Before the Collapse

The Weight of It All Omnibus, Books 1-3

By: J.J. Thorn

Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan

Book One: Heavy

An Affinity. Most humans never get one, but the Goddess gives everyone the opportunity when they turn sixteen. When Terrence receives his Affinity, he is shocked to discover it has never been seen before within the Kingdom. Worse yet, his Affinity reinforces the thing he was made fun of for his entire life. His weight. Follow Terrence as he uses his Affinity to progress with the hopes of becoming a Dungeoneer—someone who explores and conquers Dungeons.

Book Two: Dungeoneer

With new knowledge, training, and practice under his belt, Terrence's Rank 1 abilities will be put to the test against the monsters in his path. The first semester at Prep is over, but an old tormentor, an unlikely instructor, a harsh test, and a tiresome journey will continue to push his limits. Can Terrence overcome them all? Will he buckle, or can the stress push him to Rank Up?

Book Three: Everwood

Into the Everwood, Prep's Dungeon Dive is here! Closing towards the end of Prep, Terrence and his team are now working harder than ever to Rank Up and progress in their Affinities. When an old acquaintance decides to stand in their way, will the team be able to deal with the threat?

©2021 J. J. Thorn (P)2023 Tantor

97% world building 3% of a story

sooo this book is boring because nothing really happens. there's a couple high points but after the high points passed it's back to nothing. The main character wakes up trains goes to class where you hear a long lecture. trains again. repeats. there is a subplot that should have been the main plot because even though there's barely any of it, it's more interesting than the main plot. heads up the MC has no real personality aside from him once being fat. other than that he's like a plank of wood. every other character has way more depth than he does. think of it this way. anytime he comes up with an idea it feels like it's just there for the plot to progress. also, the MC is obsessed with being a dungeoneer But there's really no real reason for him to need to be one. My opinion is he wants to be one cuz it's cool. The sad thing is other characters give you a taste of what this book could have been. you have this somewhat unique skill system but the way it's written makes it seem like it's not worth the hassle of improving yourself. then on top of that you throw in tropes like evil nobles and evil rich people. side note, world created in this story doesn't make sense. it's like imagine a society that's getting monopolized by a few powerful people and the people are just nonchalantly going along with it. it's super weird. then you're supposed to believe that the MC is very naive to all these politics, yet he wants to be an dungeoner which ironically deals with a lot of politics. I mean politics to the point that the job seems like a moronic career path. so spoiler you have this tiny bit of romance that resolution is sort of cringe where the MC and the girl he likes doesn't want to start a relationship cuz of their careers cause which they both want to be one of the strongest adventurers. both knowing fully well that adventurers die frequently. in fact, in their first dungeon, many of the other students who participated died and that was just for practiced. It frustrates me because these characters being portrayed to be smart because of the plot wills it, but their decisions they make are very moronic. like how a realistic reaction, the MC should have when finding out about the politics and the hazards of his job should be doubt whether he made the right choice. nope, doesn't phase him. lastly never thought I'd say this, but there is way too much world building in this book, especially considered nothing happens in the story. If you're planning on making some sort of book series, you can World build as you go. I assume most writers have already World built before they started their book. we don't need stuffed into every book , especially if you're not even going to bother to do the same thing for the story. at times it feels like you're reading one of those lower encyclopedias/ lore guide for d&d instead of an story. no offense to d&d