Arcane Transmogrification

Pentacle, Book 2

By: Robert Harper

Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom

Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Danny died a less than heroic death on Earth, was reincarnated in a new world, gained access to a mental sanctuary that ranks his skills, learned he can do magic, discovered that he can't fly, tricked rich old ladies into buying handbags, crafted himself a crude anti-magic girdle, went to magic school, grew a couple of apple trees, was drafted into a secret paramilitary organization, tamed a pet most people would rather never meet, regrew an elf's ears, gained a split concentration ability in the form of his former Earth self, avoided being kidnapped, was almost eaten by a basalisk, watched an airborn wizard play wack-a-troll, saved his friends from a massive ritualistic magic spell, and did a great impression of a human tree ornament.

Then Danny passed out from blood loss and pain.

Now it is all up to Cranny, the embodiment of Danny's split concentration, to get Danny fixed up before the slowly approaching zombie goblin has a nice woodland picnic.

©2018 Robert Harper (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Couldn’t make it past the first 2 hours...

I really enjoyed the first book in spite of its flaws. This book’s flaws were so numerous and constant that I was forced to return it before I even got to the meat of the story.

First, the narrator... He read almost every line with a breathless, over-dramatic, and childish delivery. It made me think he was dying to shout “golly, gee-wiz!” at the end of every single sentence. Mix this with the execrebly immature banter between any of the characters and I felt like someone was trying to jam candy-coated feces into my ears rather than tell me a story.

And then there’s Cranny... which was already a stupid and annoying facet of the first book, but at least his appearances were few and far between. The author made the serious mistake of making this a constant voice throughout the second book. By constant, I mean he has more lines than the MC and is constantly cracking “jokes” or is messing with the MC in the least mature or genuinely funny ways possible. Remember that Cranny is supposed to be the “adult” version of the character from before he was reincarnated. I can only think the author may have been trying to attempt to add more humor into the narrative. He failed.

It’s not all that often that I give a review this negative, but when I do it’s almost always on a 2nd or 3rd book in a series. This is because at one point the author has written a book good enough to convince me to spend the credit on its sequel. Then instead of improving their craft and drawing me deeper into their world, they’ve written something truly unlistenable. Which is the case here.

Don’t buy this audiobook.

2nd book doldrums.

The first book in a series that presents many novel components can be enjoyable, even if it is badly written. The second book lacking the novelty, while the poor writing persists, results in a badly done disappointment.

hm...

I will start with that I really do like this series and its magic system. but the relationship he has with the girls and the interactions is simply bad... The author makes the interaction in such a way that mc will always be in the losing side always! the way he ask them, despite hiding secrets such as his friends hiding the fact that his family are basicly now prisoners. despite all this he is so god damn submissive that it is disgusting.
The girls look at some handsome stud but he is not allowed. etc
despite all this the novel is good but I dont know if ill buy the third one.

Boring power trip with an evil MC

This story feels like a totally different magic system then the first book the ease in which Danny does all type of over the top magic is crazy. Things he had to use this mental boon for no longer require any effort at all.

The worse part is Danny him self. He is portrayed as a good guy all the time but he is a brat and a psychopath at best. He spends half his interactions "wooing" people he cares for and the other half with a lie on his lips. He gets caught sneaking out promises not to do it again and just does it again and no one brings it up. He experiments on someone just to get them out his hair and literally says their life's might have been at risk.

I was skeptical

So I read the other reviews for both books in this series, and was put off by the characterization of the MC as spineless. I decided to put this book off for a few weeks, but eventually gave it a chance since I had listened to everything else recommended. There are several spots where the MC just rolls over to the domineering henpeckery of many of the women in this story. Nonetheless, the story as a whole is very well written, and the MC does eventually come in to his own and grow a spine. I had to remember that even though the protagonist is an adult in a child's body, he decides to act like a child to remain unnoticed. Eventually he does come out and take more control and stand up for his actions. Definitely looking forward to the third book.

Good book, but the MC is a punching bag

I really do love this story and the premise that it is wrapped around, but the MC has the backbone of a mouse.

Not worth a credit.

Might be worth a skimmed read through if your curious about the cliff hanger from book 1.

No character development, no ramp up, no drama

(POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD)
This in my opinion is one of the worst books I've ever listened to. I disliked the first one but I figured it would start getting better but it doesn't. (POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD)

"Cranny" is flatly annoying and useless. The "pranks" he plays are more irritating than useful to add to the book. Plus the stuff he does basically makes him a "pocket god".

Danny is all powerful, but with batteries. There's been no real character development. His cheat codes were turned on and now he can do everything, his only limitation is his MAHH NAHH. Even that is poorly designed.

His "wives" are lifeless with little personality, and now they're demigods.

He's got a secret he was warned about not telling anyone or his family would pay, so now he's told damn near everyone.

His "big" secret was eventually spilled and it would've been a good plot device to add some drama, some,,, something and that falls flat.

I THINK if I had read the book I could've spiced it up in my head, but this narrator is just irritating, he continues to mispronounce common words and he forgets which voice he was supposed to be doing a couple of times in this one.

What little action in this is,, dull and poorly planned. I won't be picking up book 3. My curiosity to find out what happens just isn't enough to warrant wasted a credit on. And that's exactly what I'd be doing, wasting a credit.

Only an unfinished part of a book.

It is okay to write three or four books that have their own ending but work well with additional books but do not sell me a long story that is broken up into three or four books that all must be read to have an ending. You are too money hungry.

Goooood

Interesting story. Better then the first. Eagerly awaiting the next book. The narrator did an excellent job as always.

Boring

The biggest problem with this book is that it doesn't make sense. Danny acts like a 12 year old instead of the 40 year old he's meant to be.

He has a power up that makes him extremely powerful but it's never explained why it takes hundreds of years for other mages to get the same thing. Frankly Danny shouldn't be so powerful just because he had a few years advance on mana training than his colleagues.

The whole thing is so juvenile. He has mana sight from the first book but it's never explained why only he seems to have such a useful ability. He thought of it in like 2 seconds. Surely an Elven druid who has been alive for centuries would have thought of it.

But the most infuriating thing about the book is Danny himself. I can wave away all the powers that have been pulled out thin air and make no sense. Ultimately Danny is extremely powerful. However he is still a pawn. He spends most the book helping the elves for absolutely no gain to him. In real life no one would do it. He would have also ditched the three girls. A harem is all well and good but it doesn't make sense for Danny (who's meant to have a mental age of 40) to allow himself to be shackled in such a way.

Ultimately the world doesn't seem real. There's nothing wrong with a power fantasy but it needs to be set in a believable world with believable characters.

This book is for kids. It has no mature themes or plot points at all. If you like that then go ahead. I think this book would be interesting for a 12 year old. If that's the targeted demographic then I apologise to the author.