Rise of the Weakest Healer

A LitRPG Saga

De: Blake Alexander

Narrado por: Dylan Wheeler, Ellory Lane

Regular day job - Check. Tedious life in need of excitement - Definitely. A strange magical rift - What can go wrong!

Ben clocked in and clocked out, living a dreary life until a rip of energy caught his attention. Of course, interfering with the spell proved disastrous and he's sucked into a portal.

On Semintor, the fantastical exists alongside wondrous magic. Ben arrives with a massive advantage thanks to his tinkering with the portal that got him there: his Arcana—his ability to cast powerful magic—are downright godly. The man is capable of casting group heals, buffing all sorts of attributes, and more, making him a highly sought after spellcaster, a rare dedicated supporting healer. But... there's a catch.

A curse prohibits Ben from harming others or cast spells on himself. Without a doubt he's in a predicament that forces him to use his wit and get a group of strong, loyal people on his side if he's to survive. Thankfully, his charm, good looks, and quick thinking helps him secure the support of two lovely ladies, because the hunt to capture him is on the moment he arrives.

If Ben isn't careful, he'll become a chained servant to some petty tyrant, exploited for his unique magic. But if Ben is clever, he'll build a family of powerful women who will do everything to protect each other.

Join Ben as he navigates Semintor with his augmented magic.

©2023 Blake Alexander (P)2023 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Performers made sorry better.

Performance was done with grace and care, the pace and audible inflections easily created the world in which the story was taking place. The book itself was hard to connect with parts disconnected from main storyline that did not match nor have a real descriptive reason for existing.

Good and interesting but...

First, spoiler warning, some things will be used as an example. I will try to keep them to a minimum.

Second, if you are a die hard fan of OP-know-it-all-MCs and believe that every MC in a story should have some OPMC qualities and can't be a support character or weak or insecure initially, then this story is not for you. I consider that a refreshing take on a MC in the LitRPG, GameLit, Progression Fantasy, and HaremLit genre where the expectation is that the MC has to show up telling everyone how to do the things they've done for years before MC's arrival better than them, that MC is supposed to always immediately figure out how to game a nigh-omnipotent system, that MC should be defeating every enemy that comes their way with ease, etc. etc. So, again, if that's what you go into every story expecting, this story will likely irritate you.

With that said, this is also sort of a problem. I felt the author leaned into this a bit too much and it's evident given how the MC responds to a variety of things that will turn away even those who aren't OPMC fanboys. For example, there's a point where MC's love interest, we'll call her Succubus Girl, tricks MC into having a sort of mind-controlled therapy session. The other MFC, we'll call her Warrior Lady manages to stop it. Afterward, MC does not confront Succubus Girl about her actions. Instead, they end up having an intimate moment as if it never happened. Later, when the third potential member of MC's harem comes along, we'll call her Dragon Lady, and she points out that Succubus Girl could have corrupted MC's mana, he still does not confront Succubus Girl on her antics. Only Warrior Lady gets mad at Succubus Girl.

I bring this up because you spend time in MC's head and MC lets you know that he has to rely on Succubus Girl and Warrior Lady because of his curses. They are his swords and shields. Without them, he's completely helpless. This is why I said I felt the author leaned into this too much because MC doesn't have any defensive skills nor can he attack anything, not even someone's mana to maybe render their attacks on him useless. He can only heal and buff. So, he naturally feels reluctant to stand his ground and stand up for himself against those he has to rely on.

This is also evident later in the story when it's apparent Dragon Lady is more adept at political navigation than Succubus Girl and Warrior Lady. Even when MC had realized this before and he knows that what Dragon Lady says makes sense, he chooses to lean more toward what Succubus Girl says than what Dragon Lady says during their brief interaction. I realize that Dragon Lady was introducing herself to the party, but I felt that if MC had already taken notice that Succubus Girl and Warrior Lady sort of expect death around every corner and so don't plan that far ahead beyond their mercenary jobs, then he should've said something a long time ago. Yet he didn't.

The only other complaint I have about the story is that for some odd reason Alexander thought it was a great idea to have a monitor/parasite (because she seems to have been attached to MC in some way) character drop exposition to the reader after nearly every chapter. It breaks up the flow of some scenes that are broken up between two chapters. You might be eager to see what happens next only to have this character's voice break up the flow and start talking about things that may have already been revealed in the story like breaking down MC and his party's abilities further. Commenting on the events that happened in that chapter or sometimes just to say that they didn't have a comment to make. It was also a bit confusing because this being seems to be creating reports for some faction that isn't fully explained.

Also, there are Harem aspects to this. Succubus Girl fits the promiscuous girl trope and unfortunately she's been given authority by MC to be his main love interest who will gatekeep others. It's a well, over used trope in Haremlit that in order to get the harem started, one of the women has to be overly promiscuous and encouraging the other women to join in on the harem. She's also bisexual. Thankfully, so far, Warrior Lady is not.

Beyond these things, I felt the story could've been great had the author decided to give MC at least one minuscule attack ability and at least one defensive skill and if the monitor/parasite character had their infodumps and comments regulated to their own chapters and their part in the story made more sense and was better explained.

A very intellectual take on the genre. Five enthusiastic stars.

A very unique plot withe the protagonist taking a new path to being a hero. Voice acting was very well done as well.

where is this going?

the writing is better then most in this genre. but the story line is not very clear nore is anything deeper then the caricature sheet when it comes to the MC. its frustrating, you can't have an adventure if the MC can't make a decision. frustrating to the point im not sure the next one will grab one of my credits.

A different LITRPG

Its very fresh to see a litrpg where the MC is a healer. very good world building and litrpg.
Very interested in a second book

Unexpected gem.

I was surprised by this book. It was very fun, and an interesting plot. I had expected the Matriarch to end differently than she did, based on the genes, but it was a good ending to the book!

Tantalizing world-building

I want to start with the Con because it’s the only one I could tell from my first listen…maybe read it first, or alongside the audio because it’s a new and VERY interesting world. Confusion could deter you with the new world stuff. Don’t put it down because once you get the lingo and the factions, it starts to click. (Side Con: the synopsis to this book doesn’t do it justice. It seems routine and this is an exceptional exception.)
Which brings me to the Pros: getting passed the confusing terms of the world he’s found himself in, eventually the terms and relationships and game mechanics make sense. This may be the first time I’ve felt actually AS confused as the MC which really built empathy when he made “earthling” mistakes, to put it less spoiler-y.
Narrators are amazing. Every character sounded unique and distinct. I never once thought about someone reading aloud. No clicks or mistakes to pull me out of the narrative.
The characters are engaging and unique in their uniformity. He’s the healer and thus needs a tank and a rogue-type and eventually a mage. Except they all have some way to do more than that. This felt like Warhammer and Joe Abercrombie wrote a slightly less violent story after having a baby, or had a baby that wrote a slightly less violent story. You decide which. On to book 2!

5 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I hope there are more books to come in this series! The MC is great along with a really good supporting cast! The story is captivating! The narrators also do a good job of bringing the story to life! Great job Blake Alexander!

Good start for a good series!

Fast paced story with a variety of monsters and companions. Plenty of backstory and plots looking to do our hero in!

Excellent start to a great new series!

An adventure I'm very excited about continuing with the next in the series! I've ordered book 2 and I already can't wait for book 3 to come out.