This 6th instalment in A.J.Markam's Succubus series proved to be another fast paced and fun read. I felt the early books in the series were a little erratic in quality (some tons of fun other less so) but this one was enjoyable and that makes two or three good instalments in a row. Either I'm getting more tolerant of the flaws and general craziness or Markam is getting better as an author. This series is a blend of LitRPG and erotica so I'm prone to just calling books of this nature Litporn lol! Things can definitely get a little crazy in these books but on the whole this is not a story that takes itself too seriously so it is easy to get caught up in the mix of humour and LitRPG style action and adventure. Not every bit of humour hits, and it is definitely not highbrow stuff, but enough does that the books tend to offer a ton of laughs!

This sixth instalment had Ian, plus Alaria and Stig, heading to an underwater kingdom to slay the next ex-master on Alaria's kill hit list. Our latest villain was the most inane yet. Zali was an anthropomorphic fish guy that was basically a perverted and crazy fish rip-off of Salvador Dali. His "art" provided plenty of horror and hilarity as did his general personality. The rest of the underwater setting was exactly what one might have expected. Ian and Alaria found plenty of sexy fish folk to pass the time with as they blundered their way through trying to deal with fish guy.

The other interesting twist in this 6th book was the fact that the adult expansion pack for the VR game Ian is supposed to be testing has finally gone live to the public! That meant Ian encountered some actual players this time. It also meant he had to come up against a bunch of protesters who were in-game and protesting against the new sex version of the VR game. Ian enjoyed that about as much as one might expect while both Alaria and Stig were just hilariously confused by it all.

This series has a ton of flaws (It is probably not for you if you are easily offended, not tolerant of some crazy over the top happenings/humour, or...female) but if you can overlook that then this is one of the better LitRPG series on the go as Markam has an engaging writing style and he has created a fun world packed with humour and fun characters.

This instalment of the series really saw Markam slam right wing religious nuts. Not a problem in my eyes given how intolerant those folks tend to be but his message was definitely not a subtle one. That had me wondering just who Markam is aiming these books at. I think the guy offends practically everyone at some point over the course of the series. An example of what I'm talking about from this book is the anti-homophobic moral lesson combined with a super offensive way of delivering it over the course of the book. I'm a tolerant soul though and find this series pretty hilarious so it difficult to take any of the happenings, even the offensive stuff, too seriously. It also helps that Markam feels pretty self-aware about what he is doing most of the time!

Rating: 3.5 stars. Has a few flaws but is definitely quite hilarious!

Audio Note: The more I listen to Iggy Toma the more I him. I'm not sure why he is not a far more popular narrator as his performance of this series is absolutely fantastic. He is great with everything and really nails the tone and humour. I'm 100% certain this book would not work half so well for me in the physical format. Toma breathes real life into the tale and his performance is so good he even makes some really awful humour work. It really helps when a narrator gets the book they is reading!8 s Talha129 31

[VRMP] [Underwater] [Monster girls] [Monster Boys] [Adult] [Magic] [warlock]

On the way to kill her new master which lives under the sea.

Finding him too strong for him and the bounty hunter there to kill him and collect his bounty, Somehow they manage to kill the bounty hunter.

Getting help from an improbable place, they manage to kill her old master but both end up regretting how they killed him.2 s Jay Collins1,567 14

3 to 3.5, it was not as strong as some of the other books in this series but was okay. It does have even more adult situations in this book and this is the first time that the sex took away from the main story but to each there own as I am sure that anyone following this series may love this book for that alone. This book/series is for sure not for everyone but I still it.1 Virulent7

Another great read....if a little soap-boxy at times.

I'm going to go ahead and take a second to address some of the other on here. While yes, this book has some rather scathing criticism of secular Christianity and it's views, and does so without much regard for the viewpoints of those who might be less extremist, let's be honest. This is a book series about a video game, a type of media which has been under attack from the moral right since its inception. It's pretty fair to say that including this in the narrative is pretty fair game. That being said, focusing so heavily on it during the span of the book was a bit of a misplay. Especially considering that espousing disdain for these kinds of religious protestors to the audience that reads these books is, pardon the pun, preaching to the choir.

