Finding a Body

Dark Herbalist Series, Book 4

By: Michael Atamanov, Andrew Schmitt - translator

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

What is it like for a small flap-eared goblin herbalist to play the role of the Dark Sovereign, the main antagonist for Boundless Realm's hundreds of millions of players? What is it like to find one's self the standard bearer for an army of man-eating giants, cyclops, skeletons, ghosts, and other hellspawn, who don't give a damn about their modest little ruler?

Our hero didn't desire such an unenviable fate, but there is no way back now. He'll just have to tighten the straps and play the ghastly overlord to the innumerable hordes that now threaten all Boundless Realm. But the longer our hero plays, the better he understands that this world is much more complicated than it seems at first glance and he is just a pawn in someone else's game. And lots of things depend on whether he can figure all of it out in the short time he has left, including his own life.

©2018 M. Atamanov; English translation copyright 2018 by Andrew Schmitt (P)2019 Tantor

Great book but ending could use more detail

I loved the series book and was really looking forward to listening to this book when it finally released. The entire story was once again great, but after my first listen through, I felt a bit unsatisfied with how the entire series was concluded. After further reflection, and additional listen through's I acknowledge that it was a good ending for the series, but it just felt a little rushed. Compared to how detailed the rest of the story (And other books in the series) were, it felt like there could have been more written to neatly wrap up the entire series.
For example, the final battle was built up to be so good and such a climatic ending to the book but then ended pretty abruptly. So much of the fighting was just cut out and summarized into a couple sentences. In comparison to the other fights that were described in such amazing detail, it just felt like a lot of potential was just thrown away.

*SPOILER*

Once it was revealed that many of the Gods were going to join the fight, I thought that the initial battle would have been so one sided, or at the very least given enough detail to describe their almighty power and destruction. But there involvement didn't amount to much for the entire battle.

My biggest let down was that Amra finally became Fenrir and then the rest of the battle was summarized to just a couple paragraphs....He gets the final piece to the Fenrir set, gains unlimited number to the grey pack and his entire army of crazy strong grey pack members completely wipes out the player army in no time at all. Its a good ending to the battle that he thought he was doomed to lose, but it just felt like it could have used more detail.

Overall, I felt like it was a very good story, and I'm glad I listened, but the ending had the potential to do so much more.

Nice save and a great conclusion

It feels like Michael really thought this through. A great conclusion to a very good story. There was some weird parts with the dialouge but I blame translation, other than that it was really good, all of it.

Best spent credit in a long time!

A Fitting End

I got reeeeeeally nervous for a bit there. It got very tense in so many places, but twas not to be. It is rare that I find a truly happy ending that leaves me satisfied, but today that was achieved. I will miss experiencing more adventures in Boundless Realms, but it's not as empty as some of the other series I've finished. All in all, well done

love it!

no, it's not the most complex story I've every read but this story truly is a fun romp. The whole series makes me feel like a kid reading my first exciting adventure series! Ooh, and shout out to the translator. Phenomenal job.

Trigger Warning

This book is translated and there are some questionable gender dynamics throughout the series - but the LitRPG aspect is very well done and propels the plot along at lightening pace. Would have finished in a day (at 1.5x) if I could have gotten away with it.