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Path of Transcendence #1
Ultimatum of the Nameless God
Taereun: Battleground of the Damned was never really a game. It was a testing ground to find minds and souls for the Nameless God to use, and for tens of thousands of players, the game became reality, when they were put in the bodies of their characters. The Nameless God told them that he would return them to their real lives, if they fought through the Labyrinth of Yggr and freed his body from beneath the city of Haven. After searching for over 11 years, they found the Gate leading to Haven.
After being murdered right before the gate to Haven was opened, Mark McGuinness wakes up in a hospital in his original body. As a child, he was in an automobile accident. A freak whose body rejects most medical treatments, he was left scarred and disfigured. Angry, bitter and disgusted with the world, he had used Taereun: Battleground of the Damned to take out his frustration and anger, so he would not lose control and hurt or kill someone in real life. The closest he had ever come to being happy was living as Talon, during the eleven year search for Haven.
Having learned about the Power called ki, Mark McGuinness discovers that his human body is capable of channeling and using it. Once again armed with Power, he finds a way to travel from Earth to Taereun. He has questions he wants answered and people he owes. Whether mortal or divine, he will let no one and nothing stand in his way.
WARNING: For Mature Audiences Only. This story contains profanity and rather graphic descriptions of violence, gore, sex and sexual violence.
After being murdered right before the gate to Haven was opened, Mark McGuinness wakes up in a hospital in his original body. As a child, he was in an automobile accident. A freak whose body rejects most medical treatments, he was left scarred and disfigured. Angry, bitter and disgusted with the world, he had used Taereun: Battleground of the Damned to take out his frustration and anger, so he would not lose control and hurt or kill someone in real life. The closest he had ever come to being happy was living as Talon, during the eleven year search for Haven.
Having learned about the Power called ki, Mark McGuinness discovers that his human body is capable of channeling and using it. Once again armed with Power, he finds a way to travel from Earth to Taereun. He has questions he wants answered and people he owes. Whether mortal or divine, he will let no one and nothing stand in his way.
WARNING: For Mature Audiences Only. This story contains profanity and rather graphic descriptions of violence, gore, sex and sexual violence.
463 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 29, 2015
101 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 22, 2015
A Sinister MC
I found the book to be quite interesting. You never really see any anti hero protagonist anymore. Well brand/mark/talon is not totally evil. He's quiet sinister and I love it. It's a great book but their is a lot of spelling errors.
I found the book to be quite interesting. You never really see any anti hero protagonist anymore. Well brand/mark/talon is not totally evil. He's quiet sinister and I love it. It's a great book but their is a lot of spelling errors.
August 21, 2015
This is good s***
Really the headline says it all, this book is quite dark, looks hard at society and it's values and is thoroughly enjoyable.
Only things against it are frequent typos and I found the progression a little hard to follow at times.
Really the headline says it all, this book is quite dark, looks hard at society and it's values and is thoroughly enjoyable.
Only things against it are frequent typos and I found the progression a little hard to follow at times.
September 27, 2015
Good book.
A bit slow in the beginning and the flash backs are okay. But, once it gets out of the beginning it becomes an amazing story. I can't wait for book 2. Worth the money I spent on this book.
A bit slow in the beginning and the flash backs are okay. But, once it gets out of the beginning it becomes an amazing story. I can't wait for book 2. Worth the money I spent on this book.
September 24, 2017
Read this from cover to cover. Overall I liked it, but...
I like the ugly protagonist concept - don't see often.
I'm used to super average/attractive protagonists, so the interactions between an unattractive protagonist and the people of the world allow for some amusing dynamics that differ greatly from what I'm accustomed to.
Overall I'd recommend it. Maybe wait for more installments in the series if you're impatient.
I like the ugly protagonist concept - don't see often.
I'm used to super average/attractive protagonists, so the interactions between an unattractive protagonist and the people of the world allow for some amusing dynamics that differ greatly from what I'm accustomed to.
Overall I'd recommend it. Maybe wait for more installments in the series if you're impatient.
December 17, 2016
One of the best LitRPG books I read.
It has a complex world where you feel like the main character, put in a new world where you may have questions and think something is not adding up in the logic just to be proven wrong and getting more and more background knowledge about the thrilling world and story througout the whole 2 books.
1.) The dark aspects.
