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Paths of Power #1
Initialization
A mid 30s Truck driver must make hard choices on his quest to get home to his family while the world as we know it comes to an end. 700 miles, no truck and just his loyal dog to accompany him, can he survive in this new world? A world where The System spawns monsters and mutates plants and animals to absorb and refine essence? Let us find out.
- GenresUrban Fantasy
346 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 2022
190 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
February 2, 2023
The worldbuilding of this LitRPG is extremely hand-wavy. Like, the path of faith can select from many pantheons (we see Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and Christian in the story) and yet there's no sense of how jumbling them together actually works. Like, do the pantheons fight it out? Is there jealousy? Proselytizing? This gets particularly bad in the last bit, but I'll get there separately. And three days into the integration and a settlement has enough experience with strangers to be all knife-to-throat with John for some reason? This might have worked if we got any sense of wandering folks at all, but there really aren't any. Like desolation-levels of not any.
John himself is okay. It's a little Save the Princess having him trying to get to his wife and kid in Colorado, but he's basically a nice guy. Plus, bonus, he's totally into LitRPG but not in an "able to cheat" kind of way. This neuters the power-fantasy aspect of the genre, which I'm not sure is good or bad. But it made his journey a bit interesting as he struggles with goblins and scrambles through conflict encounters.
Where it dropped a lot for me is when John got to Ogden, Utah—a town I'm passingly familiar with. If you don't know, Ogden is kind of the dirty backside of Utah being a train-stop away from Salt Lake City. True story, a Salt Lake City mayor called on the professional services of an Ogden madam. Ahem, not those services. He hired her to move the SLC brothels to a more (less) desirable location and run them there (a scheme that didn't actually work, but whatevs). The perception being that vice in Ogden was more mature. Only, Barber has Ogden populated by an obviously LDS congregation that got the bit between their teeth and (five days into the system integration mind) was already preying on 13 year-olds to be wives of church leaders. Ogden going hard-core churchy is ridiculous enough I could probably hit any random street in Ogden and start a comedy outbreak by explaining this to random strangers with a serious face.
Add in the wokeness of the head bishop forcing (literally, with armed pitchforks and a crowd) a sixteen year-old trans boy into being an obedient wife and I'm just, um, what? While denouncing "her" as a witch, just for extra religious cliché. I dunno, it's obvious that Barber is relatively familiar with the area and with Mormons (he got all the terms right), but this is kind of extra antagonistic, I think. The book ends before we see any more religious folks, though since his road goes through Salt Lake City, I'm thinking there's more to come.
But it's more than I'm not going to be interested in seeing. I mean, the story is okay. The writing is fine, though an editor could have made a big improvement. And John's dog Rukia regularly steals the scene (in a good way). So I'm going to call it three stars on its own despite the descent into anti-religious tropery at the end. But I'm not that interested in continuing onto the next just to have more surfacey wokery tromping around the plot space.
A note about Chaste: At this point, John hasn't met many single women and certainly not long enough to overcome his devotion to his distant wife. So there's no hint of sexual shenanigans making this very chaste.
John himself is okay. It's a little Save the Princess having him trying to get to his wife and kid in Colorado, but he's basically a nice guy. Plus, bonus, he's totally into LitRPG but not in an "able to cheat" kind of way. This neuters the power-fantasy aspect of the genre, which I'm not sure is good or bad. But it made his journey a bit interesting as he struggles with goblins and scrambles through conflict encounters.
Where it dropped a lot for me is when John got to Ogden, Utah—a town I'm passingly familiar with. If you don't know, Ogden is kind of the dirty backside of Utah being a train-stop away from Salt Lake City. True story, a Salt Lake City mayor called on the professional services of an Ogden madam. Ahem, not those services. He hired her to move the SLC brothels to a more (less) desirable location and run them there (a scheme that didn't actually work, but whatevs). The perception being that vice in Ogden was more mature. Only, Barber has Ogden populated by an obviously LDS congregation that got the bit between their teeth and (five days into the system integration mind) was already preying on 13 year-olds to be wives of church leaders. Ogden going hard-core churchy is ridiculous enough I could probably hit any random street in Ogden and start a comedy outbreak by explaining this to random strangers with a serious face.
