Giantlands

Pal-Tee Planet, Book 1

By: Aaron Oster

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Zundy has always been different. As a pal-tee, a distant cousin to the dwarves, he, and all others of his race, absorb traits from the very first item they touch upon birth. Instead of absorbing the essence of stone, or steel, like most others in his town, Zundy accidentally absorbed those of a beetle. Those who are different are often treated poorly, and for Zundy, this was no exception.

His time in the small town is coming to an end, though. The Great Journey, the time when all pal-tee youths of age set out in search of their race's most valued treasure, is upon them. Beyond his small town, Zundy will discover a world far grander and fantastic than he ever could have imagined.

Travel to the Green Sea, the last know sighting of the Viridian Core will be far from easy. Before he can even lay eyes on the sprawling ocean, Zundy will first need to pass through the Giantlands, and with powerful Guardians blocking his path, the task seems impossible. Zundy was never one to give up and quit though, and to him, there is no greater thrill than facing a challenge and coming out the victor.

Warning: This book contains GameLit elements, such as stats sheets, a form of leveling and experience gain.

©2020 Aaron Oster (P)2020 Aaron Oster

Reminds me of One Piece without the fruit.

This is a serious version of One Piece without the fruit. I liked it a lot. A++

Great listen-to.

To anyone that reads my reviews, yes, this is a somewhat long one, which typically means I wasn't a fan of the story, but in this case, I was!

My husband and I are fans of the narrator of this story, Travis Baldree. In this case, Mr. Baldree had suggested my husband give this story a listen-to as they’re friends in a Facebook group. Because he already had a long list of books, I got to listen to it first. I don’t know if this is considered LitRPG or not, I’m thinking yes, either way, this is maybe the third or fourth RPG story I’ve read/listened to and I’ve liked them all so far. This can be said the same for “Giantlands.” I found it to be a fast-paced, entertaining listen-to. My biggest problem with this story was all the repetition and it had the most I’ve ever seen/heard. How someone didn’t notice it all, although most readers probably wouldn’t, is beyond me because I did. I’m all about providing examples, so here some are. 1. “His BODY jerked, power running through his BODY.” 2. “Zundy knew that whatever was following him was literally right behind him NOW. The sun was at this back NOW.” 3. His BODY is extremely tall and lanky. His BODY covered in short green fur.” 4. I GENERALLY keep my senses in order with the ones that will keep me alive with those ones GENERALLY taking presidency over the others.” 5. “VISIONs danced at the corner of his VISION.” Stuff like this screams out to me.

A smaller problem I had was when Zundy looked at his stats and, the majority of the time, it seemed like all his basic (non-changing) information was brought up. I didn’t really understand that. Wouldn’t you just want to know the new changes, especially given this was supposed to be Zundy’s POV, so it’s not like he would be questioning what his name was.

This is the first book I’ve read/listened-to that involved multiple POVs in a single scene, like just going back and forth between characters revealing their inner thoughts/feelings. After a bit of looking around, I read that in doing a story this way, it means the story is more plot-driven as opposed to the typical one POV per scene which would be character-driven. Zundy is trying to get… I’m brainfarting what the item he’s looking for is? Either way, he is the protagonist, leaving the other characters as side ones. The story is based on or focused around Zundy and what he does and his experiences. While I can see switching from one character to another, at the same time, I can’t help feel that it should only be done to reveal to the reader important or new information they wouldn’t otherwise have found out from the main protagonist. With that in mind, I didn’t feel like the side character’s inner thoughts/feelings were important to the story, as in something they couldn’t have just verbalized.

Moving on… as I stated at the beginning of my review, I’m a big fan of Travis Baldree. He has a great narrating voice, provides a variety of voices for each character, and his accents are on point. My only complaint here is that I wish Mr. Baldree had tried (if he hadn’t already) to do younger-sounding voices. Finding out a character is sixteen but sounds like a forty-year-old threw me off.

Questions/Comments:

How had everyone in Zundy’s town known about his low/crappy stats? It would have been one thing for them to see him and guess based on his appearance that his stats would be different than those who normally absorbed rock, and given his father didn’t like him and was disappointed in everything he did, I couldn’t see him bragging or revealing to the townspeople (Zundy’s bully!) that his son had bad stats. So who revealed them?

One line that I found funny; I didn’t note the exact wording, but it involved Zundy wiping condensation from the corner of his eye. That’s not how that works. Had he been wearing glasses, he could have wiped the condensation from the lense….