There is violence, blood and sex.
I am totally fet up on those ferry worlds where people often have the living conditions of 300 years ago, no education, absolute power ..... but everyone is playing like they are in wonderland. It is true that some people even while having absolut power over others and knowing there are no consequences for their actions will still only do good, but history has proven that some people tend to do other ways. So it is nice to see characters who look humen and have needs and thoughts who are not always out of the "how to be the knight in shining armor guide".
2.)The world system:
There is logic. thats it :D, often I am reading LitRPGs and there are so many flaws in the world, the magic system and the integration of our reality( earth).
you have the impression the introduction to the world the "how does the hero get to the magic world/game" is totally flawed and it would have been better to just open a portal and he is there. I had the same impression here, but was proven wrong. There was a nice integration of earth and the start of the hero.
Morover the world is not a lose collections of different "fantasy aspects"like ther is mana and mana is for spells, but a complex weaving of aspects where for example the magical system ( mostly in book 2) and other parts of the world work together and you need one to explain the other.
3.) The story is building up:
There are some books where in the first halve of the first book there is the introduction of the world and most of the story and then there is 3 books of using all which is known in book 1 to solve the problem. In this book on ther other hand I am fascinated of the way you feel like the main character who at both books gots to know more about the world and how it is working, who is improving not only in skills but also in character and understanding. It is thrilling to experience the how the character is droven by new knowledge and events.
I love story telling in which questions arise while reading and you realise the main character is not just running around hitting everything which is too slow to run away , but asking questions, trys to interact and understand the rules by which the world is going. Where every world may be important for the future understanding of the story.
It has a complex world where you feel like the main character, put in a new world where you may have questions and think something is not adding up in the logic just to be proven wrong and getting more and more background knowledge about the thrilling world and story througout the whole 2 books.
1.) The dark aspects.
There is violence, blood and sex.
I am totally fet up on those ferry worlds where people often have the living conditions of 300 years ago, no education, absolute power ..... but everyone is playing like they are in wonderland. It is true that some people even while having absolut power over others and knowing there are no consequences for their actions will still only do good, but history has proven that some people tend to do other ways. So it is nice to see characters who look humen and have needs and thoughts who are not always out of the "how to be the knight in shining armor guide".
2.)The world system:
There is logic. thats it :D, often I am reading LitRPGs and there are so many flaws in the world, the magic system and the integration of our reality( earth).
you have the impression the introduction to the world the "how does the hero get to the magic world/game" is totally flawed and it would have been better to just open a portal and he is there. I had the same impression here, but was proven wrong. There was a nice integration of earth and the start of the hero.
Morover the world is not a lose collections of different "fantasy aspects"like ther is mana and mana is for spells, but a complex weaving of aspects where for example the magical system ( mostly in book 2) and other parts of the world work together and you need one to explain the other.
3.) The story is building up:
There are some books where in the first halve of the first book there is the introduction of the world and most of the story and then there is 3 books of using all which is known in book 1 to solve the problem. In this book on ther other hand I am fascinated of the way you feel like the main character who at both books gots to know more about the world and how it is working, who is improving not only in skills but also in character and understanding. It is thrilling to experience the how the character is droven by new knowledge and events.
I love story telling in which questions arise while reading and you realise the main character is not just running around hitting everything which is too slow to run away , but asking questions, trys to interact and understand the rules by which the world is going. Where every world may be important for the future understanding of the story.
May 17, 2017
good, annoyingly good, even with all the grammar mistakes and other stuff. hate how it ends, i saw it coming, but i was waiting for that to happen in the next book or so. Dont think i will be reading the next book any time soon, feels like its written by an angry child, i share the view of how freedom of speech has been reduced to "shut up" since nowadays you cant even call a fat person fat and i wont say a thing about "minorities"
November 22, 2015
Brand was honesly one of the weakest(in many ways) MC i ever read. The shallow writing was annoying but easily overlooked...
The events happening, be in the present or in a flashback, never felt even remotely real, the author has failed in his attempt to captivate his readers,or at least to captivate this reader!!
All the characters felt bland and not human like(if this makes sense).They were just flat and boring, with nonsensical reaction to the various situation happening to them!
Reading this book i had a single question: "he ever had interactions with other people?"