Add in the wokeness of the head bishop forcing (literally, with armed pitchforks and a crowd) a sixteen year-old trans boy into being an obedient wife and I'm just, um, what? While denouncing "her" as a witch, just for extra religious cliché. I dunno, it's obvious that Barber is relatively familiar with the area and with Mormons (he got all the terms right), but this is kind of extra antagonistic, I think. The book ends before we see any more religious folks, though since his road goes through Salt Lake City, I'm thinking there's more to come.
But it's more than I'm not going to be interested in seeing. I mean, the story is okay. The writing is fine, though an editor could have made a big improvement. And John's dog Rukia regularly steals the scene (in a good way). So I'm going to call it three stars on its own despite the descent into anti-religious tropery at the end. But I'm not that interested in continuing onto the next just to have more surfacey wokery tromping around the plot space.
A note about Chaste: At this point, John hasn't met many single women and certainly not long enough to overcome his devotion to his distant wife. So there's no hint of sexual shenanigans making this very chaste.
March 13, 2022
Rating 4.0 stars
This was a fun read. Pretty standard stuff for the genre. The world is initialized into the system and now everything changes. Each person gets to pick their path. Magic, cultivation or faith. Each one is a little different with different benefits. The magic and cultivation system was fairly good. Not too in depth but okay. The faith system needed a little more explanation for my taste.
The magic system and the world building were pretty good. The one problem this book has IMO is that the author spent soo much time going over the magical aspects of his world that he completely ignored the practical/logistical aspects. Overall though I felt this was a good addition to the genre.
This was a fun read. Pretty standard stuff for the genre. The world is initialized into the system and now everything changes. Each person gets to pick their path. Magic, cultivation or faith. Each one is a little different with different benefits. The magic and cultivation system was fairly good. Not too in depth but okay. The faith system needed a little more explanation for my taste.
The magic system and the world building were pretty good. The one problem this book has IMO is that the author spent soo much time going over the magical aspects of his world that he completely ignored the practical/logistical aspects. Overall though I felt this was a good addition to the genre.
September 14, 2022
Oh man, this was rough for me. I started it surprised at how FAST it jumped into the LIT RPG part. I mean - NO chance to catch your breath. I thought I'd started a chapter in, or maybe it was actually a sequel, or something like that.
There are some minor "spoilers" below - but it's just about how the character makes their first weapon. It's NOT really going to spoil the book.
And the detail! The author is GREAT at the world-building detail of the ....game mechanics? Like it feels like he's got the rule books for this game right there at his side while he's writing the book.
Buuuuut then it feels like he's spending more time fixated on the character sheet and rules, and less on what seems at all feasible. I was trapped listening to the book while I was busy doing stuff in the kitchen, and couldn't easily stop the book and find something else to listen to. When the main character suddenly knows how to forge weapons in a very convenient smithy, and it's NOT explained as "he got these skills as part of the game", but rather because he's watched some tv shows (and yet apparently never tried this before)....nope.
I DO like that the author pays attention to serious details that always get dropped out of other books, and then you're wondering "hey wait, do these characters ever have to go to the bathroom or drink or eat???" That's all covered here!! Points for that!
Sorry - not a book for me.
There are some minor "spoilers" below - but it's just about how the character makes their first weapon. It's NOT really going to spoil the book.
And the detail! The author is GREAT at the world-building detail of the ....game mechanics? Like it feels like he's got the rule books for this game right there at his side while he's writing the book.
Buuuuut then it feels like he's spending more time fixated on the character sheet and rules, and less on what seems at all feasible. I was trapped listening to the book while I was busy doing stuff in the kitchen, and couldn't easily stop the book and find something else to listen to. When the main character suddenly knows how to forge weapons in a very convenient smithy, and it's NOT explained as "he got these skills as part of the game", but rather because he's watched some tv shows (and yet apparently never tried this before)....nope.
I DO like that the author pays attention to serious details that always get dropped out of other books, and then you're wondering "hey wait, do these characters ever have to go to the bathroom or drink or eat???" That's all covered here!! Points for that!
Sorry - not a book for me.
