Stellar work once again from Jonathan Brooks! Lots of action and adventure, magic and monsters. Looking forward to the next one!

This was a rather tedious book. Just a long fever dream of stat upgrades, skill descriptions, and effortless wins. The author has concocted quite an impressive world and lots of very nicely described skills and abilities. But there's close to zero interaction between characters and none of them exist except as an occasional plot device to allow the MC to register another easy win. There's no character growth nor emotional dialog. But worst of all, there's no real story being told. Don't think I'll bother with the next installment, there's just nothing going on.

Another great installment for the support who rarely supports anyone. There are frustrating penalties and juicy rewards, with a fun storyline. Wonderful!

Alternate universe, LitRPG I really liked the first book; in some ways it reminded me of the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero. About through reading book 3, I found myself losing interest in the story. It had nothing to do with the writing, pacing, or dialog. It was when I found my interest picking back up again that I realized our MC was once again interacting the others, when he joined a party to help rescue a player snatched by monsters. Part of what enjoy about fiction is character development and interaction, the building of friendship or even love. Except toward the end of book 2, the MC chose abilities and class development that emphasized solo play. It was if the MC was slighted by how he was nearly killed after his abduction, he perked up at the chance to level up on his own, and then his friends were murdered in book 2. During his incarceration underwater, he could have worked on alternative combat strategies instead of his current one that might kill allies as he wipes out monsters. No, he didn't. I get that some people are loners, and some gamers prefer solo play. But while he's made some development in his social skills, he prefers going it alone, and every time he's given a choice, he picks abilities and class skills that benefit solo play and penalize him for group play. The MC has missed a huge opportunity not sharing information with Rachel and her guild, to get some perspective on how it appears this whole enterprise to train humans to fight the Adversary is automated. It's advanced, and capable of limited error correction, but it's still imperfect. I include him to come clean and sharing the fact that he did not go through the same training everyone else did. His continued ranking and first should give credence to the editing of events that were then erased by the System, yet the MC was rewarded for, even if there was no official record. Now, there's still the opportunity for this to happen. And he not only has skills and spells to acquire, he has another class evolution to undergo. Without some major adjustments in his combat strategies, participating in raids will be problematic as his current choices severely limit his usefulness. As for me, I find less for me to identify with with a loner who isn't interested in socializing anymore than he is forced to. I'm still interested in the series, and hope he find that solo work has benefits, it also has its limits. One can be the greatest at what they do, they can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Ultimately, as humans, it's our ability to work together and the gestalt that can sometimes happen. Excellent editing, with just a few mistakes. Cautious 5*

I have no clue where this series is going but it is enjoyable. The stats are a bit much but can be glossed over. Having someone who can't attack others directly and be a solo adventurer yet remain #1 seems impossible but....

I enjoyed the story, there was good storytelling, lots of action, magic and the character development, in my opinion, a bit on steroids! I liked the bit of mystique surrounding the main character the author was able to instill in the narrative. In my opinion, the ending had less cathartic effect than the first two books. Especially regarding the " Rip Van Winkle" effect the author included in the final chapters, I could not understand how it furthered the plot? Is he trying to set up an environment where the protagonist can better form a more cohesive team? Make an environment whereas, the author wants to develop chemistry between the hero and the " psychic" ex message therapist? Set the main character up to fulfill higher level dungeons where no one dies? By the end of book three the main character, in my opinion, should have corrected more of his character flaws (i.e. knowledge base, emotions). Also I do applaud the author in varying the spells the Hero uses in the fight scenes, and how he tied it to his skill advancement! Good job.

The rollercoaster rides still going strong and I can’t wait to see what’s next. This series is very fun and I enjoy the characters and mental ramblings of the main character.

This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like the Succubus class woman. I anxiously await the sequel.