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Ten Realms #5
The Fifth Realm
After taking and defending Vuzgal, Erik and Rugrat have a new task to build a city.
They have been racing through the realms at this point, but Vuzgal is a prize that they can't simply give up on. Alva is mobilized, as are their allies, to build out the new city.
It is time that they solidify their gains, working on their crafts, their fighting ability and cultivation. As they expand their personal power, their gaze turns toward Vermire, to the dungeon. It's time they started to exert the strength they've built up.
Alva moves in the shadows, but to what effect? The answer lies in the Fifth Realm.
They have been racing through the realms at this point, but Vuzgal is a prize that they can't simply give up on. Alva is mobilized, as are their allies, to build out the new city.
It is time that they solidify their gains, working on their crafts, their fighting ability and cultivation. As they expand their personal power, their gaze turns toward Vermire, to the dungeon. It's time they started to exert the strength they've built up.
Alva moves in the shadows, but to what effect? The answer lies in the Fifth Realm.
872 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2019
1481 people are currently reading
499 people want to read
About the author
Michael Chatfield
70 books1,405 followersMichael Chatfield is a Canadian Army veteran and international bestselling author who writes the kind of books he always wanted to read—character-driven, gritty, tactical, and grounded in reality.
He doesn’t write one-dimensional killers wrapped in plot armor, charging toward an objective without thought. His stories are built for readers who want earned progression, tight, understandable logic, and realistic strategy. Every stat system has structure. Every decision is deliberate (except when there is Jaeger involved).
And the pacing? It's locked at two hundred percent. From alleyway brawls to starship armadas clashing over galactic sovereignty, from tactical dungeon assaults to city-states warring over a continent’s fate—Chatfield commits to every battle like it’s his last.
With millions of books and audiobooks sold, and tens of thousands of reviews his work spans LitRPG, military sci-fi, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic survival. He writes for readers who value systems that make sense, loyalty that lasts, and power that’s earned, not handed out.
Whether you're listening on a long drive, grinding through a shift, or up past midnight planning the next in-game raid—this is where you’ll find sagas to binge. Where strength is earned, logic rules, and camaraderie is forged in fire.
You can connect with him on Patreon and don't forget to follow him on social media!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/authormichael...
Website: http://michaelchatfield.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authormichael...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormicha...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormichae...
Facebook Group: The Chatfield Connection - https://www.facebook.com/groups/37693...
He doesn’t write one-dimensional killers wrapped in plot armor, charging toward an objective without thought. His stories are built for readers who want earned progression, tight, understandable logic, and realistic strategy. Every stat system has structure. Every decision is deliberate (except when there is Jaeger involved).
And the pacing? It's locked at two hundred percent. From alleyway brawls to starship armadas clashing over galactic sovereignty, from tactical dungeon assaults to city-states warring over a continent’s fate—Chatfield commits to every battle like it’s his last.
With millions of books and audiobooks sold, and tens of thousands of reviews his work spans LitRPG, military sci-fi, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic survival. He writes for readers who value systems that make sense, loyalty that lasts, and power that’s earned, not handed out.
Whether you're listening on a long drive, grinding through a shift, or up past midnight planning the next in-game raid—this is where you’ll find sagas to binge. Where strength is earned, logic rules, and camaraderie is forged in fire.
You can connect with him on Patreon and don't forget to follow him on social media!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/authormichael...
Website: http://michaelchatfield.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authormichael...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormicha...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormichae...
Facebook Group: The Chatfield Connection - https://www.facebook.com/groups/37693...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews
February 7, 2021
DNF at 23%
This series... it has some things going for it but it need a lot of work. This is less a review of this book in particular and more about the whole series because these points apply to everything.
The Good:
This series is the first one of the "Earth humans end up in a strange fantasy land" premise that actually goes into how people with modern technology knowledge would integrate it into fantasyland. That's done quite well.
The world feels massive. Chatfield does a lot to make you feel like, even with everything that the characters do, they're small fish in a big pond.
There are a lot - and by a lot I mean a metric ton - of characters and points of view. Many of them are interesting. Unfortunately, the main characters are not among them. More on that in a bit.
The Not-So-Good:
For the love of Ogma, EDIT. If I had a dollar for every run on sentence, comma splice, and 70-sentence "paragraph" I would be a rich man. It was so pervasive that it was outright distracting from the story. I don't have a problem with self-published books that are rough around the edges, but this is the worst edited series I've ever read.
Length. Every book in this series could be 300 pages shorter and only be better for it. You know that thing that many authors do, where they kind of hand-wave the minutia to keep their readers from being bored to tears? Or how in movies when our plucky adventurers gather to make a plan and fade to black rather than have us have to watch them argue about how many feet of rope they'll need? Yeah, Chatfield doesn't do that. Every single little thing is described in excruciating detail. No bueno.
The characters. Hoo boy, the characters. There are so many I constantly forget who is who. Not necessarily because the names are so similar - though they are in many cases - but because everyone speaks with the same voice. Oh, except for the bystanders in the scenes. They have one of two voices: "Man, protagonists are so super-duper powerful. How could anyone be like this? Oh, woe is me, unnamed crowd NPC who isn't part of Alva" or "Bah. I'm the greatest. Fuck these guys. Fight me."
Exposition. Chatfield has an annoying habit of spending a long, long time pontificating about the world. Which would be less awful if he didn't do it through character monologues. Eric and Rugrat both spend extended periods by themselves speaking out loud about problem solving. It just really takes you out of the moment because of how unnatural it feels.
The total lack of character development. Eric and Rugrat don't change more than a teensy tiny bit across the series. The little bit of development they have can be summed up in one word: delegation. They learn to let other people handle things without their direct oversight. But only a little bit.
The Rest:
I wrote a lot about what I didn't like in this series. Significantly more than what I did like, in fact. So why did I make it all the way to book 5? These books have a tendency to drive me right to the breaking point where I'm about to put it down before introducing a character arc or idea that's just interesting enough to keep me around until the next one.
This series... it has some things going for it but it need a lot of work. This is less a review of this book in particular and more about the whole series because these points apply to everything.
The Good:
This series is the first one of the "Earth humans end up in a strange fantasy land" premise that actually goes into how people with modern technology knowledge would integrate it into fantasyland. That's done quite well.
The world feels massive. Chatfield does a lot to make you feel like, even with everything that the characters do, they're small fish in a big pond.
There are a lot - and by a lot I mean a metric ton - of characters and points of view. Many of them are interesting. Unfortunately, the main characters are not among them. More on that in a bit.
The Not-So-Good:
For the love of Ogma, EDIT. If I had a dollar for every run on sentence, comma splice, and 70-sentence "paragraph" I would be a rich man. It was so pervasive that it was outright distracting from the story. I don't have a problem with self-published books that are rough around the edges, but this is the worst edited series I've ever read.
