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The Houndsman #3
The Houndsman 3
Lost. Crippled. Alone.
The defences, army, and pack Flint built are safe on the Iron Disk. Flint is not. Flint gave everything to save his home, believing his life was forfeit. He was wrong. Now, he's stuck in an alien world of forever night. Cannibalistic vikings and draugr plague the land. An eldritch, world-devouring god floats in the sky.
Despite the loss of a limb, Flint must fight and find a way home. If not for himself, for the young woman and puppies that got trapped in the dangerous world with him. Fortunately, druids once ruled the forgotten land. Remnants of their rune-powered machines are their only hope, and Flint has the blood to use them.
The defences, army, and pack Flint built are safe on the Iron Disk. Flint is not. Flint gave everything to save his home, believing his life was forfeit. He was wrong. Now, he's stuck in an alien world of forever night. Cannibalistic vikings and draugr plague the land. An eldritch, world-devouring god floats in the sky.
Despite the loss of a limb, Flint must fight and find a way home. If not for himself, for the young woman and puppies that got trapped in the dangerous world with him. Fortunately, druids once ruled the forgotten land. Remnants of their rune-powered machines are their only hope, and Flint has the blood to use them.
- GenresFantasy
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2022
113 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 23, 2022
Firstly, to be clear, I docked 1 star because the last 20% of the book or so was poorly edited compared to the rest of the series. Names were incorrect, grammar was weaker, and it generally felt like most of the book was written and the last part was not edited properly. I hope the book is re-released after being re-edited, and I'll add a star.
The hints in the first couple of books about wider issues are fully realised here. A lot of magic and history and things are explained a little more. I can appreciate that what was written logically followed on as a conclusion from the first two books and what was said, but I can't say I really appreciated it. I know it's the Houndsman, but I didn't really enjoy the dog points of view nearly so much. I don't get why the MC was effectively rebuilt to be almost exactly the same, only different and better. It sort of fits the narrative but just regifting the same skills using lots of effort and magic and then, once that was done, removing that character, having a random sect who stays sane and helps them conveniently ... I really struggled to keep reading the last bit of the story. The time skip was the last unnecessary part - really, what reason was that and how is the fort basically changing the same, just getting a bit bigger? How do you justify such a big thing?
I might read the next book but it would be despite this not because of it. If it dives heavily into book 3 things, rather than being more about book 1/2, then I may just skip it.
The hints in the first couple of books about wider issues are fully realised here. A lot of magic and history and things are explained a little more. I can appreciate that what was written logically followed on as a conclusion from the first two books and what was said, but I can't say I really appreciated it. I know it's the Houndsman, but I didn't really enjoy the dog points of view nearly so much. I don't get why the MC was effectively rebuilt to be almost exactly the same, only different and better. It sort of fits the narrative but just regifting the same skills using lots of effort and magic and then, once that was done, removing that character, having a random sect who stays sane and helps them conveniently ... I really struggled to keep reading the last bit of the story. The time skip was the last unnecessary part - really, what reason was that and how is the fort basically changing the same, just getting a bit bigger? How do you justify such a big thing?
I might read the next book but it would be despite this not because of it. If it dives heavily into book 3 things, rather than being more about book 1/2, then I may just skip it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2022
I was sadly disappointed by this book, as the first two in this base-building series were so engaging and enjoyable.
The third novel takes the protagonist away from the castle/settlement he had built up, along with the plot elements and cast of characters that were established.
As a "reset", there few to no base-building elements, which was what attracted me to the series in the first place. Additionally, despite the original "buy in" we have for the magic/power system, this is turned on its head and a new system is introduced.
I really enjoyed the first two books, and certainly don't enjoy giving criticism.
The third novel takes the protagonist away from the castle/settlement he had built up, along with the plot elements and cast of characters that were established.
As a "reset", there few to no base-building elements, which was what attracted me to the series in the first place. Additionally, despite the original "buy in" we have for the magic/power system, this is turned on its head and a new system is introduced.
