Gods of Rust and Ruin: A GameLit Novel

Seeds of Chaos, Volume 2

By: Azalea Ellis

Narrated by: Natalie Duke

Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

I made a horrible mistake.

Some fates are worse than death.

I thought at least my mind was safe from NIX, that my choices were my own. I thought I could trust my allies. I was wrong. 

Now we all have to pay the price. 

A new, seemingly impossible quest from the Oracle has seared itself into my brain. Enemies are watching our every move. NIX is experimenting on my brother.  

And my new power is eating me alive. Literally.  

What is NIX planning? Can I keep my condition a secret long enough to get us out of here? Is the genocidal, half-crazed alien imprisoned below our only hope of salvation? 

And if so, can we manage to free him...without getting ourselves killed? 

Gods of Rust and Ruin is the second book in a dark and deliciously violent adventure series that combines science fiction and game elements. You'll love Gods of Rust and Ruin because of the electrifying action, flawed characters, and kick-ass heroine. 

Buy Gods of Rust and Ruin now, before the darkness swallows it.

©2017 Seladore Publishing (P)2019 Seladore Publishing

But wait! There's MORE!

I was left very satisfied by book one.... book two takes the best things about book one and takes it to another level. The powers power up, the characters deepen, the plot thickens. If you've made it this far you probably already read book one, don't skip out on the second one in the series!

I was given a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

Starting to turn towards the cliche

I loved the first book of this series, and grew attached to the characters. I was excited to see what happened to them as the story continued to unfold. However, I’m getting nervous about the direction of a series that had so much potential.

First, this book just felt slower than the first one, and took me longer to get through. It wasn’t quite the same level of “can’t put it down”. I think this may be due to the shift away from action into a more psychological and political sphere, but I feel that both were not completely exploited to their potential. Especially with regards to the politics on the planet, it could be so much more in depth about tactics and manipulation that is involved in the power struggle “game”, but instead it just falls flat and sometimes the actions of characters don’t truly make sense.

Additionally, while in the first book Eve was mostly just a standard person thrust into a bad situation, in this book it takes a definite turn to the cliche. She’s not ordinary anymore but a special/chosen person, and rather than just saving her team, she’s suddenly responsible for so much more. I find these tropes overused in fiction and frankly boring. Not every character in a dystopia needs to suddenly become a huge hero that causes radical change; it’s unrealistic. Additionally, I feel like the characters became flat and lost some of the interactions and traits that made them seem real. They became a little more flat and one dimensional.

The narrator once again did a great job bringing the story to life, no complaints there!

Overall I’ll keep reading because I want to see how the story ends, but I felt this book wasn’t as good as the first.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

An Ideal follow up to the first

As a simple disclaimer: "This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

That being said, I was surprised by the first book in that it shed many of the LitRPG tropes while adding a new thought process in. This one broadened the scope from the first and addressed some of my personal concerns (small world complex).

The story took a few turns I definitely would not have expected and while some of the path was clear. But none of the plot turns are aggressive and unbelievable in the scope of the story. Mixing in some political aspects into the world and some interesting fights and infighting.

Spoilers below:

Eve being sick and looking to self preserve is definitely reasonable, but at no point did it feel like she was truly hurting, just worried. The infighting caused by her lack of reliance on her friends could have been more divisive. I loved the political aspects added in and the inclusion of a "impossible" task with a planned attack and solution instead of a last minute... "oh yeah and this random thing occurred and fixed everything" was very welcome. The team could have had some more time together and more character building on their side but it was decently balanced enough and an ambitious story to fit in the pages given anyways, so that's a minor gripe at most.

In total, a well built story and an entertaining ride

Gave what she needed

This book was awesome and gave Eve the needed sympathy that I felt she was somewhat lacking in the first. Great character development for all of them really and she has really interesting character dynamics and interactions. I also enjoyed that there were a bit more stats this time around. Totally recommend this book.

Ancient prophecy revealed!

Welcome to the second volume of “Seeds of Chaos”. I knew there was something different or special about Eve; more so than an extra finger, although that was a huge clue. More of Eve’s real purpose is revealed along with the existence of an ancient prophecy. As in the first volume, the trials Eve and her squad were forced into became harder and more dangerous. The alien who was captured by Nix comes into play in this volume in a big way as he joins Eve’s squad. The last trial of the volume is a seemingly impossible task that Eve must accomplish or die. The tension is high, and the pressure is on as Eve and her squad fight for their very lives. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

another excellent book

Another great book from Azalea Ellis with wonderful narration! I look forward to the rest of the series!