With that out of the way, the return to the main quest line of our MC Ian and his saucy demoness to slay her ex-masters is welcomed after Book 5, and on top of that we get to meet her latest target in Zali. One of the most fun characters in the story and once again providing us with an interesting and surprisingly thought-provoking moral dilemma by forcing our MC to question and examine his own biases when it comes to sexual identity. We also meet a group of LGBT players when dungeon-diving that also proves fun, though might end up drawing flak from the very folks it hopes to empower. Unfortunately as previously mentioned, the focus on the anti-religious-extremisim arc of the story overwhelms many of these more interesting plot points, and even puts a damper on further development of critical characters to push its agenda.

As a counter to this, AJ seems content to crank the sexual content up to 11 with far more raunch than any other entry in the series. While it's still titillating, I feel the amp-up on these elements was a bit silly at times. That being said, I still enjoyed this book immensely, especially the rather unexpected emotional impact of its ending.

While this is far from the worst entry in the series (sorry AJ but #3 still holds that title) it definitely suffers a bit from the rather oddball and uncharacteristically preachy (heh) narrative undercurrent, which hopefully we don't see a return to in the future. The story actually would have been almost perfect if the anti-right dogma was omitted entirely. Still highly recommended, but try not to let that element get to you too much. John360 5

More of Everything
Fun to catch up with Ian, Stig, and Alaria.

The latest installment of this series has more of everything. More adult situations, with more people involved. More details and more lascivious acts.

Mermaids, Nymphs, Naga, and a Kraken.

Pursuing the next former master of Alaria, he is a anthropomorphic fish, who lives in the ocean, so first they have to gear up to face underwater adventuring.

The previous master who must die turns out to be a flamboyant artist, in homage to Salvador Dali. Exaggerated and over the top for humor, he gets repetitive after awhile. Goes through cycles where it gets funny again. Dalis art is sculpture, in which he mixes media, using traditional marble, and various slaves he compels to stand still as statues for years at a time.

Ian dies 100s of times trying to figure out a way to beat Dali. Throughout, Dali is friendly and encouraging, "keep trying, I know you can kill me".

Ian and team go on a side quest to do some dungeon crawling to power up. They meet up with a group, LGBTQuesters, and they all fall for Alaria. So a price must be paid for them to let Ian join them in a dungeon crawl, and all get involved.

On another side quest, Ian saves a Mermaid from death as a sacrifice to a Kraken. So the mermaids all join in to show their gratitude, and how their unique anatomy works.

Protestors get heavily involved in the real world, and also show up in the virtual world. There is a bit of interaction outside of the game environment, but its not too distracting, and eventually leads Ian to a solution for killing Dali. Paul386 3

Completely awesome. The best in the series so far.

Why?, well Zali the latest of Alaria's ex-masters is brilliant. All the best lines come from him. The adventure works really well. All underwater (yes you need to switch off reality whilst enjoying the story - but if you reading litrpg's, what do you expect) makes for a unique setting and introduces many problems for Ian to solve. Just take my word for it, IT ALL WORKS REALLY WELL.

Bring on #7, #8, just keep going with the series Mr A.J. Markam.

If I had one complaint... these book covers need a refresh in my mind. They don't do the writing justice and may be affecting sales. bathycolpian fantasy EASY16 1 follower

Didn't it

I couldn't get past his hate of Christians in this book. First it is the feminist movement doing all the protesting today and second the whole later half of the book felt a giant rant on Christians. It all felt so out of place in today's society to bash on a religion that hasn't done anything in years and yet today's feminist movement has, Dead or alive beach volleyball for example. It also took the joy and fun out of reading the book. Hopefully the next one will be better. Dean Buzzell107

AJ Markam does it again!

