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Death Cultivator #2
Death Cultivator 2
Fight for your Soul.
Death cultivator Grady Hake thought his problems would disappear when he and his friends became members of the strongest gang on the prison planet, but all it did was thrust them into the kill-or-be-killed world of the Eight-Legged Dragons.
As Hake undergoes the trials of his gang, he'll discover there's a deadlier force on the prison planet than the death cultivator, even deadlier than the Angel of Death, and it wants his soul. Learning to cloak his lethal Spirit attacks in oblivion might help Hake rise through the ranks, but it won't keep him and his friends alive...or keep his soul in one piece.
Death cultivator Grady Hake thought his problems would disappear when he and his friends became members of the strongest gang on the prison planet, but all it did was thrust them into the kill-or-be-killed world of the Eight-Legged Dragons.
As Hake undergoes the trials of his gang, he'll discover there's a deadlier force on the prison planet than the death cultivator, even deadlier than the Angel of Death, and it wants his soul. Learning to cloak his lethal Spirit attacks in oblivion might help Hake rise through the ranks, but it won't keep him and his friends alive...or keep his soul in one piece.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 24, 2020
63 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Eden Hudson
51 books314 followersI am being forced against my will by Goodreads to have a capital E at the beginning of my name, even though the correct spelling is "eden." So there's that.
But also . . .
I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn't have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, "Yes, I'll take those," and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.
But I'm also a tattoo addict, coffee junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. Jesus actually is my homeboy.
But also . . .
I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn't have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, "Yes, I'll take those," and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.
But I'm also a tattoo addict, coffee junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. Jesus actually is my homeboy.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 24, 2020
I must admit I am a sucker for sci-fi, wuxia, cultivation adventure stories and this series in my opinion is one of the best I have read so far. I had loved book 1, and now am really into the story of Hake Grady, a human who ends up on Van Diemann through a mistake of the reaper angel but who now must survive in a world of kill or be killed. He and his team of friends the twins Kest and Rali and Warcry are traveling to the Boglands from Jade City in order to join the world of the eight legged dragons, one of the five major gangs on Van Diemann. Hake is a death cultivator thus highly sought after even if really feared for his powers which at times go out of control. The angel of death is still out to get him as she knew the best way to hide her mistake is to kill him and a deadly force wants his soul. Can Hake and his friends survive in this dangerous place where it was literally fighting for their lives on a daily basis? Hake has Hungry Ghost and Sushi his pet fish, to help him out or do they? Hungry ghost is a menace and not to be trusted but at times only he can get Hake out of the deadly situations he manages to get himself and his friends into. This book is one long breath taking adventure, which turns really dark at times but which ends with the chance of either all dying or all thriving as they start on the new road they find themselves on. I love that the team of friends always look out for one another and my favourite character is that of Kest, I think she is one hell of a kick-ass heroine. I am so looking forward to book 3.
June 25, 2021
Really tight execution of a sequel. Battles are better, the characters are more developed, the world is more built up.
It's wuxia, so we get what we get from that type of writing, but a really enjoyable read.
It's wuxia, so we get what we get from that type of writing, but a really enjoyable read.
August 9, 2021
Rating: 4.7/5
Review: What a world this author builds with enmeshed characters squeezing the juice out of the movement. Better than the first? Perhaps. Get It!
Review: What a world this author builds with enmeshed characters squeezing the juice out of the movement. Better than the first? Perhaps. Get It!
December 24, 2021
The problem with any sequel is that it's going to be compared to the original. And I think that is why I can't give this a full 5 stars.
I still love a lot of the same things I love about the first book. The writing, the character development, and the world building. All great. Now onto specifics
So probably the biggest thing I didn't quite like was the dreams of his grandfather and dad. And I can't even say I didn't like it. It just felt out of place to me. One of my criticisms of book 1 was that Hake doesn't really mourn the loss that he had. He seems rather unfazed by it. Apparently didn't even lose sleep over it. But suddenly in this book he is having sleep issues and mourning. And it is because of Sushi. To me this felt kinda disingenuous to the character.
Hake is a good kid. He spent his first life trying to make up for his dad and take care of his grandfather. He even died trying to save his only family. Then he is put in this new world with all sorts of magic and aliens. And I kinda forgave the first book that Hake was just someone who bottled up his emotions and was too busy reacting to the new world to grieve - even though we don't see that happening in book one. There never is a theme of Hake bottling up his emotions and thoughts of his past life.
