Advent: Red Mage, Book 1

All and all the story was entertaining and kept my attention. There were a few things I don't care for like this quote, "Stupid toxic masculinity" he muttered to himself. The world had ended and he still felt the need to appear strong."What's wrong with being and feeling strong?I am sick and tired of authors denigrating men to appease those who want to turn all men into metrosexuals or lady men.In my opinion too many authors are resorting to male bashing and belittling what makes a man a man to appease the feminist movement that is bent on turning men into wimps. What would have happened in both the first and second world wars if men weren't allowed to be masculine and strong men? We would all be speaking German right now that's what!

I didn't manage to finish this one. I just gave up halfway. It was too much power fantasy of ridiculous levels. A seriously overpowered main character that is the only one seeming to be able to do something. More or less only fighting. One of the absolutely worst plot background of all LitRPGs I've read so far.The writing is decent, no faults there. It is the plot, the main character and the pacing that is out of tune.

Do you want to hear the story of how the worlds heroes got started? How about just one hero? Welcome to Advent (Red Mage book 1), the Story of Drew Michalik. A person who has enlisted into the coast guard and is now working Cyber Security in a bunker in Washington DC. The story starts with someone saying "Begin" and the world gets assimilated into the system. Xander Boyce has woven a system that is complex and yet simple to understand. (A) connects to (b, c, and d) and can create linked skills there of (ab, ac, ad). Skills can be slotted into a persons respective chart (unique to each individual, reminds me of Final Fantasy 10's grid system but custom tailored to the individual.) A person seems to have affinity towards certain types of Xatherite (yay for color coding). The story has a lot of names to keep track of, at least for myself.I recommend giving this a read honestly. The story is compelling, well thought out and the characters act within reason for people suddenly thrown into situations well beyond their control. I haven't felt anything has been "forced" to allow plot to happen. If you're a fan of characters acting consistently with their personalities then you're going to like Advent (Red Mage book 1).Writing: 10/10Plot: 10/10Amount of research put into plumbing just for a single chapter of this story? 15/10Overall impression: A good read and somewhat thought provoking on how humans would react to being put into similar situations. If I had to choose a world to live in, this would definitely make my top 5 choices of places to live.The extra 5 points is because I HAD TO figure out why he couldn't flush in one chapter and decided to look up how plumbing works myself

I want more, this was pretty good. You have a lot of the usual lit-rpg elements and magic. Everything is based on mana and slotting skill crystals. Then you have the added element of the timeline being split or fractured off to create this new mana rich world. The story takes place in the third split.The intelligent monsters are basically aliens and starting off at the same low tech levels in dungeons. The split is there to train up humans to join the greater universe.Our hero is a bit powerful, but it doesn't feel like he's just breezing through everything. He rides the risk and gets hurt. His internal dialogue and dealing with trauma feels real.Well worth reading and I hope a sequel doesn't take too long!

The universe in Advent is stupendous. It has limitless potential across time, space, and dimensions. I am highly interested in seeing the story expand.That being said, this book has no real conclusion. It just... stops. What’s even more jarring is the 30 pages of other advertisements, stories, and appendices. Based on my position within the book, I was expecting at least 10% more content. My basic feedback here is two fold:1. There needs to be a satisfying ending to a book.2. The publisher should reduce the additives at the end. I love Dakot Krout’s books and am glad he’s helping others, but it’s too much junk at the end. It’s overwhelming and will likely reduce the number of reviews a book will get (you see the kindle review page after the final page, after all).My second point of feedback: give the main character some more flaws (read: humanity). He’s already shaping up to be planet-destroyingly powerful. There needs to be a psychological balance to that much power and responsibility. Amp up that side of the story.These points don’t detract from the potential and fun of the universe. If you like LitRPG at all, this is a great ride.

The premise was interesting and, despite errors which included words being replaced by symbols or outright missing, I was willing to entertain it. But then the main character started simping and later uttered the words "stupid toxic masculinity" blaming it for the fact that he felt shame for crying during the apocalypse. When will people learn to stop injecting their woke politics into a product they want people to buy?

Started reading this book on recommendation list for litrpg stories found on online. Its enjoyable in a way that feels satisfying when the other characters react to the main character gaining skills. This doesn't mean that the main character is such a tank that there's no levity to the story. In fact, the reader and character are both learning about the limits to the new world at the same time and this forms some doubt about how successful a plan of action really will be. There's also an overarching story about an intergalactic war. Which sounds amazing and I'm really looking forward to where this will lead. However, the side characters could be explored more.

So this was recommended to me by someone associated with the publishing house... So possibly take my review with a grain of salt.Having an interest in LitRPG before reading this helps but it's clear enough that a friend of mine without having ever been interested in such things loved this too.So having given the book five stars, why would I possibly have a problem with it? Well, it's not really a problem, just something I'm expecting to find in the second book when it's released. The secondary characters could use more filling out. I'm invested in them and looking forward to reading about what happens, but a little more would have been nice. That's about it.I enjoyed the persona of the MC and didn't feel like I couldn't see where he was coming from. In most books I read it hurts me a little when the MC does something he wouldn't do or something stupid just to get him in trouble and give the author something to bail him out of. This doesn't happen here, I can understand for the most part why he does what he does and it makes sense to me. The world structure is interesting in all it's dimensions and the power/ability structure also feels interesting and compelling.All in all, I would and will read this again probably just before reading the follow up book. There is more then enough to keep my interest for a second read. I should probably also point out that I read around eighty percent of it in one sitting.

I enjoyed this book, I like the magic system in place for characters, and while the story does seem similar to Tao Wongs The System Apocalypse series there are enough differences to put it in its own place. I only take a star off because of the op nature of the main protagonist, but thats down to personal preference as I find underdog struggles more enjoyable, I know there are others who think differently. In spite of that thou I enjoyed the story and the way the characters are trying to adapt to the changes within their world. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series. Xander Boyce is off to a good start with this one.

This is a truly great story. Our MC is a normal guy thrust into a world of chaos. The character development and progression are really good and the writing is excellent. I would recommend anyone interested in the Gamelit genre to snap the book up. I am really looking forward to the next installment.