Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The good: Auntie is always a breath of fresh air and claw. The mystery is fairly interesting, at least at first.

The so-so: Toby is... getting a bit annoying. Being pregnant doesn't explain how so very often she gaslights Tybalt. And no, wanting freedom after going stir crazy is not a valid excuse to throw good advice out the window, even IF it is a REALLY REALLY old trope for tv and movies and churned books.

I guess I'm a bit more than annoyed. Characters who have shown brains in the past and who have gone through a TON of crap and supposedly learned from past mistakes should NOT be doing such blatant stupidity not just once, but three times in one novel. Often specifically because her husband JUST wants to protect her and is worried about his wife who is 8 months pregnant. And is getting targeted by political crap. And has long-standing enemies still free and acting suspicious.

Okay. I guess I'm very annoyed. I know we're given Toby's PoV and reasons and they seem very valid and all but she keeps on getting captured and poisoned and threatened and gets her head bashed in but it's all OKAY because a Knight and she's important and the Queen expects her to be above and beyond so that's all the reason she needs to have to be stupid as hell.

Toby. Seriously. It IS okay to slow down for half a second and if you can't, GATHER YOUR TROOPS and STOP GETTING MIND-FUCKED. Again.


But the good? I'm still invested enough in the series that I can get this emotional over the stupid decisions instead of just dropping it.



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Home Sweet Home by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely beautiful. So much happens. I love Mathews' writing.

This concludes this particular series and while I was pretty much enthralled from the start, I was truly amused and thrilled by the utterly bonkers power levels we got to by the end. Sure, we get to god-levels in LitRPGs all the time, and MANY of these substitute for mental health manuals almost automatically, but not ALL of them pull it off.

We went from baby god to beastly in this book, but what was most amusing was the pure enjoyment the character (and I) had with all the different kinds of power-enhancement schools, be it card-making, divinity, cultivation, chaos magic, or even System-like adventuring. And being chased by hard-hitting gods the entire time, getting pissed off that you're screwing up all of history, was just great spice.

But really? The novels are about friendships. Letting people in. Letting go of your preconceptions and the past, or perhaps letting go of the future. Indeed, a lot of it was all about letting the present happen, letting those who love you be there for you.

But written large. Fantastical. Timey-wimey, illusion-heavy, phased reality, gorgeously diverse storytelling. With dimension-hopping spiders.

And the cutest mimic ever.



Truly great stuff. Rich as hell.


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A Trek Through Time by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful. Very light timey-wimey stuff, but perfectly aligned to service a great story.

If the first novel was packed with great plot and progress, this one took a more steady turn to cultivation. It didn't go ALL OUT into the progression/regressor direction, but it had enough of both to keep us on our toes. Especially when it came to killing the gods that kept coming to kill him. :)

Yep. This is a light, easygoing, friendship-building novel that includes killing gods.

And I'm all for it. Stuck in the deep past, surrounded by old, doddering old gods and upstart new gods, and the cultivators that keep all the gods in check... a new power has come to the world. One with cards. :)

Muahahahahahahahaha what a delightful mess. And it's genuinely heartwarming, too. Jake's magical market is thriving.

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Jake's Magical Market by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was extremely impressed with Nova Roma, so picking up Mathews' other series was a no-brainer.

I was immediately impressed with the easygoing and laid-back personality and was amused by the card-based magic system I'd grown to love in All The Skills, but what really sticks with me is the amazing variety of plots, locations, characters, reversals, power-ups, and eventual massive last reversal.

I am used to something on the level of maybe half as much happening in another LitRPG of the same size.

But more than all of that, I have grown to truly love this guy and his overall positive attitude, not to mention his mostly positive choices. Sure, some really questionable actions and choices ARE here, but I'm loving the conflicts.


I DID imagine that this was going to be a truly laid-back LitRPG based on the title, and it has a ton of it, but amazingly enough, it also has the full works. And more, on top of that.

A definite recommend.

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The Second Expedition by Tao Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to say this is... decent. It still feels just like a long-running Kung Fu series, with a few enlightenment sequences to give us the true progression feel. The story is simple, with a few side adventures and reversals ending in the sub-arc that was the initial reason for the adventure in the first place.



I want to like this more than I do. It's ... decent. Not that exciting. Just solid. I may return to it sometime, but I keep wondering if it'll get truly interesting soon.

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Defiance of the Fall 17: A LitRPG Adventure by TheFirstDefier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One caveat before I review this.

I actually enjoy wild, crazy tales that keep trying to one-up the crazy conditions needed to cultivate into ++++++ godhoods among a slew of other gods, while always realizing there's at least three whole grades worth of god civilizations ahead of you to kill as you cultivate.

The fact that this book just happens to be a continuation of a crazy fetch-em ancient dead civilization quest that happens to to suck you into memory-civilizations that you can loot and change to affect the future where you came from is just an added bonus.

Of course, if you're dunked head-first into this and you're unable to quite follow what ever the hell is going on at any moment, this MIGHT seem like a clusterfuck of religious gobbligook mixing Tao and Buddhist and countless void, chaos, life, death IDEA formations harboring massive amounts of iconic and archetypal powers that need to be fixed and fitted into massive soul-formations, then it MIGHT seem a bit... fucked.

BUT some of us like this crazy ass shit. It's pretty fucking creative. BONKERS. But creative. Turning already bonkers cultivation storytelling into OP OP OP bonkers cultivation storytelling.

And mad props to it.

Just consider this a quest for YOU, too.

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The First War by Tao Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I do honestly prefer steady progression in novels like this as compared to pure chaos, I can admit when war and chaos can have its place.

Still, I DO prefer training and cultivation and breaking through personal barriers. I can't wait to get back to that.

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