Length. Every book in this series could be 300 pages shorter and only be better for it. You know that thing that many authors do, where they kind of hand-wave the minutia to keep their readers from being bored to tears? Or how in movies when our plucky adventurers gather to make a plan and fade to black rather than have us have to watch them argue about how many feet of rope they'll need? Yeah, Chatfield doesn't do that. Every single little thing is described in excruciating detail. No bueno.
The characters. Hoo boy, the characters. There are so many I constantly forget who is who. Not necessarily because the names are so similar - though they are in many cases - but because everyone speaks with the same voice. Oh, except for the bystanders in the scenes. They have one of two voices: "Man, protagonists are so super-duper powerful. How could anyone be like this? Oh, woe is me, unnamed crowd NPC who isn't part of Alva" or "Bah. I'm the greatest. Fuck these guys. Fight me."
Exposition. Chatfield has an annoying habit of spending a long, long time pontificating about the world. Which would be less awful if he didn't do it through character monologues. Eric and Rugrat both spend extended periods by themselves speaking out loud about problem solving. It just really takes you out of the moment because of how unnatural it feels.
The total lack of character development. Eric and Rugrat don't change more than a teensy tiny bit across the series. The little bit of development they have can be summed up in one word: delegation. They learn to let other people handle things without their direct oversight. But only a little bit.
The Rest:
I wrote a lot about what I didn't like in this series. Significantly more than what I did like, in fact. So why did I make it all the way to book 5? These books have a tendency to drive me right to the breaking point where I'm about to put it down before introducing a character arc or idea that's just interesting enough to keep me around until the next one.
September 7, 2021
It's not the most exciting book in the series but it was okay. There's a heck of a lot of telling happening but there's not a whole lot happening for the characters.
If it weren't for Erik, Rugrat and the Alvans, I wouldn't keep reading this.
If it weren't for Erik, Rugrat and the Alvans, I wouldn't keep reading this.
August 10, 2019
It takes a lot of guts to name a book "The Fifth Realm" and then spend almost no time whatsoever there. This latest installment from Michael Chatfield has a lot of ground to cover, a lot of characters to service, and because of that, it may not be exactly the book fans were hoping for.
The Ten Realms series' strength is its evolution of cultivation stories into a sweeping Western-consumable epic led by two lovable assholes. And every bit of story that takes us away from Eric and Rugrat can often feel like an imposition.
I recently started a re-read of the series thanks to Hoopla. (And thank you authors who release on Hoopla. It's an awesome service!) Listening to audio is transformative. It slows things down and makes me aware of many details I failed to pick up during a normal read. I have begun to realize how many threads and how many details were seeded right from the start. It gives me a better sense of the story Chatfield is telling versus the story I thought I was reading.
I've also grown closer to many of the secondary characters. It's not just Qin and Julilah, but the entire Silaz clan (many of whom started as complete idiots), the core Alta folk (Storbon, Elise, etc), Matt, and even Delilah (whom I originally despised), whose stories I've become invested in. Servicing that many stories and characters is hard, and it's both the strength and the weakness of the Fifth Realm.
I found my second read (written, not audio) of the Fourth Realm greatly improved my impression of the story. First time through I thought it lagged a lot, and I didn't really appreciate the scope of a small group of 100 mercenaries taking on and defeating an army of, what was it, 40 thousand soldiers or so? The second time, I knew what to expect, knew what the pace would be, and so I could appreciate it a lot more. I knew what the scope was and that the story wasn't about the entire realm but mostly about the conquest and defense of Vuzgal.
I think the Fifth Realm is like that. Going in, while I enjoyed all of it, I kept waiting for payoffs that didn't happen. I'm going to spoiler this just in case: So for a cultivation book, where everything evolves and grows and reaches new levels, this volume was a lot more set-up than pay-off. That's frustrating.
Then, there's the hilarious editing. There's one entire sequence (I can't remember the details but it really struck me at the time) where the timeline was completely wrecked, but it's the sort of thing that you get with Chatfield and it didn't really bug me too much. But with this many moving pieces, you really want to have each storyline controlled so each one has a proper pay-off.
There are also stories that really didn't need to happen on-screen. The Vermire storyline is frustrating, especially because you have a great character like Adita that just isn't being serviced well. I hope that in the sixth realm
All complaints aside though, I loved this book. I tore through it and read it up and was hungry for more at the end. There were lots of payoffs to smaller stories, which seems to be what a lot of this volume was about. I may have wanted more Eric and Rugrat, but I loved more Fantastic Formation Twin Team Power Girls. I think the new Magical Theory lady is great and I didn't get enough there (and she was super isolated in her brief time on-screen). I want to see the Wilfull Institute folks get theirs big time (and I was super confused about .
Also, I loathe Egbert. I know I'm supposed to love him as comic relief, but I don't.
To summarize, first read through, this was a "I really liked it" but not "I loved it". That may change on second read through with my expectations put in context.
The Ten Realms series' strength is its evolution of cultivation stories into a sweeping Western-consumable epic led by two lovable assholes. And every bit of story that takes us away from Eric and Rugrat can often feel like an imposition.
I recently started a re-read of the series thanks to Hoopla. (And thank you authors who release on Hoopla. It's an awesome service!) Listening to audio is transformative. It slows things down and makes me aware of many details I failed to pick up during a normal read. I have begun to realize how many threads and how many details were seeded right from the start. It gives me a better sense of the story Chatfield is telling versus the story I thought I was reading.
I've also grown closer to many of the secondary characters. It's not just Qin and Julilah, but the entire Silaz clan (many of whom started as complete idiots), the core Alta folk (Storbon, Elise, etc), Matt, and even Delilah (whom I originally despised), whose stories I've become invested in. Servicing that many stories and characters is hard, and it's both the strength and the weakness of the Fifth Realm.
I found my second read (written, not audio) of the Fourth Realm greatly improved my impression of the story. First time through I thought it lagged a lot, and I didn't really appreciate the scope of a small group of 100 mercenaries taking on and defeating an army of, what was it, 40 thousand soldiers or so? The second time, I knew what to expect, knew what the pace would be, and so I could appreciate it a lot more. I knew what the scope was and that the story wasn't about the entire realm but mostly about the conquest and defense of Vuzgal.
I think the Fifth Realm is like that. Going in, while I enjoyed all of it, I kept waiting for payoffs that didn't happen. I'm going to spoiler this just in case: So for a cultivation book, where everything evolves and grows and reaches new levels, this volume was a lot more set-up than pay-off. That's frustrating.
Then, there's the hilarious editing. There's one entire sequence (I can't remember the details but it really struck me at the time) where the timeline was completely wrecked, but it's the sort of thing that you get with Chatfield and it didn't really bug me too much. But with this many moving pieces, you really want to have each storyline controlled so each one has a proper pay-off.
There are also stories that really didn't need to happen on-screen. The Vermire storyline is frustrating, especially because you have a great character like Adita that just isn't being serviced well. I hope that in the sixth realm
All complaints aside though, I loved this book. I tore through it and read it up and was hungry for more at the end. There were lots of payoffs to smaller stories, which seems to be what a lot of this volume was about. I may have wanted more Eric and Rugrat, but I loved more Fantastic Formation Twin Team Power Girls. I think the new Magical Theory lady is great and I didn't get enough there (and she was super isolated in her brief time on-screen). I want to see the Wilfull Institute folks get theirs big time (and I was super confused about .