April 22, 2022
Started decent, then the pacing died
I enjoyed the first part of this book, however as it wore on the author spent more and more time going over abilities and talking about the system and the minutia of it instead of actually having the story progress. Once the story stopped moving I got really bored around the 78% mark and decided I didn’t want to keep scumming to look for story and quit.
I enjoyed the first part of this book, however as it wore on the author spent more and more time going over abilities and talking about the system and the minutia of it instead of actually having the story progress. Once the story stopped moving I got really bored around the 78% mark and decided I didn’t want to keep scumming to look for story and quit.
January 31, 2023
Book one
Mistakes: I found a handful and will post them on Goodreads.
Plot: This was actually a pretty decent story, however the fanboy gushing over the book The Land and a later reference to Delivers almost made me drop the book. While they are both ok books I never found them to be great. I think plugs for other authors shouldn't be in the story itself. This is just my opinion though.
I thought that there was an overuse of stat sheets as well that really wasn't needed. It just bumped up the page count without always being needed for the story.
Characters: they are fine up until the transgender child, and not because they are transgender. I'm fine with that and think it can make for an interesting dynamic for the story. My problem was that the child has blink step and a dragon. Both are so overused that I hate seeing them.
Why would something as powerful as a dragon serve something as weak as a human?
Blink seems to me to be a late stage endgame type magic.
5/10
Mistakes: I found a handful and will post them on Goodreads.
Plot: This was actually a pretty decent story, however the fanboy gushing over the book The Land and a later reference to Delivers almost made me drop the book. While they are both ok books I never found them to be great. I think plugs for other authors shouldn't be in the story itself. This is just my opinion though.
I thought that there was an overuse of stat sheets as well that really wasn't needed. It just bumped up the page count without always being needed for the story.
Characters: they are fine up until the transgender child, and not because they are transgender. I'm fine with that and think it can make for an interesting dynamic for the story. My problem was that the child has blink step and a dragon. Both are so overused that I hate seeing them.
Why would something as powerful as a dragon serve something as weak as a human?
Blink seems to me to be a late stage endgame type magic.
5/10
February 15, 2022
KU Review
Fun blending of 3 gamelit Paths of Power into a well balanced apocalypse story. Fun read.
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.
Fun blending of 3 gamelit Paths of Power into a well balanced apocalypse story. Fun read.
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.
December 26, 2022
A new initialization story about a trucker and his dog
Our main character, John Baker, and his dog are hundreds of miles from home when the initialization hits and now he just wants to get home to his wife and son.
Which means surviving and growing in strength while learned the rules of this new game like reality.
Sadly death is all too real and there are no respawns. Evil people use this time to ascend to power and well that just won’t do so if they are on his path home, they then are an obstacle to remove.
Which ends up being a good thing as John and Rukia will need the help to survive the trip home. After sorta rescuing Magnus from some slavers, they decide to travel together as John is heading to Colorado and Magnus is heading for Texas. They soon encounter more some misogynistic priests and rescue a couple kids before moving on.
Our main character, John Baker, and his dog are hundreds of miles from home when the initialization hits and now he just wants to get home to his wife and son.
Which means surviving and growing in strength while learned the rules of this new game like reality.
Sadly death is all too real and there are no respawns. Evil people use this time to ascend to power and well that just won’t do so if they are on his path home, they then are an obstacle to remove.
Which ends up being a good thing as John and Rukia will need the help to survive the trip home. After sorta rescuing Magnus from some slavers, they decide to travel together as John is heading to Colorado and Magnus is heading for Texas. They soon encounter more some misogynistic priests and rescue a couple kids before moving on.
July 31, 2022
I don't think that the author realizes that mana-aether-ki-qi-magic energy are one and the same, it is what the being does with it that changes, whether used to cultivate, set off a spell, or energize a weapon or an artifact...the mana-magical energy is the same. Some authors use miasma (smell of rotting/waste) to represent the "energy" that the monster/evil antagonists feed on/use.
About half the book is an info-dump of the same characteristics, abilities and skills, the author should just mention the changes or new abilities and not copy-paste everything all the time (even if the changes are not important).
Priorities of the author in his story are skewed: the first thing he does is find a place to rest, the second a place to make a weapon, if the main character really cared about his family, he would have flown to his family and not procrastinate so much. The illustrator makes the "super powerful" spear look like a regular mop/broom handle, any thinner and weaker looking and it would be a pencil...