I really enjoyed the first two books, and certainly don't enjoy giving criticism.
July 16, 2022
What happened?
Fantasy LitRPG magic portal
This is book 3, and I had enjoyed the first two books well enough to buy this one. It's a darker,
grimmer tale from the start. However, at around the ninety percent mark, editing falls apart (nonsensical sentences, missing words, and more confusion than one could shake a stick at). Worse, besides misspelled names were continuity errors -- several times the person exclaiming about someone else happened to be the same person. The whole final battle scene was a real mess. So, what happened? Was a draft version uploaded to Amazon? Did the author go on a bender? It's like the carnage was so intense even the author wasn't sure what the final events were. The final scene was almost anticlimactic.
Fantasy LitRPG magic portal
This is book 3, and I had enjoyed the first two books well enough to buy this one. It's a darker,
grimmer tale from the start. However, at around the ninety percent mark, editing falls apart (nonsensical sentences, missing words, and more confusion than one could shake a stick at). Worse, besides misspelled names were continuity errors -- several times the person exclaiming about someone else happened to be the same person. The whole final battle scene was a real mess. So, what happened? Was a draft version uploaded to Amazon? Did the author go on a bender? It's like the carnage was so intense even the author wasn't sure what the final events were. The final scene was almost anticlimactic.
April 11, 2023
High level summary: This book marks a departure from the previous two in that there's no actual base building in this book. The protagonist is stranded in a hellscape of a world and is forced to escape. The magic system is significantly altered and it remains to be seen if subsequent books will maintain their LitRPG elements. Unfortunately, the text is replete with errors which distract from the book. The author desperately needs a good editor. Overall, it was an acceptable read, but is also the weakest of the series so far.
Detailed Review:
This book picks up where the last left off. If you haven't read the first two books then this review will have spoilers for those books. After the fort is betrayed by the group of newcomers and Flint is sucked into the portal, he wakes up in a hellscape that is dominated by a world-eating god. The book depicts Flint's journey back to the Iron Disk.
There's a strong romantic drama sub-plot that begins in the previous book. Winona remains behind on the Iron Disk, but Lyra ends up in the new world with Flint. So naturally the book focuses on the potential relationship between Flint and Lyra. But it was done in a rather ham-fisted way and detracted from the book. Hardly any of the character interactions made sense and the subplot is resolved in the most frustrating way possible.
As for the story itself, it was fine. It was not as strong as the first two books, and in particular there are no base-building elements. The entire premise of the series is that it is a "Base-Building LitRPG Adventure." This book is really just an adventure, as not only are there no base-building elements the entire LitRPG aspect (i.e., levels, skills, stats, magic system, etc.) is discarded and a brand-new system is introduced. Now it's unclear what will happen with the 4th book. Especially given how this book ends. I will not spoil it, but the way the book ends makes it unclear whether book 4 will contain strong base-building elements.
The real problem with this book is the writing itself. It's a mess. There are so many errors that it became rather distracting. The errors are not simple typos or grammatical errors, but continuity errors and nonsensical sentences. For example, at one point a character referred to themself as having just been killed instead of the actual character. At another point a character refers to a betrayal that never happened. It's clear that there was no copyediting or line editing done. The story itself is mostly cohesive, but there are entire action sequences that are just a mess and hard to follow.
If you are already invested in the story of Flint and want to see what comes next, and can ignore the poor writing, then consider reading this book. If you can pick it up on Kindle Unlimited for free then it's probably worth reading. But I'd caution against paying for it at this point unless you're desperate to find out how the story goes.
Detailed Review:
This book picks up where the last left off. If you haven't read the first two books then this review will have spoilers for those books. After the fort is betrayed by the group of newcomers and Flint is sucked into the portal, he wakes up in a hellscape that is dominated by a world-eating god. The book depicts Flint's journey back to the Iron Disk.