Also, I loathe Egbert. I know I'm supposed to love him as comic relief, but I don't.
To summarize, first read through, this was a "I really liked it" but not "I loved it". That may change on second read through with my expectations put in context.
January 31, 2023
Fifth book in a series that you should read in order.
I felt like this was a building or transitory book. The fifth realm itself is almost a no-show. It has competitions and auctions and Erik and Rugrat pop up for a bit of auction time and then head right back down. I'm not opposed to this, but it means there isn't any sense of realm-based progress.
Instead, all the progress is in Alva and Vuzgal (couldn't they have changed the name when they captured it? I hate this name. It's an evil empire name). And some progress in Erik and Rugrat themselves. It wasn't ever boring, but it didn't have the action highs from the other books, either.
So I'm going to go with four stars and wonder if this is the series winding down? I made the mistake of reading blurbs ahead and I'll admit, it drained some of my interest. It made me realize that the only thing I'm waiting for is for them to beat the stuffing out of the Willful Institute. And the blurbs make it clear that they're the tip of the spear for high drama later on. And I don't care for the high drama. So I'll be taking a break from the series and there's maybe a 20% chance I'll pick it back up later on.
A note about Chaste: Still very chaste. Which is fine and all, but there are high teens and low twenty-somethings who seem completely uninterested in sex. And that feels a bit strange. Not that I don't adore Elise and Blaze, but they're the only ones getting some as far as I can see...
I felt like this was a building or transitory book. The fifth realm itself is almost a no-show. It has competitions and auctions and Erik and Rugrat pop up for a bit of auction time and then head right back down. I'm not opposed to this, but it means there isn't any sense of realm-based progress.
Instead, all the progress is in Alva and Vuzgal (couldn't they have changed the name when they captured it? I hate this name. It's an evil empire name). And some progress in Erik and Rugrat themselves. It wasn't ever boring, but it didn't have the action highs from the other books, either.
So I'm going to go with four stars and wonder if this is the series winding down? I made the mistake of reading blurbs ahead and I'll admit, it drained some of my interest. It made me realize that the only thing I'm waiting for is for them to beat the stuffing out of the Willful Institute. And the blurbs make it clear that they're the tip of the spear for high drama later on. And I don't care for the high drama. So I'll be taking a break from the series and there's maybe a 20% chance I'll pick it back up later on.
A note about Chaste: Still very chaste. Which is fine and all, but there are high teens and low twenty-somethings who seem completely uninterested in sex. And that feels a bit strange. Not that I don't adore Elise and Blaze, but they're the only ones getting some as far as I can see...
April 6, 2020
Look, this series is fun enough that despite the 2-stars I did mostly enjoy reading the book.
-The editing is better, but there are still too many mistakes. I don't mind typos, but there are instances where the author refers to Vermire as "Vuzgal" and other places where I wasn't sure the character was correct.
On edit: 2 stars seems overly harsh, so I'm gonna change it to 3 because it is a book I like and I want the author to write more of them. Originally, I think I wanted to mark it down a little just because it doesn't progress the plot a whole lot, but.... I think that's ok too.
**Here there be SPOILERS**
-This book is really about the characters (and communities) grinding out levels. That's it. There's no big plot movement. Nothing very significant really happens (unless the story was about Aditya, which it's not). Lots of military training, crafting, and city administration. Not much traveling and meeting new challenges.
-That said, I do like that the author stuck with what made sense for the story. The story was at a point, where Erik and Rugrat rushing off to the 5th Realm and spending all their time there didn't make a lot of sense. It made more sense for them to grind and improve their levels and skills, so that's what this book is about. Kudos to you, Michael Chatfield.
-But I woulda liked a little more time in the 5th Realm. Are the sects we met there gonna pop up again? In the 4th Realm, what about Cai Chang? I want more Cai Chang.
-I'm still mildly annoyed at how badass Qin, Juliet, and Delilah are. With regard to Erik and Rugrat's exceptionalism, the parts that derive from their origins on Earth are great (Erik's healing, their leadership, philosophy, ideas of governance, etc.). Erik's skill at Alchemy is acceptable (he was poisoned, became Reverse Alchemist, works hard, yada yada). Rugrat's forging skill.... fine, maybe his fondness for guns gives him an occasional edge... at least he's not an Expert yet.
But the three girls.... It seems like it most crafters take more than 50+ years to make it to the expert level, but all three of them have done it in about two years? Qin maybe got a leg up from Erik healing her, but the other two are just normal people... Delilah even has a very demanding day job. I just think it's a little cheap how quickly they have all advanced. I mean, Alvan leaders are routinely talking about how Formations is their weakest area, but then they have two young girls grow from nothing to expert in... 2 years? 3 years? I don't think it would bother me, except that I like their characters. They'd still be really cool and effective characters if they were still mid-journeymen level.
-How much time has passed? We've only heard of one more of the annual Beast Mountain Dungeon trials since Erik and Rugrat crashed it....
-Looking forward to more of Cai Chang, Bai Ping, Hiao Xen, Aditya's Right-Hand Man (whose name escapes me), Old Man Hei, the Blue Lotus, and the Willful Institute.
-The editing is better, but there are still too many mistakes. I don't mind typos, but there are instances where the author refers to Vermire as "Vuzgal" and other places where I wasn't sure the character was correct.
On edit: 2 stars seems overly harsh, so I'm gonna change it to 3 because it is a book I like and I want the author to write more of them. Originally, I think I wanted to mark it down a little just because it doesn't progress the plot a whole lot, but.... I think that's ok too.
**Here there be SPOILERS**
-This book is really about the characters (and communities) grinding out levels. That's it. There's no big plot movement. Nothing very significant really happens (unless the story was about Aditya, which it's not). Lots of military training, crafting, and city administration. Not much traveling and meeting new challenges.
-That said, I do like that the author stuck with what made sense for the story. The story was at a point, where Erik and Rugrat rushing off to the 5th Realm and spending all their time there didn't make a lot of sense. It made more sense for them to grind and improve their levels and skills, so that's what this book is about. Kudos to you, Michael Chatfield.
-But I woulda liked a little more time in the 5th Realm. Are the sects we met there gonna pop up again? In the 4th Realm, what about Cai Chang? I want more Cai Chang.
-I'm still mildly annoyed at how badass Qin, Juliet, and Delilah are. With regard to Erik and Rugrat's exceptionalism, the parts that derive from their origins on Earth are great (Erik's healing, their leadership, philosophy, ideas of governance, etc.). Erik's skill at Alchemy is acceptable (he was poisoned, became Reverse Alchemist, works hard, yada yada). Rugrat's forging skill.... fine, maybe his fondness for guns gives him an occasional edge... at least he's not an Expert yet.
