On the Lost Continent

AlterGame #2

by Andrew Novak

If Jack thought that getting to the shores of the Lost Continent would be the hardest part, he was right in a way. Now Lady Luck showers him with treasures - both with loot and bonuses. Still, her gifts come with strings attached. Jack is now an outcast: a fugitive, a living dead. And that's in real life! While in the game, even the Gods themselves are against him.

Well, good luck to them! The Gods don't yet know whom they're dealing with.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Fiction, Audiobook

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2017

Reviews

[Coco.V]

🎁 Books 1 & 2 in the Series are FREE on Amazon today (4/4/2020)! 🎁

[Kiba Snowpaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction
On the Lost Continent by Andrew Novak (published September 28, 2017 by Magic Dome Books) is the second entry in the AlterGame series—a LitRPG that mixes survival grit, chaotic twists, real-world consequences, and a main character who seems cursed by both fate and game design. This book expands the world outward instead of upward, pushing Jack into deeper danger, stranger territories, and more volatile relationships. It’s fast, unpredictable, and often darker than the first book.

Plot Summary
Jack reaches the shores of the Lost Continent—and immediately discovers that survival was the easy part. In-game, he’s hunted by players, gods, factions, and hidden mechanics that feel designed to break him. Out-of-game, things are far worse: Jack becomes a fugitive, a living dead, an outcast in his real life. The book shifts between Alterra and the outside world, blending virtual danger with real-life panic. The plot moves rapidly, sometimes too rapidly, with twists that don’t always land cleanly. Death, betrayal, conspiracies, and unexplained events dominate much of the story, and several major moments feel intentionally chaotic. It's a book where you often feel lost—fitting, given the title.

The Author
Andrew Novak builds worlds with a strange mixture of tension, humor, and fatalism. His style leans sharp and abrupt, which works for action-heavy segments but can make emotional beats feel rushed. He excels at pacing and always ensures something major is happening every few chapters. While his editing is better than many LitRPG authors, the book still contains noticeable errors—something multiple readers pointed out, especially considering the higher price point. Still, Novak’s ambition to blend dystopian reality with VR chaos is unique within the genre.

Characters
Jack: more reckless, more desperate, and more hunted than in book one. He’s likable to some readers, irritating to others, but undeniably active. He makes questionable decisions and sometimes pays for them immediately. 
Eloise: functions almost like a “reward companion,” and her portrayal can feel one-dimensional or overly cliché. 
Egghead: often used as comic relief or a foil for Jack’s frustration. 
Side characters & gods: appear abruptly, vanish abruptly, sometimes confuse the story as much as they drive it.

Overall, character depth increases slightly from book one, but emotional coherence is sacrificed for speed.

Structure
This book moves in sharp angles—scene shifts, perspective jumps, sudden deaths, and big reveals. The pacing is relentless, and while that makes it exciting, it also makes it disorienting. Compared to the first book’s more linear structure, On the Lost Continent is a tangle of new territories, real-life intrigue, mythological systems, and hidden agendas. Some plot points feel dropped, others appear out of nowhere. As Kiba Snowpaw, even with an alpha wolf’s tracking instincts, I felt the path twist under my paws more than once.

Themes & Analysis
Central themes include exile, survival, betrayal, identity, and the cost of power. There’s also a strong thread of dehumanization—in-game and out—especially with Jack becoming a literal “living dead” figure in his real world. Novak also reinforces the idea that the world (and the gods) will actively punish you when you rise too quickly. This book asks: what do you do when both worlds want you gone?

Scenes
There is less flirtation than in many LitRPGs, but some dialogue and dynamics hint at romantic tension or stereotypical gender roles. One of the biggest criticisms from readers involves Jack’s tone toward Eloise and others—occasionally sexist, occasionally dismissive. There are no explicit scenes, but interpersonal tension and moral discomfort run through the book. Violence, betrayal, and psychological pressure are more intense than in book one.

World-Building
This entry doubles down on expanding Alterra: 
- More continents 
- More gods 
- More factions 
- More hostile biomes 
- More hidden systems 
- More conspiracies 

The downside is that sometimes the world expands too fast, giving the sense of running across thin ice. Still, the environments are vivid, the mechanics interesting, and the overall setting feels larger and more dangerous than before.

Praise & Critique
Strengths: 
- Stronger action than book one 
- Heavy stakes, both in-game and real-life 
- Good world expansion 
- High tension, fast pacing 
- Memorable twists 

Weaknesses: 
- Abrupt plot developments 
- Confusing structure at times 
- Jack’s personality can turn readers away 
- Some deaths feel cheap or mishandled 
- Editing issues despite higher price 

Comparison
Compared to The First Player, this sequel is darker, faster, and more chaotic. 
Compared to other LitRPGs, it sits somewhere between the unpredictability of AlterWorld and the brutality of Life Reset, but with less emotional grounding than either. Novak writes with ambition, but the execution can be uneven.

Personal Evaluation
From my Alpha wolf perspective: this book had moments where I had to stop and reorient myself. Some scenes jumped between perspectives without warning, and a few twists felt like falling through a snow drift into another story entirely. But I still enjoyed the tension, the sense of danger, and the worldbuilding. Even when it confused me, it kept me engaged. It’s not perfect, but it’s alive—it growls, bites, and refuses to be predictable.

Conclusion
On the Lost Continent is a wild, uneven, dark, action-heavy sequel that expands the world, raises the stakes, and throws Jack into deeper chaos. Not as clean or coherent as book one, but more ambitious and more dramatic. If you like LitRPGs that take risks—even messy ones—this will keep your attention.

Rating: 7.2/10 — A chaotic but engaging step deeper into the storm.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, for a book that cost double what others of it's kind go for, you would think you'd get a nice clean professionally edited completed product. Well, while there were certainly less errors than most LitRPG self-published books, there were still way too many for the price. Personally, I think that's a crime, I could have bought anywhere between two and five other books for the price I paid for this one, and while I do tend to harp on proper grammar and such in my reviews, it's mostly because proofreading seems to be a thing of the past, and that's just sad, but for a book that cost more than 5 bucks, I'd have expected a cleaner presentation.
But, with that out of the way, I have to say other than the grammar errors, this book was exactly what I was hoping for as the second book in the series. Good story, nice character development, good world expansion, and plenty of hints as to what's to come in later books in the series. Very well done, and next month, I might even buy the next one in the series and continue reading, though probably not, since it took me several months to get around to purchasing this one, largely due to it's cost. I know, I'm picky how I spend my funds, since they're a bit limited, and I like to get max value for my investment, which is usually why I buy book collections, so the price of this book was a stopping point for quite a while.
Regardless of all that though, I'm happy this book did not disappoint as far as storyline goes, and I'm definitely looking forward to more in the series. If you liked the first one, then you'll almost certainly enjoy this one as well.

[Daniel Pludek · Rating 2 out of 5]

No sense of direction or consistency.

While the first book was an almost linear journey with a few funny and interesting sidelines. This book was a mess, with no real direction and plot twists with no point to them. And a main character getting killed "offscreen" in the way it happened is just idiotic.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but Twisty

Choke full of action and adventure, but also a bit darker than before. This book manages to entertain nicely while sometimes confuse me at times with twisty plot, monologue, or action. Definitely a strong story, with a turning point and a new goal. Read the previous book again just before you read this one. Recommended.

[Andrew Alton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the development of the characters and the story line. There were some hard and things to take in this book and it was definitely left open without a lot of resolution at the end. With that said, I continue to enjoy the series and look forward to the next book.

[John #Audible · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this MC is in my TOP 5 of Jerkoff's that are unlikable. He does some crap in the book that makes no sense, talks like he owns everything and the people who interact with him respond the same way.

[Ian Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reading here

After getting going on this one I realized I hadn't read the first. I like the characters and world(s). Very solid book.

[Arthur Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn

I want book 3 so badly. This title was fantastic and a great addition to the series. It suprisws me plenty and I look forward to the next title.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book one.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook: narrator stilll doing great. (Edited for clarity after reread, 1 star removed, should be 3.5)
Since changes happen in this book that hit me hard. it's been a couple days and I'm still angry at what one character did, which means the book fully pulled be in.

We learn more about Alterra, as well as about the ghettos surrounding New Atrium. Conspiratorial plots, side deals, and most importantly: more of the new continent!


Updated:
While most of the above still applies, like I mentioned in my update to the previous book a lot more of Jack's real world persona starts to bother me. His negative tone towards Egghead, his sexist archetypal behavior with regards to the smurfette like Eloise. I likely avoided this on my first review because I was enthralled with the rest of the world building but it is really hard to avoid now. (Or maybe it's growth?)

[Chris Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great romp, loved it.
Can't wait for the next one to be released

[Lacey Caselman · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are lots of twists and layers. The sexism gets worse. The the hero gets more anti than hero but it's addictive and i can't wait for book 3.