Grim Beginnings

The Ashen Plane, A LitRPG Series, Book 1

By: Maxwell Farmer

Narrated by: Armen Taylor

Twenty-five-year-old janitor-turned-professional gamer John is so good at the latest virtual reality fantasy game that he attracts the attention of an imprisoned, undead magical beast while competing in the Kingdoms & Valor World Championship.

Murdered in his gaming chair and summoned to another world full of magic and wonder, John is given a choice: inherit the beast’s power and work to free it, or die. Accepting the undead creature’s power and a second chance at life, John is given a new name: Grim.

As a new man with the ability to use death magic, Grim sets off into the Ashen Plane to fulfill his quest. Join him as he befriends a mutated orc, fights an army of gnolls, and works to free his patron in this first book of the LitRPG series The Ashen Plane.

©2019 Max Farmer (P)2020 Max Farmer

Suffers from stat-bane

A fairly entertaining story that would have been rated higher if not for the drudgery of listening through heavily-laden stat recitals that offers the listener very little useful information and a lot of internal deliberation on "should I go through the back&forth ff/rewind cycle until I get to the end of the stat dump section?". This follows a number of other litRPG novels where the MC has the ability to acquire all sorts of skills beyond what other players experience which ends up assisting him against much higher level enemies. As mentioned, the story isn't really bad; just not very good either. Worth the listen if you've got a spare credit burning a hole in your pocket.

warning it's a slow start

I like books like this when the story takes some time to let you get to know the characters and understand the world it's not an amazing story or something brand new but its it's pretty good.

A fun and quick listen

Exciting and funny story. Following Grim on his a quest feels like I'm reading a great D&D adventure. The book has fun heroes and awful villains, an interesting setting and it's an easy/short read. check it out.

Loved It

It's a well written story that's easy to follow with an intriguing plot line. Definitely recommend!

Holy crap

Holy Crap my dude. What an awesome adventure I just went on listening to this. I highly recommend it and can not wait for the next one!