But the three girls.... It seems like it most crafters take more than 50+ years to make it to the expert level, but all three of them have done it in about two years? Qin maybe got a leg up from Erik healing her, but the other two are just normal people... Delilah even has a very demanding day job. I just think it's a little cheap how quickly they have all advanced. I mean, Alvan leaders are routinely talking about how Formations is their weakest area, but then they have two young girls grow from nothing to expert in... 2 years? 3 years? I don't think it would bother me, except that I like their characters. They'd still be really cool and effective characters if they were still mid-journeymen level.
-How much time has passed? We've only heard of one more of the annual Beast Mountain Dungeon trials since Erik and Rugrat crashed it....
-Looking forward to more of Cai Chang, Bai Ping, Hiao Xen, Aditya's Right-Hand Man (whose name escapes me), Old Man Hei, the Blue Lotus, and the Willful Institute.
October 20, 2020
Rating 3.5 stars
I see a pattern forming in this author's work. A series starts out great with interesting characters, good story, good progression, OP stats, magic, etc. Then over the course of the series it gets too big and loses some of what was so great in the first few books. This happened with the Trapped Mind project and it is happening again in this series. I didn't like the last book as much because it focused mainly on war/battle. Not my favorite. My favorite part of the series so far has been Rugrat and Eric and their gaining in power/levels. So of course this book barely had them in it. I would say only about 25% of the book directly involved those two character. While they did gain in strength when they were actually in the story it was an all-of-a-sudden type of gaining strength instead of continuous progression of their abilities. There was a lot about the running of Vuzgal and the outpost in the Beast mountain range. Not much about Alva dungeon, though there was some of clearing the other levels of the dungeon.
The scope needs to be narrowed back down to Eric and Rugrat and the people they interact with. It has gotten so big with so many different characters I am starting to lose interest.
I see a pattern forming in this author's work. A series starts out great with interesting characters, good story, good progression, OP stats, magic, etc. Then over the course of the series it gets too big and loses some of what was so great in the first few books. This happened with the Trapped Mind project and it is happening again in this series. I didn't like the last book as much because it focused mainly on war/battle. Not my favorite. My favorite part of the series so far has been Rugrat and Eric and their gaining in power/levels. So of course this book barely had them in it. I would say only about 25% of the book directly involved those two character. While they did gain in strength when they were actually in the story it was an all-of-a-sudden type of gaining strength instead of continuous progression of their abilities. There was a lot about the running of Vuzgal and the outpost in the Beast mountain range. Not much about Alva dungeon, though there was some of clearing the other levels of the dungeon.
The scope needs to be narrowed back down to Eric and Rugrat and the people they interact with. It has gotten so big with so many different characters I am starting to lose interest.
November 28, 2019
I loved book 1-4 and was really looking forward to the Fifth Realm. Sadly I was disappointed. I still liked the book but for me it was not nearly as good a read as 1-4.
First off Erik and Rugrat are in the fifth realm for all of a few dozen pages in which not a lot happens, other than some foreshadowing which is not expanded on in this book. So it is more like the fourth realm part 2. Additionally there are repeated and extensive chapters on the training of the alvan military. I actually skipped/skimmed most of those because it was neither interesting (for me, maybe someone with a military background like the author will find some nostalgia in those chapters ) nor in anyway pertinent to the story.
I did like the chapters expanding on some of the known characters (Qin, Juliah, Lord Chonglu etc.) but I was always looking for more Erik&Rugrat which could have used some more screen time in this book. I really liked the chapters with them and had some good fun but I was missing some more "oh snap" power-play moments (of which there are very few in this book).
The ending also felt very abrupt, I actually skipped back a few pages because I thought I had accidentally scrolled forward.
I will still read the next book and do hope that this book set a solid foundation for some awesome Erik&Rugrat adventuring and less background exposition.
First off Erik and Rugrat are in the fifth realm for all of a few dozen pages in which not a lot happens, other than some foreshadowing which is not expanded on in this book. So it is more like the fourth realm part 2. Additionally there are repeated and extensive chapters on the training of the alvan military. I actually skipped/skimmed most of those because it was neither interesting (for me, maybe someone with a military background like the author will find some nostalgia in those chapters ) nor in anyway pertinent to the story.
I did like the chapters expanding on some of the known characters (Qin, Juliah, Lord Chonglu etc.) but I was always looking for more Erik&Rugrat which could have used some more screen time in this book. I really liked the chapters with them and had some good fun but I was missing some more "oh snap" power-play moments (of which there are very few in this book).
The ending also felt very abrupt, I actually skipped back a few pages because I thought I had accidentally scrolled forward.
I will still read the next book and do hope that this book set a solid foundation for some awesome Erik&Rugrat adventuring and less background exposition.
September 1, 2019
Not just bad, terrible.
I have read a number of this author's works and enjoyed them. The last couple to come out in this series though have been very disappointing. This one reads like a very rough draft that was dropped then shuffled back together out of order and published. Mr. Chatfield you should be ashamed. You have done better. Why put out what is clearly rushed and unfinished? Had I known I would not have paid for this.
I have read a number of this author's works and enjoyed them. The last couple to come out in this series though have been very disappointing. This one reads like a very rough draft that was dropped then shuffled back together out of order and published. Mr. Chatfield you should be ashamed. You have done better. Why put out what is clearly rushed and unfinished? Had I known I would not have paid for this.
September 9, 2019
Well it’s like running in place and occasionally taking a few steps forward
There was some developments but mostly info dumps. The story is starting to stagnate and be more theoretical. The series definitely moved forward, but not as much as one would expect for so many pages. The title of the books in the series really limits development I think. The next book has to be sixth realm. If he slowed down and had a book in between realm increases, it would allow for all his theories in there and the realm books would be pure story and advancement...again I ask where the #@*% are we rushing too...its completely shitty that they can spread themselves so thin and not suffer massive losses...they need to freaking consolidate before moving on...
There was some developments but mostly info dumps. The story is starting to stagnate and be more theoretical. The series definitely moved forward, but not as much as one would expect for so many pages. The title of the books in the series really limits development I think. The next book has to be sixth realm. If he slowed down and had a book in between realm increases, it would allow for all his theories in there and the realm books would be pure story and advancement...again I ask where the #@*% are we rushing too...its completely shitty that they can spread themselves so thin and not suffer massive losses...they need to freaking consolidate before moving on...
August 23, 2019
Bit of a slough
Book five in the Ten Realms series was a bit difficult for me to get through. There are so many characters - new and old - that I started forgetting who was who and what side they were on. New characters were rapidly introduced throughout the book, and I felt like I needed a companion book of names and descriptions to understand what was going on. The protagonists, Eric and Rugrat, spent a brief few pages in the fifth realm itself. Meanwhile, most of the book was about random characters progressing through their respective crafts. It kind of felt like a job reading through this book, and I only did so because I was already engaged in the series.