The events happening, be in the present or in a flashback, never felt even remotely real, the author has failed in his attempt to captivate his readers,or at least to captivate this reader!!
All the characters felt bland and not human like(if this makes sense).They were just flat and boring, with nonsensical reaction to the various situation happening to them!
Reading this book i had a single question: "he ever had interactions with other people?"
February 6, 2017
Downright Fun Unlimited
Great book, loved the theme, the characters, the blood , the guts, the sheer Intense sex, violence. I can't ever remember reading a book so violently good. Talon or Brand love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him. Every man would love to be him or have his sheer overwhelming presence and of course all the ladies you could manage. I'm going to get the next book straight away. A tour de force. Fab
Great book, loved the theme, the characters, the blood , the guts, the sheer Intense sex, violence. I can't ever remember reading a book so violently good. Talon or Brand love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him. Every man would love to be him or have his sheer overwhelming presence and of course all the ladies you could manage. I'm going to get the next book straight away. A tour de force. Fab
June 12, 2018
Very good book. Gritty, foul, unfriendly, harsh, awesome. I devoured it. Only problem I had, and forced myself to ignore, was grammar. Missing words, double words, and incorrect words. Not a huge amount, but being an English major at one time, it slowed my reading down a bit. Still, it is one of the few books I have marked as a 5 star. Now...on to book 2.
August 16, 2015
I hate where the book ends
I don't like cliffhanger books. Was a ok book till the last page. Now you have to buy the next book to see how it will go.
I don't like cliffhanger books. Was a ok book till the last page. Now you have to buy the next book to see how it will go.
October 31, 2016
I don't understand how some people can give this a 5 stars rating.
My advice is to read the 1 star reviews, i wish i had done so before wasting my time with this.
My advice is to read the 1 star reviews, i wish i had done so before wasting my time with this.
April 25, 2022
I’ve read great stories that had equally great anti-heroes; I am not adding this book to the list. I prefer anti-heroes to have some redeeming value. They’re anti-heroes and not the villain. This reads like incel litrpg. It was a strange take to morph PC culture into a future dystopia. It really felt like someone took the far right’s fears and put them in a fantasy setting.
August 30, 2015
Not the best of books, but I found it compelling. A bit more editing and fewer flashbacks would kick it up a notch, but these are little gripes: the main thing is the setting, which is strong and has lots of room to be epic, and the characters and story, which is where it really polarizes. This is not a happy cheerful read, but rather a grim harsh dark raw saga of life and pain and horror and vicious victory. I kept reading until I'd finished it in one go, and expect to get eventual sequels, because it hooked me well. It is not, however, for the faint of heart or those looking for a book to kill a few hours.
December 31, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me less then 6 hours to read. I really enjoyed the dark nature of the book. I know on amazons website the book has had some bad reviews i always look at the bad reviews before purchasing a book. Most of the bad reviews are tied to the dark nature of the story. If you are looking for a story about a Prince who is fighting for "Everything Good and the beautiful virgin Princess" this is not your story. This is a more accurate version of Dark Fantasy. I'm eagerly awaiting the 2nd installment of the series.
September 8, 2016
Really really good book and really really dark book.
I found the character depiction really good but people that have never played MMO with PVP can maybe find the characters unrealistic, even though I found them spot on.
The story is a pretty good revenge story, well paced, with good world building, and damn if the MC needs to dish out some freezing cold revenge.
Would totally recommend it BUT this is not a book for children
I found the character depiction really good but people that have never played MMO with PVP can maybe find the characters unrealistic, even though I found them spot on.
The story is a pretty good revenge story, well paced, with good world building, and damn if the MC needs to dish out some freezing cold revenge.
Would totally recommend it BUT this is not a book for children
March 21, 2022
For the whole series:
It's a really brutal world with a just as brutal MC, and it's one of the most anti-PC series I've read. The MC is pretty reasonable for the most part: no moralizing bs, tortures his enemies and protects his property. There isn't really any plot armor, and he isn't exempt from the brutality of the world.
Despite how awesome that is, why did I give it a 4? Honestly, I might end up changing it to a 5... there were some really annoying parts that are stopping me though. In some past flashbacks the extent of how bitchy some characters were is revealed, which turns some of the MC's past actions from honorable to flat out idiocy. It almost made me drop the book then, but luckily I made it through. The other big annoyance is how little variety the insults tend to have. Like okay, we get it, nobody likes gay people in this world... but come on, like 90% of the insults just boil down to calling people gay. That, along with the MC's obsession with attacking enemy balls, really makes me think that the author is probably just closeted. Book 4 has some short political rants thrown in too, even if I mostly agree it doesn't really belong there.