Story and writing needs a lot of work. A lot of polish, to explain the plot holes, to make it have common sense. This story lacks a lot of common sense...
About half the book is an info-dump of the same characteristics, abilities and skills, the author should just mention the changes or new abilities and not copy-paste everything all the time (even if the changes are not important).
Priorities of the author in his story are skewed: the first thing he does is find a place to rest, the second a place to make a weapon, if the main character really cared about his family, he would have flown to his family and not procrastinate so much. The illustrator makes the "super powerful" spear look like a regular mop/broom handle, any thinner and weaker looking and it would be a pencil...
Story and writing needs a lot of work. A lot of polish, to explain the plot holes, to make it have common sense. This story lacks a lot of common sense...
March 20, 2022
A decent read, but not exceptional. Since the MC getting home to his son is a major plot driver, there's a problem. He can either (try to) get there quickly OR he can get strong enough to survive the trip. I assume there will be a book 2, so we'll see what conclusions the MC comes to.
March 3, 2022
2% in
Decided this was not worth my reading time.i've learned to spot the signs. It might get better...but doubtful. I will pass.
Decided this was not worth my reading time.i've learned to spot the signs. It might get better...but doubtful. I will pass.
August 29, 2025
First, I need to say: The narrator for the audiobook is awful. He doesn't talk like a person should talk, putting the wrong emphasis on different words in a sentence, and pausing awkwardly at times. I am absolutely not excited for the next book in the series despite the fact that it's not a bad story that I'd be willing to continue experiencing, but the narrator is so bad that I know it'll be a while before I'm out of things I'd rather read.
As for the book itself:
This is clearly the first book of a new writer.
It's fine. The story is okay, and the MC is.. probably the author, really. You don't really learn much about anyone in this book, and there's no real effort to give you backstory or space for the character to grow or change in any way, because it's not necessary to a pretty bare-bones road trip quest story.
There's a lot more use of reference to similar properties rather than any effort to create something unique and wholly 'his' than I'd like, but there's every chance that the author will grow and get better at thinking for himself, rather than letting established authors ideas do the heavy lifting.
There are some complaints in other reviews about the amount of time spent on stat sheet dumps, and I'd agree. I definitely kept pulling my phone out to skip a few minutes here or there of stat dump info that was absolutely not necessary - the book isn't long enough to forget what the stats or other information was before the various upgrades or unlocks, and a 'short' version of the gains would have been much more preferable. Again, something I hope the author can improve as he keeps writing.
Three stars, this book is the absolute definition of 'fine'. The narrator is really bad though, so I'd strongly recommend that you read the book rather than listening to it, if it's an option.
As for the book itself:
This is clearly the first book of a new writer.
It's fine. The story is okay, and the MC is.. probably the author, really. You don't really learn much about anyone in this book, and there's no real effort to give you backstory or space for the character to grow or change in any way, because it's not necessary to a pretty bare-bones road trip quest story.
There's a lot more use of reference to similar properties rather than any effort to create something unique and wholly 'his' than I'd like, but there's every chance that the author will grow and get better at thinking for himself, rather than letting established authors ideas do the heavy lifting.
There are some complaints in other reviews about the amount of time spent on stat sheet dumps, and I'd agree. I definitely kept pulling my phone out to skip a few minutes here or there of stat dump info that was absolutely not necessary - the book isn't long enough to forget what the stats or other information was before the various upgrades or unlocks, and a 'short' version of the gains would have been much more preferable. Again, something I hope the author can improve as he keeps writing.
Three stars, this book is the absolute definition of 'fine'. The narrator is really bad though, so I'd strongly recommend that you read the book rather than listening to it, if it's an option.
August 7, 2024
Terrible
The first person is very off-putting right from the start. Additionally the narrator's voice was so grating I had to read the second half on kindle.
The writing is really bad. From the way the movements are described to the character interactions all bad. Lots of gratuitous foul language. A chore to read. But I'm used to reading translated novels from all over the world, so bad writing is easy to shrug off.