Book five in the Ten Realms series was a bit difficult for me to get through. There are so many characters - new and old - that I started forgetting who was who and what side they were on. New characters were rapidly introduced throughout the book, and I felt like I needed a companion book of names and descriptions to understand what was going on. The protagonists, Eric and Rugrat, spent a brief few pages in the fifth realm itself. Meanwhile, most of the book was about random characters progressing through their respective crafts. It kind of felt like a job reading through this book, and I only did so because I was already engaged in the series.
February 17, 2021
Should be called training montage
This book should probably have been a collection of side stories as there is really nothing but the characters training. The fifth realm is almost an afterthought, more a place they stop to buy a few things before moving onto the sixth realm. This is my frustration with this genre in general, the authors seem to enjoy going over the minute detail of every day and conversations you don't need to hear every word of. It seems like they are just trying to up the page count of a book that could have been told in a few chapters.
This book should probably have been a collection of side stories as there is really nothing but the characters training. The fifth realm is almost an afterthought, more a place they stop to buy a few things before moving onto the sixth realm. This is my frustration with this genre in general, the authors seem to enjoy going over the minute detail of every day and conversations you don't need to hear every word of. It seems like they are just trying to up the page count of a book that could have been told in a few chapters.
August 25, 2019
Disappointed
The book feels like it belongs to a different series. There was no high stacks or adventure into uncharted land ...etc
60% of the book was info dumbing on repeat. Side characters keep talking about and repeating plans with most boring way ever and of course nothing went wrong no surprises or twist ... next book better go back to what made this series great or im done.
The book feels like it belongs to a different series. There was no high stacks or adventure into uncharted land ...etc
60% of the book was info dumbing on repeat. Side characters keep talking about and repeating plans with most boring way ever and of course nothing went wrong no surprises or twist ... next book better go back to what made this series great or im done.
February 12, 2023
I don't have anything bad to say about the LitRPG elements here. I love leveling and I love skillups and crafting and fighting. It's all pretty standard and satisfying.
Where I DO have a problem in this book, and, indeed, most of the books in the Ten Realms, is the HEAVY rah-rah redneck military capitalism at all costs support-the-troops and support-debt and the America-forever mindset. I don't mind a little bit. I don't even mind a moderate amount of it. But I do mind if the propaganda-speak and superiority-mindset hijacks the LitRPG reality in highly unrealistic ways and it always works out because the rah rah is OBVIOUSLY superior.
I expect a bit of goofiness in these books. LitRPG is pure fantasy distilled down to game mechanics and the rest is snark. I really love that. But propaganda politics? I can handle any type until it starts taking over the pages and I just want to get back to some fighting or crafting.
I don't TRULY mind unless it just becomes a vehicle for America-fuck-yeah. This is skirting the edge.
Where I DO have a problem in this book, and, indeed, most of the books in the Ten Realms, is the HEAVY rah-rah redneck military capitalism at all costs support-the-troops and support-debt and the America-forever mindset. I don't mind a little bit. I don't even mind a moderate amount of it. But I do mind if the propaganda-speak and superiority-mindset hijacks the LitRPG reality in highly unrealistic ways and it always works out because the rah rah is OBVIOUSLY superior.
I expect a bit of goofiness in these books. LitRPG is pure fantasy distilled down to game mechanics and the rest is snark. I really love that. But propaganda politics? I can handle any type until it starts taking over the pages and I just want to get back to some fighting or crafting.
I don't TRULY mind unless it just becomes a vehicle for America-fuck-yeah. This is skirting the edge.
February 26, 2022
long with a lot of side stories
The author wants to build an epic story. I like the book but it’s not why I started or kept reading. The protagonist story is small while all of the other characters get more side time. I understand why and it’s still a good story. It’s just not what I signed up for. The author is ex- military so he likes to get into the military admin pieces. Overall that is boring. The political stuff is a lot of reading for some anti- climatic fights and endings.
The magic system can be cool but it has weakness. In some cases it’s the philosophical crap the author drones on about. While the issue is the convoluted level ups and in some cases the lack of leveling.
A 3 is perfect neither great but not bad either.
The author wants to build an epic story. I like the book but it’s not why I started or kept reading. The protagonist story is small while all of the other characters get more side time. I understand why and it’s still a good story. It’s just not what I signed up for. The author is ex- military so he likes to get into the military admin pieces. Overall that is boring. The political stuff is a lot of reading for some anti- climatic fights and endings.
The magic system can be cool but it has weakness. In some cases it’s the philosophical crap the author drones on about. While the issue is the convoluted level ups and in some cases the lack of leveling.
A 3 is perfect neither great but not bad either.
April 19, 2021
Honestly, I don't know where to start with this one. I am just disappointed that this entire series has become not about Eric and Rugrat exploring, adventuring and fighting in the realms. It has turned into tiresome mess of crazy side projects. If you are the gather the total time of Eric and Rugrat in this book, you would get about 3 hours total, maybe. Sure, they went to the 5th realm bought some books, pissed some sects off, but for only about a day, within 1 city and ran back to the 4th. Nothing else. This is a 4.5, nothing about the 5th is here, well besides 1 city that was not flushed out.
August 15, 2019
This book should be called The Fourth Realm Part B
This was an excellent book but I am disappointed in a few points of this book. First the story jumped around so much that I was getting dizzy just reading it. In fact I found a few scenes out of order. Plus some things in the timeline did not add up. Then there are the two main characters who seem to become somewhat of side characters in this book. The main characters were not involved in most of the major events in this novel. In addition the main characters did not even advance themselves until the last 15% of the story with mana and body cultivation. There was almost no change in levels of the main characters with only two levels being gained by one of the characters and the other did not gain any levels throughout this entire story. He did get some small advancement towards body cultivation and some new spells/techniques. In addition to all of this the main characters probably spent a day and a half throughout the entire novel in the Fifth Realm.
This was an excellent book but I am disappointed in a few points of this book. First the story jumped around so much that I was getting dizzy just reading it. In fact I found a few scenes out of order. Plus some things in the timeline did not add up. Then there are the two main characters who seem to become somewhat of side characters in this book. The main characters were not involved in most of the major events in this novel. In addition the main characters did not even advance themselves until the last 15% of the story with mana and body cultivation. There was almost no change in levels of the main characters with only two levels being gained by one of the characters and the other did not gain any levels throughout this entire story. He did get some small advancement towards body cultivation and some new spells/techniques. In addition to all of this the main characters probably spent a day and a half throughout the entire novel in the Fifth Realm.
November 27, 2019
It's not bad...
Think I was expecting different, so trying to be happier with what I got. While I like seeing the effect that ALVA and the guys have on the realms is good, kind of wishing I got more about the Rugrat and Eric than was there.
That said, was still a good story. Loved that it was so long. Shame that there's so little about the 5th realm in it, but I understand that it's hard to follow up after the 4th.
Looking forward to seeing the guys actually make expert level. Want to see Eric studying again. And hearing about thier adventures more. (With maybe a chapter or two on Alva and Vazgul, for update)
Think I was expecting different, so trying to be happier with what I got. While I like seeing the effect that ALVA and the guys have on the realms is good, kind of wishing I got more about the Rugrat and Eric than was there.