So to use this book to pull that out of him just felt out of order to me. I'm glad I know what happened after Hake died, and it did give a bit of closure, but it felt irrelevant by this point. And then to have his emotional growth chalked up to Sushi, that was a real disappointing story element for me. It makes sense. And I see how the author did it, but it just wasn't my favorite aspect of the book. I'd have preferred to see Hake reacting like this in book 1, and then have an amplified version in this book. So add scenes of Hake having nightmares in book 1, but have the nightmares exaggerated and more frequently in book 2.
This is just my personal opinion though. And I am glad we did get at least a little bit of emotional development for Hake, even if it's mainly Sushi doing it.
One thing I did absolutely love was Rali and how he grew emotionally. It's really hard to write a character to being wise and emotionally intelligent and then have that character grow as well. But I loved how Rali came to the realization that killing isn't always the evil part. He is still non violent and he still doesn't like all the decisions that Hake is making, but he grew to understand. And I liked the emotional conflict that happened between Rali and Hake. Especially since both of them don't want to kill. The only part I wish was there is, I wanted Hake to cry and break down with Rali over his first kill. I think it was a perfect moment to bond the two together and show each of them growing. Hake's self hatred and guilt and his justification, and Rali's expanding world view of how hard a decision it was for Hake. Sometimes Rali feels very lax about killing, like letting others do it or killing ferrals. But seeing your friend visibility crumbing apart because they felt they had no choice but to kill? That's powerful.
I also really liked Warcry in this. But I am confused. Has no one actually told him about Hake? It feels so jarring to hear Warcry say things like "that's how all death cultivators are," and "you're an insult to your race because of how little you have cultivated." These imply that Warcry is ignorant of Hake being dropped there no more than a month or so ago. It's very strange considering the group has pretty much solidified by this point.
But I did like Warcry since he has more than 1 personality trait in this book. And it feels more genuine with how and why he acts the way he does. His humor and humanity really start to shine and you can see how he is growing in his own way.
I also really liked Kest and Biggerstaff. Tho these were really support characters this book. Kest I feel is more interesting even tho she is off-screen for a good portion of the book. She is pursuing her dreams and growing while also developing feelings for Hake that seem plausible. She isn't instantly in love with him. Nor is she ignoring him. I think she feels like an actual personality rather than "the love interest." I do wish she would at least try to help Hake emotionally, in a way to help him forgive himself for killing. But admittedly, I also like that she isn't his life counselor or therapist like many other books do. And given her spirit type and how that seems to affect the users, I can see how a metal affinity wouldn't be able to help emotionally.
Biggerstaff is another character I genuinely appreciate. Just like Bailiff, he has his own motivation and goals and he is intelligent. But he isn't just another copy of the Bailiff. I like that he is smart enough to begin as an ally, but he does have power to back him up. I think he was the perfect morally grey character we needed to be an antagonist for the gang. He pushed them in ways to help each of them grow, and offered the rewards when appropriate. He didn't need to threaten Kest because he knows that isn't what will work for her, but he does threaten Warcry because Warcry responds to threats.
And lastly, Sushi. Omg. They are adorable. I love their power and their personality. And I like the humor that she adds to the core 4.
As far as the storyline, I would say that this is kinda repetitive of the last book in many ways. Hake meets new people who offer to help him, he gets involved in a gang, he caused a problem that got him noticed by bigger and stronger people, he messed up emotionally and has a problem with his friends, and he gets stronger than he realizes before starting on a new journey. You see repeat elements. You saw the pattern in his first life with getting beat up but strong enough to take down a meth head. Book one he got caught by the OSS and gang that taught him to fight, which ends with him going to join a bigger gang. In this book he gets into trouble while saving the women fighters and his ability caught the eye of the universe Emporer. It's not bad, because there's a lot of creativity and world building that keeps things interesting, but the theme of the story does feel a bit too predictable.
And again! Stop putting spoilers in the artwork! It's so frustrating! I'm glad I can see Kest, but you could've so easily blocked her automail arm. And Hake too! Plus why is he still in that slave device?! Wtf?
But yeah. Loved the book and I'm going be reading book 3 next.
I still love a lot of the same things I love about the first book. The writing, the character development, and the world building. All great. Now onto specifics
So probably the biggest thing I didn't quite like was the dreams of his grandfather and dad. And I can't even say I didn't like it. It just felt out of place to me. One of my criticisms of book 1 was that Hake doesn't really mourn the loss that he had. He seems rather unfazed by it. Apparently didn't even lose sleep over it. But suddenly in this book he is having sleep issues and mourning. And it is because of Sushi. To me this felt kinda disingenuous to the character.
