Sorcerer Ascendant

Singularity Online Series, Book 2

By: Kyle Johnson

Narrated by: Basil Sands

Length: 27 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Aranos has done the impossible: He's freed the first Fallen Realm in mortal reckoning and returned victorious. He and his follower Geltheriel should be hailed as heroes and celebrated throughout the Stronghold of Eredain.

Instead, Aranos finds himself surrounded by elves that are both secretly and openly hostile. He and his new party descend nightly into the corrupted Blightlands to battle the Darkness and to try and reclaim more lands for the Light, but each day the elves place more obstacles in his path, from attempts at treachery to outright attacks. His enemies are numerous, his allies are few...and he can't even be sure that they're all allies in truth.

Geltheriel is given a choice: Complete a quest that's utterly impossible, or die, and Aranos has promised to see her complete the quest. He'll need help, though, and the only way for him to contact his best friend, Phil, is incredibly dangerous.

The attacks of his enemies have spread to the entire city, and now all of Eredain is on the edge of Falling to the Darkness.

To survive all this is one thing; to overcome it, Aranos must become more than a Sorcerer.

He must be Ascendant!

©2020 Kyle Johnson (P)2021 Tantor

Good

It was good and chalk full of world building. The main problem I have with the book is the tempo of the information given to us. The problem stems from setting most of the information is read out from notifications which in its self is not a problem in itself but it does not feel earned. In that frame the MC gaining so many tittles and perks does not feel earned (see spoiler section). It feels less like we are exploring the world with the MC and more like we are reading a treatise of the world where everything is a mana type. MINOR SPOILERS!!!

Like what did the MC really do this whole 27 hour book. He helped out around town, killed some trees, and fought a medium strong bad guy oh and learned some dream stuff. Other then that he was learning, stat training, and gaining level is great by just throwing them at the MC feels unearned. When the traveler redeemed the frist tree and was rewarded was great and felt earned. Playing around in his mental space and leveling skills without applying them to anything and gett a perk or tittle does feel earned. I get this might be setting up for a book that is going to be a monster of action, dungeon diving, history, arcane wonders, mystery and world building out side of one city that we have spent 2 books in.

In conclusion good book but has some tempo and a rewards system that is to ez.

Pretty good Politician

For someone that says he doesn't like politics he plays it masterfully well ! Well done!

A pretty good story

I enjoyed the first book and most of this second book as well. Despite all that happened in the second book however I feel it was mostly a waste. The way most elves treated him and how the obvious scheming Leader is in the background, I was hoping he would have long left the city. It felt like he was done with the place near the end of book 1, yet at the end of book 2 he is still there and now a lord and stuck in more politics that are never an enjoyable read. The epilogue kind of seals it, making me not sure I want to read the next book.

The excellence continues

I first read this as an ebook but listening to the audio version brings new life and personality to the characters and makes the story even better.

Hilariously mean

There was this one passage where the main character says “ whoever heard of a master in the jumping skill doing anything useful” which is funny because Dakota Krauts main character for his ritualist completionist Chronicles has a master level jumping skill
Ps don’t love the narrator

The whole Reese thing felt hard to read

One of those situations where they are as a unit rude to this guy that just wants to help and making it valid in retrospect instead of immediately. I hate that kind of writing. I want to actually feel like the guy we’re randomly being a jerk to deserves it.

Not for me.

Like the first book, I did not like MC or this brand of OP. I found that I was switching to other books before I could return to finish this book. more world building than the first but int the end the main group really went nowhere. I personally won't be continuing.

“Elves are never wrong, but I know I always am” - MC

So the MC spends so much time justifying racism and weird biases while implying “travelers”(players) are so hard to deal with and that’s the problem. He just takes so much crap from people he just monumentally helped and sticks around justifying most of it and going “I’m upset but that is just proving they are right for treating me like crap.” I don’t under why the author spends so much time putting pointless bigoted distractions in an already very long story with an annoyingly arrogant “support” character. MC has a serious “I’m a good guy beta male who needs you to see it” mentality, like most litrpg leads.