That said, was still a good story. Loved that it was so long. Shame that there's so little about the 5th realm in it, but I understand that it's hard to follow up after the 4th.
Looking forward to seeing the guys actually make expert level. Want to see Eric studying again. And hearing about thier adventures more. (With maybe a chapter or two on Alva and Vazgul, for update)
August 10, 2019
Meh. Too chaotic, nothing interesting happens.
The story is all over the place. New characters are introduced and then forgotten, new breakthroughs appear but are not used or mentioned again, there are too many boring details about building the cities or about the organization of this and that, and again nothing interesting happens. The whole thing felt like a filler, a preparation for what's to come, but not much of anything interesting is hinted at.
The story is all over the place. New characters are introduced and then forgotten, new breakthroughs appear but are not used or mentioned again, there are too many boring details about building the cities or about the organization of this and that, and again nothing interesting happens. The whole thing felt like a filler, a preparation for what's to come, but not much of anything interesting is hinted at.
August 26, 2019
There's a lot of editing problems with this book, with a decent amount of continuity.
Also, for a book called the Fifth Realm, the story spends 50% on the First, 40% on the Third and Fourth and 10% (if that) on the Fifth.
This is also becoming more and more like another Emerilia just in a new package, with a humongous amount of exposition and inconsistent standards of measurement. All of these things do a pretty good job of derailing an otherwise great story.
Also, for a book called the Fifth Realm, the story spends 50% on the First, 40% on the Third and Fourth and 10% (if that) on the Fifth.
This is also becoming more and more like another Emerilia just in a new package, with a humongous amount of exposition and inconsistent standards of measurement. All of these things do a pretty good job of derailing an otherwise great story.
January 14, 2021
I had a hard time rating this between 2 and 3 stars. As a "main series" book I think it's a 2 they only went to the 5th realm for like a chapter. This felt more like an in between book, important things happened but there is very little plot progression. So 3 starts because of the content...I guess.
It was an important book for character growth and progression as well as managing the city and the dungeon. Just very disappointing as what I had expectations for.
It was an important book for character growth and progression as well as managing the city and the dungeon. Just very disappointing as what I had expectations for.
August 19, 2019
Finally!
You edited! Thank you thank you thank you!
You got errors and typos down to maybe 1-2 per page and let your work be readable.
Also, loved the story. Great progression! This was a book that tied up the loose ends and made everything finally feel like it comprehensively flowed. Cant wait for book 6!
You edited! Thank you thank you thank you!
You got errors and typos down to maybe 1-2 per page and let your work be readable.
Also, loved the story. Great progression! This was a book that tied up the loose ends and made everything finally feel like it comprehensively flowed. Cant wait for book 6!
October 8, 2019
I love this book. The characters are likable and fun. Davin was a nice new addition. I hope he gets more time in the next book. I think he could become one of my favorites. Egbert is still on my top favorites. I did miss Rugrat stealing his leg. I was waiting for it and sadly it never came. I can't wait for the next book to come out.
January 30, 2020
Lots of little stories.
The book was basically a bunch of little side stories with a little main story. Overall it was ok but it just did not engage me like his previous books in this series.
The book was basically a bunch of little side stories with a little main story. Overall it was ok but it just did not engage me like his previous books in this series.
September 20, 2019
Awesome series. The books keep getting better and better. Not as much fighting as previous books, but very fun and engaging from beginning to end. Worth spending time and money on.
December 10, 2019
I would dearly love some editor to trim this book down to a reasonable size. Still addictive though.
July 31, 2021
Unique Perspective, Troubling Undercurrents
"Why do I have trouble working with civilian society? What if everyone was as supportive and quick-to-action as folks in the armed services?" These questions run through the action packed buddy and then unit action and drama of the Ten Realms series. Two American former service members, a marine and a medic, go through intense loss and injury only to be transported to a fantasy land flavored like a Hong Kong action flick with Anime-inspired fight scenes and Daoist spiritual and alchemical cultivation. What follows next is a high energy video-game-like progression through levels and fight scenes but with a unique and ever present focus on the group instead of on a single main character. Eric and Rugrat always have each other and later on, the people they save and the communities they build - those people always have the group. They work together. They act together. They go through triumph and tragedy together. And many of them get names and reoccurring chapters on how they're doing in both military and civilian spheres.
Over time, Eric and Rugrat's adventures in taking care of each other through competitive self-improvement become as much about building a society that fosters those same values whether it is at peace or in war. And the Ten Realms series explores and supports those values in its extensive side chapters - Alvan society wouldn't be about the unit if we didn't know so many names and follow their struggles. It's a uniquely armed-services look into how an ideal society might operate when surrounded by villains from a Confucian epic.
And yet, for as much emphasis as the books place on caring for and supporting each other, on checking in on how you're doing - making sure you're sleeping, eating, taking a break - that you've got a purpose to carry you through life: for all this incredibly valuable support structure, the books sometimes turns life and death issues for women into object lessons about false accusations and unequal judgments of innocent men. It's just incredibly strange to see a book that understand how deeply people who've been through violence need support, but suddenly there's a minor side character who was disfigured because a woman wanted him, nothing happened, and she falsely accused him of rape as a punishment for his lack of interest. Given that only 2% of criminal accusations are false - no matter the type of crime and whether or not they find out who did it - it seems a startling betrayal of the book's own values that the focus isn't on giving survivors of sexual violence the same support and unity that the book gives to all other members of society and especially to other survivors of extreme violence. Sure, Delilah is a well developed character with great power now, but it is still strange and disconcerting that her arc began with her apologizing to Eric because she thought his incredibly intense stare at the alchemy ingredients she was selling was his incredibly intense stare at her. It feels like maybe the author doesn't understand that prolonged staring is a sign of "this guy may actually murder me" for many women. This is a lady who already had a hot head with armed guards that regularly came by her shop (where she's obligated to be stationed) so that he could abuse his rank to harass her and ignore her control over her personal life. This is a lady whose actual ranking figure is an abuser who tricked her into a classic human trafficking situation by promising to teach her a trade, only to stick her in a mostly unrelated low skill job while he controls her entire life and withholds what he promised unless she provides him with sexual favors. Then some probably armed, heavily built, sand-caked creep shows up with a fifteen minute stare in her general direction (again, strong unwavering attention, especially from a guy who could easily overpower you, is a big red flag for "this guy may be planning on raping and murdering me") but the lesson is that the guy was actually just really into crafts and is a great person so you need to stop assuming the worst. But it doesn't feel like the book understand how much survival training not assuming the worst would break. Not to mention the lady is described as actively and regularly being subjected to the risk of life changing violence from men who have lethal power and rank over her. She's been cut off from her group and now she's an effective prisoner. Of course she's a little jumpy.
