Vainglory

A LitRPG Adventure

De: Plum Parrot

Narrado por: Robb Moreira

The cost of survival may be more than he bargained for.

Ward Dyer, a seasoned Port Authority detective, tracks a kidnapper to the eerie, forgotten tunnels of the Seattle underground—a place where shadows whisper and danger lurks.

He disrupts a human sacrifice, but the victory leaves him gravely wounded and teetering on the brink of death. He’s approached by a mysterious young woman with an offer he can’t refuse.

In exchange for a cryptic price, she saves him—sending him to Vainglory, a system of worlds where magic intertwines with the unknown, and mysteries unravel in the darkest corners.

Now, with a devilish presence haunting his thoughts, Ward embarks on the Vainglory Challenges—a perilous quest for power, riches, and the elusive secrets that may hold the key to his salvation—or his undoing.

From Plum Parrot, the bestselling author of Victor of Tucson and Cyber Dreams, comes this new Isekai LitRPG Adventure where the line between hero and villain blurs.

©2025 Aethon Books (P)2025 Aethon Audio

Originality of the storyline!

The characters were fallible but appealing and the plot moved along nicely! It was a very engaging story and exciting to follow! I can’t wait to get the next book to see what happens!

Great but not holy crap this is epic

Author goes a little too hard with the descriptions of ordinary stuff to the point it distracts. Also a lot of the characters ask questions they should already have the answer or knowledge of. Likely done for readers but still brought me out of the story. Overall though a fun listen to and the narrator smashes it out of the park.

Great book

especially as a veteran this was a great story. especially giving one a chance to expierence life in a different way.

Not bad for a first book

Wasn’t a bad storyline and really not a bad book. I hope as the series progresses that the main character gets more assertive if that makes sense. I always try to judge a book by if I could skip three or four chapters and really not miss anything to me the story needs some work at that point. Again the story was pretty good just seemed a bit slow and after knowing how great the author is that he could’ve done better. Can’t wait for the next book in to see the changes.

Interesting start

I really enjoyed having a cop as an MC. I felt like his background helped him a lot as he isekai’d. The magic system was interesting. There are not a lot of word base systems that I encounter. I like that the story arc was wrapped up in the end and that there is still plenty of adventure yet to be had. The narrator did a great job!

Vainglory – Slow Burn with a Side of Confusion

The author–narrator duo that brought us the Victor from Tucson series is back, but this one… just doesn’t hit the same. The opening is strong, but instead of building momentum, it settles into a long stretch of mediocrity.

The world is a strange mashup—steampunk vibes, Old West shootouts, high-tech space travel, and magic that requires you to memorize katas, say special words, and jump through hoops just to get the smallest effect. There’s no clear interface, no satisfying leaps in power like in the author’s other work.

The main character, a beat detective turned world-hopper, is shadowed by a mysterious female companion who might be a demon, devil, or just morally flexible—her personality swings wildly from scene to scene.

It’s a mix of western duels, spaceship sightings, clunky magic rules, and moody supernatural drama. If that combo sounds like your dream, you might love it. For me, it was too slow, too convoluted, and never quite decided what it wanted to be.

A Note to My Future Self

You thought this was OK but you had to listen to it at 1.5x because it moved so slowly. You also abandoned it 3/4 of the way through as soon as another interesting book became available. You didn't hate it, but it wasn't all that engaging either. The magic system was different but kind of stupid. On the plus side, the MC was a grown man and usually made good choices except for being way too trusting. The narration was good but it could have used a female narrator for those parts. You might want to finish this, but only if you can't find anything else at the moment.