He Who Fights With Monsters: Outworlder by Travis Deverell (Shirtaloon)

On August 27, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Throwback ThursdayLeave a comment

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 7 July 2026, originally published 23 February 2021)

Series: He Who Fights With Monsters – Volume One

Length: 755 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Looking for something to scratch your LitRPG itch? Then dive into the acclaimed world of He Who Fights With Monsters, the first entry in an impressive series from Australian author Travis Deverell.

Fantasy fiction has a lot of interesting subgenres to it, with one of the more distinctive being the popular LitRPG genre, which throws ordinary humans into RPG settings. This often results in some awesome narratives, where self-aware characters attempt to survive in fantasy worlds where the game system and its components are part of the setting. While I so far haven’t read a ton of LitRPG books, it is a subgenre that I’m getting a lot more into recently, especially as there are a ton of awesome and often bonkers LitRPG books out there. It’s thanks to this interest in the wider LitRPG genre that I made sure to pick up a copy of the first volume of Travis Deverell’s He Who Fights With Monsters, a long-running series that is considered a major recent addition to LitRPG fiction.

Travis Deverell is an Australian author who rose to prominence through writing on the Royal Road web novel site. Also known as Shirtaloon, Deverell’s work on Royal Road formed into the He Who Fights With Monsters series, which has previously been released through independent publishing. I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of the new trade paperback first volume of He Who Fights With Monsters released by Penguin Random House Australia (through their Michael Joseph imprint), I was quite intrigued by its fun sounding plot. As such, I eagerly dived into this first book (titled in this release as Outworlder), and swiftly got drawn into this cool new series.

Plot Synopsis:

It’s not an easy career jump, going from retail assistant manager to interdimensional adventurer. Jason doesn’t have much of a choice, though, when he wakes up naked confused in a world of mystery and magic.

It wasn’t prophecy that brought him here. He wasn’t chosen. It was the wrong place, the wrong time and the very, very wrong guy. The wizard who summoned him by accident does not react well.

In short order, Jason will have to fight monsters, face cultists, escape cannibals and find some pants, preferably not in that order.

The good news? He has powers. The bad news? They’re kind of evil.

With no idea where he is or what he’s doing, he’s going to need friends, and fast, because in this world, power isn’t just about magic and monsters.

Jason will have to deal with politicians, noble houses and crime lords to survive. He’ll need to master his powers, evil or not, hopefully without becoming the worst monster of all.

Now that was a particularly epic and ultra-fun read. I must admit that I didn’t quite know what to expect from He Who Fights With Monsters, but I honestly loved every second I spent with it. There was something about this great first volume that quickly drew me in, and I soon got stuck powering through the novel’s wildly entertaining and compelling story. A remarkably addictive read that serves as an outstanding introduction to the He Who Fights With Monsters series, I am so very glad I got a copy of this book.

The plot behind this first volume of He Who Fights With Monsters was extremely fun and awesome, and I was really impressed with how effectively Deverell dragged me into the action. Starting off with a classic LitRPG set-up, with protagonist Jason Asano awaking in a strange fantasy land with no idea how he got there. Equipped with a gaming interface and character abilities, Jason is soon forced to fight off monsters and cannibalistic cultists in a series of escalating misadventures while trying to figure out what is going on. I quite liked this start to the story, although I felt it didn’t get going until Jason met up with several fellow adventures who, after some mutual saving and unlikely victories, agree to help Jason and teach him about this new world.

From this initial starting point, Deverell soon creates a rich and complex larger narrative and surrounding setting, and the reader gets an excellent crash-course in the magical system, how the world is set up, an explanation for how Jason is there. With no other option, Jason accompanies his new friends on a journey to a nearby major city, and starts the process to become an adventurer, which includes taking on quests, fighting monsters and finding his own unique magical style. The author keeps building in more world-building elements in this first half of the book, and you start to get a better idea of Jason’s personality, as well as hints about future threats. The plot gets particularly interesting once Jason arrives at this volume’s central location of Greenstone, a major city where Jason endeavours to become a professional adventurer and soon gets in embroiled with a whole new range of supporting characters.

While I did quite enjoy the first half of He Who Fights With Monsters, I think the second half was stronger as Deverell didn’t need to explain the key concepts of his world as much and instead was able to unleash Jason and his full personality onto the unsuspecting city. Jason soon finds himself experiencing multiple challenges and threats as he joins the Adventurer’s Society and becomes a player in local politics. At the same time, Deverell sets up several intriguing secondary storylines around the other supporting characters, which blend well with the main adventure. There is some excellent progression in the protagonist’s abilities and insights in this second half of the book, and I found it quite amusing to try and deal with the various threats and influences of the city. Several of the ongoing storylines set in Greenstone come together in impressive fashion towards the end of the novel, especially as there is an extended series of fights with a dangerous new threat. The author throws in some last-minute tragedy, as well as some moments that hammer home the underlying issues of corruption and stupidity that Jason was fighting through most of the book. I felt that this volume ended on an interesting and compelling note, and there are several open storylines left to explore in the next volume of the story.

