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Advent

Red Mage, Book 1

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Advent

By: Xander Boyce
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
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About this listen

Drew Michalik was working in a top-secret facility in Washington, DC, when the Advent began. As all electronics in the world simply ceased to work, blue screens filled with information appeared before him.

Drew was given access to a mana interface and a limited number of reality-altering crystals called Xatherite. Following the instructions on his vision-impairing screens, he "slotted" his Xatherite and changed his fate: He gained the ability to cast spells. Now alone in the dark, he must battle through the government bunker turned dungeon in a desperate bid for survival.

Escape is only the beginning, the first of his many problems in the changed world. Drew will be tasked to not only survive...but to guide the rest of humanity safely through the anarchy.

©2018 Mountaindale Press (P)2018 Mountaindale Press Classics Cyberpunk Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Survival LitRPG
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I had such high hopes for this book, but instead I found it... meh.

Don't get me wrong, it has its good points. The magic system is varied and complex (perhaps too complex? I really felt like I needed a pen and paper sometimes) and the world-building is unique: Earth has been seeded by a space faring civilisation with the intent of generating soldiers and mana for an intergalactic war. It's finally come online, awaking earth's inhabitants to powers which are unique to each individual, as well as a whole bunch of monsters who are out for blood.

Military terminology used in the book feels authentic (the author's bio says he has a naval background). Writing was of a high quality, with zero grammatical errors.

On the neither good-or-bad side, the author has a tendency to go into excessive descriptive detail. This may be a positive to other people, but I just didn't need a blow-by-blow of every single move in a fight, or to be told ad nauseam about every new level of a powerup he gets, or overlong descriptions of any new place before a scene begins. Some people may enjoy a style of writing where it takes longer to describe a scene that it does for the character to pass through it. I didn't. For 90% of the book, I was more bored than edge-of-my-seat.

On the negative side... how to describe it... I just found myself rolling my eyes. A lot.

The MC is OP for no reason *rolls eyes*
The love interest is attracted to him for no reason *rolls eyes*
He's the entire person in an entire military base brave enough to fight the monsters *rolls eyes* and also apparently the only person who's ever played a video game in his life *rolls eyes*
The MC gets a bunch of attack spells because magic is unique according to personality, but has never been a fighter *rolls eyes*
Everyone else (again, on a military base) gets talents like 'magic sewing' and the ability to make glowing rocks *rolls eyes*
And finally, the MC is, quite literally, the most important person in the world (a concept that is never really explained. I mean, he can throw fireballs, how is that going to fend off aliens in spaceships?). If he dies, entire solar systems will be destroyed. Yet the super powerful beings who tell him this, and need him to live, just leave him surrounded by monsters with a 'good luck?' *rolls eyes rolls eyes rolls eyes*

Like I said, the book's not bad. It's just... not good. Still, especially if you like OP characters and lots of description, it might be worth giving it a shot.

Yawn...

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I read this book a few years ago, and only recently bought the audible. Kudos to the author, it's the rare book that I'll happily read again. Onto book 2. It hits all the right notes for me for any litrpg reader out there, give this book a try, you won't regret it.

Play within a play

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Great book, looking forward to the next one. My only complaint is that it is a bit short. Otherwise great.

Starts off slow but really gets you hooked.

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i loved sooo much i cant wait for more to come out, please write more volumes i cant wait
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩😏🤩

Great then Great

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The plot is mediocre, most characters are unlikable,
The powers are supposed to sound all great and mighty but comes out somewhat lacking.
But it's all expected in a low grade YA,
the thing that really grinds my gears is that there is at least 25 minutes spread out over like SIX part of completely mechanical "congratulations sub lieutenant you gained a skil: boring to death, congratulations sub lieutenant you gained a skill: how much more, congratulations sub lieutenant you gained a skill: end it all please"
It was SO Bad I had to skip forword and not know which skills he had, and guess what? I was fine.

A reletivevly fine read

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