5 stars. One of the best examples of the LitRPG genre.
This book is a encapsulates the entire idea of LitRPG. Jason Asano is ripped from his world and thrown straight into a new world. Classic iseaki. He even arrives naked and hairless, to drive home the point. He starts off fairly useless, but is blessed by a God and given certain advantages. Initially, he defeats his enemies by luck (or being highly underestimated, as the book tells it). He gets in with a group of adventurers whom he rescues from certain death. And from there, he grows to become powerful.
The book is written at a fast pace, with the main character escaping a lot of peril (barely) and gaining levels, skills and loot along the way. He chooses (or more likely is forced to choose) a rare skillset that few choose. “Affliction specialist”, it’s called. He basically gives his opponents a disease while fighting, and has the ability to cure disease as well. Using disease isn’t the fastest or most exciting way to fight, so he does a lot of talking with his opponent to make up for it.
On the flip side, being a master of disease allows him to cure the poor and powerless of all their afflictions for free. To him, this is training as well, so while helping thousands of people, he is increasing his own abilities over time as well.
He’s also Australian, which apparently comes with non-stop jokes. He can’t be serious about anything, except when he jumps into his “agent of death” persona as the last stage of battle (or sometimes while simulating battle) against an unbeatable opponent who he then beats. To me, this type of humor is an endearing quality. While others are sitting around talking seriously about the end of the world, Jason is wearing a Hawaiian shirt, sipping on a cold drink with a little umbrella, and eating a sandwich.
Things I liked about the book series:
- A classic progression story from being “level 0” to “almost a god”
- Good writing by Shirtaloon
- Great characters that I mostly care about
- The books are lengthy
- There is humor
- A touch of romance
Things that took away from it:
- There’s a lot of brooding about him becoming a monster; “no Jason, you’re a good guy even though you sometimes kill people”
- He seems to attract the most powerful people in society (gold rankers, gods) even when he’s iron ranked (the lowest)
- His romantic relationships don’t last; doesn’t seem realistic
My complaints aren’t major. It’s still a great series. But I can also see some of these things being issues for others that detract from their enjoyment.
I’ve read all the books and am waiting for the next one.
In fact, I’ve subscribed to this author on Patreon and reading the chapters as they come out. I might not be reading this as a book series any more since I get the chapters in my inbox every few days.