There's a strong romantic drama sub-plot that begins in the previous book. Winona remains behind on the Iron Disk, but Lyra ends up in the new world with Flint. So naturally the book focuses on the potential relationship between Flint and Lyra. But it was done in a rather ham-fisted way and detracted from the book. Hardly any of the character interactions made sense and the subplot is resolved in the most frustrating way possible.
As for the story itself, it was fine. It was not as strong as the first two books, and in particular there are no base-building elements. The entire premise of the series is that it is a "Base-Building LitRPG Adventure." This book is really just an adventure, as not only are there no base-building elements the entire LitRPG aspect (i.e., levels, skills, stats, magic system, etc.) is discarded and a brand-new system is introduced. Now it's unclear what will happen with the 4th book. Especially given how this book ends. I will not spoil it, but the way the book ends makes it unclear whether book 4 will contain strong base-building elements.
The real problem with this book is the writing itself. It's a mess. There are so many errors that it became rather distracting. The errors are not simple typos or grammatical errors, but continuity errors and nonsensical sentences. For example, at one point a character referred to themself as having just been killed instead of the actual character. At another point a character refers to a betrayal that never happened. It's clear that there was no copyediting or line editing done. The story itself is mostly cohesive, but there are entire action sequences that are just a mess and hard to follow.
If you are already invested in the story of Flint and want to see what comes next, and can ignore the poor writing, then consider reading this book. If you can pick it up on Kindle Unlimited for free then it's probably worth reading. But I'd caution against paying for it at this point unless you're desperate to find out how the story goes.
August 29, 2022
Unfortunately, as the series goes on, I am less and less invested in it. Not because the story is uninteresting, it is interesting. The magic is cool. The idea of a base building story is perfect.
But this book seriously needs an editor. The beginning chapters had few errors in them but as you get deeper into the book, the errors get worse. The last few chapters are neigh unreadable due to the amount of errors in them. There are sections were the author mixes up two characters constantly at a critical time.
Overall, this book would benefit the most from a careful rewrite. Not from the ground up, but just to make sure characters aren't forgotten (where's Willow?). Also, in general, u suggest the author spend a bit more time in his conclusionary chapters. These books just end. I assume they want to replicate a cliffhanger but it isn't really a cliffhanger. It just ends without the vast majority of plot threads being dealt with. This is true for both book 2 and 3.
If it weren't for all the mistakes, the book might reach a 4 stars but in its current state? There is no way to could recommend it to anyone in good faith.
But this book seriously needs an editor. The beginning chapters had few errors in them but as you get deeper into the book, the errors get worse. The last few chapters are neigh unreadable due to the amount of errors in them. There are sections were the author mixes up two characters constantly at a critical time.
Overall, this book would benefit the most from a careful rewrite. Not from the ground up, but just to make sure characters aren't forgotten (where's Willow?). Also, in general, u suggest the author spend a bit more time in his conclusionary chapters. These books just end. I assume they want to replicate a cliffhanger but it isn't really a cliffhanger. It just ends without the vast majority of plot threads being dealt with. This is true for both book 2 and 3.
If it weren't for all the mistakes, the book might reach a 4 stars but in its current state? There is no way to could recommend it to anyone in good faith.
September 28, 2022
Flint Sojourns Through A Hellish World.
Along the way he evolves his abilities, finds new new allies, learns about his ancestry, and fight fights old enemies who are backed by something more monstrous than he imagined possible. He will make sacrifices along the way which he never contemplated and suffer pain sufficient to drive many mad in his quest to go home.
This novel, like the one preceding it suffers from many errors of agreement, redundant words, and misused words. It too could stand a good review by an editor — preferably with the author's input on what the intended meaning of some of the words chosen were.
This book, and the series which it is a part, may appeal to fans of both the Dungeon Core genre and the Power Cultivation genre; as well as to those who enjoy playing RPGs.