I rather enjoyed the writing in He Who Fights With Monsters, although it was admittedly rough in places. It was a little obvious that Deverell was writing for an online audience, which resulted in some interesting style choices, most of which you get used to as the book continues. For example, I initially questioned the author’s choice of writing this story in the third person, as I felt that a first-person perspective would have been a better choice. However, the author made this third-person perspective work, as it allowed him to set up several storylines outside of the Jason’s perspective, while also showcasing the supporting character’s view the protagonist. This book also had a great flow to it, with lots of action, compelling worldbuilding, and some very entertaining sequences.

All this resulted in an excellent blend of excitement, intrigue and humour, which was honestly addictive enough to keep me coming back and power through the over 700 pages within this volume. This very compelling writing allowed me to overlook a lot of the book’s initial roughness, although I cannot forgive the weird error that resulted in various sentences of the book having noticeably different spacing. I’m not sure if this was an issue with the Penguin release of He Who Fights With Monsters, or it’s just been carried over from the online edition, but it kept taking me out of the story, especially as the first few times I thought it was a deliberate choice to attempt to show a character talking quickly. Whatever it was, I hope it’s not in future volumes, as it looks quite amateurish next to the rest of the fantastic formatting and artwork.

On top of the exciting story, I felt that a major highlight of He Who Fights With Monsters was the compelling worldbuilding. The author clearly put a lot of thought into this compelling new fantasy world, which serves as a mirror to ours, filled with monsters, adventurers and magic. Many of these elements were quite clever in concept and utilisation, as Deverell did an outstanding job introducing all these ideas to the reader. He Who Fights With Monsters’ magical system, which involves adventurers absorbing various essences and slowly unlocking abilities associated with them, was particularly clever and helped to standout. This cool system allowed for the author to introduce to some interesting power combinations, especially for the protagonist, and you quickly get the hang of its peculiarities and enjoy all the possibilities around it.

I also was very impressed with how the author worked the LitRPG aspect of the book into the narrative, introducing a credible reason why the protagonist had a game interface into his head, and ensuring that his ability to accept quests, loot corpses and more, seemed quite natural in the context of the story. This great use of the LitRPG concept, as well as making the setting a real world with real people rather than a video game, ensured that there were some real stakes to the story, and helped to turn it into a particularly captivating adventure.

Another very interesting part of the He Who Fights With Monsters are the characters, especially the protagonist Jason Asano, who I had heard in advance was a bit of a divisive figure for readers. I initially didn’t see any issues with Jason, who at first seemed to be a typical fish-out-of-water fantasy protagonist whose lack of knowledge about what is going on allowed readers to learn about the world and magic system at the same pace. Even after the initial parts of the book, Jason seemed liked an entertaining main character, with a quirky sense of humour and insights into the fantasy world born from gamer experience.

However, once you get to the part of the story set in Greenstone, I began to understand why some readers didn’t like him, as Deverell starts to showcase his ability to read people and manipulate them. Despite being framed as a good guy, there is a certain arrogance behind how he interacts with a lot of characters, including being quite dismissive of well-established aspects of the new world he finds himself in. Jason also came across as kind of conceited when it came to dealing with the inherent inequalities of the fantasy world. While in a lot of cases this was justified, especially when dealing with incompetent or corrupt adventurers and nobles, it honestly came across as a little preachy at times. Still, this slightly annoying character trait wasn’t enough to reduce my enjoyment of He Who Fights With Monsters, and I quite enjoyed seeing Jason develop as an adventurer. While there is a certain amount of plot armour in how quickly he advances, I felt that Deverell hit the right mark in Jason’s development in this first book and ensured that it filled the bounds of a typical progressive fantasy book. I especially liked the character build that Deverall gifted Jason, turning him into a shadowy affliction specialist with various evil-themed powers. Watching Jason attempt to balance his pleasant nature with the scary abilities he needs to work with was a key part of the character’s arc in this first volume, and I think it was a compelling and memorable bit of character development. I’m very curious to see Jason evolves as the series continues, and must highlight how fun it is to have an Australian character in a big fantasy series.

I do quickly want to mention the larger cast of this first He Who Fights With Monsters book, as Deverell introduces a large group of supporting characters throughout the novel. While most of these characters are very overshadowed by Jason and his antics, there are still some entertaining or complex figures here, whose own personal storylines work into the large plot of the novel. I quite enjoyed seeing some of their relevant storylines, and it also ensured the reader got several outsider perspectives of Jason and his actions, which helped to highlight just how weird the protagonist seems to the inhabitants of this new fantasy world. Many of these characters were quite likeable, and I rather got attached to Jason’s initial party in this world, Rufus, Farrah and Gary (the three of whom get a short story at the end of this volume). While there is no major named antagonist in this first book, Deverell introduces some fun secondary villains who serve as a good initial opponent for Jason alongside the multitude of monsters he faces, especially as he is forced to deal with politics, intrigue and criminal networks. All these characters, and more, added a lot to the larger story, and the resulting interactions produced some great moments.

With a highly entertaining blend of action, complex world building and a certain chaotic energy, the first volume of Travis Deverell’s He Who Fights With Monsters proved to be an exceptional hit that I couldn’t stop thinking about. Featuring an outstanding LitRPG adventure set around a compelling protagonist, He Who Fights With Monsters was really something special, and I really couldn’t stop reading it at times. I’m definitely planning to keep reading this series now that I’ve powered through the first volume, and I cannot wait to see what crazy antics and moments happen in the rest of the series.

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The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

On August 10, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday6 Comments

Publisher: Soundbooth Theater (Audiobook – 19 March 2021)

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl – Book Three

Length: 16 hours and 54 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Matt Dinniman’s elaborate tale of carnage and comedy continues with the third entry in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, another exceptional and highly addictive novel that I could not get enough of.

Those familiar with this blog will know that I recently discovered the sheer insanity that is Matt Dinniman’s epic Dungeon Crawler Carl books. An outstanding LitRPG series that sees Earth demolished by aliens and turned into a massive, multi-layered fantasy dungeon that the surviving humans need to fight through and descend, all in the name of reality television, the Dungeon Crawler Carl novels are an incredible collection of books with some amazing depth to them as they follow two of the more explosive dungeon crawlers, the gruff Carl and his now sentient cat, Princess Donut. I powered through the first two books in the series, Dungeon Crawler Carl and Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, in no time at all, and both were epic five-star books. Due to how incredible these first two books were, I just had to continue the series, and I instantly started listening to the third book, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, as soon as I finished off Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, and boy was it something special.

After the cataclysmic end to the third floor of the dungeon, Carl, Princess Donut, their dinosaur pet Mongo, and new party member Katia have arrived on the fourth floor. This new floor opens all manner of changes for the crawlers, with sponsorship programs, advanced living quarters, new crafting areas and a leaderboard, all needing to be considered by Carl and his companions. At the same time, the difficulty of the game is ramping up, and this new level is far more complicated than anything they have faced before.

Known as the Iron Tangle, the fourth floor of the dungeon is a mass of interwinding subway tunnels and stations built from the world’s pillaged railway systems. Tied together in an elaborate knot, thousands of different lines populate this level, filled with random subway and train cars loaded with monsters. To survive and find the stairs to the next floor, the crawlers need to work out the elaborate puzzle of the Iron Tangle, including which areas are safe, where the monsters are coming from, and what trains can be used to get to important destinations. However, the dungeon’s creators have populated this floor with all manner of nasty surprises, surprises designed to swallow all the crawlers they can find.

Faced with a seemingly impossible puzzle before them, Carl, Donut and Katia will need to work with all the crawlers on the floor if they want to decipher the mystery of the Iron Tangle. Only by coming together can the remnants of humanity survive the horrors before them and find a way to continue descending to the bottom of the dungeon. But can Carl trust his fellow crawlers, especially now that he has a bounty on his head and a potential traitor in his own party?

Wow, wow, wow! I honestly didn’t believe that the series could get even better than the awesome first book, but Dinniman once again proves me wrong by producing a particularly elaborate third entry that I once again fell in love with. Featuring a clever and memorable new scenario, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook was an exceptional continuation of the series, bringing back all Dinniman’s great characters, complex RPG elements and insane humour, and producing a particularly special story with it. This is another incredible Dungeon Crawler Carl book that gets a well-deserved five-star rating from me.

Like the previous entry in the series, the plot of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook covers the protagonists’ attempts to journey through a single level of the dungeon, in this case the massive fourth floor, which is made up of an elaborate tangle of monster-filled subway tunnels. Thanks to The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook having a longer length than the previous novels and not requiring any substantial introduction material, Dinniman is able to spend a substantial amount of time fleshing out the exploration of this level, and the primary focus of the plot focuses on the characters trying to find the various tricks of the Iron Tangle. While the narrative of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook is a little slower paced than the previous entries in the series, you soon get engrossed in this complex adventure narrative, especially as there is the usual fun humour, cool character dynamics and the inevitable explosive solutions to all the problems the characters encounter. Dinniman also spends time expanding on some of the background character plots and wider universe narrative threads that give greater context to the events of the dungeon. While these parts aren’t as prevalent as in the original novel, you still get some interesting continuation of the wider conspiracies and issues surrounding the crawl and the whole series, which come into play in some compelling ways.