Hake is a good kid. He spent his first life trying to make up for his dad and take care of his grandfather. He even died trying to save his only family. Then he is put in this new world with all sorts of magic and aliens. And I kinda forgave the first book that Hake was just someone who bottled up his emotions and was too busy reacting to the new world to grieve - even though we don't see that happening in book one. There never is a theme of Hake bottling up his emotions and thoughts of his past life.
So to use this book to pull that out of him just felt out of order to me. I'm glad I know what happened after Hake died, and it did give a bit of closure, but it felt irrelevant by this point. And then to have his emotional growth chalked up to Sushi, that was a real disappointing story element for me. It makes sense. And I see how the author did it, but it just wasn't my favorite aspect of the book. I'd have preferred to see Hake reacting like this in book 1, and then have an amplified version in this book. So add scenes of Hake having nightmares in book 1, but have the nightmares exaggerated and more frequently in book 2.
This is just my personal opinion though. And I am glad we did get at least a little bit of emotional development for Hake, even if it's mainly Sushi doing it.
One thing I did absolutely love was Rali and how he grew emotionally. It's really hard to write a character to being wise and emotionally intelligent and then have that character grow as well. But I loved how Rali came to the realization that killing isn't always the evil part. He is still non violent and he still doesn't like all the decisions that Hake is making, but he grew to understand. And I liked the emotional conflict that happened between Rali and Hake. Especially since both of them don't want to kill. The only part I wish was there is, I wanted Hake to cry and break down with Rali over his first kill. I think it was a perfect moment to bond the two together and show each of them growing. Hake's self hatred and guilt and his justification, and Rali's expanding world view of how hard a decision it was for Hake. Sometimes Rali feels very lax about killing, like letting others do it or killing ferrals. But seeing your friend visibility crumbing apart because they felt they had no choice but to kill? That's powerful.
I also really liked Warcry in this. But I am confused. Has no one actually told him about Hake? It feels so jarring to hear Warcry say things like "that's how all death cultivators are," and "you're an insult to your race because of how little you have cultivated." These imply that Warcry is ignorant of Hake being dropped there no more than a month or so ago. It's very strange considering the group has pretty much solidified by this point.
But I did like Warcry since he has more than 1 personality trait in this book. And it feels more genuine with how and why he acts the way he does. His humor and humanity really start to shine and you can see how he is growing in his own way.
I also really liked Kest and Biggerstaff. Tho these were really support characters this book. Kest I feel is more interesting even tho she is off-screen for a good portion of the book. She is pursuing her dreams and growing while also developing feelings for Hake that seem plausible. She isn't instantly in love with him. Nor is she ignoring him. I think she feels like an actual personality rather than "the love interest." I do wish she would at least try to help Hake emotionally, in a way to help him forgive himself for killing. But admittedly, I also like that she isn't his life counselor or therapist like many other books do. And given her spirit type and how that seems to affect the users, I can see how a metal affinity wouldn't be able to help emotionally.
Biggerstaff is another character I genuinely appreciate. Just like Bailiff, he has his own motivation and goals and he is intelligent. But he isn't just another copy of the Bailiff. I like that he is smart enough to begin as an ally, but he does have power to back him up. I think he was the perfect morally grey character we needed to be an antagonist for the gang. He pushed them in ways to help each of them grow, and offered the rewards when appropriate. He didn't need to threaten Kest because he knows that isn't what will work for her, but he does threaten Warcry because Warcry responds to threats.
And lastly, Sushi. Omg. They are adorable. I love their power and their personality. And I like the humor that she adds to the core 4.
As far as the storyline, I would say that this is kinda repetitive of the last book in many ways. Hake meets new people who offer to help him, he gets involved in a gang, he caused a problem that got him noticed by bigger and stronger people, he messed up emotionally and has a problem with his friends, and he gets stronger than he realizes before starting on a new journey. You see repeat elements. You saw the pattern in his first life with getting beat up but strong enough to take down a meth head. Book one he got caught by the OSS and gang that taught him to fight, which ends with him going to join a bigger gang. In this book he gets into trouble while saving the women fighters and his ability caught the eye of the universe Emporer. It's not bad, because there's a lot of creativity and world building that keeps things interesting, but the theme of the story does feel a bit too predictable.
And again! Stop putting spoilers in the artwork! It's so frustrating! I'm glad I can see Kest, but you could've so easily blocked her automail arm. And Hake too! Plus why is he still in that slave device?! Wtf?
