Death Web

Phase Shift 3

By: Kyle Johnson

Narrated by: John Pirhalla

Length: 22 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Death is the one, true constant in the Shift. This is something Troias has learned in his journey to become Baron of Wisconsin, and most of that death has come from his hands. He's battled monsters spawned from legends and nightmares and slaughtered powerful guardians of energy-rich Vortices. Now, though, he faces a new sort of enemy: his fellow man.

The Shift doesn't breed trust, and it's hard to tell friends from foes - especially with assassins hunting him relentlessly. It's time for Troias to return home, to Chicago, but once there, what will he find? Will he build new alliances, or will the hand patting his back be clutching a knife? He's trapped in a web of death and deceit, and the only way out is through the center...

©2021 Kyle Johnson (P)2023 Kyle Johnson

Great for the Target Audience

I have to say I disagree with some reviews of this one. Is it the deepest story ever? no. I would wager this one is more meant as a bridge in the story, but not bad. I've seen some poor reviews over the OP MC. A lot of people are totally fine with that. I enjoy it, as it spares us of some of the overly contrived bits merely meant to show struggle. This one was more about character growth than almost dying. So what? The overarching antagonist wasn't really a threat to the MC's life, for the most part, but it did provide learning experience.

Overall, it seems like the reviews are mainly negative because the people reviewing are those critiquing based on the type of stories they like, rather than the quality of the story. I've read or listened to TONS of books that have tropes I'm not really into. Overly emotional characters or heavy focus on romance come to mind, immediately. While I don't tend to be into that stuff, it doesn't mean the writing was bad in those stories. For those who ARE into those things, the stories could easily be fantastic. I can't say something is bad, just because I'm not the perfect consumer for it.

I really think this series is great for a lot of people, and hope the negative reviews don't cause people who WOULD like it to not give it a shot.

Too much power

I looked forward to this book’s release for some time. However, I must say that for me, it is a letdown. Sometimes, with these litrpg books, the character or characters get so much power that they steamroll their way through enemies. I’ve seen this power dynamic happen in Seth Ring’s “Titan Series” books, and it occasionally seems to pop up in other stories. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that power dynamic has happened here. I think the listening audience appreciates that the characters grow more substantial. However, when too much power is given to the main character or characters, and they steamroll through their enemies, the listening audience gets bored. I sadly can’t recommend this book in the series; however, I hope the next book will change my mind.