Despite those three things though, this is one of my favorite series that I've read. I highly recommend giving it a try if you like ruthless MCs and brutal worlds, because this is one of the best.
It's a really brutal world with a just as brutal MC, and it's one of the most anti-PC series I've read. The MC is pretty reasonable for the most part: no moralizing bs, tortures his enemies and protects his property. There isn't really any plot armor, and he isn't exempt from the brutality of the world.
Despite how awesome that is, why did I give it a 4? Honestly, I might end up changing it to a 5... there were some really annoying parts that are stopping me though. In some past flashbacks the extent of how bitchy some characters were is revealed, which turns some of the MC's past actions from honorable to flat out idiocy. It almost made me drop the book then, but luckily I made it through. The other big annoyance is how little variety the insults tend to have. Like okay, we get it, nobody likes gay people in this world... but come on, like 90% of the insults just boil down to calling people gay. That, along with the MC's obsession with attacking enemy balls, really makes me think that the author is probably just closeted. Book 4 has some short political rants thrown in too, even if I mostly agree it doesn't really belong there.
Despite those three things though, this is one of my favorite series that I've read. I highly recommend giving it a try if you like ruthless MCs and brutal worlds, because this is one of the best.
May 19, 2022
wow
OK I’m not sure that I can express my feelings for this book in mire words, there is so much here it’s a futuristic look at a barbaric person, the society the author paints is abysmal the game the author makes is pure distilled backstabbing and hate… personally the fact that the author used an older caricatur To reference one of the most free reigning barbaric games of all time Ultima online tells me that this author wanted to see death and distraction in the video game world… and I am all here for it I will definitely be reading the next book.
OK I’m not sure that I can express my feelings for this book in mire words, there is so much here it’s a futuristic look at a barbaric person, the society the author paints is abysmal the game the author makes is pure distilled backstabbing and hate… personally the fact that the author used an older caricatur To reference one of the most free reigning barbaric games of all time Ultima online tells me that this author wanted to see death and distraction in the video game world… and I am all here for it I will definitely be reading the next book.
March 22, 2021
Author is a loser
You ruined your own story. You take a character with so much pain and make him call himself ugly. He's burned we get it. But maybe you think burned people are all treated automatically horrible by all society but this is not so. Look in the mirror and see your own ugly Visage
You ruined your own story. You take a character with so much pain and make him call himself ugly. He's burned we get it. But maybe you think burned people are all treated automatically horrible by all society but this is not so. Look in the mirror and see your own ugly Visage
June 12, 2024
great book I mean wonderful written.
I know lots of ppl are put off by some of the things described and written by the author. But I promise if you can get pass your self righteous ignorance and actually read the book start to finish, you would see the masterpiece that is The Nameless God!!!
I know lots of ppl are put off by some of the things described and written by the author. But I promise if you can get pass your self righteous ignorance and actually read the book start to finish, you would see the masterpiece that is The Nameless God!!!
July 1, 2018
This is an interesting book. They grammar and typos are horrendous. The character has no redeeming values and I spent as much time hoping for his death as I did wondering if he would live. Regardless, it is an enjoyable book.
May 9, 2018
Way to many spelling mistakes, really pull you out of the story.
April 30, 2021
Interesting
There really was never a dull moment in the entire book.I look forward to seeing the protagonist and other characters develop as the series progresses.
There really was never a dull moment in the entire book.I look forward to seeing the protagonist and other characters develop as the series progresses.
March 8, 2017
Let me preface this by saying this book does a lot right. It has a great story, the characters are interesting, the perspective shifts are smooth enough to be jarring when your realize the entire PoV has shifted from first to second or third, and the world building is absolutely first class. I'd be giving this book a solid 5 stars if it weren't for one problem... the plot treadmills. This wouldn't be so bad if the same few things weren't repeated over and over again or done so sparsely. This book manages to at some points start several scenes in a row with something akin to "the story thus far." It killed the momentum of the story and I had to put the book down due to it.
