Unusual Enemies

The Whispering Crystals: A LitRPG Series, Book 2

By: H.C. Mills

Narrated by: Erica Maity

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Teamwork ain’t easy. Especially with your life on the line.

Emma made it out of Hub Two, but now she’s faced with the next set of Trials. And this time, they will "involve" combat.

Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Thankfully, she’s not going in alone. Instead, she’ll be facing the Trials together with her little gang of misfits, relying on them to pull their weight in life-or-death situations....

At least maybe they’ll keep her from taking any more stupid risks, right?

Not like they’re lacking in trouble as it is. After all, there are still many unanswered questions about the Realm of Crystals. All they have to go by is sparse information provided by the mysterious Artificial Intelligences linked to their eye-crystals.

But can those really be trusted to tell the truth?

©2021 H.C. Mills (P)2022 H.C. Mills

thrilling

a great continuation of the first volume. the out of the box thinking and cooperation of the party members makes this a fun ride from start to finish.

I enjoy it

The story was interesting and a great continuation from the previous story. I am looking forward to listen to the next book.

It's a really fun story, and hard to put down

I have one gripe about this series, though not enough to deduct a point - this is very clearly written by a man. the women in these books sometimes act more like anime tropes than actual people. They keep tickling and biting each other and I get that the author is writing a budding romance here, but it comes across very much in a way that feels like a man writing from a woman's POV. Comes dangerously close to characters breasting boobily.


That being said - I really enjoyed this book & series so far. Both this & previous narrators do a fantastic job with tone & inflection to make characters feel distinct, which is great since there's a lot of banter, and most of it is much more natural and entertaining than LitRPG banter often tends to. This might be second only to He Who Fights With Monsters in terms of party dynamics, and given the current state of that series, might actually be better. The mystery element of what the heck is going on & the sense of progression are both really good. I also vastly enjoy the way the series engages with things like physics & anatomy, where it gradually explains things to you without going too much into lore dumps. It's a really good listen, well worth the credit.

I'll also note that some people seem to find the way the narrator pronounces the S sound to be irritating..As far as I can tell it's only on some of the characters, and it gives the narration a lot of personality. I really enjoy it, but probably listen to the sample before committing.

Finally - I find the action to often be very tense and visceral in ways many books fail to accomplish, making it difficult to put down mid-scene - which to me is a mark of great writing. Two thumbs up, a hidden gem if a series

all-around good listen

the narrator has a mastery of tone and inflection; giving the characters some personality that the writing doesn't (and the writing is pretty good at that as well).

I love the story! The power system is a neat idea, and the multi use way they form makes for every character to really develop cool power sets to match their own style.

Intesting world, good story, and funny moments.

I really enjoyed the first book so here I am reading the second one. I love when characters surprise me and in this book they did. Definitely left me wanting for more.
The Good-
Hillarious comedic moments
the support characters feel more real than in the last book
Amazing female Protagonist
The Meh-
the romance is a bit off but there is an interesting explanation
Wish this book was longer
Overall I would highly recommend books 1 and 2

Another fun listen

The author builds up on the nice enjoyable if simplistic plot of the last book, but is slowly starting to add this insidious mystery subplot that adds a new fun dimension to everything thats happening. Definitely worth the listen if like you easy-to-follow work listens. Still wouldn’t recommend if you like grittier books like The First Law trilogy

W entry in the series

The potential and promise of the first book is not only delivered but expanded upon with the 2nd. I am eagerly anticipating the next installment. This is a unique approach to the isekai/ litrpg genre and would recommend this book and series with my whole chest

Spoiler alert, it gets better!

as the story continue alone in the second book it does nothing but gets better prepare yourself to be enthralled and waiting for book 3!

Great second book

Yes, H.C. Mills you are rocking it. Well done Erica Maity your Narrator voice is enjoyable. 5 stars recommended.

It was great!!

Awesome book, and even though I didn't mind the first narrator, this one did a really great job! I was worried since I had read a review that some of the audio made it sound like her esses were really sharp, but that only happened once, and it was due to the speaker that I was using. Overall, a great job