While the first half of the book is very awesome and has some great moments, it is the second part of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook that really ensures that readers will come away from this novel particularly happy. Starting with a fantastic and particularly bloody rescue sequence when Carl and his associates attempt to save a bunch of trapped fellow crawlers and initiate a group stand against the horrors of the Iron Tangle, the plan swiftly breaks down in some particularly memorable ways, with the entire dynamic of the dungeon changing in a single moment. Other great scenes, including a confrontation between Carl and one of his main enemies in the dungeon, also add to the general drama of the novel, and I love how these complex moments, as well as the entire plot of the second half of the book, perfectly flows from the great build up Dinniman featured in the first half of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, as well as a multitude of other great plotlines the author has been building up throughout the series.

This impressive narrative eventually leads up to the big and massively destructive conclusion of the book, which was a perfect end to such a captivating novel. Dinniman cleverly builds up the tension in the lead-up to this finale, and you know that the other shoe is about to drop in a big way. When it does, Dinniman does not disappoint, forcing the protagonist into some elaborate life and death scenarios, including one particularly epic showdown. I really loved how all these intense and action-packed sequences came together, and you are constantly on your edge of your seat as you wait to see what happens next. The protagonist’s various creative plans and failed solutions in the face of these over-the-top scenarios really add to the outrageous entertainment value of the book, and I cannot emphasise enough what an awesome conclusion The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook had. The author also cleverly sets up the events for the next book, with several hints at key moments to come, and you are left eagerly waiting for even more of the series, especially after seeing how crazy and intense things got in this novel.

Dinniman did another outstanding job writing this third Dungeon Crawler Carl book, and I really appreciated how he brought the same energy and level of excitement to The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook. The reader is once again treated to an amazing amount of complex action, intriguing LitRPG elements, captivating character growth, and the author’s outstanding humour, which equates to a particularly gripping and intense read. I liked that The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook had a much more effective pace than the second novel, and the entire journey through the floor was very well set out and quite captivating. While the labyrinthine nature of the Iron Tangle is a little hard to follow at times, I think this worked well in the context of the story, as it helped to underscore the confusing puzzle that the protagonists had to solve, and you really have to appreciate the sheer inventiveness that the author threw into this distinctive fourth floor.

As with the second novel, I felt that people interested in trying out this series really shouldn’t start with The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, and instead they need to read the preceding novels first. While this third novel does have a bit more internal recapping, as the protagonist thinks back to key events, Dinniman does drop the reader into the story immediately after the closing moments of Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, which will confuse most new readers. The author again builds on the cool LitRPG elements of the previous novels, adding in even more classic gaming features that the protagonists, and through them the readers, need to keep in mind as the book progresses. All these features have an effective introduction so that anyone can understand their impact, no matter their experience with RPGs, and Dinniman works them into the wider plot extremely well. As always, a lot of the dryer LitRPG elements of the book are made a lot more entertaining thanks to the over-the-top explanations, clever jokes, and the general insane manner in which the protagonists utilise them, and those reader’s with less interest in stats, abilities or equipment, will still have fun with the scenes focussed on them, especially as they feature some of the book’s funniest lines. The rest of the novel also features a great comedic tone, and I laughed so many times throughout The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, especially as Dinniman keeps upping the ante with the plot and forcing the protagonist into even more ridiculous scenarios.

This great humour is well balanced by the often more serious character moments that Dinniman does a wonderful job inserting into the story. Most of these revolve around the perspective character, Carl, who serves as the voice of the entire story. A sarcastic, gruff and scarred figure, Carl serves as an excellent everyman protagonist for the series, and you soon get very attached to him, especially as he attempts to be the dungeon’s hero and save everyone he can. The author builds up some really moving storylines around Carl in this third book, and I loved seeing his continued growth as the team’s unofficial leader, as his accurate insights and tactical ideas really move the plot along. There are some very dramatic moments loaded in as Carl encounters the various dark sides of the dungeon, and I loved the big anti-authoritarian aspect to the character that Dinniman is expanding upon, especially as he witnesses more and more of the dungeon’s cruelty. The inclusion of the titular Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, a secret in-game book that gives him hints and ideas to survive in the dungeon, was a fun twist, and I loved how it gave him even more explosive ideas, while allowing the author to explore his rebellious side even more. Despite being a mostly serious figure, there is still a lot of humour around Carl, mainly from him being the straight man in a very ridiculous place, and you have to love his very reasonable reactions to some of the weird things he witnesses. Dinniman also continues the very funny trend of having Carl gain a well-deserved reputation of being one the craziest crawlers in the dungeon, mainly due to his tendency of solving all his problems with explosives, and there is a lot of entertainment in seeing Carl’s various plans go further off the rails than intended.

