100th Run, Book Two

A Regressor's LitRPG Adventure

By: Flossindune

Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Anthony Franklin is a seasoned time traveler, and he’s tried to save his city 99 times before....

But this is the 100th Run. This is the only one that matters. As a monstrous swarm of enormous wasp-like creatures, called Vespae, prepare to invade, it’s up to Anthony and his ragtag crew to make the impossible…slightly less impossible.

Unfortunately, the deadly creatures lurking in the wilds aren’t Anthony’s only problem. His past triumphs have made him a target for the vindictive system administrators—not to mention a host of bloodthirsty villains, who now have him firmly in their crosshairs. As a result, the rules of the game are changing in a way he can no longer anticipate.

To pull victory from the jaws of defeat, Anthony will need to navigate the hostile wilderness, build some unlikely alliances, and find a way to unify Etson’s divided factions.

This is the 100th Run. Failure isn’t an option, and if the city can’t repel the invasion, the Vespae will conquer, and Anthony's dream of a golden age will died, before it even begins.

©2023 Shadow Alley Press, Inc. (P)2023 Shadow Alley Press, Inc.

Good sequel

That plot is moving a long nicely. I still don’t care about Anthony’s relationship with the Angel. Unfortunately it is kind of important to the plot. Overall, I like the direction that things are going. I’m excited for the next book. The narration was well performed.

I Don't Trust These Dice

I come to you on this sad day to say that, despite my high praise of the first book, I won't be finishing the second one. Mostly, it was just as good as the first one, with the characters, writing, and performance being just as enjoyable and fun. I loved where the story was going, I loved the plans we had to improvise, and I appreciated the way Anthony motivated the population for the Vespae war. However, a series of unbelievable coincidences have ruined my investment in the story.

Without going into too many spoilers, I name the Amalgamancer, Queen's Guard, Vespae Queen, and Divine Shard incidents as moments of unbelievably good/bad luck. In the first book, a lot of the credibility I was attaching to Anthony's skill and achievements was backed up by the fact that he knew EXACTLY what he had to do and how he had to do it to achieve the outcome he wanted. Kayla's influence (and the subsequent development of Tomas' "People's Justicar" class) was already a bit of a stretch, but mostly followed from the situation Anthony set up and the people he had intentionally involved. Tomas was already supposed to get a Paladin class, so it sorta makes sense that a harder push would get him a more Paladiny class.

But these four incidences named above were cases where (a) Anthony took risks and not only did they not blow up in his face, but they came out better than they had in every previous run, or (b) a known factor escalated to absurd difficulty for no apparent reason beyond curbing Anthony’s increased power this run. If you remember the end of book one, you will note that the Writhing Zeppelin incident was an event very similar to situation (b) - a known threat escalated to absurd difficulty. However, Seraphim has already been set up as a petty cheating a-hole, and the attention he is giving to Anthony feels like a natural extension of the increased ripples Anthony’s been sending this run.

But the four incidents in book 2? They're absurd. Things shouldn't be going this well, or going this badly. He's worked his ass off for hundreds of years to figure out this system like the back of his hand, and somehow the most extreme good/bad luck he runs into is during his final run? I don't buy it. Not with how suspiciously balanced it's being. Book one had a really good "I have a contingency for this" organic storytelling vibe to it, but this series of extremely unlikely events has me seeing the hand of the author way too clearly.

I'd almost believe it if it was all bad luck - things have a tendency to spiral out of control with this many uncontrollable variables. But a series of unlikely events that almost perfectly cancel each other out, and just so happen to raise the level of tension/drama without horrific consequences to the plot? No way, man. I just...it doesn't feel grounded anymore.

I can't give a recommendation either way about this book - read my review and decide for yourself how much suspension of disbelief you're willing to put in to enjoy this (otherwise well written) story.


TL;DR: Several surprising incidents showcase good and bad luck in suspiciously balanced proportions, while also being suspiciously placed in the last run. This is a significant deviation from book one, where most events were quite credible, and I’ve thus lost faith in the story and stakes.

Good plot twist, no Banana Bread sadly

It was a good second book with a detailed discussion between the Mc and Sarah.

You're gonna need this in your library!

I loved this book so much! And maybe especially 'cause Corwin's a incredibly good boy! Obviously!
Anthony has managed to find a time loop when earth changed and a game like system took over! The system wanted to cause as chaos and death as possible. Anthony has now finished his 99th run gaining both power and knowledge... And now Anthony's on his final run, his last chance to save his city! Burning that knowledge, he's ready to game the system! With three of his favorite players Jeff, Kayla, and their dog Corwin they set about doing, just that!
So yeah you're gonna need, no Need (believe/you me) this book in your library!
Grab audiobook because you don't wanna miss Daniel Thomas May's narration.