Along the way he evolves his abilities, finds new new allies, learns about his ancestry, and fight fights old enemies who are backed by something more monstrous than he imagined possible. He will make sacrifices along the way which he never contemplated and suffer pain sufficient to drive many mad in his quest to go home.
This novel, like the one preceding it suffers from many errors of agreement, redundant words, and misused words. It too could stand a good review by an editor — preferably with the author's input on what the intended meaning of some of the words chosen were.
This book, and the series which it is a part, may appeal to fans of both the Dungeon Core genre and the Power Cultivation genre; as well as to those who enjoy playing RPGs.
June 17, 2022
Great story and characters, but in need of some copy editing.
I absolutely love the story nad cnat5 wait for book 4, but there are a lot of typos throughout the whole book. Nothing bad enough that it takes away from the story, except for at the very end. It gets bad in the last 6% of the book. Names mixed up, character continuity problems. It makes it difficult follow, pulls you out if the story and leaves what should be the best part confusing. I honestly don't know what happened to a couple characters at the end because the story changes and contradicts itself every couple paragraphs. The book gets 4 stars because it's still fantastic, but the author really needs to hire a copy editor to go through the whole thing and clear up the typos.
I absolutely love the story nad cnat5 wait for book 4, but there are a lot of typos throughout the whole book. Nothing bad enough that it takes away from the story, except for at the very end. It gets bad in the last 6% of the book. Names mixed up, character continuity problems. It makes it difficult follow, pulls you out if the story and leaves what should be the best part confusing. I honestly don't know what happened to a couple characters at the end because the story changes and contradicts itself every couple paragraphs. The book gets 4 stars because it's still fantastic, but the author really needs to hire a copy editor to go through the whole thing and clear up the typos.
April 19, 2024
What happened to the second half?
Wow… the first two books are some of my favorite progressive style fantasy I’ve read. This one though… at about the 60% mark the writing just went absolutely down the drain. Bad grammar, horrible sentence structure, misspelled words… it turned into an absolute dumpster fire. The author even repeatedly used the wrong characters names for what was happening, even using a dead characters name on accident multiple times.
The storyline idea is cool, but this books ending was garbage. Just a sudden sprint to the end with no depth and when mixed with the terrible writing made it confusing to identify what was going on.
Wow… the first two books are some of my favorite progressive style fantasy I’ve read. This one though… at about the 60% mark the writing just went absolutely down the drain. Bad grammar, horrible sentence structure, misspelled words… it turned into an absolute dumpster fire. The author even repeatedly used the wrong characters names for what was happening, even using a dead characters name on accident multiple times.
The storyline idea is cool, but this books ending was garbage. Just a sudden sprint to the end with no depth and when mixed with the terrible writing made it confusing to identify what was going on.
June 6, 2022
(Note:There are some HUGE editing errors, including multiple instances of mixing up the names of living and dead characters - incredibly confusing. I'm not giving it 1-star because I choose to believe the errors will be fixed, but readers beware!)
The protagonist is teleported to another world so suddenly 90% of the characters we mildly care about are gone. Replace by a silent lizard boy, a mage who only info dump about magic, and endless hordes of nameless "vikings". I felt no emotional engagement to any of this.
The protagonist is teleported to another world so suddenly 90% of the characters we mildly care about are gone. Replace by a silent lizard boy, a mage who only info dump about magic, and endless hordes of nameless "vikings". I felt no emotional engagement to any of this.
June 6, 2022
Terrible editing!
I gave it 3 stars because I still like the story but what the ever loving h*** is J thinking leaving a book this poorly edited. And I'm not talking about punctuation and spelling, I'm talking about missing words, words in the wrong places, extra words and very poor sentence structure. Oh and the names, towards the end of the book the names of the women became completely interchangeable. None of the other books he writes are this bad. There is really no excuse.
