanting to dip their toe into the world of LitRPG books, this one has levelling, crafting, special powers, bad guys to hate and a foreboding worry that the MC’s world is going to crash down around them at any point. I listened to the first book in the series while in the car going to a meeting and it ruined my day that I had to leave it behind to deal with boring work.
This year I finished the series with the last book and it was wrapped up rather well though it was a bit of a bitter pill for me to swallow. I didn’t want it to end.
Storyline: 9/10
Character Depth: 10/10
Narration: 10/10
Way of the Shaman (Series)
by Vasily Mahanenko
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
Barliona: a virtual world jam-packed with monsters, battles - and, predictably, players. Millions of them come to Barliona, looking forward to the things they can't get in real life: elves and magic, dragons and princesses, and unforgettable combat. The game has become so popular that players now choose to spend months online without returning home.
In Barliona, anything goes: You can assault fellow players, level up, become a mythical hero, a wizard, or a legendary thief. The only rule that attempted to regulate the game demanded that no player be allowed to feel actual pain. But there's an exception to every rule. For a certain bunch of players, Barliona has become their personal hell. They are criminals sent to Barliona to serve their time.
They aren't in it for the dragons' gold or the abundant loot. All they want is to survive the virtual inferno. They face the ultimate survival quest.
Categories: LitRPG, Fantasy, Progression, Magic, Crafting
My Review
I remember the moment I started listening to this book - that’s just how good it is. It was at Dublin airport, flight delayed and I was in a terminal on my own. The crafting was so mouthwatering that all I remember thinking is that I wished my flight was delayed twelve hours so I’d have the chance to listen to every word this author wrote. I mean the carding is so good in this series, if that’s what you’re after you won’t be able to put this down.
Storyline: 10/10
Character Depth: 10/10
Narration: 10/10
The Land: Chaos Seeds (Series)
by Aleron Kong
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
Enter a mesmerizing tale reminiscent of the wonder of Ready Player One and the adventure of Game of Thrones.
Book 1 of a 7 Book series that will Amaze and Delight you for weeks!
Tricked into a world of banished gods, demons, goblins, sprites and magic, Richter must learn to meet the perils of The Land and begin to forge his own kingdom. Actions have consequences across The Land, with powerful creatures and factions now hell-bent on Richter's destruction.
Can Richter forge allegiances to survive this harsh and unforgiving world or will he fall to the dark denizens of this ancient and unforgiving realm?
A tale to shake "The Land" itself, measuring 10/10 on the Richter scale, how will Richter's choices shape the future of The Land and all who reside in it? Can he grow his power to meet the deadliest of beings of the land? When choices are often a shade of grey, how will Richter ensure he does not become what he seeks to destroy?
Categories: LitRPG, Fantasy, Progression, Magic, Settlement Building
My Review
I know I know this author’s name is a bit taboo because of some of the strange things he’s tried to do with trademarks (don’t take my word for it, Google it), but write books – and long ones – he can do. To be fair to the series, the first few books are actually pretty amazing. I felt myself rooting for the Mist Village throughout them, but then… the books got so so long that I just couldn’t take the time to face them – I think the last one was something like 40 hours plus and that’s the only reason this series drops a star for me. Just split them into more books! Two books at twenty hours good, one book at forty hours bad. I don’t know why it works like this for me but it does.
Storyline: 8/10
Character Depth: 8/10
Narration: 10/10
The Gam3 (Series)
by Cosimo Yap
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
An Artificial Intelligence, LitRPG, Cyberpunk adventure.
The Earth is changing. The alien invasion brought social upheaval, advanced technology, and an armada of peacekeeping robots. But Alan, a college student pursuing a now-useless degree, cares little about all of this. He has only one thing on his mind: the Game.
A fully immersive virtual reality, the Game appears to be a major part of the invading civilization. Alan can't wait to play, recklessly diving into the digital universe. Soon though, Alan realizes the Game is anything but simple, and the stakes are higher than he ever imagined.
Categories: Fantasy, Sci-Fi
My Review
The Gam3 for me happened early on in my LitRPG search for more and more books to devour and it was one that stood out for me as a cornerstone of the genre. There are now three books in the series so if you’re after substance then this is good for you. I loved the sci-fi AI alien feel of the story and it always left me wondering what was waiting for me around the next corner.
Storyline: 9/10
Character Depth: 8/10
Narration: 9/10
Noobtown (Series)
by Ryan Rimmel
Amazon link, Click Here
About the Book
It could be worse. You could be stuck with a literal shoulder demon.
After dying and being reborn into a world that's built like a video game, Jim has found himself stuck in a very old world style new player zone for low level adventurers. Unfortunately, the zone fell out of use centuries ago, and no one told the monsters they were supposed to take it easy on the Noobs.
Even worse, the only new player around is Jim.
Jim has been given an opportunity, and he'll do his best to take advantage of it.
Categories: LitRPG, Fantasy, Progression, Magic, World Building, Comedy
My Review
As I write this review, Nautical Noobs is waiting for me in my to listen line, and I’m so excited about it. The MC is called Jim, which is the source of a lot of laughs from the other characters in the book because it’s not a real name – like calling someone Rover. Also there’s this thing called Shart and a talking badger called Badgelor. It’s wild, honestly and I couldn’t stop laughing whilst listening to it. If I’m honest it took me a while to get to simply because of the title, but what a mistake I made.
Storyline: 9/10
Character Depth: 9/10
Narration: 10/10
And even more...