What's not easy to shrug off is how often the story references other books/stories/cartoons and more. Stealing ideas from so many sources is great, but it was talked about too much (taking you out of the story) and left the actual story lacking.
In the second half of the book, it takes a sudden anti-mormon swing. While at the same time going into pedophilia and transgenderism. Dumping a bunch of random anti-religious sentiment (especially against a specific non-fictional real life religion) and political social justice was very out of place. I'm all for helping out disadvantaged people, but framing a real life religion as evil really undermines the story's attempt at moral superiority and kills my respect for the author... It was bad form to attempt in the first place, and even less tactful in execution. I hope the author realizes that the LDS community is a huge part of the LitRPG community, Brandon Sanderson's people and he just alienated all of them.
Not going to lie, I wanted to like this book but it was pure garbage. Is there a tag to mark the book as persecuting a real life organization? hateful?
The first person is very off-putting right from the start. Additionally the narrator's voice was so grating I had to read the second half on kindle.
The writing is really bad. From the way the movements are described to the character interactions all bad. Lots of gratuitous foul language. A chore to read. But I'm used to reading translated novels from all over the world, so bad writing is easy to shrug off.
What's not easy to shrug off is how often the story references other books/stories/cartoons and more. Stealing ideas from so many sources is great, but it was talked about too much (taking you out of the story) and left the actual story lacking.
In the second half of the book, it takes a sudden anti-mormon swing. While at the same time going into pedophilia and transgenderism. Dumping a bunch of random anti-religious sentiment (especially against a specific non-fictional real life religion) and political social justice was very out of place. I'm all for helping out disadvantaged people, but framing a real life religion as evil really undermines the story's attempt at moral superiority and kills my respect for the author... It was bad form to attempt in the first place, and even less tactful in execution. I hope the author realizes that the LDS community is a huge part of the LitRPG community, Brandon Sanderson's people and he just alienated all of them.
Not going to lie, I wanted to like this book but it was pure garbage. Is there a tag to mark the book as persecuting a real life organization? hateful?
December 1, 2022
Loving the book but...!
This is a well written, entertaining system apocalypse novel. I like the mc, his dog, and the people he meets along the way. The system is kept very simple (maybe too simple, but this could also be a way to ease the world into things) and seems consistent.
My major gripe is the way technology is killed. Simple chemistry is selectively ignored. A butane lighter still works just fine. Gas and oil burn just fine, but gas won't burn in an internal combustion engine... gunpowder lights on fire just fine, metal is strong as ever, yet when a gun is fired, the weapon fails in such a spectacular way as to make the gun completely explode, killing or taking off the hand of whoever pulled the trigger. I have a 9mm handgun, and if it somehow exploded, my hand is nowhere near anything explody... somehow all of the rounds in the magazine would have to ignite at the same time as the misfire that somehow shredded the barrel, with none of the force being projected forward... why would this metal fail? Why is internal combustion chemistry not okay? Is there some intelligence specifically picking and choosing which aspects to sabatoge, rather than some new natural laws?
Other than that, great novel, fun read!
This is a well written, entertaining system apocalypse novel. I like the mc, his dog, and the people he meets along the way. The system is kept very simple (maybe too simple, but this could also be a way to ease the world into things) and seems consistent.
My major gripe is the way technology is killed. Simple chemistry is selectively ignored. A butane lighter still works just fine. Gas and oil burn just fine, but gas won't burn in an internal combustion engine... gunpowder lights on fire just fine, metal is strong as ever, yet when a gun is fired, the weapon fails in such a spectacular way as to make the gun completely explode, killing or taking off the hand of whoever pulled the trigger. I have a 9mm handgun, and if it somehow exploded, my hand is nowhere near anything explody... somehow all of the rounds in the magazine would have to ignite at the same time as the misfire that somehow shredded the barrel, with none of the force being projected forward... why would this metal fail? Why is internal combustion chemistry not okay? Is there some intelligence specifically picking and choosing which aspects to sabatoge, rather than some new natural laws?
Other than that, great novel, fun read!
