the usual

Slow start, meandering through slice-of-life events. Side quests and a bit of romance.

Then it builds momentum. And we finally get progress. Resulting in…

Whoa. Did not see that coming.

Now to wait for eight.4 s1 comment Joshua Spell23

Best Of The Series - Needs An Editor

Fantastic book, fantastic cliffhanger of an ending, but I can’t give it five stars because it is riddled with typos, misplaced quotation marks, and just a lack of copy editing in general.3 s1 comment John92 7

Another fantastic entry

The book picks up immediately after the end of Book 6. As others have said it seems it might have better belonged to the previous volume.

It is a great battle and then our heroes get to return home. After that Baelin departs to repay his Cabal members.

Spoilers below....

Love is in the air. Khalik and Sinope are engaged, Alex and Theresa get engaged, Thundarr finally realizes he s the Sage and asks her out...
Carey London finally talks with Alex and he introduces her to the Traveller (aka St. Hannah Kim), which helps her spiritually.

I loved seeing Lucia come back and with so much more joy in her life. Alex's opening of the Roth Family Bakery was amusing, as was concluding the previous owner's storyline.
The Games of Roal was decent, but with how upgraded everyone was it seemed a walk in the park, save for the final battles.

We got some good level ups this novel.
Alex figured out teleportation using the Traveler's power (so no Mana). Brutus became Theresa's Blood Familiar - making him much bigger and stronger. Selina finally learned fire magic (from Khalik's mom!). Thundarr infused shadow essence into his illusions (so they can start interacting with the real world). Oh, and Claygon is now an Iron Golem.

This generation's holy Saint has been having trouble. He's been excluded from all the other Heroes' activities since they don't want him to know Alex is the Fool. That leads to him being too trusting which results in him allowing Carey to be kidnapped by the secret church. They tell Carey she'll never leave their cloister, but tell Merhzin other things to try and get him on their side.

Alex and all the expedition forces, plus the heroes track her down. They start the climactic battle and it is a doozy. Alex is finally revealed as the Fool, and the First Apostle is revealed to be the Chosen of 500 years ago! He used Life Enforcement to keep himself hale and hardy. He attacks and tries to kill basically everyone. It looks things are going to work out for him when Carey sacrifices herself to set off the Dungeon Core Chaos Bomb.

Alex fights through his mark to teleport the First Apostles arm which almost kills Alex. Merhzin shows up and starts healing. First Apostle manages to help all his people escape to an island to the north.
Carey's... Specter comes and aids everyone (thanks to the Traveller) and they go to Uldar's sanctum.


There we find out that the Mark of the Fool replaced the Mark of the General. In Uldar's hall are pictures of every team, and they see when it was changed (or "patched" as Hannah told us I'm a prior novel). The General looks he might have also commanded Ravener forces. Presumably we'll learn more next volume.

The final bombshell... Uldar is dead!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review SundeepAuthor 9 books11

The first few chapters just rounded up the fight from the end of the last book (could've just been part of that book) - I was expecting something bigger left to do. Anyway, what followed was mostly slice-of-life stuff and a tournament arc (the same one from before, but as second years this time) before the real action happened at the end.

The opening of the bakery shop was done pretty well as was the partnership with a surprise return of a side-character from earlier books (wish there had been more focus on that but I suppose by now I should know to expect the pay-offs to come in later books).

Given the strength gained by Alex and friends from their various dangerous activities, they routed the tournament. But we did get a few pleasant surprises too.

The action at the end was intense and surprisingly even more dangerous than what we had seen so far. That's probably expected as the series is getting close to finishing, but still I wasn't expecting the amount of losses they took. And the ending had the biggest twist, even if I feel I should've easily predicted.

There were only a few typos - I'd normally not mention it given the length of the book, but a couple of them had random numbers at the start of words!1 Clayton Falter86 1 follower

Great story

TBH this would have been a great alternative place to end the series. Sure there would some big questions left but mostly simple ones rather than lots of detailed ones. Too many series answer every little question on the way to "happily ever after"...even to the point of slapping on "nothing is allowed to go wrong ever after".

Still looking forward to the next in series. Logically the next should be the last in this series considering the intensity of circumstances reached at the end of this one.

Not to say that there might not be another series chronologically following this one where most current characters who survive begin fading into a Balean role. While Alex's younger sister and friends begin their ascent into adventure with less god support from remaining cast of characters. A good way to occasionally peek into lives of old favorite characters while avoiding too much of their constant OP action. Gary573 4

Kind of a rocky start. We begin interacting with our newly sentient golem. While I've never personally spoken to a sentient golem before, the conversation seemed a little forced, a little cutesy, a little unbelievable (can you believe that in a fantasy novel - lol).

The standard battle for this book was, well, standard. This is no Game of Thrones. You KNOW our hero is NOT going to die. It was fun watching the creative ways that both protagonists and antagonists creatively used their various magics to battle one another.

Near the end of the book (80%ish) this story really picked up speed. Would Claygon morph again once he got covered in iron? Would Alec successfully find/interact with the Traveler? Would this event allow him to unlock another entire plane of magical manipulation? Is the church truly evil?

Thorsten158 3

It was a solid outing for the series; I enjoyed that. The first 3/4 or so of the book was a little uneven. I enjoyed the storytelling and the tying up of some loose ends, but it all felt a little meandering and unnecessary filler, the bakery and shipping business. I did not understand why we would revisit a tournament that our merry band had already won most of the events in, only for them to show up dramatically more powerful. I mean, did we run out of babies to steal candy from?

Strong finish, though, with lots of new revelations and questions I want answered in the next book. Dantegideon1,878 12

It has grown increasingly hard to root for the smug fat-cat Alex, rolling in gold and priceless treasures. The bakery thing put the cap on it for me. Does he really have to have the best bakery in all of existence, with the most amazing opening ever witnessed? Then there was the bit where he strolled about sneering at the prizes and money for the games of Roal, which I’m not particularly pleased to see pop up again either. And it feels the plot is going backwards, it’s so slow. Didn’t see this coming, as I loved this series originally, but, I’m out. I hope Alex and his money are very happy. Kyle Humfeld19

The last 20% was really good…

… but the first 80% felt really pointless.

And on top of that, the main characters became economic villains, denying others who are in the same position of poverty that they’d been in last year from having the opportunity to compete meaningfully in the Games and improve their station. It honestly made me Alex and company less, which is sad.

I’m looking forward to where the series goes from here, but would have preferred if the first 80% were condensed to 10% and then an additional bunch of actual talk plot-driving content were to be added. I guess that’s what book 8 will include. John-Torleif Harris2,668 12

I’m feeling all the feels right now!

This was so very bittersweet. Alex, and his cabal, grew in power. Selina was able to begin to find some level of peace with her talent. And there was so much happiness that they all experienced. But that was tempered by sacrifice, death, and betrayal.

Will Hannah be able to use what power has been left behind to fully emerge as a deity? Is the patch permanent? Or can Alex find a way to reverse engineer the original? Does the First Apostle know who has been talking to him? What will come of the revelations that were revealed? Andrew66 2

The best in the series yet

This book continues the story of Alex, the Fool, who has been working to solve the problems of his homeland in a different way. This volume has a return to the tournament games from a few books ago and shows us the growth of our heroes. Things really ramp up towards the end, leading to an ending that nobody could have predicted. I can't wait for book 8. Dan345 3

phew!

Lots to unpack in this installment. Most of the books run of the mill school stories with the groups going about their everyday lives. It’s enjoyable to see the characters in that environment. The last parts though answer a great many questions and have tons of action. Great read. Topher1,505

Just wrapped up book 8 on royal road, so I'm sure I'm up to date. This was ly from last year (2023) rather than this year, as there had been a several month pause before I picked up 8. Book 9 has started now, and ought to be the conclusion.litrpg Dave108 2 Read

Things are getting good

This book stands out as perhaps the best of the series so far. Secrets finally coming to light. Action, character development and intrigue. And one hell of a cliffhanger. Can't wait for the next book. Jon Honey83 2

Another home run

Wild. Didn’t think the author could top the last one, and I was wrong. This series really picked up pace and it continues to get better. Can’t wait for the next one. Mike Goodman1,294 8

Awesome Series

This story of a young man who gets the mark to be a champion saying nope and goes to Mage school was fantastic. In this book it ends as they’re getting ready to meet their god. Rob Enderle210 4

Great read!

This book was a ride, questions answered, more deeper mysteries found, ton of action, Claygon levels up, and the battle of battles. Only problem, no book right yet. But seven was AWESOME!!!!
Dylan12

what an ending

The end of this book is quite a twist and I it but the middle was a bit slow. the games were basically the same as the last book and really didn’t add anything. Over all I did really enjoy the book. Nora Dorste17 3

Mark of the fool

I thoroughly enjoyed the series And I cannot wait to find what happens next. I am so invested in the characters I wish it could go on forever. Thanks for the many hours of entertainment they have given me. Zach2

Fantastic

As always, the character righting is phenomenal. I laugh and cry along with them. Each character has a unique voice that makes the reader feel they're a part of the story. Franklin J. Vergara M.182

awesome

The story continues strong fast paced and very engaging.

I kind of hated the cliffhanger though.

Can’t wait for the next book. Tristian Adams3

As Alex almost said

Oh fuck!
I am Ravenerous for the next book as always! (You may now throw tomato’s for the pun)
Awesome! adam thomas3

Always a blast.

It's one of my favorite series. The latest entry does not disappoint. Its going to be torture waiting for book 8.
Terek Schultz10 1 follower

So good

It’s was great once again and keeps getting better. If you are this far into this series you already know. If you are considering reading it. Just do it. Htet Htet20

most excellent

Riveting! Full of fun, love, laughter, friendship, and adventures. And intrigue! Loved all of it. Can’t wait until book 8 comes out! Samantha Boyd11

Well done!

These books just keep getting better. I cannot wait until book 8! I love seeing how the characters keep progressing and growing. K-Saucey1 review

Super good book. I cant wait for book 8, already pre-ordered!

Also, I don't normally write but the page count I believe is wrong on Amazon... says 680, my book had over 800. Liupua Andrew Sunia294 3

Limitless

You sometime find a book that doesn't read, it SINGS
That's what we have here. It will be impossible to top this one. But who knows Sebastian Cortes23

WHAT THE HELL. HES DEAD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!GONNA KMS IF THE NEXT BOOK DOESNT COME OUT TOMORROW!!!This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Andrew Jones8

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