How much can one POSSIBLY write about a Nerdkin QC dweeb and his exploits inside the hottest game around? Quite a lot, actually, when it’s coming from the mind of this author. I was pretty impressed at the end of volume one, but thought that was probably the best he could do, and installment one would also double as installment last. Oh, how very wrong I was. Every installment since then has been SO entertaining; filled with plot twists, great character development, and, well, yes - some pretty amazing...woohoo? ( not sure how the Amazon censors will react to that 3-letter word, so woohoo it is).

Don’t get me wrong - the plot lines in Succubus don’t simply serve as the conveyer belt to another mindless woohoo session. Far from it; Mr. Markam has a particular gift for leading you, quite easily, I might add, in one direction, only to suddenly yank you into a place that you never saw coming. He’s done it over and over, and the net result is six books, all about the same “sometimes cool, sometimes loathsome” QC dude Ian and his crew, where every episode leaves you thoroughly entertained and thoroughly satisfied. And you can’t wait for the next one.

War and Peace this series isn’t. But say what you will about the content; this author has a real talent for putting ideas together in a manner that is most pleasing. I truly enjoy his work, and look forward to the next Succubus installment, and his next projects after he brings Succubus to an end. Sure - jump into Succubus for the woohoo, but stick around for some top-shelf storytelling. You’ll be SO glad you did! Naz78 3

Another hit

As always Ian’s latest adventure makes for a book impossible to put down.

Though it get a little frustrating how long our hero took to realise the solution to his problem, I certainly enjoyed his various attempts.

I hope we see more of the LGBTQuesters in this or another series,

I look forward to book 7. José Luis Resendez1 review

Always a fun read

It's always fun going along with Ian and weird misadventures. I'm glad this one showed a little more about his work and not just stuff in game. A.J. did a really good job with his "villain" makes me wonder if they will be back. Looking forward to the next one Irizumi425 1 follower

Laugh out loud hysterical

This one has got to be my favorite so far. So many utterly hysterical moments in this one that had me laughing out loud. And very much enjoy that the MC isn’t overpowered and can just bulldoze his way through the enemies. Really well written book and can’t wait for the next one. Andy Riedel267

Still Laughing

Another chuckling installment in this slick series, its well written and mixes its Fantasy and LitRPG enre really well.
The author really does a good job of of making sexual morality funny Tony Fecteau1,253 5

Some of the religious references int his book were offensive. The storyline was not as well defined as prior books in the series. The characters more than made up for this. Zali was a truly refreshing crazy character that was introduced into the story. Maggie Nikkel246 4

Jose can you sea?

So,our intrepid hero's take a cruise to a land far below the waves to end another ex-master,have sex with underwater hotties and stuff. Keep the good things happening.Gotta go read 7 hope nobody needs MY help Charl1,337 6

I've enjoyed each one of these. Killing Ariala's former masters never goes as expected, and the side adventures are always entertaining. Markam even manages to keep the sex scenes fresh and interesting. Looking forward to reading more. John D571 7

Great book

This is a good book. You should read it. I the story. The characters are fun. Lots of humor in this one. Michael Baker31

Does it again

I love this series. I was curious how the author was going to do the underwater thing, but this was great. I can't wait for the next one. Diane A. Kordelski76 2

YES!!!

Excellent FANTASTIC EXTREMELY Entertaining.Love the Humor and ENJOY the Erotica.Hoping to be able to follow Ian and friends for many many more adventures. Paul2

The book can hurt religious feelings but those who are open-minded and who think religious fanaticism is dangerous will have fun with this book.
Fabian15 1 follower

Cause I am Dali! A nice book.erotic fantasy Charles King16

Read it a few times now, its pretty good, but book 7 (Fairytale), I think is better, don't get me wrong, I Zoli love's them all! Even the Christmas special, I look forward to book 8 for now, this much I will say, and I hope its not a spoiler!? But Ian, Stig and Alaria dishes out some well deserved revenge!
aj-markam ROGER G ROBINSON-TURNER18

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