I gave it 3 stars because I still like the story but what the ever loving h*** is J thinking leaving a book this poorly edited. And I'm not talking about punctuation and spelling, I'm talking about missing words, words in the wrong places, extra words and very poor sentence structure. Oh and the names, towards the end of the book the names of the women became completely interchangeable. None of the other books he writes are this bad. There is really no excuse.
June 7, 2022
A Base-Building LitRPG Adventure, with no Base Building
Introduced two new characters, and before the books ends they are gone.
Could have saved us a lot of time and just had some group capture him and strip his powers, and have him slowly learn to slowly generate the same powers the Aether use instead.
The final straw was deciding that 8 years had past, even though it was just a few months for him, when he does return. And the only mention of events that happened was his puppy sat and waited for him.
So disappointing after the first two books.
Introduced two new characters, and before the books ends they are gone.
Could have saved us a lot of time and just had some group capture him and strip his powers, and have him slowly learn to slowly generate the same powers the Aether use instead.
The final straw was deciding that 8 years had past, even though it was just a few months for him, when he does return. And the only mention of events that happened was his puppy sat and waited for him.
So disappointing after the first two books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2023
What makes an author self-destruct and ruin a good series? I seriously want to know. Closest guess I have is mid-life crisis.
Everything that made the books interesting and enjoyable, base-building, community, dog pack, got thrown aside right from the beginning. Instead we got portaled into horrors, depressing environment, and angsty (poorly done) sexual tension.
If you enjoyed the first two books, walk away now without spoiling it for yourself.
Everything that made the books interesting and enjoyable, base-building, community, dog pack, got thrown aside right from the beginning. Instead we got portaled into horrors, depressing environment, and angsty (poorly done) sexual tension.
If you enjoyed the first two books, walk away now without spoiling it for yourself.
September 16, 2023
Desperatly needs an editors pass
Great story, living the character and world building, but the mistakes in this book are very distracting and confusing. Misspellings, typos, bad structure, mind you most of its fine but especially in the last few chapters the mistakes get bad. Other then needing a proof reading I have loved the story, I figured the end, however, it was good and I can't wait for book four to see how things develop. Just hope it's got a good editor.
Great story, living the character and world building, but the mistakes in this book are very distracting and confusing. Misspellings, typos, bad structure, mind you most of its fine but especially in the last few chapters the mistakes get bad. Other then needing a proof reading I have loved the story, I figured the end, however, it was good and I can't wait for book four to see how things develop. Just hope it's got a good editor.
May 27, 2022
Too many mistakes!
Sorry I liked this series, but this book has far too many errors in it. These mistakes I don't remember being in the first two books. And what about his plant dog? Did it come through with him at the end, or did he leave it behind? I remember him saying he could sense her being alive.
Sorry I liked this series, but this book has far too many errors in it. These mistakes I don't remember being in the first two books. And what about his plant dog? Did it come through with him at the end, or did he leave it behind? I remember him saying he could sense her being alive.
May 28, 2022
I was lost in the beginning and never cared enough to catch up.
I was invested in the base and hounds, and all of that was removed for this book. The already complex world was kicked up by several factors to an absurd degree. I can say with complete certainty that I have no interest in following this series.
I was invested in the base and hounds, and all of that was removed for this book. The already complex world was kicked up by several factors to an absurd degree. I can say with complete certainty that I have no interest in following this series.
May 29, 2022
An amazing transition
Though separated from Lea’s Slumber and the rest of his cohorts, we see that Flint adapt to new circumstances with the newest and more mysterious members of his pack. Lyra remains a steadfast bulwark against the threats along with some new allies that begin to expose the inner mechanics of the disks and the god’s designs.
Though separated from Lea’s Slumber and the rest of his cohorts, we see that Flint adapt to new circumstances with the newest and more mysterious members of his pack. Lyra remains a steadfast bulwark against the threats along with some new allies that begin to expose the inner mechanics of the disks and the god’s designs.
June 9, 2022
Dog lovers enjoyed
Yeah for the Hounds man! Can't wait for the next installment of this series. Hope he gets more dogs. What happened to the fern dog? Willow was with him the entire time and no mention of her. Did she and El escape? Would give a higher star but the poor editing annoys me..
Yeah for the Hounds man! Can't wait for the next installment of this series. Hope he gets more dogs. What happened to the fern dog? Willow was with him the entire time and no mention of her. Did she and El escape? Would give a higher star but the poor editing annoys me..
February 2, 2023
Grammar and editing
Enjoying the story, but the grammar and proof reading has been bad and just got worse.
Get an editor.... so many sentences just don't make sense. Missing words, extra words, names transposed. Wrong use of words... carrion is decaying meat, not an animal.
The second last chapter is almost unreadable.
Keep up the writing... just get an editor and proofreaders.
Enjoying the story, but the grammar and proof reading has been bad and just got worse.
Get an editor.... so many sentences just don't make sense. Missing words, extra words, names transposed. Wrong use of words... carrion is decaying meat, not an animal.
The second last chapter is almost unreadable.
Keep up the writing... just get an editor and proofreaders.
June 3, 2022
Fantastic
This series just keeps getting better more secrets are reveiled and more questions need answers, there is heartbreaking fighting druids and monsters what more could you want a proper page turner i read it in one go.
This series just keeps getting better more secrets are reveiled and more questions need answers, there is heartbreaking fighting druids and monsters what more could you want a proper page turner i read it in one go.
August 9, 2022
Good, but needs proofreading .
The story is good, but the end needs a lot of proofreading for word choice and character continuity. So I will give it 4 stars until it has been edited.
The story is good, but the end needs a lot of proofreading for word choice and character continuity. So I will give it 4 stars until it has been edited.
September 30, 2022
Good story, lots of errors
The story was good, but there are a TON of errors and not just grammar. In the last couple chapters, there were multiple places where the entire wrong name was being used to reference characters causing it to be almost unreadable due to confusion.
The story was good, but there are a TON of errors and not just grammar. In the last couple chapters, there were multiple places where the entire wrong name was being used to reference characters causing it to be almost unreadable due to confusion.
October 12, 2022
Good read
I really like the book and the characters. The story and the world are interesting as well but the editing in this last book was very poor. Missing words, wrong words, double negatives and Confused character names sometimes make the flow of the book very poor
I really like the book and the characters. The story and the world are interesting as well but the editing in this last book was very poor. Missing words, wrong words, double negatives and Confused character names sometimes make the flow of the book very poor
October 19, 2022
terrible editing, still a good story
The editing of this episode of the story was horrendous. I hope that the author finds a new editor. Still, I am enjoying the story very much, and I will continue to read further books in the series
The editing of this episode of the story was horrendous. I hope that the author finds a new editor. Still, I am enjoying the story very much, and I will continue to read further books in the series
October 3, 2024
I hated that we got no updates from the iron disk throughout, but it led to a really memorable ending and reunion. Hopefully book 4 will be full of Maya because she has gotten a raw deal as far as pages and character development. 👍🏽👍🏽
June 17, 2022
ok
Good addition to the series. I preferred the first books books in the series, they were a more fun read.
Good addition to the series. I preferred the first books books in the series, they were a more fun read.
July 7, 2022
Too many
The story is just as good as ever but the sheer number of errors make it difficult to read, especially in the climax
The story is just as good as ever but the sheer number of errors make it difficult to read, especially in the climax
May 21, 2024
Needs another edit
A good story but let down by lots of typos and outright errors in the last 10% or so of the book. It's as if the proof reading didn't get that far?
A good story but let down by lots of typos and outright errors in the last 10% or so of the book. It's as if the proof reading didn't get that far?
May 10, 2023
(FYI: Heard this on audible)
This was another fantastic book to listen to while on the go and I hope to hear more soon.
This was another fantastic book to listen to while on the go and I hope to hear more soon.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews