The Broken Vessel

By: John Cressman

Narrated by: Miles Meili

Eldritch Respawn!

Nash Carver didn't believe in gods, games, or destiny-until he was stabbed through the heart and woke up in a fantasy world where both were very, very real.

Now he's got a character sheet burned into his vision, a creeping corruption growing in his soul, and a tentacled nightmare whispering promises of power in his ear. With a talking lizardman guide and a goblin alchemist tagging along, Nash is forced to fight his way through undead-infested dungeons, cursed graveyards, and vengeful orc clans.

But the real battle? It's inside his head.

If Nash can't learn to balance sword and sanity, this world won't be the only thing broken.

Warning: Contains LitRPG elements, stats, combat, blood, guts, otherworldly entities, and morally gray characters.

©2025 John Cressman (P)2025 John Cressman

Good Eldrichification LitRPG!

This book definitely fits the "I continue to slowly turn into a monster who is a danger to everyone around him because I keep borrowing power to save myself and everyone around me" trope. What really makes this book unique is actually how common eldrichification is in the world at large, and the MC's special hook appears to be better resistance to it than most. In most stories like this, the MC is the first one to go through it. I am definitely looking forward to finding out more about the eldrich community as it (very loosely) stands in the subsequent books.

The narration was excellent, though I would say on the drier side, but it definitely worked well. my one complaint would probably be that the "should I or shouldn't I" debates became a bit repetitive in that the MC did them pretty much at the very start of every difficult situation, and it was really the same debate over and over again. I will say that it actually still worked pretty well because the way the self debate changed throughout the book actually shows the progression of the more subtle sides of the insanity without the MC specifically spelling it out for the reader.

Overall, a strong start to a new series, and I look forward to listening to the next ones.