July 27, 2022
This book is a post apocalyptic system style litrpg/cultivation novel. It is similar in ways to Kyle Johnson's series. The writing in the beginning is not the best, but the author improves as the book progresses. There a few nit picky things here and there, but I would have rated it 4 out of 5 stars if it wasn't for the forced preaching of the authors beliefs. Multiple times throughout the book, he mentions anti-religious beliefs, which I ignored. However, when the big bad guys end up being evil Christians, who want to rape and control all women and hate a transgender person, and want to burn that person as a witch, I got incredibly annoyed. I got so annoyed, it overshadowed my enjoyment. Minus one star for writing ability(which could get better in time) and minus one star for propagating a horrible stereotype to the extent that it brings the reader out of story.
November 21, 2022
Heavily woke, and references so many other works its almost plagerism
The author got the same check list as the rest of the genre, and like too many others, worried more about hiring every god awful trope and cliche that making a coherent (much less decent) story. References other books and authors, just shy of plagiarism, though a teacher might disagree.
Rampant bigotry against religion, woke activism, and paedophilia all mean this wasn't gonna get more than 1 star from me. I don't read to be indoctrinated into other peoples idiocy. The only positive thing I can say about this steaming pile of fecal matter is that it contains about half the grammatical and spelling errors most self published works do.
All in all, yet another I'm glad I didn't pay for.
The author got the same check list as the rest of the genre, and like too many others, worried more about hiring every god awful trope and cliche that making a coherent (much less decent) story. References other books and authors, just shy of plagiarism, though a teacher might disagree.
Rampant bigotry against religion, woke activism, and paedophilia all mean this wasn't gonna get more than 1 star from me. I don't read to be indoctrinated into other peoples idiocy. The only positive thing I can say about this steaming pile of fecal matter is that it contains about half the grammatical and spelling errors most self published works do.
All in all, yet another I'm glad I didn't pay for.
March 20, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up
There were so many references to other Litrpg series, and inside jokes that I sometimes had a hard time deciding if this was an homage, a love letter, or a parody.
But I did enjoy reading it and will most likely be reading the next one.
I did NOT enjoy the narrator on the audible version. I frequently found myself wondering if he had difficulty saying more than 6 or 7 words at a time, as he frequently paused in the middle of sentences for no apparent reason. I was reading and listening at the same time, using whispersync, so I know there weren’t any commas or other punctuation that indicates that he should have paused there. Also, with the way he frequently placed emphasis on strange parts of sentences, it changed the meaning of them entirely.
There were so many references to other Litrpg series, and inside jokes that I sometimes had a hard time deciding if this was an homage, a love letter, or a parody.
But I did enjoy reading it and will most likely be reading the next one.
I did NOT enjoy the narrator on the audible version. I frequently found myself wondering if he had difficulty saying more than 6 or 7 words at a time, as he frequently paused in the middle of sentences for no apparent reason. I was reading and listening at the same time, using whispersync, so I know there weren’t any commas or other punctuation that indicates that he should have paused there. Also, with the way he frequently placed emphasis on strange parts of sentences, it changed the meaning of them entirely.
February 15, 2022
Average read
The book has possibilities, but needs a good editor to clear up wrong spelling and some grammar mistakes. SPOILER ALERT!!!
The author says he has not seen much in LitRPG using three paths, but Daniel Schinhoffen does in his Aether's Guard series. The system start up reads much the same as in several other books, along with the MC trying to get home across the country. I haven't decided yet if I will both reading any subsequent books in this series, I might try the next to see if the editing improves, but there does not seem to be any really innovative ideas in this book.
The book has possibilities, but needs a good editor to clear up wrong spelling and some grammar mistakes. SPOILER ALERT!!!
The author says he has not seen much in LitRPG using three paths, but Daniel Schinhoffen does in his Aether's Guard series. The system start up reads much the same as in several other books, along with the MC trying to get home across the country. I haven't decided yet if I will both reading any subsequent books in this series, I might try the next to see if the editing improves, but there does not seem to be any really innovative ideas in this book.
April 27, 2022
Very Cool!
Wow! How cool is it to read a book by an author who shares my last name?!
This was my first litrpg experience boy am I glad that I chose this as my first! The author was so clear in his writing. The systems, concept, and mechanics of the litrpg where clear and easy to follow. The story was very fun, engaging, and dare I say exciting!