"Why do I have trouble working with civilian society? What if everyone was as supportive and quick-to-action as folks in the armed services?" These questions run through the action packed buddy and then unit action and drama of the Ten Realms series. Two American former service members, a marine and a medic, go through intense loss and injury only to be transported to a fantasy land flavored like a Hong Kong action flick with Anime-inspired fight scenes and Daoist spiritual and alchemical cultivation. What follows next is a high energy video-game-like progression through levels and fight scenes but with a unique and ever present focus on the group instead of on a single main character. Eric and Rugrat always have each other and later on, the people they save and the communities they build - those people always have the group. They work together. They act together. They go through triumph and tragedy together. And many of them get names and reoccurring chapters on how they're doing in both military and civilian spheres.
Over time, Eric and Rugrat's adventures in taking care of each other through competitive self-improvement become as much about building a society that fosters those same values whether it is at peace or in war. And the Ten Realms series explores and supports those values in its extensive side chapters - Alvan society wouldn't be about the unit if we didn't know so many names and follow their struggles. It's a uniquely armed-services look into how an ideal society might operate when surrounded by villains from a Confucian epic.
And yet, for as much emphasis as the books place on caring for and supporting each other, on checking in on how you're doing - making sure you're sleeping, eating, taking a break - that you've got a purpose to carry you through life: for all this incredibly valuable support structure, the books sometimes turns life and death issues for women into object lessons about false accusations and unequal judgments of innocent men. It's just incredibly strange to see a book that understand how deeply people who've been through violence need support, but suddenly there's a minor side character who was disfigured because a woman wanted him, nothing happened, and she falsely accused him of rape as a punishment for his lack of interest. Given that only 2% of criminal accusations are false - no matter the type of crime and whether or not they find out who did it - it seems a startling betrayal of the book's own values that the focus isn't on giving survivors of sexual violence the same support and unity that the book gives to all other members of society and especially to other survivors of extreme violence. Sure, Delilah is a well developed character with great power now, but it is still strange and disconcerting that her arc began with her apologizing to Eric because she thought his incredibly intense stare at the alchemy ingredients she was selling was his incredibly intense stare at her. It feels like maybe the author doesn't understand that prolonged staring is a sign of "this guy may actually murder me" for many women. This is a lady who already had a hot head with armed guards that regularly came by her shop (where she's obligated to be stationed) so that he could abuse his rank to harass her and ignore her control over her personal life. This is a lady whose actual ranking figure is an abuser who tricked her into a classic human trafficking situation by promising to teach her a trade, only to stick her in a mostly unrelated low skill job while he controls her entire life and withholds what he promised unless she provides him with sexual favors. Then some probably armed, heavily built, sand-caked creep shows up with a fifteen minute stare in her general direction (again, strong unwavering attention, especially from a guy who could easily overpower you, is a big red flag for "this guy may be planning on raping and murdering me") but the lesson is that the guy was actually just really into crafts and is a great person so you need to stop assuming the worst. But it doesn't feel like the book understand how much survival training not assuming the worst would break. Not to mention the lady is described as actively and regularly being subjected to the risk of life changing violence from men who have lethal power and rank over her. She's been cut off from her group and now she's an effective prisoner. Of course she's a little jumpy.
January 20, 2021
5 I’ve Got Fire And Lots Of It, Sarge! Stars
The Fifth Realm is the fifth book in The Ten Realms LitRPG series by Michael Chatfield.
This has been my favorite book so far. They were only actually in the Fifth Realm for a short amount of time. This book focused more on them reaffirming and strengthening their foundations and their current holdings.
Broadening Vermire and creating the King’s Holding Outpost in the Beast Mountain Valley was the most interesting portion. Along with incorporating Chonglu’s family into Vuzgal’s Battle Arena, and Elan in the underground Alva information network creating a kind of spy agency.
We hadn’t, to this point, touched on techniques and the crux of advancing to Expert level in the different crafting professions. There was a lot of advancement in this area through the books found within Vuzgal originally. As well, with different Expert level craftsman in the different fields coming to teach at the new Kanesh Academy within Vuzgal City, further enriching the Alva originating crafters.
I am concerned in regards to the recluse of a alchemist that reacted poorly to Eric’s proffered help, over creating the extremely difficult pill and if this will lead to repercussions. Along with that is Old Hei and his transfer coming up to a teaching position in the Sixth Realm and whether, at some point in the future, he might be an official Alva citizen. So that Erik may fully divulge himself of all these secrets separating teacher from student.
I truly liked that Chatfield went back to the basics, retouching on the original goals at the beginning of Alva Dungeon. Including that of the yet unconquered dungeon floors and further safety within. On this note, meeting the imo Davin that had been locked in the Fire floor and ruling over the other beasts within, with his humorous interactions with Egbert.
And then there is the truly interesting and conceptually/philosophically intriguing introduction of yet another Earth native, in Tanya and her Doberman Tetsu. I can’t wait to see what her theories on magic, mana, and spells will bring to Alva’s future. It seems that the Earth natives have such a strong influence in their different viewpoints, compared to the easily accepted realities that true Ten Realms natives foster. I think we will be meeting other Earth transfers that bring with them crazy amounts of change.
I’m still unbelievably curious about what has brought them to the Ten Realms and the whole power of those Elites within the Sky and Divine Realms.
The Fifth Realm is the fifth book in The Ten Realms LitRPG series by Michael Chatfield.
This has been my favorite book so far. They were only actually in the Fifth Realm for a short amount of time. This book focused more on them reaffirming and strengthening their foundations and their current holdings.
Broadening Vermire and creating the King’s Holding Outpost in the Beast Mountain Valley was the most interesting portion. Along with incorporating Chonglu’s family into Vuzgal’s Battle Arena, and Elan in the underground Alva information network creating a kind of spy agency.
We hadn’t, to this point, touched on techniques and the crux of advancing to Expert level in the different crafting professions. There was a lot of advancement in this area through the books found within Vuzgal originally. As well, with different Expert level craftsman in the different fields coming to teach at the new Kanesh Academy within Vuzgal City, further enriching the Alva originating crafters.
I am concerned in regards to the recluse of a alchemist that reacted poorly to Eric’s proffered help, over creating the extremely difficult pill and if this will lead to repercussions. Along with that is Old Hei and his transfer coming up to a teaching position in the Sixth Realm and whether, at some point in the future, he might be an official Alva citizen. So that Erik may fully divulge himself of all these secrets separating teacher from student.
I truly liked that Chatfield went back to the basics, retouching on the original goals at the beginning of Alva Dungeon. Including that of the yet unconquered dungeon floors and further safety within. On this note, meeting the imo Davin that had been locked in the Fire floor and ruling over the other beasts within, with his humorous interactions with Egbert.
And then there is the truly interesting and conceptually/philosophically intriguing introduction of yet another Earth native, in Tanya and her Doberman Tetsu. I can’t wait to see what her theories on magic, mana, and spells will bring to Alva’s future. It seems that the Earth natives have such a strong influence in their different viewpoints, compared to the easily accepted realities that true Ten Realms natives foster. I think we will be meeting other Earth transfers that bring with them crazy amounts of change.