But yeah. Loved the book and I'm going be reading book 3 next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2020
I jumped at the chance to listen to this book, knowing full well that it was book 2 of at least a trilogy/maybe a series, but I figured that if the author knew her stuff I would be able to catch up... and oh-boy-howdy did I catch up! I had a blast listening to all of that incredible action!!
Death Cultivator 2 focuses on Grady Hake and his party (Kest, Rali, and Warcry) as they make their way to the Den of the 8-legged-Dragon Clan, where the real work begins! And somehow along the way Hake acquired a sidekick, a magical talking beast, that looks like a fish (beta fighting fish) it swims like fish (in both water and air) it sleeps under the covers like a fis...(scratch that)... like a puppy?!? Yes a puppy! And of course he named it Sushi (freakin funny)! I absodamnlutely love Sushi! So if you love great action, coupled with a great story, Get This Book... even better, let Travis Baldree tell you the story in the audio version! Rest assured I'll be returning to Eden Hudson's body of work to get more, and hopefully, Travis Baldree will be narrating too!
Death Cultivator 2 focuses on Grady Hake and his party (Kest, Rali, and Warcry) as they make their way to the Den of the 8-legged-Dragon Clan, where the real work begins! And somehow along the way Hake acquired a sidekick, a magical talking beast, that looks like a fish (beta fighting fish) it swims like fish (in both water and air) it sleeps under the covers like a fis...(scratch that)... like a puppy?!? Yes a puppy! And of course he named it Sushi (freakin funny)! I absodamnlutely love Sushi! So if you love great action, coupled with a great story, Get This Book... even better, let Travis Baldree tell you the story in the audio version! Rest assured I'll be returning to Eden Hudson's body of work to get more, and hopefully, Travis Baldree will be narrating too!
June 9, 2021
Alert
“This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
I am not going to share my reasoning, thoughts on the book, or any opinions that would influence your decision to read it. I am simply saying that I liked it. I would like you to read it and make your own decision. After all, you are a much better judge of what you will like than anyone here.
I will happily discuss the book with you on Goodreads if you are so inclined. As always, I am open to debates and arguments, but also vain enough to seek acknowledgement, so feel free to roast me or applaud my efforts. Either is acceptable, because if you are paying attention to me then you are at least considering the book. And THAT my friends is exactly why you see my comments here.
(Yep...hit with the banhammer.)
Cheers
“This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
I am not going to share my reasoning, thoughts on the book, or any opinions that would influence your decision to read it. I am simply saying that I liked it. I would like you to read it and make your own decision. After all, you are a much better judge of what you will like than anyone here.
I will happily discuss the book with you on Goodreads if you are so inclined. As always, I am open to debates and arguments, but also vain enough to seek acknowledgement, so feel free to roast me or applaud my efforts. Either is acceptable, because if you are paying attention to me then you are at least considering the book. And THAT my friends is exactly why you see my comments here.
(Yep...hit with the banhammer.)
Cheers
January 22, 2026
Death Cultivator 4 is a thrilling continuation of the series. Eden Hudson blends high stakes gang warfare with imaginative sci-fi cultivation elements in a way that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The character development is strong, and Hake’s journey feels both intense and relatable. Highly recommended for fans of fast paced, character driven adventures with a touch of the supernatural!
March 28, 2025
EDEN you rock!
Such an awesome sequel, love the little fish. After I finish this review I’m off to get sushi’s novella. Thank you for a well written and well edited book. So AWESOME!
Such an awesome sequel, love the little fish. After I finish this review I’m off to get sushi’s novella. Thank you for a well written and well edited book. So AWESOME!
December 24, 2020
A winner
This book, this series is another winner from one of my fave authors. Great fun, lots of action, amazing world building and the characters are out of this world, literally!
This book, this series is another winner from one of my fave authors. Great fun, lots of action, amazing world building and the characters are out of this world, literally!
May 31, 2021
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to anyone that likes cultivation and LitRPG type of books with plenty of action.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to anyone that likes cultivation and LitRPG type of books with plenty of action.
June 27, 2021
Grim. I kept waiting for him to snap out of it, but he didn’t.
July 30, 2022
even better than book 1
Really enjoyed this one. Character build up was better and loved the ending. Perfect setup for book 3. Can’t wait.
Really enjoyed this one. Character build up was better and loved the ending. Perfect setup for book 3. Can’t wait.
March 28, 2023
good but not great
July 1, 2024
Too much luck and OP abilities, but this is not the worst LitRPG I've read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews