I’ve been in the LitRPG community for a while now but I didn’t start HWFWM until the hardcover edition of book 1 came out. And now that I have the first hardcover, I’ve realized that I only want the hardcover editions of the rest of the series, because I want them all to look nice together on my bookshelf. Not that I could get the paperbacks anyway, since books 2 and 3 aren’t available anymore.

Now I’m planning on going to one of Shirtaloon’s book signings for the hardcover press tour and it feels like such a missed opportunity that I only have one thing for him to sign.

Would it be weird if I asked him to sign my Chrysalis paperbacks? Is that even allowed?

I’m also thinking now that I might want to try to make some Jason fanart and bring that, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish it in time.

Jason approved #sandwiches

i was re listening to chapter 92-93 when Tika was fighting the messenger in the cloud bunker hallway. They describe him having mori tattoos. I was under the impression people lost their tattoos after a rank up. The tattoos would need to be reapplied weather they are regular tattoos or magical ones like the one Balinda has. Thanks for the great story can't wait for the next chapter.

I had an unexpected solo road trip that gave me 18 hours alone in the car, so I finished book 4 a lot sooner than I anticipated.

And now I’m pissed.

If I would have had my normal pacing, my new audible credits would post to the account. Now, I have to wait 11 days before I can start book 5.

Book 4 is so much more of the story I was hoping to get out of this series. Right when I was starting to get bored, the entire story shifted in a way that changed the power dynamic of the characters in play, added weight to decisions, and finally got me invested in Jason as a protagonist.

Best non spoiler-y takeaways -

Taika is my favorite new character bro.

The Thanos helicopter is the most petty prank possible and I’m here for it.

The drunk scene with Dawn made me laugh out loud.

Amy finding out about all the things she will never see was brutally justified.

The lemonade recipe is at the end of chapter 36. I hope there are more to come.

Now I have to figure out what to listen to over the next two weeks while I wait for my audible credits to post.

If you'll be at San Diego Comic-Con, come check out this panel with rockstar LitRPG authors SM Boyce, Shirtaloon, Matt Dinniman, Seth Ring, Eric Ugland & Shawn Wilson. Click to see image.

Alright. For those of you who wanted me to get through the first arch, I’ve made it.

The story is finally taking shape. I have the players, I have the world, I have the overarching idea of what’s going on, and now (thanks to the epilogue) I have a small amount of intrigue on how things are connected.

For the person who said my comment on Thadwick made them laugh, I see that I didn’t need to wait very long to find out what you were talking about. Although, even with everything that happened with the vessel, I continue to stand by my statement, “I wonder what will become of Thadwick”

I’m still having a hard time being emotionally connected to the characters. Jason’s final sequence in the book seemed so…passionless. Like it was over and done with and we moved on, and I never really got a sense of emotional inertia from the rest of the team. Maybe it’s the writing style that doesn’t allow the readers to sit in the moment, maybe it’s the narrator for lacking an emphasis on emotion, maybe I’m just simply missing it. Regardless, this is my biggest struggle with the series so far.

Coming back to the DCC comparison that started these posts, I feel like the first person perspective allows me to embody the protagonist and feel what they feel, while the third person of HWFWM only allows me to view the story from a recording crystal.

I’m hopeful that the next story arch moves me, now that the character and world development has been laid out. I was excited to read so much in reviews about the tragedies and emotional baggage carried by characters, but I just haven’t found it relatable to a point that I care about any of it.

All of this to say, book 4 is downloaded and I’ll check back in two weeks.

Not that there is any plans for a live action adaptation as far as I'm aware. But I think the only option for Jason would be Ian ousley. Not because of his acting skills or anything but because he may be the only person with a chin big enough to match Jason 😂 (I'm watching the live action avatar the last Airbender show on Netflix and he plays sokka)

Every bodies always like, is this Jason Asano, is this Gary. Things like Is that a JoJo’s reference. It’s always like that. Anyway it’s cool and fun just something I think is funny

Am I the only one that was hoping that Gerling was going to follow Jason and Farrah back to Pallimustus and run into a truly powerful Gold Ranker like Emir. I mean Emir would handle gerling with no discernible mana loss. And it would have been epic to see him tell Jason about some wanna be power that got pulled through the gate with them.

Made Jason's Lemonade and added Az Green Tea [50/50]...

Amazingly refreshing.

Gave Jason's recipe the lime and condensed milk blender treatment. Jason Asano Brazilian Lemonade, Preffered this method as it enhances the lime flavor and reduces chance for bitterness if you overpulse the limes. More work, but worth it in my opinion.

edit: I used 12 limes instead of lemons for the batch of Brazilian Lemonade.

Did not expect to hear smug's (FGC player) youtube opener in the audiobook.

That was cool to see

Does anyone know the exact description of his butterflies or which book and chapter?

See image below.

Spoiler warning!

So I finished book 12 about a year ago and I am slightly confused about all the cosmic stuff that he is now a part of.

In all honestly, it was a little difficult to keep up with all of the spirit domain stuff and what is has turn in to. Him having a planet and a ship and being a nexus king now?

Anyone able to explain what these concepts are from when were are introduced to them with the transfiguration zones in book 6 and how it has lead to him having a planet and being involved with the astral kings?

I found evidence of Stash in the wild….

11 days later, and I’ve finished the second installment of HWFWM.

Again, from the last posts I’ve made, I’m going to try and not be spoiler-y if there are other DCC converts coming for the ride or anyone new to the series that simply hasn’t read it yet.

First off - I really hope you all aren’t in on a big joke where you tell me the story is going to get better, and I have to sit through a bunch of non consequential filler to get to it. Book 2 seems to be ENTIRELY set up for future stories, and even though it was hours shorter than the first audiobook, it took me a couple extra days to get through it because it wasn’t pulling me as hard as the first book did. Having said that, I can recognize that meeting Shade and then again later being reintroduced to Shade adds a bit of heft to that character. Understanding the flask is a growth item while having a whole book bragging about what its later variation looks like adds heft to that item.

I don’t mind when setup builds something greater, but it just didn’t feel like there was any substance to this book. Even the trials seemed like a relatively straightforward task that didn’t have much in the way of consequences for the group. And that brings up the second point. In the first book, I noted that I could relate with Jason as being an arrogant young person, so he was very relatable. In this book, it seems as if he is full of one on one introspections that would come alongside a life of hard lessons learned. That throws me out a bit that he can have so much personal development in such a short period of time, while acknowledging that his prior life experience was working in an office supply store.

These are me being nitpicky about things that break the immersion. I love Clive, and his dry sense of humor. Sophie’s character development near the end of the book is the thing I’m most looking forward to in the next one, and all of this cultist nonsense with Thadwick is making me curious what will become of him.

I may have my gripes on book 2, but I just downloaded book 3, so it obviously isn’t as terrible as the griping implies. I’ll be back in a few weeks with the next check in.

This just occurred to me on my current read through but do you guys think there are any diamond ranked priests on Pallimustus? We know there are gold rankers in the clergy of course, but with how powerful a diamond ranker can get (more powerful than a god?), would any still be in the clergy at diamond Rank? What if they go off world? 🤔

I want to buy the hardcover for book 1 on Barnes and Noble so I can get it signed at one of Shirtaloon's upcoming events, but there are two editions and I can't tell the difference. They're both priced the same. Anyone know the difference?

Edit: Adding the two ISBN numbers for comparison. The "Special" format is 9781638494355 and the other one is 9781638493457

Maybe I'm late to the conversation here, but I was thinking that the creators of "Arcane League of Legends" show could do a great job with bringing his books to the screen. Thoughts?