In comparison to Carl, sentient cat Princess Donut is the fun face of the team, and it’s impossible not to love her various antics and over-the-top attitudes. Her many entertaining quirks, including her obsession with fame, hilarious insights into humans, her long-running grudge against all Cocker Spaniels, her relentless use of all-caps in chat mode, and her general cat-like personality all add a lot of amusement to the novel, and you have to love the odd-couple relationship that forms with Carl. So many of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook’s funniest sequences result from Donut’s antics and Carl’s subsequent reactions, and this novel would not be as entertaining without her. Despite mostly being a comedic figure, Donut does get some serious interactions with the other characters, which help to showcase her character growth and protective nature. Her occasional vulnerable and honest discussions with Carl really highlight their bond, and she has one of the best moments in the entire book when she overreacts after a friend is hurt. I really cannot emphasise enough what a great character Donut is, and I really love that Dinniman decided to make this hilarious sentient cat one of his main protagonists.

I also must mention the newest member of the protagonist’s party, Katia, a shy woman who has taken on a shapeshifting race that allows her to act as an effective tank. I must admit I wasn’t too certain about Katia as a character at the start of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, due to her understated personality and somewhat random introduction and inclusion to the team in the second half of the previous novel. However, Dinniman steadily builds up her complex personality as the book continues, and thanks to the continued support of her new party, as well as Carl’s various attempts to hack her race features, she becomes quite an effective crawler, gaining a lot more confidence. Her unique abilities and likeable personality nicely compliment the already existing team of Carl and Donut, and they end up becoming a well-balanced trio thanks to her inclusion. The author also sets up an intriguing storyline around Katia’s conflicting loyalties between her previous party and the current group of Carl and Donut, which come into play perfectly during one of the novel’s big moments. Katia ends up becoming quite an awesome part of the book thanks to these scenes, and I loved the excellent new dynamic she brings to the series.

Aside from these main three characters, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook features a really impressive supporting cast, especially as Dinniman brings back a lot of awesome characters from the previous two novels. This includes Donut’s pet, Mongo, a giant velociraptor who was once again a fun addition to the plot. While Mongo does get used a little less in the book thanks to the compact train cars of the setting, he made an impact when he did appear (especially to a certain gnoll) it is very entertaining to see Donut finally able to ride him. The group’s manager, Mordecai, was once again perfect as the reluctant and exasperated mentor figure, who plays off the personalities of the main protagonists perfectly. One excellent scene in the book ended up limiting Mordecai’s role in The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, which serves as an effective handicap for the protagonists, while also hinting at Mordecai’s traumatic past, and I look forward to the author expanding on that in the future.

This lack of Mordecai also allows for the author to feature a lot of additional characters, which fits the giant group teamwork focus of the plot, and it was fun to see some of Carl and Donut’s acquaintances from the previous two books return here, especially as several have changed in some very entertaining ways. I need to highlight the return of antagonist Frank Q, whose big scene with Carl was one of the most powerful moments of the novel, especially as Frank seemingly gets his revenge. Other previously mentioned antagonists, including some introduced outside the dungeon, are brought back here, often in a big way, and their interactions with Carl are always quite destructive. Dinniman also focuses on an array of NPC characters in The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, and the dark plight of these poor figures helps to showcase both the protagonist’s empathy and the twisted nature of the entire dungeon process. Finally, I again need to mention the hilarious AI who runs the dungeon, as the disembodied figure is easily the most hilarious character in the series thanks to his unhinged descriptions, brilliant references, and the twisted way he manipulates the crawlers to get the funniest result for the audience. I love how Dinniman showed how the AI is starting to crack a little, especially when it begins rebelling against the corporation running the game (how dare they appeal the AI’s decisions), and I laughed so hard at so many things the AI said. All these characters, and more, were very entertaining to follow, and I love the many rich character arcs and moments that the author cleverly inserted into the novel’s plot.

