Leveling Up The World 5 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is more of an open-ended novel after the tight plotting and wrap up of the previous. Not that that is a bad thing at all, of course. Open world exploration and working toward being a full time hunter had been the goal for a while, after all.

And it was very entertaining. And somewhat sad, too, but more importantly, we got to see some rather interesting places.

And of course, I had to pick up the next book immediately because I'm hook as hell.

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Leveling Up The World 4 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, this one had me on the edge of my seat. Especially after the last reveal/plot resolution, it just added tons of new questions and problems--all of which were resolved in this one. And beautifully so.

You know that sword that has a whole damn world in it? Yeah, we get to spend a lot of perfect-length time in it. It was great. So many tough battles and alternative ways to defeat things.

Smart. I have to admit this has exceeded my expectations now.



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Leveling Up The World 3 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm deep in the addicted territory now. Book 3 just gives me that much more of what book 2 delivered, and more. Only now, not only do we get guild stuff and leveling in all these personal awakening areas, but we get old frenemies from the old town showing up and being popular with all his new friends, too.

Of course, that's hardly surprising in a novel like this. But as always, skills, skills, skills and how you use them is everything. Bard? Yep. Beast tamer? Yep. Naruto clones and/or mental clones? Yep.

And it's all still just getting started. Barely to level 20.

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Leveling Up The World 2 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is what you call a slow-starting series. The first book was simply okay, at least to me, but the second really got going well and finished very strong.

Off on his own, heading to a real town, he makes some pretty decent friends and joins a guild. But it's the training montages, working for a living, a bit of socializing, and especially getting strong that makes this a good one. Some pretty great milestones. Some very excellent companions.

Honestly? I'm hooked to see how far this goes. I'm really enjoying the little corruptions in the world and want to see just how deep it goes.

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Leveling Up The World by L. Eclaire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I honestly started to believe this might have been kinda Disgaea for its leveling up trope, without the demons, of course, but I was pretty wrong on that count.

Sure, you can level some items by entering them but there's no real tactics, just a few minor challenges and/or fights.

What this particular LitRPG seems to have going for it is a slow grind. It literally took the entire book and the ousting of the village elder to get to level 5. Skill-ups are limited, too. Perhaps even more limited than actually LEARNING a skill in reality.

That being said, I didn't hate it. It may still have promise, especially since the core mechanic seems to have been rather un-tapped.



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The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A novella about artificial humans waking up to their sub-par existential-crisis lives aboard a spacecraft? Or about the meaninglessness and humiliation of our modern workforce?

Who knows? It works both ways to the Nth degree.

Very snarky in a subdued way. As you might guess by the premise.

Employees of the world, unite! lol

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Sub-Majer's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It continually shocks me just how ... steadying ... these books are for a reader. That's probably the best description I can make about it. There's continuous and steady pressure, calm outlooks, reliance on competence, careful thought, overwhelming force when necessary, and an always delightful magic system that is balanced perfectly with ordered military life.

These books are a repudiation of incompetence and chaos for chaos's sake.

This particular book sucked me right in and no matter what happened (taking over another post, succeeding against all odds, getting married, learning a few big surprises along the way, getting promoted SEVERAL times) it all felt inevitable and inexorable.

Rational Stars, it's good. The style and the (to be frank) perfectly mass-produced plotting is not even a detriment to the story. It's a medium to carry the FEEL we want from these books. Of course, that doesn't mean it can't surprise or take us by storm, but in general, we're meant to feel immense COMFORT.

I cannot stress how good this is. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. And I generally DON'T love military novels.

But when they serve to bring order and wisdom to the world?
Brilliant.

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