Tag: litrpg

Review of He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon

I have been listening to many audiobooks during my time off from writing. I am reviewing a few of the ones I love. The first is by the author, Shirtaloon, and the book’s name is He Who Fights with Monsters. The series just published its tenth book, and I am currently listening/reading it.

This series started on the web series site Royal Road and is currently continuing on said site.

Like most of my reviews, I will avoid spoilers while giving you more of an emotional review over a technical one.

This series is a genre called litrpg, a literary role-playing game to get this out of the way. This is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels.  

The main character is Jason Asano, a Japanese Australian transported into a world of magic and monsters. Now, if you are Australian, who will love Jason, as Shirtaloon capsulised the larrikin of Australia’s society. From sarcasm to his apparent disregard for social or political conventions, this is only a tiny part of his personality. I cannot tell you how many laugh-out-loud moments I had listening to this series. 

Now, MC is only complete with some fantastic supporting characters. These range from the first magic users he meets in the series, Gary, the jolly Lion-man, Rufus, the straight man, and Farrah, his female Gandalf. 

Then there is the world, and wow! How to create such a vibrant world is marvellous. The magic system is more akin to cultivation fantasy, as there are tiers in power than levels like other litrpgs. This makes reading more fluid than crunchy, like some heavy stat-based books.

From some other reviews I have read, it can be challenging for people to get into, but I promise you will love this series. 

Shirtaloon Website: https://hewhofightswithmonsters.com/
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WF8SB71
Royal Road: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26294/he-who-fights-with-monsters
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Shirtaloon

Occultist by Oliver Mayes Review

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed reading/listening to Occultist by Oliver Mayes, published by Portal Books. This book is in the Litrpg sub-genre, an up and coming category that capitalises on the online gaming and RPG mechanics. It talks about stat points and hit points (hp) and experience (XP) as part of the narrative. Anyone who has either played an RPG on their computer or gone old school with the pen and paper would understand the basis of this fantastic world-building.

As I try to do is not to spoil the book too much while talking about my feeling and emotions that drive my subjective reviews.

Occultist starts in-game with a new Virtual Reality MMO (VR-MMORPG) in the near future with a 16-year-old trying to balance his gaming and real-life stuff. I can’t go to what happened but wow! The roller-coaster ride Mr Mayes takes the reader on is amazing. The rich MMO with a dictatorial feel of an over-corporatized real world and a touch of viral social media sets the stage for many complications for the MC, Damien.

  • Wraith
  • Succubus
  • INCUBUS
  • Hell Hound

Images from Occultist, Copyright Portal Books and Oliver Mayes

Being taken on a non-stop exciting adventure which spans both realities was brilliant. I could not help yelling my encouragement to Damien as he jumps through the muddy plot created by Mr Mayes.

Two surprising supporting characters are two AI’s in the MMO, Bartholomew and Noigel. I would love to go into why they are both so fabulous, but you will have to read the book (it is a little spoilery).

Just like to also shout out to the narrator, Adam Sims. He gave birth to this amazing book. I had many chuckles as he superbly narrated this book.

All I can say it is, if you love World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons or love a good fantasy novel then this book is for you! 5 Stars!

You can find this book at Amazon or Portal Books!