I have been having an absolute blast with the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks, and I didn’t even hesitate in choosing to also listen to The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook on this format. Unsurprisingly, this was another exceptional listen as the audiobook version of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook really helped to highlight all the best aspects of the book, including the great action, amazing characters and brilliant, over-the-top humour. Coming in at nearly 17 hours, this was the longest Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks yet (they only get even longer from here), although I still managed to power through it in very quick order. A large reason this audiobook was so good was because the very talented Jeff Hays once again impressed as narrator. Thanks to his zany voices Hays makes this audiobook truly come alive, and I love how perfectly he inhabits all the crazy and complex characters featured within this book. There is an outstanding array of accents, parody voices, and over-the-top tones from Hays in this audiobook, and all the voices were a lot of fun, especially for some of the big or exaggerated monsters. I again need to highlight his excellent voices for Carl and Princess Donut, and it’s just amazing how he can embody both very divergent characters. I also loved the voice he used for the system AI, especially as Hays brings out all the disembodied figure’s sass, anger and sadistic comedy with his reading of the announcements, especially when the AI gets freaky or mad. This Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook also features the voice of Youtube personality The Critical Drinker, who voices a minor character in a well-done, if unnecessary, inclusion. I felt this entire audiobook came together pretty damn perfectly, including the very funny ad for Soundbooth Theater thrown in at the end, and I honestly don’t think I would enjoy this series nearly as much if it weren’t for these fantastic audiobook productions. I plan to listen to all future Dungeon Crawler Carl novels on audiobook, and I know I am going to have so much damn fun doing so.

With yet another explosive story, loaded with great characters, clever RPG inclusions and the author’s outstanding humour, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook was extremely epic, and I could not get enough of it. The best book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series so far, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook was ultra-impressive, and Matt Dinniman did an exceptional job bringing everything together. I enjoyed this novel so much that I once again decided to start reading the next book in the series the moment I finished this one and then continued after that. As such, I am currently in the middle of the fifth book in the series, The Butcher’s Masquerade, after loving the fourth book, Gate of the Feral Gods, and both are incredibly awesome and so much fun.

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Altered Realms: Ascension by B. F. Rockriver

On February 9, 2021August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction3 Comments

Altered Realms cover

Publisher: Audible (Audiobook – 18 November 2020)

Series: Altered Realms – Book One

Length: 21 hours and 26 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for a really cool LitRPG novel? Look no further than one of my favourite debuts of 2020, the impressive first book in the Altered Realms series, Ascension by B. F. Rockriver.

Welcome to the magical land of Entarra, an elaborate world filled with all manner of complicated people, creatures and war, where death lies just around the corner. For simple hunter Eli Miller, his life consists of protecting his family and his small grove from outside forces, the most dangerous of which are the Adventurers. The Adventurers are a dangerous group of seemingly immortal beings from another dimension who treat his world like their own personal playground, killing and destroying all they encounter with little concern for consequences and the lives of the citizens of Enterra.

When a group of Adventurers attack his home, killing him and his family, Eli finds his worst nightmare coming true when, after being stabbed by a mysterious blade, instead of dying he becomes an Adventurer. Forced to become a whole new person, Eli returns to his hometown, only to discover that no-one recognises him and that he is now bound to the rules of Enterra, with quests, character sheets and a bodiless guide voicing advice in his head.

As Eli begins to explore the limitations of his new life, he soon begins to realise that his world was not what he thought it was. Enterra Online is a vast and futuristic video game, of which he and his family were NPCs, or non-player characters. Determined to find out if his family also somehow survived and get revenge on the people who attacked and killed him, Eli begins to play the game and soon becomes involved in a quest to save the land from the mysterious Blight. Teaming up with fellow Adventurer Don Nutello, Eli begins to master his new character and level up. But as the two progress even further, the finds that something is very wrong with Enterra Online. Forced to contend with mindlessly controlled Blighted creatures, dangerous magic users and corrupted Adventurers, Eli will need to use every bit of his resolve and courage to face his destiny. If he fails, it could mean the destruction of Enterra and every person and NPC trapped within.

This was an interesting and compelling read from a brand-new author who has created an excellent LitRPG novel. I have to admit that the Literary Role Playing Game genre, which features fantasy or science fiction adventures set within the environments of a game (rather than a tie-in novel, like a World of Warcraft book for example), is one that I am not massively familiar with. I have only really read one or two of these sorts of books in the past (the first two novels in Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller’s Last Reality series, Otherworld and OtherEarth are the only ones coming to mind at the moment), but it is a genre that I have always been interested in as there are some fantastic-sounding LitRPG novels out there. A couple of weeks ago I was in the mood to try something new and thought that this would be a good place to start, especially after I came across the synopsis for Altered Realms: Ascension. Ascension is the debut novel of exciting new author B. F. Rockriver, which I believe was previously released in parts online, and it ended up being a particularly fun and exciting read. This was an outstanding debut and a particularly good introduction to the LitRPG genre for me.

