Roots and Steel

By: Casey White

Narrated by: Eric Bryan Moore

Length: 29 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Where monsters go, hunters follow.

Hunters of the guild wait all year for the Festival of Knives, when they put their skills to the test and claim new ranks with every fiend they slay. Trapped helping the family business instead of pursuing his own career, Trellin has never been allowed to participate. But when he risks expulsion to sneak out and claim a kill beyond his rank, his hunt is spotted by a senior guildmember.

Rather than turn him in, she offers him a chance for freedom: Join her, and sail to the distant isle of Deldynne to compete in the bloody race for the rank of Guildmaster. If they can kill the monster that calls Deldynne home before the other teams do, he'll soar to new heights as apprentice to the leader of the Hunter's Guild.

But not everyone wants his new mentor to be Guildmaster—and if they fail, neither will leave that island alive.

©2021, 2022 Casey White (P)2022 Casey White

great new series

I really liked this first book. It was well written and the narrator brought life to the writers words! I'll definitely pick up the next installment of the story

Great Litrpg story.

I loved the book. No numbers to deal with but amazing skills and growth. Definitely like monster hunters. No grinding small mobs. Big monster or bust!

Monster Hunter meets Cozy Fantasy

I had so much fun with this one that I didn’t want it to end!

In „Roots and Steel“ by Casey White we follow Trellin on his journey as a guild hunter. He has been stuck on a low hunter rank in his small town and decides to take matters into his own hands and find a big feind to advance. Little does he know that this decision set events in motion that altered his entire life.

This book was the perfect combination of Action LitRPG and Cozy Fantasy for me. As a long time gamer I really enjoyed the way classical rpg mechanics like stats and upgrades where implemented into this. The abilities where really unique and exciting and I had fun watching Trellin’s progress. The fights and monsters where absolutely stunning! Sometimes I get really bored in long fight sequences but not in this book! On the other hand there where these quiet moments around the campfire with wonderful conversations and cooking that felt so wholesome. The book really took the time to describe the whole journey and not skip over parts. I loved how the author managed to make mundane things linke making camp or walking great distances fun to read.

I also have to mention the characters! Even though this is a single POV book, I felt I got to know the protagonist’s companion really well. The other side characters also hat very distinct personalities even though they didn’t have many appearances.

I listend to the book as an audiobook and loved the narration by Eric Bryan Moore. He did an excellent job with the different voices and I was fully immersed into the story!

So if you are a fan of LitRPG and Progression Fantasy or of Monster Hunter I would highly recommend this book! I will definitely pick up more from the author in the future!

well worth the credit!

engaging story with unique world building, clever writing and enjoyable characters. I got this book on a whim and am very glad I did.

Excellent!

This book was pure excellent from start to finish. Top three book I have read this year. Progression of story was perfect, not rushed. Dialogue between MC and rest of cast was great. Narrorator did an amazing job. Now that Averia is in charge of the Hunters I hope previous one gets what he deserves.

Fun!

I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It was a great book to listen to in the car. It made my commute much more fun. I'm looking forward to the next book.

DNF, but it's not the book, it's me

I didn't get far into this. I'm very much not a fan of books starring children acting like children (even though this kid is a bit old to be acting like a child, I still found it annoying regardless). I like to self-insert through the protagonist into my fantasy stories, and when there's too much of a divide between me and them it just doesn't work for me.

It's not like the character is poorly written. He's annoying like a kid that age would absolutely be, but I just can't put up with that unfortunately.

Extreme Monster Hunting

I really enjoyed this book. There are some excellent monster battles. The magic system was cool and felt original. The plot was entertaining and provided a solid framework for lots of cool things to happen. The narration was really well done.