I’m still unbelievably curious about what has brought them to the Ten Realms and the whole power of those Elites within the Sky and Divine Realms.
February 7, 2022
For the frist half of the book I was happy. It seemed the author had pulled himself together a bit. There were fewer boring sections, infodumps and grammar mistakes. But then unfortunately the second half of the book the author regressed back to his default.
I liked the small "sidequests" (in the first half) which were explained and then resolved. Not everything has to be part of one big huge quest and I feel like the author is trying to, and partially succeeding in showcasing the bigger world where not everything has to do with the main characters. However he spends an incredible large part of the book building a situation (back in the 1st realm) which does not bring anything to the table. Who cares about this when Alva is orders of magnitude stronger than the opposition there? I figured maybe he was building up to a big reveal, turning the tables on us or something. But no... It didn't lead anywhere or tie in to anything. No suspense from this. It was just pointless and boring. And I shiver to think about it, but it feels like the author has every intention to keep writing about it. Ugh...
I skimmed the last 10%, hard. No suspense. No nothing. Just rehashed and regurgitated information again and again.
The empire building has its place. It's a bit refreshing compared to the usual extreme focus on the MC - and the MC only - found in most books. It's a good idea. But how many times do we need to be told in painstaking detail how the military is to be organized, why it is so important to do so and be presented the blissful brainwashed attutides of the Alvans? Do we really need to sit in on every council meeting explaining things we (the readers) have already been told? We get it, ok? Move. The. F*ck. On.
Get some people who read a lot of fantasy and litrpg to read your book and give you pointers before you press the 'publish' button on the next one.
I liked the small "sidequests" (in the first half) which were explained and then resolved. Not everything has to be part of one big huge quest and I feel like the author is trying to, and partially succeeding in showcasing the bigger world where not everything has to do with the main characters. However he spends an incredible large part of the book building a situation (back in the 1st realm) which does not bring anything to the table. Who cares about this when Alva is orders of magnitude stronger than the opposition there? I figured maybe he was building up to a big reveal, turning the tables on us or something. But no... It didn't lead anywhere or tie in to anything. No suspense from this. It was just pointless and boring. And I shiver to think about it, but it feels like the author has every intention to keep writing about it. Ugh...
I skimmed the last 10%, hard. No suspense. No nothing. Just rehashed and regurgitated information again and again.
The empire building has its place. It's a bit refreshing compared to the usual extreme focus on the MC - and the MC only - found in most books. It's a good idea. But how many times do we need to be told in painstaking detail how the military is to be organized, why it is so important to do so and be presented the blissful brainwashed attutides of the Alvans? Do we really need to sit in on every council meeting explaining things we (the readers) have already been told? We get it, ok? Move. The. F*ck. On.
Get some people who read a lot of fantasy and litrpg to read your book and give you pointers before you press the 'publish' button on the next one.
October 5, 2020
The fifth book in this series is a continuation of the last, in fact it feels more like an extension of the fourth realm book rather than progressing into a new realm. Which in a book as long as this one is(!!) it's quite an achievement. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum here.
Good parts -
Revisit Rugrat and Eric and continue their progression journey.
Good detail on progression with body and mana cultivation and crafting.
Great ideas for building a whole world/multiple world situation with diverging stories that feel linked and related.
These are all good, but why only three stars?
For me, too much action takes place in the first realm - aside from the main base, there is little in there that interests me. All the main characters have outgrown the area and it seems a pointless addition. This might prove wrong and the author may be building up to something impactful happening there, but there is no set up for this. It just seems...unnecessary...and it takes up far too much of the story for me.
The characters all feel the same. All the goodies seem to be experts with little effort, the baddies are boring and one dimensional...and there were no enemies in this book tbh. No good ones at least. It feels like there is no threat out there that actually poses a challenge to our MCs. For me, this removes all the suspense from the story.
Overall it is a decent continuation to the series but it just didn't work for me personally. I didn't dislike the story, but the sheer number of different characters we follow and the lack on interest I have in them is making my enjoyment of the series wane somewhat.
Read it if you've read and enjoyed the rest. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd bother.
Good parts -
Revisit Rugrat and Eric and continue their progression journey.
Good detail on progression with body and mana cultivation and crafting.
Great ideas for building a whole world/multiple world situation with diverging stories that feel linked and related.
These are all good, but why only three stars?
For me, too much action takes place in the first realm - aside from the main base, there is little in there that interests me. All the main characters have outgrown the area and it seems a pointless addition. This might prove wrong and the author may be building up to something impactful happening there, but there is no set up for this. It just seems...unnecessary...and it takes up far too much of the story for me.
The characters all feel the same. All the goodies seem to be experts with little effort, the baddies are boring and one dimensional...and there were no enemies in this book tbh. No good ones at least. It feels like there is no threat out there that actually poses a challenge to our MCs. For me, this removes all the suspense from the story.
Overall it is a decent continuation to the series but it just didn't work for me personally. I didn't dislike the story, but the sheer number of different characters we follow and the lack on interest I have in them is making my enjoyment of the series wane somewhat.
Read it if you've read and enjoyed the rest. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd bother.
September 19, 2021
This is where the series halts in story progression. Unfortunate because this is the longest book thus far. This entire book is like reading a book which holds multiple perspectives and explanations of the long lost art of crafting, cultivation, and city building, and none of it in a good way. The MC's only go into the 5th realm close to half way through the book and they spend maybe 2-3 days there before going back to the lower realms, which they then stay in to craft and cultivate. There are few moments where I was interested in what was going on considering that crafting and cultivation have already been extensively explained in the last 4 books. I was very close to returning this book as I was frustrated to listen to a repeating documentary of how to craft and cultivate in the fictional world of the Ten Realms.
To top it off, this book still suffer from the same issues from the last several books: to many characters to remember with more being added each book (though if you have been reading/listening this long then this may not be an issue), way to much of a focus on how crafting and cultivation work in the 10 realms, and the MC's getting less then 30% "screen" time.
Todd Menesses is still doing a good job and making it easier to remember characters by their voice, which is impressive and the only reason for the 3rd star. However, there were still some editing issues that loose emersion, which I mentioned in my review of book 4. One moment sound is just fine, next moment volume is low, next sound gets louder than initial volume. I'll mention that this issue is much more rare happening once every 2-3 chapters and only in the first half of the book.
To top it off, this book still suffer from the same issues from the last several books: to many characters to remember with more being added each book (though if you have been reading/listening this long then this may not be an issue), way to much of a focus on how crafting and cultivation work in the 10 realms, and the MC's getting less then 30% "screen" time.
Todd Menesses is still doing a good job and making it easier to remember characters by their voice, which is impressive and the only reason for the 3rd star. However, there were still some editing issues that loose emersion, which I mentioned in my review of book 4. One moment sound is just fine, next moment volume is low, next sound gets louder than initial volume. I'll mention that this issue is much more rare happening once every 2-3 chapters and only in the first half of the book.
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