I recommend buying this book to support the author. You may even enjoy it. I am looking forward to buying more of this man's books in the future. He holds a lot of promise and the amount of work put into this series shows through as one of the best settings and some of the most interesting writing I have ever seen. Seriously, do yourself a favor and check it out. Even if you put it down it is worth the price just to see the world.
I recommend buying this book to support the author. You may even enjoy it. I am looking forward to buying more of this man's books in the future. He holds a lot of promise and the amount of work put into this series shows through as one of the best settings and some of the most interesting writing I have ever seen. Seriously, do yourself a favor and check it out. Even if you put it down it is worth the price just to see the world.
November 22, 2015
Sometimes I feel totally disconnected from the general readership and I wonder how the masses can think that way or another about a particular piece of literature. This book is one such example.
I've been on a LitRPG trip lately, because I find the concept appealing. A lot of amateur authors have gone down the path of self publishing their additions to this genre, sadly there haven't been that many outstanding works, or at least I wasn't able to find a lot of them I liked.
This book reminds me a bit about the countless fan-translations of Asian (mainly Korean) light novels, in that many have an interesting premise but left me cold upon reading it. It's the classic "over promise under deliver" problem, but at least Brian McGoldrick's book is legible.
I wouldn't have minded giving this book an average 3 out of 5 stars rating, even if it hadn't been my cup of tea, but the writing was a mess. This is clearly an amateur work and one of the more horrible independently published books I've ever read in terms of its quality of writing and editing. I would be surprised if there was much of an effort for the latter to be honest.
If the storyline itself had been better and if I had liked the protagonist, I wouldn't have minded the mistakes so much. Since there was no saving grace to the book however, my reason for rating it this way is pretty clear. How this work can have a 4 out of 5 star rating both here and on Amazon I'll never understand.
I've been on a LitRPG trip lately, because I find the concept appealing. A lot of amateur authors have gone down the path of self publishing their additions to this genre, sadly there haven't been that many outstanding works, or at least I wasn't able to find a lot of them I liked.
This book reminds me a bit about the countless fan-translations of Asian (mainly Korean) light novels, in that many have an interesting premise but left me cold upon reading it. It's the classic "over promise under deliver" problem, but at least Brian McGoldrick's book is legible.
I wouldn't have minded giving this book an average 3 out of 5 stars rating, even if it hadn't been my cup of tea, but the writing was a mess. This is clearly an amateur work and one of the more horrible independently published books I've ever read in terms of its quality of writing and editing. I would be surprised if there was much of an effort for the latter to be honest.
If the storyline itself had been better and if I had liked the protagonist, I wouldn't have minded the mistakes so much. Since there was no saving grace to the book however, my reason for rating it this way is pretty clear. How this work can have a 4 out of 5 star rating both here and on Amazon I'll never understand.
May 25, 2016
A question i asked myself after reading this book:
How many genitals can be mutilated in one book?
How many genitals can be mutilated in one book?
February 6, 2016
Dark and Damaged, but my new hero
There were issues in the books editing, but the plot was amazing, so screw it. I loved it. Write more, faster.
There were issues in the books editing, but the plot was amazing, so screw it. I loved it. Write more, faster.
March 30, 2016
Great read but REALLY NEEDED EDITING!
As much as I loved this book... It needed editing!!!.. It would have been easy 5 stars!.. Why not edit?
As much as I loved this book... It needed editing!!!.. It would have been easy 5 stars!.. Why not edit?
April 7, 2016
I quite enjoyed the book despite it desperately needing an editor
It was a bit of a mess but I thought it improved as it went on
My main complaint with it was the homophobia
It was a bit of a mess but I thought it improved as it went on
My main complaint with it was the homophobia
May 2, 2018
All I know is this. The MC's life is pure and unadulterated hell. This guy get's ZERO breaks. It's like he's Conan the barbarian in a video game. This dude's entire goal is the destruction of his enemies and he is brutally efficient in it. Also, the guy is an anti-hero. He is a MONSTER. The book sets you up for some AWESOME plot twist. I mean, I had the feels for certain things that happen in this book...and oh man, dat ending tho. I am looking forward to the next book because someone's getting cut de hell up. I'm so psyched for this....As soon as my boy get's back on his feet. As the illustrious Kevin Heart said.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews