The Primal Hunter 15 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everything I wanted at this particular moment. Done with the mini-arc of the locked-off universe? Clear winners? Clear losers? Check. Now, let's knock on some doors and start up some of that other unfinished business with a certain god of hunters.

Hell, yes.

Diplomatic mission, tons of powerful peeps with good-will and an unhealthy obsession in other's sex lives? Hell, yes.

And as icing on that particular cake, we get what this series is really known for, hunts and battles and even more battles, skill-ups, levels, and monsters well above Jake's pay grade? All in a private hunting reserve of the very god of Life, itself? For fun?

Again, hell, yes.

It doesn't promise anything more than it gives, and it keeps on giving exactly what we want. Power fantasy. Friendships. Being on an equal footing, or at least the beginnings of an equal footing, with primordial gods?

Yes, please. Fun stuff.

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The Frozen Realm by Mark Arrows
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm gonna be honest. The first 3/4 was somewhat annoying because I expected a LitRPG that was mostly SF with some F elements set in a vastly changed frozen Earth with even more vast underground areas.

And we DO see some of that setting, of course, and it's good.

But the grand majority that I read comes off as a hardscrabble deep post-apoc survival SF with ancient relic knights and one kid with serious daddy issues. Most of which he works out WITH his daddy in the text.

Let me be clear that this isn't a deal breaker, but being billed as an adventure and especially as a LitRPG, there are a few elements we tend to expect, such as one overwhelming advantage that actually lets our poor MC survive in a unique way against all odds. And this, unfortunately, doesn't really show up until MUCH later. Just being saved by his dad and wishing he could be allowed to study the ruins and parse out the engineering didn't quite satisfy me.

Later, it all gets some of that, and I'm happy to continue on, but my complaint is the lack of a real heroic hook until FAR into the novel.

But it did get there eventually. And the backstory is now pretty cool. It made me work for it. But damn, I'm glad that bit's done. :)


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Carpet Diem by Justin Lee Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Missing that old Good Omens vibe? A little tongue-in-cheek comedy-adventure?

This ain't bad for that itch. Different kind of story, absolutely, with lots of rhymes, sexy humor, and a likable recluse-turned-hero.

Light fun.

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The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this one was a winner. It's not often you see a crafty disabled dragon learning to trust a human to bring him back to health, join the army, learn some secrets, and help his human get some action. All while having snarky conversations with yourself, or at least your other personalities living in your multiple heads.

It's billed as a cozy fantasy and it definitely is, but it also gears up in the second half of the novel to fighting and dealing with some rather big issues. (Plotwise, if not character-wise.)

All in all, it reads a little annoyingly in the beginning, but once we get into human society, I found it awfully comfortable and amusing. It flows well. And when the jig is up, it's interesting how the changes keep coming.

Definitely worth the read if you want some cozy dragon fiction.

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Ascension by Nicholas Binge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to love this novel simply because it tries to do so damn much. All at once, it tries to be a mystery a-la Vandermeer's Area X, a hard SF a-la Bear's Tangents, a big-scope mind exercise like Reynolds is wont to do, and, interestingly, a thin-air experiment in mountain climbing and time dilation.

It has ALL the elements that I'd classify as a rip-roaring good time. And, for the most part, it pulls it off.

Where I stumbled a little was in the characters' pathos. It should have been fine, honestly, but I was perhaps a bit annoyed with the length of time spend on the past when I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe that's just a me thing, but I found myself wanting more and more of the present and a progression of the plot, or perhaps something really surprising to come along and jar everything loose once again.

It does happen. And I really did enjoy this book, but it still kept it from truly flowing well for me. It was close, however.


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Andy in the Apocalypse 2: A LitRPG Adventure by Plum Parrot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty standard LitRPG, with the focus on settlement building and early-days threats before a full invasion of Earth.

For all that, it's still enjoyable and an easy read, but I don't expect anything else from Plum Parrot. I'm almost always very satisfied, and this is no different.

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Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is also pretty funny, especially in the growing situation of her afterlife and the meaning behind it. It moves away from the whole "Hey Satan, it's me, Margaret," Bloom meets Dante reference and goes all fate-and-ghost-and-family drama in this one.

And while it isn't all heavily focused on individual zingers like the first, it DOES have some killer situational humor. Real dookies of situational humor. So much so that it's almost Palahniukian in its power.

Oh, wait.

Yep, this is absolutely a Palahniuk. Deliciously dark and evil while being almost or even completely innocent and relatable.

And those rites of the dead? Muahahahahaha



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