Level Up or Die!

Underworld, Book 1

By: Apollos Thorne

Narrated by: Graham Halstead

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Elorion has just finished a VR gaming session to find a monster waiting for him. With 19 other students who have also been kidnapped, he is now subject to the whims of a thousand year old succubus, and he must survive deep under the Earth in the lost realm of the Underworld. 

Gifted with the ability to use magic and advance in power, he is given an ultimatum: Level up or die!

©2017 Apollos Thorne (P)2018 Podium Publishing

Swords, spells, & ranch dressing in the Underword

Level Up or Die! By Apollos Thorne is a fun book, but not one without its problems. The main character is a gamer who is snatched from our world and taken to what is essentially a hellish under realm where every fantasy monster you ever heard of is real. The Underworld is not a human friendly environment, or so we are told, and the only job the abductees have is to . . . you guessed it, level up or die. A great premise with some intriguing characters, but even the Hope Diamond has flaws.

My biggest complaint comes from the title. Level up or die. There is a boatload of leveling, and not a whole lot of dying. At least not by anyone except monsters. I suppose that in a case where your protagonist can die, but we all know he’s not going to die, can be hard to write. But, if you go through the whole of the book the number of deaths that we get, even from background characters is . . . . .well, I won’t say how many, but it sure isn’t a high number. In fact, there is literally no sense of danger to the MC at any point. Elorion pretty much solos the labyrinth the majority of the time. He plays everything rather smartly, and keeps his head cool in situations most of us would freak out about and so never comes remotely close to any danger. There is one time where he is shot by an archer, but even that is a minor wound that he comments could have been much worse. This lack of danger really takes some of the kick out of what could have been an outstanding novel.

Elorion is an interesting player, who seems to adjust well to whatever situation he is dropped into. He uses his head, and at the right time listens to his heart. His unique abilities allow him to level himself, and others, far quicker than should have been possible. He also manages to constantly think of innovative ways to use his powers that show he will be a force to be reckoned with when the time comes. At no point was I ever bored with the story or any characters, in fact I rather loved seeing the creative methods Elorion came up with to defeat his enemies or apply his abilities. I know I just carped about the whole no sense of danger thing, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of this book in the slightest. The Mistress is a luscious villainess that you love to see appear, and you will want to punch an imp in the face. The MOBs are standard fare, and just fodder, but Thorne’s writing still makes them interesting creatures to kill. I did appreciate that most loot that Elorion pillaged from the corpses of his enemies was not something that he could always use, or even if he could use it he did not employ it. He sold or shared most of the loot.

Graham Halstead narrates the story, and does very well. His voice isn’t as smooth as Luke Daniels or Jeff Hay, but it still works in this genre. He’s read a ton of novels, and knows what he is doing. He plays a multitude of roles, and has fun with it, and so you enjoy the reading even more. He has a done a few other series that I have looked at, and will now probably pick up and give a listen to in the future.

Oh, the cover. I usually comment on the cover. I am pretty neutral on this cover. The art is nice, but a little cartoony, something about the protagonist’s pose looks stiff, almost like the stance an action figure would take. I think it is a fun cover, but really isn’t all that impressive. If it were a touch more realistic, then maybe I’d rank it higher, but the more I look at that pose the more I think of some kid playing with his He-Man action figures.

In spite of the few flaws, the book is fun, and keeps your attention. I only paused the book because work or real life intruded, otherwise it would have been a straight shot all the way through. I cannot wait for the next novel in the series, and look forward to more great things from Thorne. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

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Such a struggle

The narrator did the best he could with this book but my god, the characters self banter is so cringe and the the mc is such a Gary Stu. Premise of the story is not aweful but is completely ruined by the fact that there is 0 struggle for the mc

Was an enjoyable listen

I enjoyed the story. It was straightforward and entertaining. The audio perfomance was easy to listen to and none of the voices sounded too awkward. I would recommend and I do intend to pick up the second volume when it is available as an audiobook.

meh

Pretty flat no real meat to the story. No depth to the characters. I think the author is onto something but, there needs to be more world building, the characters do not come to life for me. Who knows it may be great for others. This one just didn't click with me.

Relaxing storyline

Kidnapped! ok i like it. game system good and understandable. Another story about a disadvantaged spellcaster who bucks the system. He wins. The humans find themselves in the underworld. it’s a nice place once you’re trained into all the killing. This time we see a utility caster solve the riddle of what to do with adaptive magic.

