Bookish Wednesday: Steel Wolves of Craedia by G. Akella

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m covering the third entry in the Realm of Arkon series. It’s Steel Wolves of Craedia by G. Akella!

Plot Synopsis: The flames of war spread through the Cursed Princedom to devastating effect. Bound by powerful centuries-old magic, the Great Essences yearn to regain their freedom. In the face of an impossible mission, Krian has no choice but to keep going, while risking everything that’s become dear to him. The only solution is to become stronger and forget the meaning of the word “impossible.” And so a plangent wolf’s howl soars over the battlefield as a plate-clad cavalry rushes the enemy ranks…

Plot: The plot of this third entry is really intense, although there are some light moments. Like with Bonbon, who is a never-ending source of hilarity. This book focuses more on Krian and his growing band of companions that have to deal with the entire province of Craedia and the monsters that live within. That being said there is a portion of the book that focuses on Max and his friends as they level up in the realm of Karn.

Characters: We get introduced to quite a few new characters, all of them quite good. That being said Bonbon is still just too awesome, although Krian still is great as well, Bonbon might just become my favorite side character in the entire series.

Overall: If you enjoyed the first two, you’ll love this third entry.

Bookish Wednesday: The Cursed Princedom by G. Akella

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m back with the sequel to Patch 17! It’s The Cursed Princedom by G. Akella!

Plot Synopsis: An immortal wanderer in an enormous alien world, Krian struggles to survive in a closed plane populated by powerful mobs and hostile NPCs. With bungled stats, inadequate gear and no friends by his side, he is driven by only his willpower… and by his hatred toward the people responsible for his misery. Revenge is his purpose now, his entire reason for being. But his path lies through the cursed princedom of Craedia stretching far to the south….

Plot: The plot is pretty awesome. That being said I really did enjoy the parts where Max is the Point of View instead of Krian. Although their two takes on the game are completely different I enjoyed it immensely.

Characters: We get to meet a bunch of new characters in this entry, like a whole bunch. But my favorite would be Bonbon. Easily. The rest of the newcomers were great as well, but Bonbon is just too awesome.

Overall: An excellent sequel to an already amazing book in what is shaping up to be one of the top LitRPG series out there.

 

TNT: An Explanation on Subject Matter

Hey all I’m back with an answer to a frequent question I’ve had for this week’s Translation Necessary Thursday! It’s An Explanation on Subject Matter

What Question?: Well I’ve been asked quite a bit why I don’t cover books like the Play to Live series or officially translated Light Novels and the like in this column. The answer is pretty simple, because they aren’t really the same to me.

Bulls*&% Michael!: No really, they aren’t the same thing to me. Not to mention the frequency with which they release official translations are slow as hell and isn’t going to meet any serious readers demands either. If I cover something that was translated in my Bookish Wednesday column like I did for yesterday’s Patch 17 it means that it’s been released in an Audiobook format and/or it usually has been available and translated for people who really want to read it on the internet for a while already. This isn’t always the case, but frankly I can’t be bothered to care about such things. I’m not going to pay for a translation that is often riddled with mistakes and I’m certainly not going to suggest others to buy such poorly made products either. I often get my source material for Bookish Wednesday from my local library for free.

But what about Yen Press and others like them?: Like I said above, it takes way too long for them to release things that have been on the net for months, often years, prior and have already been translated in a quality fashion by fans for fans. If they want to earn my respect, and I’m going to bet a vast majority of fans respect, they won’t earn it by releasing things so slowly. That isn’t to say they don’t do quality work, although sometimes it’s questionable, but speed has a big factor of whether people will buy it.

So why all the Chinese Novels recently?: Because I don’t like advocating going out there and finding books with “grey” methods. It’s not wrong in my opinion because I’m all for free stories, but the rest of the world doesn’t see it that way. So with the Chinese novels I try to cover series that have gotten official approval or authors flat out don’t care all that much. It’s also why I’m not active anymore on the Baka-Tsuki forums, even though I’m an official “leader” and have access to what they do in their admin forums. I put my two cents in on the subject and they decided to go a different route from what I suggested. I don’t agree and so I won’t cover stuff hosted by them anymore, unless the translated material is truly extraordinary.

That’s it for this week’s Translation Necessary Thursday!

Bookish Wednesday: Patch 17 by G. Akella

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m back with the first in another LitRPG series! It’s Patch 17, Book 01 of the Realm of Arkon series, by G. Akella!

Plot Synopsis: A new “update” arrives to the ultra-popular online game, Realm of Arkon. With Patch 17, the level of immersion experienced by players in their gaming capsules has made virtual reality indistinguishable from the real world. But every gamer’s dream becomes a nightmare for Roman Kozhevnikov after he gets confined to Arkon against his will. And not just to Arkon, but to an unreleased high level zone–Demon Grounds. Playing, or rather living as his character Krian, it’s not just about survival for Roman. He longs to exact revenge for his banishment to the virtual world where the sensation of pain has reached one hundred percent…

Plot: The plot is pretty interesting, sure it’s got some stereotypes, but it was interesting as hell anyways. Plus it was fun to read a translation from a Russian author who actually understood American geography (I’m looking at you Play to Live series). Patch 17 starts in medias res, which is not an easy thing to pull off, but the author does pretty well with it. I also loved the various shout outs to other series like Legendary Moonlight Sculptor.

Characters: Roman is a pretty awesome lead character and his interactions with the world he finds himself stuck in is very interesting. The rest of the cast is great, but I really enjoyed the side story with Max and his friend who seems to be missing a straw hat…

Overall: If you love LitRPG or just gaming in general, you’ll love Patch 17!

For those who like: LitRPG, MMOs, Gaming, Action, Adventure, Drama, Excellent Plot, Great Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.