Improving LitRPG's by defying convention!

I rarely review novels these days, as a lot of people who "know better" are willing to shitcan good work because it didn't meet their expectations.

This met all of mine, and more. Genuinely worth the credit.

Yet expectations are not the point of a review. They're subjective and worth nothing to YOU!

So here's an objective assessment of Defiance of the Fall.

The story is well laid out and begins with a bit of a surprise, but moves quickly to the more comfortable narrative of a fairly standard LitRPG Apocalypse/System fare. Guy stuck in dungeon/tutorial/area overcomes adversity and kicks ass.

The significant difference here is that for almost the entire novel, the MC has no idea at all what's happening, no way to "phone home" and is forced to intuit his way to progress. The adversity comes fast and thick in the form of a demonic invasion, and the audience is drawn into the conflict with the understanding that to almost everyone involved (except the still learning MC) it's "Just Business".

This provides a nice divergence from the moralising which so many other LitRPG's get bogged down with.

Defiance of the Fall excels in exploring LitRGP systems with significant cultivation aspects, and the author's style manifests in a way that exploring those systems is tied to character action and reflection throughout the story, not letting it get bogged too much in a quagmire of uninteresting exposition.

The character development is solid, providing a MC who lives in the present and actions his quests in a thoughtful sequence, allowing the reader to observe the world as he sees it.

The few deviations in character perspective are well constructed and additive to the way the reader views the MC.

Audio performance is on point as usual, from Pavi. He is - as always - a pleasure to listen to!

Overall, a must-listen for fans of LitRPG's and cultivation novels.

10 people found this helpful

Purchase this one. I loved it.

I didn’t expect much out of this book as there were not many reviews yet. But from the start it engaged me and kept me wanting more. You don’t see many books that go for over 20 hours. Can’t wait for the next one.
Easily in my top ten. 👍

4 people found this helpful

A good story hampered by basic writing

This story is fine if you don't expect too much. I enjoyed the situation the character found himself in - your basic 'the earth has been taken over by aliens and now you've got to survive' setting - but there's no... finesse to the writing.

For example, the similes are basic and repeated often - 'flattened like a pancake,' 'green with envy,' 'bit the bullet' and 'steely eyes with a steely glint' spatter the text with little effort at originality. And words are often repeated two or three times in the same sentence / paragraph, especially in action scenes - almost like the author was so invested in writing everything in his/her head down that they forgot to go back and edit. 'He heard rustling in the bushes ahead. He crouched down and looked in the bushes ahead' or 'finally the last remnants of the wolf pack fell finally asleep.' That sort of thing.

The MC is OP as heck, so the story isn't really about him surviving. In fact, the fight scenes are kinda boring. There's a lot of them, but they're all lackluster events that are pretty much forgettable. There was no emotion and no tension, and never any doubt the MC would survive. Think 'historical records of a battle' and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

So, the writing is a little amateur. And I almost put the book down several times because of this. But something kept me listening... the storyline, I think. It's more about 'what's he going to do next, and what would I do in the same situation.'

I did enjoy the litrpg elements, and there was some town building toward the end as well. If you've got nothing else to listen to, give this a go. But it's not a series I'm going to continue.

4 out of 5 stars by litrpg standards
3 out of 5 stars if comparing to the best of wider fiction

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3 people found this helpful

This story!

It seems I've been trawling substandard stories merely in the hope to find this story. It is so VERY VERY good! I can't wait for the next installment.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic Book

What a great opening to a series Great world building and law
An MC who is likeable and reasonable
Interesting use of game mechanics
A fascinating story
Thank you

Great story, poor narrator

Hard to listen to due to lack of emotion in narration.
Narrators voice is nice, but he needs to work on his performance as the lack of change in tone at dramatic points in the story means important sections are easily missed if you dont concentrate solely on listening

great

this is a very good bool with loads of info withought getting boring at all. great progression and the series seems like it could go forever

Best book I've ever listened to. Full stop.

So unbelievably entertaining. Like an incredible video game come to life with something new around every corner. The concepts and inclusions in this book have made it my favourite read or listen ever. Would Recommend to anyone.

Top 3 in genre

I’ve read quite a few litrpgs. This one and dungeon crawler Carl are the best I’ve read. The serious atmosphere and focus on realism really make it more believable and immersive. I’m sick of the VR trope. Just get this book you won’t regret it

A book about nothing

I feel like I got tricked by the high score. First i thought maybe it is just a really long buildup for something but nope there is no payoff at any point. The worst point for me is that there is nearly no interaction between characters. Which then results in a lack of emotion and motivation behind his actions. The whole story is just him getting stronger for no particular reason .