I thought that this was a pretty impressive first effort from Rockriver, who tells a rather intriguing tale in Ascension that felt to me like a fun combination of Sword Art Online and the upcoming Ryan Reynolds film, Free Guy, as an NPC starts to play the game he is trapped within. Told primarily from the point of view of Eli, Ascension contains a vast and compelling narrative filled with adventure, action and substantial world-building, as Eli turns from a hapless, yet sentient, NPC into an Adventurer, and is forced to play Enterra Online the same way the human players do. The story takes a little while to get going, with the author building up some key elements in the beginning, but once the main character gets killed and then respawned as an Adventurer, allowing for the intriguing RPG elements to work their way into the plot, the book really picks up. The reader is than treated to an intriguing bit of world-building as the gameplay of Enterra Online is explained, before the confused protagonist is dropped back into the world, understandably freaking out. After some false starts and the introduction of the book’s other main character, Don, Eli starts getting into the game, as he needs to gain levels and equipment to get revenge for his family. This leads the two characters to get involved in a series of interesting quests that may directly impact the survival of the entire game, forcing them to venture towards an ancient temple to cure themselves, and the world, of a magical, sentient disease known as the Blight. Along the way they’ll contend with dangerous creatures, friendly and malicious NPCs, hostile Adventurers with conflicting motivations and world-changing events that are impacting both the game and the humans trapped within. All of this leads up to an epic and exciting confrontation as Eli and his friends come face to face with the corrupted Adventurers who killed his family.

This narrative proved to be extremely exciting and captivating, and I found myself getting really caught up in the adventures of this excellent and conflicted protagonist. There are a number of amazing elements to this book, and I very much enjoyed seeing the author combine the LitRPG elements with a classic fantasy adventure tale and some cool advanced science fiction elements as well. The author does an excellent job setting up his game world throughout Ascension and the reader quickly becomes deeply concerned with the fate of Enterra Online and all its players and NPCs. I also loved all the very cool action sequences featured throughout the story, and there are a number of intense and deadly scenes that really stood out to me.

I did find the writing to be a little rough in places, and there is room for Rockriver to grow as an author. For example, there was a bit of repetition throughout the novel, as a number of key plot points kept getting brought up again and again. While some of this repetition was done to replicate how an online game talks to its players, a lot of it was the author providing unnecessary re-examinations of certain story elements, character back story and emotional responses, which I felt interrupted the flow of the novel. I also felt that Rockriver should have ended Ascension a lot sooner for a more climactic finish, as the novel continues for a number of chapters after the book’s big showdown. While this later section of the novel contained a lot of interesting and enjoyable moments, I do think that perhaps the author could have saved most of them for the next entry in the series. Still, overall this was an excellent read, especially with the inventive and exciting story, and it does set up the rest of the series quite nicely.

As I mentioned above, Ascension proved to be quite an outstanding introduction to LitRPG novels, a genre that Rockriver is clearly very passionate about. Ascension contains a huge amount of RPG elements which are seamlessly woven into the story. Once the protagonist wakes up as an Adventurer, every element of a classic MMORPG comes into effect, with Eli choosing a race, gaining experience, being forced to complete quests, obtaining skill points, distributing attribute points, deciding his class and a huge range of other game features a player in his situation would have to consider. I felt that this was an incredibly realistic portrayal of what an avatar in a game would experience, and the author covers this in exceptional detail, down to the pun-ridden quest titles and the funny names of the other Adventurers Eli and Don encounter. Rockriver has also created an impressive and vast MMORPG to serve as the setting for his novel, and it actually sounds like it would be a really cool game to play (you know, minus the ethical implications of the AI and the deadly disease which tries to turn you evil). I have to admit that I did not quite know how all the various skill and quest updates would play throughout the book, but Rockriver did an excellent job working them into the story and it felt very natural to see Eli get an update, new skill or experience. All the LitRPG elements also work incredibly well in some of the action sequences, and seeing the protagonist get debuffs or watch him lose health, mana and energy during a fight actually added to the intensity of the scenes. The author also works in some intriguing twists to the gaming world, with the protagonists set to face off against a major antagonist threatening people both in the game and outside of it, and I quite enjoyed how this raised the stakes of the narrative. Overall, I really fell in love with Ascension’s LitRPG elements, and this is definitely a genre I can see myself getting into.

I really enjoyed some of the characters featured within Ascension, as Rockriver has come up with some amazing complex figures for this clever LitRPG story. The main character is Eli, a former NPC who is turned into an Adventurer and swiftly becomes a key figure in saving Enterra Online. Eli proved to be a really intriguing character to follow, as he is forced to adventure whilst facing a major existential crisis. Due to the situation surrounding his death and rebirth, Eli is an emotional mess, grieving for the loss of his family, while simultaneously finding out that they never truly existed. This makes him a particularly deep and intriguing character to follow, as his new experiences changes his perspective completely. Thanks to his complete lack of knowledge about anything related to online gaming, Eli proves to be the perfect protagonist for this book as every element of this game is explained to him in great detail. I also quite enjoyed the fantastic handicap that Rockriver installed to his main character halfway through the book, as Eli learns a Berserk Rage move that forces him to lose control when he is close to death or encounters one of the players who killed him and his family. This causes a number intense scenes throughout the book, and I really appreciated the incredible scenes that the author wrote around the first time Eli lost control, which got pretty dark and bloody. While Eli was not the most consistent character at times, as he occasionally experiences some random personality changes, it was still really interesting to see him develop, especially as a number of intriguing elements about his past become quite essential to the plot.