What was with the author constantly having a character, specifically Zundy, speaking in an “undertone.” Was I the only one who picked up on that? I can’t say I’ve heard that used in a dialogue tag before, so upon the first hearing of it, I noticed it each and every additional time it was used, sometimes going from one character’s dialogue to the next. The funny thing was that there was a part when the narrative brings up using an undertone as opposed to a whisper. They’re essentially the same thing.

Lastly, I didn’t really understand the point of taking kids from parents/families and saying they’ll be in a better place because they’ll be training in a cooking school, unknowing to the families that they’ll later be used as slaves. The idea of a cooking school just seemed strange.

In the end, I would like to say that I’m all for listening to book 2, but I’m worried about all the repetition that is more than likely used in it. I know! I’m weird because I let simple things like simple repetition annoy me. But it does.

WAY BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE!!

this is the first litRPG book that I have ever read. I was doubtful of it being worthwhile. it starts a little slow but by chapter 2, I was hooked. I am looking forward to book two. I definitely recommend this book or audio book

Super-good

This was an interesting take on the “adventurer just starting out” theme. Oster makes some unusual choices for the MC’s race and the structure of the world which freshened up the well trodden path of this story archetype.

Don’t get me wrong... there are plenty of the predictable devices used by many authors when writing an AJSO themed book... The MC is different and so was mercilessly picked on and never had any friends. He picks up friends along the way and not all of them are trustworthy. His ignorance gets him into trouble, etc...

Yet, the character development is good, and the world is interesting. The action is action-y and Oster does a good job of setting short, medium, and long term objectives for the character and the plot.

It didn’t blow my mind or anything, but this was super-solid, well-written, fantasy/LitRPG.

Definitely worth your credit.

A little odd

So, this is a rough review. I really did like the beginning third of the book....and then there was the middle third....and then the last third. The middle third felt like a different plot took off....and it just wasn't that interesting. Been there, done that. The last third felt rushed. The ending is just marketing tragedy.

The writing, on its own, is engaging and easy to go along with. The plot was 'ok', but felt like it could have been so much better with the foundations that occurred in the first third of the book.

I wish I could go back to the just after the first third and re-work the plot lines....throw out a few 2D characters, fix the timeline, ditch 1D events and the ending and go from there. The concept was good up till that point.

Is it worth a credit....ah....shmabye. I am hoping that the MC will pop up in the next book and it will all be a dream that occurred from falling asleep in the woods.

misleading summery

read the summery and you thought finally perhaps a good solo hero adventure? nope if that is what you expected then don't. he will get companions and be treated as a normal person only a couple chapter in.

A Fantastic Gamelit addition

So there is always two thoughts on this Gamelit or Litrpg, lighter rules/in a world with game rules or more rules/sheets and in video game.
Personally i like Gamelit better and i can say personally i think this is one of the best out there right now.
The world is interesting and slowly being built onto, the characters are all unique and interesting (though i hope we learn more about them as we go) and more.
Though i won't lie my biggest attraction to this book are the Pal-tee, i've been burned out on fantasy books with humans/elves i've been hoping for book with different kind of race and here we are.

This book really is my jam!

Wow what a fantastic addition to the game-lit genre! And Giantlands absolutely "shows to go ya" that you can't judge a book by it's cover (a mistake that I'm often guilty of!) Travis Baldree had stated that he couldn't stop grinning while he was working on it, so with that recommendation, I downloaded the book and found that it really was my buttered and jammed toast!
We meet Zundy at the moment of birth; when due to a freak accident he's imbued with the strength of a horned dung beetle (LOL), and starts out life with zero luck and negative charisma points. Which as you can guess isn't the best way to start your life adventure, or gaming quest!
I immediately fell in love with Zundy, this plot, and the action-filled, character-driven story!
Trust in Travis and grab the book! You'll be glad you did!

Cool concept

The idea of getting powers based off what you first touch as a baby is interesting. It made for a very diverse and interesting world. The plot is engaging and filled with colorful characters. The game mechanics help round out the characters and there is a good amount of action which leads to leveling. Travis Baldree does a great job with a wide range of characters.

Absolutely amazing!

Loved this book a wonderful non human mc! I can’t wait for the next book! I can’t wait till he faces off against the first Guardian! If your on the edge about buying this book look no further bye it love it read it!

Next book please!!

Great story and satisfying progression, main character is unique but not OP. Great twists and side characters.
Looking forward to the next book.

Truly Amazing book

Love the setup of story and the growth of the characters. The book grasped my interest all through the story. I have enjoyed it truly its 7.4 on Ramon scale. Congratulations Aaron and Travis for an amazing job!!!