My favorite thing about this author is how real the characters are. I honestly felt like I was reading my brother on these pages! Also, who could resist an awesome story about a person and their spirit companion...a beautiful dog?!
Waiting impatiently for the next installment!
Wow! How cool is it to read a book by an author who shares my last name?!
This was my first litrpg experience boy am I glad that I chose this as my first! The author was so clear in his writing. The systems, concept, and mechanics of the litrpg where clear and easy to follow. The story was very fun, engaging, and dare I say exciting!
My favorite thing about this author is how real the characters are. I honestly felt like I was reading my brother on these pages! Also, who could resist an awesome story about a person and their spirit companion...a beautiful dog?!
Waiting impatiently for the next installment!
May 30, 2022
Pretty intolerant of opposing worldviews. Boring.
I rarely don't finish a book but just could not keep reading this after about 3/4 of the way through. Tried to mash a bunch of ideas together - cultivation, leveling, faith - rather than be interesting or creative. Tries to cast the protagonist as an over the road trucker turned cultivator but pretty weak. The sideways attacks on religion and a faith based worldview were just ignorantly annoying. But, the trite and one dimensional characters, un-original plot and weak litrpg mechanics were the real downfall. Just couldn't keep my attention. Boring.
I rarely don't finish a book but just could not keep reading this after about 3/4 of the way through. Tried to mash a bunch of ideas together - cultivation, leveling, faith - rather than be interesting or creative. Tries to cast the protagonist as an over the road trucker turned cultivator but pretty weak. The sideways attacks on religion and a faith based worldview were just ignorantly annoying. But, the trite and one dimensional characters, un-original plot and weak litrpg mechanics were the real downfall. Just couldn't keep my attention. Boring.
February 7, 2022
Its a good start, but typos abound
Pretty good start to the series, 4.5 out of 5, but theres alot of typos and crunch issues. At one point the mc has $4500, buys 5 $500 potions, a $1500 ring, and a bunch of potions worth ~$800. That happens a few times in the book.
Then theres issues likethis. Randomly we will get no spaces betweenwords. Or words that dont men what they should men.
Its not all the time, but these issues do detract from the book. 3.5/5 total, will read next book
Pretty good start to the series, 4.5 out of 5, but theres alot of typos and crunch issues. At one point the mc has $4500, buys 5 $500 potions, a $1500 ring, and a bunch of potions worth ~$800. That happens a few times in the book.
Then theres issues likethis. Randomly we will get no spaces betweenwords. Or words that dont men what they should men.
Its not all the time, but these issues do detract from the book. 3.5/5 total, will read next book
September 21, 2022
Very good starting book
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves litrpg. Yes there is a transgender, gasp. If you have issues with that being mentioned, hello bigot. Its not pushed down your throat. It's a 4 star book for me, maybe 4.5. I gave it a 5 to make up for the idiots low-balling it because of bigotry (really people, ever hear the phrase, live and let live?).
I like that it shows the progress of three different paths. I like the characters so far. Love the dog. Keep on writing Mr. Barber, can't wait for the next.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves litrpg. Yes there is a transgender, gasp. If you have issues with that being mentioned, hello bigot. Its not pushed down your throat. It's a 4 star book for me, maybe 4.5. I gave it a 5 to make up for the idiots low-balling it because of bigotry (really people, ever hear the phrase, live and let live?).
I like that it shows the progress of three different paths. I like the characters so far. Love the dog. Keep on writing Mr. Barber, can't wait for the next.
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June 6, 2022Good story, but hypocritically bigoted
This started out at a great story, and it had interesting characters, but the trope of all religious people being fanatical sheep was lazy writing. The amount of social justice heroism weaved into the story ruined it. It didn't make sense; but I guess you write what you know (or what you clearly don't). If you like hypocritical, inconsistent heroism, this book is for you. I got 87% through but couldn't keep reading.
This started out at a great story, and it had interesting characters, but the trope of all religious people being fanatical sheep was lazy writing. The amount of social justice heroism weaved into the story ruined it. It didn't make sense; but I guess you write what you know (or what you clearly don't). If you like hypocritical, inconsistent heroism, this book is for you. I got 87% through but couldn't keep reading.
