The Forerunner

By: James Clay

Narrated by: Eric William Jones

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Zed is a washed-up MMA fighter who is starting to realize that there isn't much of a future ahead of him. While hitting the bar with friends to forget his sorrows for a while, he meets an attractive woman who has an interesting story for him—aliens are going to take over the solar system in two years.

Thinking that she is either crazy or he's had a few too many, Zed writes her off—until she shows him things that aren't possible, including healing his chronic injuries and showing him what she actually looks like (hint, not human).

There is no stopping the takeover, but humanity is going to be sent to an already populated planet, and will have to find a way to survive in a hostile world. A few humans will be sent ahead to prepare the way, to give humanity a chance. They are the Forerunners.

©2023 James Owen Clay (P)2023 James Owen Clay

There's Alot to like here

I enjoyed the book Ave the fresh gamlit system it presented yet there are some minor issues that would make this defiance of the fall tier good. The author has a solid plot yet almost seems to have entered potentially interesting plot builders, mid writing, only to leave it behind and allowing it to linger in the back round as a potential plot armor or side quest for the MC to rekindle whenever the story may need it. The MC is strong and focused which I enjoy yet half committed himself with relationships, agreements and actions without considering the potential outcomes. It made it almost "just another Tuesday" if or when the MC needed to cut the relationships off or when the outcome of his actions confronted him. His seclusion made him personally strong, allowing him to direct his path yet he lacks the ability to consider other people are also taking actions that may come back to bite him with how he climbs into his new power.

Surprisingly Fun

I have to say that this book surprised me.

Sure, some of the dialogue between characters was a bit cringe, a little clunky.

Portions of the plot seemed to have a few holes—despite the reader already making some huge leaps of faith for the way the universe and magic system works.

But dammit if it didn’t captivate me. I cared about Zed. I cared about Brutus. It drew me in.

I think this is the next generation in the lines of Iron Prince by Bryce O’Connor. It gives me similar vibes. Progression fantasy buffs may like this as well, people looking for a refuge from Cradle being complete.

So now, it doesn’t matter because James Clay has me hooked. I’m reading the next one because I have to know how Zed’s story progresses.

Isn’t that the purpose of a good book, after all?

not that good

in general the narration is pretty lackluster and fairly dry. stories of typical nihilistic Tell about how everybody but the main character are evil crappy people. and he finds a couple handful of "good guys".

Fun story enjoyable read.

Sometimes you just want to see a MC be a badass.

MC is a logical adult. I dont feel like this story was written to cater to children. He is put in a prosition to make choice where there is no right answer and he goes about it properly.

In this novel he does become OP but at the end it seems to reset. I wasnt a fan of the ending I was interested in the base building potential but it went away from that into a personal cultivation direction.

Narrarator was great at narrating the story but not so much voice acting. Everyone sounds the same. Doesnt hinder the story much though.

Definietly will be picking up Book 2.

GameLot with a fun blend of fantasy with realism in L

The Forerunner has an interesting combination of new ideas created by blending traditional GameLit fantasy with real scientific concepts. First, I enjoyed reading the book (upon its release) and now, LISTENING to Forerunner here on Audible, I enjoyed the book for a second time.

It has a fun blend of fantasy with realism, humor with action/excitement, and nostalgia with originality to make it very difficult to put down.

Much of the subtlety in the deeper context is only understood if the reader has the knowledge to understand it, personally , I find it refreshingly unique. As without giving away any spoilers, examples such as the science behind magic or MMA references required some personal insight (the reader’s own experience/knowledge) to fully appreciate what is in the book. Of course, even without having any background knowledge, the book still is enjoyable and could actually teach the reader a bit about said subjects. Hopefully these aspects are not passed over by others.

Having read and listened to hundreds of GamLit books (my favorite genre) I can confidently say that “The Forerunner” is an excellent first book to start a series and I would recommend it any who enjoy the GameLit genre. I am looking forward to the other books in the series and hope that they will be released soon so I can see how everything comes together.

I like it, but...

In my opinion, the dialog from the main character is super simple. he's a 30 something y.o. man, but comes across much younger. Especially being a virginal mma fighter. that's odd...
the narration was great, but the main character always sounds like an emotionless robot.
I'm also confused as to how he stays so faithful in his religion without any open questioning for the audience once he finds out aliens exist and will be essentially bringing doom upon earth. This doesn't cause any internal reflection at all or questioning of beliefs/values?
I love the premise and story progression. The pop culture references are great!

Uncomfortable

The dialogue in this story is so cringe that I genuinely felt uncomfortable. From reciting poems to annoying, damsel-in-distressy love interests and mid combat to unnatural sounding banter, all of it was painful.

A lot of it comes across as the author thinking 'man, this will be so cool!' or 'this will be so romantic,' but it had the opposite effect. I had to skip sections because what I was hearing had me groaning in embarrassment/pain.

Then there's the love interest. What this story did not need is for Zed to fall for the first pretty girl he sees, especially one who just drags the story down. She's literally a damsel in distress at one point, and a nagger the rest (WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS?!?!)

She does herself no favours and drags the story down with her.

I won't be continuing this.

the relationships

I hate it how he had a relationship and it just up and disappeared on a whim I can't stand how the story just changed gears that way ,either give him a relationship or don't, making a halfway thing like harem anime seriously suck's . I will be dropping this series.