Aside from Eli, the other main character in the novel is Don Nutello, a player who befriends Eli when he spawns as an Adventurer and follows him throughout the game. Don plays a humanoid turtle race, known as a Turta, and has chosen to play him as a monk class, dressed in purple and fighting with martial arts and occasionally a staff (I wonder who his favourite ninja turtle is?). Rockriver gives Don a particularly intriguing background as a former soldier playing Enterra Online long-term as a treatment for his PTSD, flashes of which come through into the game at times, and his role as a healer in the team is related to his former profession as a medic. Don proves to be a particularly great supporting character to Eli, not only helping him to understand the game but giving him a different perspective on the other people playing as Adventurers. Don also has a very appealing pacifistic edge to him, choosing not to attack people or sentient AI if he can help it, which does get the characters in trouble but helps to distinguish them from the antagonists. Don ended up being my favourite character in the end, and I really enjoyed his unique partnership with Eli as they formed a fantastic and deep friendship over the course of the novel.

In addition to Eli and Don, Rockriver has also loaded this book up with a series of intriguing side characters, most of whom are NPCs in Enterra Online. I liked the contrast in how the NPCs are blissfully unaware that they are in a game, while most Adventurers are portrayed as selfish and murderous. This is mainly because the Adventurers are unaware that the NPCs are sentient, and are playing the game the way they typically would for an MMORPG. Indeed, I routinely do all the same bad things when I play games, everyone does (or so I tell myself so I can sleep at night). This interesting dichotomy in the perceptions of the world between these two unique groups was pretty interesting to see, and I very much enjoyed seeing a game where every NPC is fed up with the invading human players.

I also have to highlight some of the fun Adventurer characters in the novel, most of whom are fairly typical of the sort of people you would encounter in the game. For example, the third person to join Eli and Don’s party is Michelle, a sexy female troll with an attitude, who serves as their tank. Michelle is one of those players who flaunts their avatar’s sexuality, even though you are a little uncertain whether they are a guy or a girl in real life. Michelle was a rather sassy and fun character to follow, and she definitely evened out the serious personalities on the team. I also quite liked some of the selfishly antagonistic Adventurers who the heroes eventually go up against, and game players will easily see parallels between them and the worst sort of people you’ve played against online, even if some may be influenced by things outside of their control. Each of these excellent characters adds a lot to this great book, and I look forward to seeing how they develop in the future instalments of this series, especially with some major changes impacting the Adventurers long term.

In order to enjoy Ascension I ended up grabbing the audiobook, which proved to be a fantastic way to experience the fun story. Ascension has a pretty hefty run-time of 21 hours and 26 minutes, which is almost one of the longest audiobooks I have ever listened to. Naturally, this took me a little while to listen to, although once I got really caught up in the story I found myself getting through it even quicker, especially with some of the epic combat sequences, which I never wanted to interrupt. I always find that the audiobook format is a great way to fully absorb all the details contained within a novel, and this was particularly true with Ascension, as Rockriver has come up with an amazing amount of inclusions that are really great to absorb in this format. This audiobook also featured the excellent narration of Maximillian Breed, a relatively new audiobook narrator, who has so far vocalised an interesting collection of fantasy and science fiction novels. I felt that Breed was a great choice for this epic audiobook and I enjoyed listening to his narration of Ascension for the full 21 plus hours. While it took me a little while to get used to his voice, I felt that it fit into the story really well, and I especially liked the somewhat robotic/computer generated tone he used whenever the system talks to the protagonist, such as during a quest update, or when it provides details about equipment or skills. All of this makes for a great listen, and I would definitely recommend the audiobook format of Ascension to anyone interested in checking out this fun book.

Ascension by B. F. Rockriver is a fantastic and impressive debut novel that serves as an outstanding first entry in the Altered Realms LitRPG series. Rockriver has come up with a clever and captivating tale that masterfully utilises video game elements, cool characters and some awesome action sequences to create a first-rate read. I had an absolutely incredible time listening to this book and I cannot wait to see where the series goes next. Rockriver is currently working on two separate novels at the moment, the second entry in the Altered Realms series, Uprising, and a companion novel, Origins, which examines the backstory of several key Altered Realms side characters. Both sound like a lot of fun, with some superb covers (BTW how epic are the covers that Ascension had!), and I look forward to reading them. Until then, Ascension is a guaranteed exciting read for LitRPG fans.

Altered Realms Cover 2

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