Shade's First Rule: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure

Divine Apostasy, Book 1

By: A. F. Kay

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A new LitRPG world has arrived!

It's Ruwen’s Ascension Day, and he finally dies for the first time. His newly revived body can learn spells and abilities for the class given him by the Goddess Uru, and dying is no longer permanent.

Ruwen’s high intelligence makes becoming a Mage inevitable. With his new powers, he will locate his parents and clear their family name. But nothing goes as Ruwen imagined, and when a rival God tries to kill Ruwen shortly after his disastrous Ascension, his focus turns from his future to just surviving.

His choices place him in the middle of an ancient war, and he must overcome the limitations of his unexpected class to reach level five. Only then will he have the tools needed to survive. But dying now comes with a terrible penalty, and failing Uru might not only cost him his life and loved ones but his entire world.

It turns out dying on your Ascension Day is the easy part.

*****

Hey, LitRPG readers! I've created an FAQ for Shade's First Rule to answer some of the common questions and to help you decide if this book is for you. It can be found at: afkauthor.com/faq.

©2019 A. F. Kay (P)2020 A. F. Kay

A favorite of mine

This series is definitely a favorite of mine. Great system and world creation just detailed enough not bogging you don't in numbers. The MC is a bit younger and is purposely given a personality that is believable and leaves room for him to grow. His progression of power is balanced with him having weaknesses and real challenges in the story. My favorite part is the comedy its just right and keeps the books from getting too dark or serious. If you like LITPG this is a must.

Love this series!

I love the world and system AFK created and I always enjoyed a good underdog story. I've been following this series since it's first release and I can't say I've been disappointed in it, I can't wait for book 3 to release (Even tho I'm already reading it on patreon lol). Travis did such a wonderful job narrating this story and I can't wait to hear him continue to in book 2!

He's not "stupid"

The main complaint I see is that the Mc is stupid. He's not stupid, he's smart but not experienced and he's a kid mostly on the edge of panic most of the time.. I went into this book expecting the worst after reading these reviews and I've never been so pleasantly suprised when buying a book with these kinds of reviews.

My only problem is all these unnecessary words like item - name then proceeds to give name. When reading stats on an item. Also durability, item slot and info like that. It's such a slog when it's an audiobook.

litrpg + cultivation

Fun book the mc can be a little dense at times but I enjoyed the story.

Everything I wanted and almost nothing I expected.

The story is surprisingly great. Travis Baldree is fantastic as usual. Enjoy this. It's a hidden treasure.

Slower build but it kept me around...

It has a slower build but it kept me around and interested in at least checking out the second book in the series. Its well written. I just haven't gotten excited about the main character and he's supposedly super smart but hasn't displayed that at all imo. I see plenty of potential and room for growth. I saw that the books after this have high ratings as well so I assume (lol) it kept a steady fan base and improved.

*Just going over what I read and plot points and I'll say that I still think the main character is weak but I did get a sense of how smart he was as a plot device a few times and he definitely can win me over. Also the book ended very strong.

*The second book really won me over. The 3rd and 4th book continued the trend. This series is simply fantastic and well worth the 5 stars. The withdrawal I'm suffering while waiting for the next book is extremely strong. The MC really came into his own as the story went on.

lack of character arc

Narration as good.
story had an interesting used of rpg elements to show growth. Read like it was only 2/3 of a book. The main character didn't have an arc in the book. could have had one if the book was longer.

Pretty good

The story has a good pace, and it's fun to listen to during work. It's not top tier, but neither is it boring drivel, a good middle of the road leisurely listen.

Solid start

For context, I’m totally caught up to book 6 in the series. I didn’t submit a review at the time but wanted to circle back around to give AFK credit where due. This was a pretty slow start to the series, in retrospect. In fact I nearly gave it up a few times. It felt at first as if Kay was doing exactly what I’ve heard a hundred times in different generic Litrpg books, typical fare. Luckily, I powered through, because it had been highly recommended to me by a friend. I stuck with it, and, to my surprise, it was worth it. Things “shifted,” and I realized there is more going on here, that Kay was building to something, Still, the book is slow. However, it is not boring. More like a slow cooked roast in a world of Taco Bell and microwaves. Because I can tell you, after reading Book 6, Divine Apostasy is one of my favorite series currently. The world building, characters, originality, and sheer scale are impressive. In fact the ability to write impactful, vibrant, and meaningful characters, to keep the story character driven despite being so massive in scale is borderline masterful. I’m so glad I stuck with it. Cheers, Kay! Can’t wait for B7!

Excellent story! Great detail! Flawless delivery!

Listened to the entire book in a day and a half. Starting the second book right now because I just can't wait.