The Pinnacle Warrior

The Pinnacle Warrior, Book 1

De: Ben Denton

Narrado por: Caren Naess

Her mother, a Spellblade, her father a Talismartist. So why did she have to be a Warrior?

When she was a child, Astrid heard stories about how her mother served on the walls of Humanity's Bulwark to protect their country from their inhuman enemies on every side. With terrifying stories about their many foes, she quickly decided to become a delver in the Dungeon. There, she could gain enough levels and experience to serve as one of Humanity's elites, to protect her borders and countrymen. To do that, she'd need a party, and she had a plan.

Finally, at 18, she's bestowed with a Class that she didn't plan for, and the rest of her friends that she was going to delve with abandoned their longtime plan. Now, she's all alone, trying to become a delver without her planned allies or family. With just her Skills and armor, she's going to show the world that, even if she doesn't have a lick of magic, Astrid Warrior can make her new party and will be a force to be reckoned with.

©2026 Ben Denton (P)2026 Podium Audio

Great book... but

Narration was top notch. The first 5 minutes (which is way to short btw and shame on Amazon for not allowing us more review time) I was not sure but she does a great job. Book spends way to much time with mushy stuff but the story was great. The but..... was the stupid cliff hanger. Have more faith in your writing instead of trying to hook people with that crud. I will read the second book even though I normally walk away when writers pull that crud.

Good twist on standard litRPG

Good narrator English spoken with an Audrey Hepburn style accent. The story is engaging. While the first book isn’t very complex there many foreshadowed points of interest which invite fairly complex set of follow-up volumes.

"""It wasn't really her fault"""

Okay, first the good. The narrator does a good job, and in my opinion, has a generally soothing voice that makes me want to keep listening long after I should've gone to bed.

This might seem like a criticism, but it's not I promise. I'm not the biggest fan of, for lack of a better term, the restriction of free will in progression. The whole, you get what class you get, and your only chance of really changing it is to get so powerful that it makes no difference usually feels like it railroads a story in a specific direction, for no other reason than lack of creativity on the part of the author. This doesn't feel like a case of that. It genuinely seems like a calculated, intentional way to push the story in a direction, without forcing it, and I can appreciate something I dislike, being used in a way that works, and doesn't bother me. So, big props for that.

The main thing that bothers me, is lack of accountability for certain actions taken by the MC. She has a short temper, and sometimes acts on impulse when she shouldn't. This is where the loss in score comes in for me. In reference to her completely losing her temper and trying to kill someone, she says to herself "it wasn't really her fault" which absolutely pisses me off. As someone who has anger management problems, this is literally the worst way to deal with it and it annoys me that it's written off so nonchalantly.

How best to put this? Telling yourself that your own actions, when you are in full control of your faculties, aren't your fault, is akin to telling the man mauled by a tiger that it's not the tiger's fault, it's just in its nature, and he shouldn't have put himself in that situation. It makes the offending party out to be no better than an animal acting on instinct.

Don't get me wrong, other than that, I think the book is great. It's genuinely one of my favorites out of the nearly 200 books ive listened to on here. Easily in the top 5. But it's like having a rock stuck in your shoe while riding a rollercoaster. Yeah the ride is fun, but as soon as you get off it, there's still a rock in your shoe.

Engaging story

Good pace, engaging story, full characters. Ending seemed a little flat, but definitely want to know what happens next.

Absolutely phenomenal

Loved this start to finish though I will say it gets better the further in you get, but be forewarned; there is a downright cruel cliffhanger at the end of this book.

Ps: I will 100% be listening to the next one, and am about to go look up when it is scheduled to release.