Wonderful Surprise!!

I pre-ordered this book on a whim for an audible promotion and ended up with a very pleasing surprise.

One of the first MCs in a litrpg novel whom is not a bit mentally challenged... or more precisely, this is the first MC I can identify to with his min/maxing and build optimizations.

The world building is not overly complicate but does not feel lacking.

Great setup for a series with great potential.

I can honestly say I am looking forward to the next book in the series and for more from this author.

I really like this book.

Like Apollos Thorne's Survive Week One Leve Up or Die is fun and gets to the action fast. The only thing I can say about this is that there are some abilities that the main character gets that are completely OP. Grant it since this is not a game world but a game like reality this is more believable; life isn't fare and all. Another thing I could bring up is the love interest in book 1 and 2. I mean I would like for the relationship to progress past friends and interested. Beyond this the book is exciting and fast pace. Well worth the credit.

Incredibly Boring

while this book was most likely for younger readers the truth of the matter is it is incredibly boring. in the beginning of the book the main character is evaluated as a Healer and told that he will probably not last long because of it. much of the rest of the book is spent painting the heal spell that he has as one of the most powerful and versatile skills that you can have in this particular Realm. I feel like there is rarely any tension or Direct danger presented in this particular book. most of his background or potential Danger. I listen to this all the way through because it was free, additionally I wanted to make sure that I was being fair when I wrote this review. if asked what the climax in the story was I'm not sure that I could answer that question. the performer was relatively good, but slightly monotone. Though that may have just been the monotone feeling of the book itself.

Ranch dressing.

I thought that things would get serious but it just turns out that the main antagonist and protagonist are literally invincible and any sense of "danger" the characters were in was just a front to prolong the story for the main character to mention ranch dressing more.

Can't wait to see more!

I felt the beginning was a bit rushed and ranch is gross, but I really enjoyed the magic and skill system. I hope the next book comes out soon.

It's OK

A fairly enjoyable book but there was no real tension. I counted once in the whole book where the protagonist seemed in any danger. The rest was a combination of showing how powerful the combination of spells was, and enthusing over ranch dressing.

simply amazing!

Just as the title suggests level up or die. It has a gripping plot filled with jokes and adventure. It's survival of the fittest! can't wait for book 2

An Interesting premise

I seen a lot of buzz about Lit-RPG and thought I’d give this a try. It’s an interesting premise and it started well enough. At times I switched off as, at times it felt like an accountant reading out a spreadsheet. It didn’t help the lead character spent the much of the book farming XP solo, all the intricacies of levelling became tedious. To my mind it need less stats more story. It may just be the genre is not for me.

I really enjoyed the audio book.

I really enjoyed the audio book. A new spin on magic and the way the system works.. I highly recommended the book. I hope the author is a fast writer...

I got lost

Either I wasn't paying attention or some connections were missing but every now and again I'd notice I had no idea where in the plot I was.

Details haloer

There is barely any story to speak of. 90 % of this book is reading spell details and stats for things the MC acquires, the characters are bland and uninteresting. The narrator is good though.

Not good but not bad.

The performance is passable but honestly like so many others if its going to be this kind of story you need a lady (or guy with exceptional range) the play the female speakers the narrator is good even but not able to do all the voices. The story is mostly point and click as is the setting but with the two spins on the summoned to another world being summoned as a group by the monsters and given a clear goal and reason for being summoned thats not to be a chosen one but fodder! Not a spoiler its expo dump as the start. This book doesn't get much beyond that though and im not quite invested enough to find out where this dungeon branches off to but you might; for free its not a bad listen.

Beware, you might buy the series and still want more

I didn’t expect to enjoy this, it was included in Audible Plus. Now I’ve listened to the whole series so far, and need to hear what happens next!

rpg lover

perfect book for those who seek rpg gaming style story.
loving it so much.

Not a bad way to spend seven hours

This book kind of took me by surprise, I found it an enjoyable listen, although there wasn’t really much in the way of descriptions, the story moved at a nice pace. Graham Halstead did a good job of narration. I’ve already listened to titles narrated by him an knew he would do a good job.. I will carry on the series. It left me wanting more.. definitely not a bad way to spend seven hours