March 15, 2023
Decent system apocalypse book
For a first book this one is well written, and it’s nice to see the MC be somewhere other than the “camping trip” that so many of these start on. The system itself is an interesting choice to me since it offers the different paths. My only dings for this really are the meta references to the Land and Cradle and the MC being a litrpg/cultivation fan in general. Not a huge fan of the idea. Overall decent though.
For a first book this one is well written, and it’s nice to see the MC be somewhere other than the “camping trip” that so many of these start on. The system itself is an interesting choice to me since it offers the different paths. My only dings for this really are the meta references to the Land and Cradle and the MC being a litrpg/cultivation fan in general. Not a huge fan of the idea. Overall decent though.
December 14, 2023
There's a computer Troll in the house!
Seriously? Always trying to start something. This trucker is married with kids, A total mans-man. He is checking his stats and gets a useless artifact. He said "this is as useless as one to color my hair or paint my nails.". He is attacked as transgender when he is no such thing. However, the book is terrific with a good storyline. Plenty of action happens on his 700 mile long journey to get back home! Kudos to Sean Barber!
Seriously? Always trying to start something. This trucker is married with kids, A total mans-man. He is checking his stats and gets a useless artifact. He said "this is as useless as one to color my hair or paint my nails.". He is attacked as transgender when he is no such thing. However, the book is terrific with a good storyline. Plenty of action happens on his 700 mile long journey to get back home! Kudos to Sean Barber!
July 8, 2024
Interesting concept. It gave me infinite realms vibes but more of a system apocalypse. The author has obviously read a lot of LitRPGs because there are references to other books throughout. The MC is pretty cool and will appeal to the truck driver demographic. The religious intolerance towards the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints lost me though. I can handle a religious figure becoming evil but I didn’t appreciate the side commentary towards the religion.
February 10, 2022
pretty good
The book was an easy read. That said, it could use more depth. The MC keeps mentioning that he wants to get back to his wife and son, but we have know idea what their my are like or what his home is like. New skills seem to be learned without effort.
The book also ends incredibly abruptly.
Not a bad story but nothing stands out.
The book was an easy read. That said, it could use more depth. The MC keeps mentioning that he wants to get back to his wife and son, but we have know idea what their my are like or what his home is like. New skills seem to be learned without effort.
The book also ends incredibly abruptly.
Not a bad story but nothing stands out.
February 15, 2022
ok
A fairly standard litrpg story, clearly written and with few errors. The writer has limited understanding of group dynamics and falls into the Good few vs the Mean Men who hurt children and small animals. So the writer is a snowflake and you just have to ignore how it detracts from the story.
A fairly standard litrpg story, clearly written and with few errors. The writer has limited understanding of group dynamics and falls into the Good few vs the Mean Men who hurt children and small animals. So the writer is a snowflake and you just have to ignore how it detracts from the story.
March 3, 2022
A great book
I enjoyed reading this book and fond the charters to be interesting. I like the the direction and I look forward to seeing what you have planned. I know some of the story feels rushed and I had to re reed some things. Thanks for your hard work and I hope you will continue writing more soon
I enjoyed reading this book and fond the charters to be interesting. I like the the direction and I look forward to seeing what you have planned. I know some of the story feels rushed and I had to re reed some things. Thanks for your hard work and I hope you will continue writing more soon
March 17, 2022
this is how it’s done
Excellent first book! The characters are just right. The system is well thought out. The action to learning ratio is spot on. The characters are well developed. There is a little poking fun at religion but not in a bad way. Overall I think this is one of the better system apocalypse style books I have read. I am eager too see the journey continue soon.
Excellent first book! The characters are just right. The system is well thought out. The action to learning ratio is spot on. The characters are well developed. There is a little poking fun at religion but not in a bad way. Overall I think this is one of the better system apocalypse style books I have read. I am eager too see the journey continue soon.
March 18, 2022
such a fun read
I’m usually not a huge fan of cultivation and will admit to not entirely following some of the Ki stuff but I love the hell out of this book. Really liked the main character love the battles love the character development and the system. Looking forward to book 2
I’m usually not a huge fan of cultivation and will admit to not entirely following some of the Ki stuff but I love the hell out of this book. Really liked the main character love the battles love the character development and the system. Looking forward to book 2
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