An unexpected gem

Wasn’t sure what to expect but this is a remarkable little tale and well worth the time!

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every single one

I thought i would give one of these a go, ive just finished the last one. good story, solid world building, interactions between friends and foes made me smile laugh and frown. The only bit which is a pain is the stats being read, its too much info to actually take in but you get used to it and it's well worth it. narator plays all the characters well.

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Fun story, but the narration is tiresome

Fun story, but the narration is tiresome and the stats gets repeated so many times and it goes on and on for several minutes. Not sure if I'll bother with book two, even though I like the story.

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Great book

What an amazing listen, I couldn't stop or put it down. I highly recommend it, I've already downloaded the second one and can't wait to listen.

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1 person found this helpful

the story is carried by the narrator.

the narrator is doing a good job, but the story is not served well by its main character.

the main theme of the protagonist is that he has to be immaginative to properly use his powers, but he squanders that power because me lacks imagination.

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A very original and enjoyable beginning.

I discovered LitRPGs only 2 years ago but have read over 100 since then and find them a very mixed bag. Often my main criticisms are that the creatures they face are rather generic and predictable and how they're full of stats every few seconds.

In First Sorceror, I found none of this and not only was it light on the stats (concentrating only on those relevant to the moment) but the creatures Kyle has created are both original but also worthy of being included in anyone's tabletop gaming session.

Viewed as a standalone story, it is somewhat lacking as there is a Lot of preamble and finding of feet but once it gets going the action is fast, fights innovative and the (rather small) cast interesting enough. It feels a lot like what it is, an origin story and so there is a lot of ground work to place but this may put some people off, which is a shame as it is still thoroughly enjoyable and original.

I've also noticed a lot of reviewers finding fault with the narration, one even calling it 'old fashioned' (?) but I found Basil Sands' work excellent throughout with everything clear and concise and adding emotion where needed and adding a brilliant sense of personality to all the characters regardless of gender.

In all I did find it dragged a little in the last few chapters, almost feeling as if it was floundering a little but this didn't go as far as to leave a bad taste and left me still wanting more and so I will certainly be checking out book 2 in the future.

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2 people found this helpful

Solid Litrpg

Solid litrpg, focused plot with lots of magical theory and good characterisation.
Narration is somewhat old fashioned but good nonetheless.

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3 people found this helpful

one for the nerds

if you like gaming and stats, but not actually playing the game yourself, then this is for you. That's all there is here. Someone playing a game 1 step at a time and the stats generated by that step.

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Dull

There was very little to this story that had any originality. Whilst it wasn’t bad, neither was it good. However what killed it for me was the narration. It was dull and boring. It made an ok story into something that was just horrible. If you listen to a preview and are ok with the narrator then give it a listen. Otherwise you would be better off not wasting your time with this book. Shame really as it had potential with a bit of added imagination from the author and a good narrator.

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Badly written decent story with good narration

When I say this is badly written I am not kidding. The writer clearly does not know what half his sayings or phrases mean as he uses them awkwardly or plain wrong in many instances. I could have sword English weas his second language but apparently it's not. And though I can understand a writer having a dictionary ready a good one is aware of how people speak, and how natural language sounds when read to you. Using words like prevaricated (incorrectly obiously) make the narration sound quite silly, and as if a child was trying to sound mature.

That said, the narration is engaging and the worldbuilding and action are, at least for the first 3/4 of the book, pretty good and definately entertaining. But tose elements drop down in quality as well towards the end of the book, with the finale being underwhelming, rushed and bland.

And then we have the MC. Initially presented like an intelligent computer programmer he has trouble grasping the most simple concepts that a 4-year old would understand. He is dense. And has a totally unearned sense of triumph at total cringy moments. With his intellect and wisdom he would have died 10 minutes in, but the writer showers him with unearned and lucky overpowered abilities so he blunders on from misread encounter to barely survived fight after fight.

If you like a decent worldbuilding with cardboard run of the mill supporting characters, written like a 4th grade project with a moronic main character competently read then this is the book for you.

Me, I am unsure how I made it to the end of this drivel. Won't be coming back to this writer ever again, that's for sure.

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