3 stars. I was able to finish it by skimming it, but I couldn’t read it.
This is an interesting one.
I find the premise pretty interesting. A boy grows up in a society that has a system, where everyone is assigned a class at a certain age. When the time comes for Sam to get his class, he is assigned the same class as his father, “Battlefield Reclaimer.”
The only problem was that this class appeared to be glitched. There was no way to complete the first quest, and no way to advance the class in levels. He could advance personally in levels, but it would be very hard to do without his magic advancing past level 1. He would be stuck as a low level crafter, poor and sad for the rest of his life.
Of course, our friend Sam figured out how to un-glitch the class and pass the first quest. He then went on to help his dad do the same, and they both advanced their levels quickly after that.
In general, I like this book.
That said, after a while, I found it easier to skip over the boring bits to advance the story. The hero and his dad would encounter some monsters, and after a couple of pages of battle, would win. He would then advance his skills and gain some type of new ability. They’d encounter some more monsters, and after a few pages, would win. More skills, more levels.
So I started skipping the descriptions of the battles. I was not really riveted in my seat at the outcome, and so skipping four or five pages of text had no negative consequences.
I progressed throughout the first and second books like this. I would skip 5-10 pages of text, and then something would happen to progress the story. They’d meet a group of adventurers, and help them. Or he’d have an interaction with his family. Or even some type of verbal monologue against one of the bad guys. I’d read that bit, and skip over the battles. And I would skip over the long-distance walking and talking. They were travelling for weeks on foot (and on wagon after that), and nothing much would happen that affected the story.
Also, I found this concept of dual levels a bit strange. He was personally level 10, but his class was level 1. I guess that makes sense in the beginning – his class couldn’t advance. But later on in the book, he is personally at level 28 and his class is level 27. So… eventually they’re almost the same?
So I can’t give these books 5 stars. But I do have some positive things to say about it.
Things I liked about the book series:
- Easy to read
- I was invested in the non-battle elements of the story
- I wanted the main characters to win
- The main character partners with his father which is a good dynamic that you rarely (or never) see
- His mother and little sister also get involved, which is also a good dynamic that you rarely (or never) see
Things that took away from it:
- The main character is not a fighter or a mage, he’s an enchanter – a crafter.
- A crafter can only get overpowered by crafting incredible armor, bracers, helms, chest plates… Every few chapters, the MC would create some incredible new armor piece or scroll – epic, legendary, ancient – there are only so many descriptors for them.
- I don’t quite buy that a crafter could win facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
- The main enemy at first was their landlord who was attracted to the MC’s wife and wanted her for himself – very weak enemy motivations.
Overall, I enjoyed the premise and some of the story. I just didn’t get into that a crafter could become overpowered against the strongest fighters in the area overnight. It also lacked a really strong enemy (as these stories sometimes do). Why would their former landlord be chasing them across the country?
I liked the family elements. Would like to read more books that had an intact family fighting together. I think Defiance of the Fall has some family elements (mother, father, sister) in later books and I look forward to getting to those parts.
I will say, Battle Mage Farmer (which I loved) also had a “mayor/gang leader attracted to the prettiest girl in town” storyline, but it was dropped almost immediately as the MC could kick their ass.
I can see how some people love this. I might pick it up again, later.
