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In Clawed Grasp
For so long he had waited.
Five years in the prime of his life, wasted. And now finally, after so long, he was returning to society, ready to resume his life. And this time he wouldn't make the same mistakes. This time, he would do it right.
Yet just as he was about to gain his freedom...everything changed. He found himself in a new world without explanation, a world of magic and possibilities beyond his wildest dreams.
Orc, elf, ogre…hundreds of possible races.
Blacksmith, fighter, rogue…thousands of possible classes.
And each of them with tens of thousands of possible skills.
Reborn into a new world of limitless possibilities, Cayden will choose a path entirely his own. He will forge himself into something brand new – powerful enough to protect himself and the ones he loves.
–
This litRPG follows Cayden after he wakes up as a baby in a new world. Join him as he learns the rules behind the system governing this world – and then pushes them as far as they can go.
Includes a mostly-balanced system, combat, friendships, a magic academy, dungeon-delving, monsters, and just a hint of politics and intrigue.
Five years in the prime of his life, wasted. And now finally, after so long, he was returning to society, ready to resume his life. And this time he wouldn't make the same mistakes. This time, he would do it right.
Yet just as he was about to gain his freedom...everything changed. He found himself in a new world without explanation, a world of magic and possibilities beyond his wildest dreams.
Orc, elf, ogre…hundreds of possible races.
Blacksmith, fighter, rogue…thousands of possible classes.
And each of them with tens of thousands of possible skills.
Reborn into a new world of limitless possibilities, Cayden will choose a path entirely his own. He will forge himself into something brand new – powerful enough to protect himself and the ones he loves.
–
This litRPG follows Cayden after he wakes up as a baby in a new world. Join him as he learns the rules behind the system governing this world – and then pushes them as far as they can go.
Includes a mostly-balanced system, combat, friendships, a magic academy, dungeon-delving, monsters, and just a hint of politics and intrigue.
- GenresFantasy
787 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2023
587 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
December 1, 2023
Tedious and lacking any driving force.
This writing lacks any proper rhythm. There is no build up, there is no turning point, there is no satisfying conclusion. At no point could I tell you the main point of the story, it just meandered about aimlessly. The skill system was overly stressed and more a catch all to help at any given point, a safety net rather than an intrinsic part of the setting. The characters are all bland and poorly described. This makes all the social interactions very stilted.
This writing lacks any proper rhythm. There is no build up, there is no turning point, there is no satisfying conclusion. At no point could I tell you the main point of the story, it just meandered about aimlessly. The skill system was overly stressed and more a catch all to help at any given point, a safety net rather than an intrinsic part of the setting. The characters are all bland and poorly described. This makes all the social interactions very stilted.
December 29, 2023
Good, but missing something (minor spoilers)
I want to say, I still believe this book is worth checking out, it was a decently enjoyable read. With that out of the way, there were some minor problems that bugged me to no longer read past 72%.
First off, I didn’t like the limitations of class stones. I personally thought it limited the story that you couldn’t acquire classes, but could change your race as well as skills without a stone. I feel like the stone shouldn’t be a limitation and people could change classes almost as often as the Mc changed skills.
Second, where the heck is the world building? I wanted to learn more about the world and the history. Truthfully, I just wanted to see if there was going to be any conflict leading up with other nations or wars between civilizations, but the book didn’t give me anything to my knowledge.
Lastly, the class change just felt like a grasp to keep the Mc unique and overpowered compared to his fellow students. “Test subject” just didn’t sit well with me as a class. Of course, I may be biased to the berserker class that was basically taunting me while he’d refuse it over and over again. It just felt like such a letdown knowing that we didn’t get to see the Mc as an absolute juggernaut of a berserker.
I want to say, I still believe this book is worth checking out, it was a decently enjoyable read. With that out of the way, there were some minor problems that bugged me to no longer read past 72%.
First off, I didn’t like the limitations of class stones. I personally thought it limited the story that you couldn’t acquire classes, but could change your race as well as skills without a stone. I feel like the stone shouldn’t be a limitation and people could change classes almost as often as the Mc changed skills.
Second, where the heck is the world building? I wanted to learn more about the world and the history. Truthfully, I just wanted to see if there was going to be any conflict leading up with other nations or wars between civilizations, but the book didn’t give me anything to my knowledge.
Lastly, the class change just felt like a grasp to keep the Mc unique and overpowered compared to his fellow students. “Test subject” just didn’t sit well with me as a class. Of course, I may be biased to the berserker class that was basically taunting me while he’d refuse it over and over again. It just felt like such a letdown knowing that we didn’t get to see the Mc as an absolute juggernaut of a berserker.
January 27, 2024
OK story, mediocre, MC
In Claude grasp. Mediocre MC/tank. There are those of you out there who may like reading about a tank, so enjoy. The story itself is interesting. The politics of the world that the MC is in, and he’s growing up in that world. The MC himself is basically a mediocre tank. He is not very bright, and has to rely on other people to assist him. Don’t want him to be a Mary Sue, but would like him to be more, intelligent and making decisions. The side characters are interesting but the author writes the MC like he’s a dullard. In fact, the author gives the MC a hyper intelligent friend to assist him. In my opinion, tank characters are not very flashy. Specially, in a book. Hopefully the MC will develop more abilities that will give him more pizzazz. Will read the next book if and when it comes out.
In Claude grasp. Mediocre MC/tank. There are those of you out there who may like reading about a tank, so enjoy. The story itself is interesting. The politics of the world that the MC is in, and he’s growing up in that world. The MC himself is basically a mediocre tank. He is not very bright, and has to rely on other people to assist him. Don’t want him to be a Mary Sue, but would like him to be more, intelligent and making decisions. The side characters are interesting but the author writes the MC like he’s a dullard. In fact, the author gives the MC a hyper intelligent friend to assist him. In my opinion, tank characters are not very flashy. Specially, in a book. Hopefully the MC will develop more abilities that will give him more pizzazz. Will read the next book if and when it comes out.
March 30, 2024
A portal progression fantasy with litrpg elements.
Cayden Johannson is reborn in a fantasy world with magic after living on Earth. Gifted with a system, Cayden stretches the bounds of this new world and discovers what he can do.
I'm new to the litrpg/progression fantasy genre but I'm liking what I've seen so far. This was well written and engaging with lots of focus on stats and levelling. Maybe not for everyone but I really enjoyed it. It was slow to start with as the world was established but I loved Cayden's thoughts as he tried to understand where he ended up and his confusion about the system.
Elise and Tiana were fantastic too. The friendship between Cayden and Elise was perfect. They both looked out for each other and helped one another to reach their goals. I loved their thirst for knowledge - Elise's desire to map the abilities was fun. And her soul notebook! I so want one of those. Tiana was a typical younger sister - but I loved how she evolved over the course of the book. She might have got herself into trouble but she certainly works hard to get herself out of it. The rest of the characters didn't really appear or stand out until further into the book but when they do they integrate well with the existing dynamics. The plot builds over the second half, lessening a bit of the focus on levelling and more on the politics of the capital, Valtane.
A great book for those keen on litrpg with stats and power levelling and an overpowered main character. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.
Cayden Johannson is reborn in a fantasy world with magic after living on Earth. Gifted with a system, Cayden stretches the bounds of this new world and discovers what he can do.
I'm new to the litrpg/progression fantasy genre but I'm liking what I've seen so far. This was well written and engaging with lots of focus on stats and levelling. Maybe not for everyone but I really enjoyed it. It was slow to start with as the world was established but I loved Cayden's thoughts as he tried to understand where he ended up and his confusion about the system.
Elise and Tiana were fantastic too. The friendship between Cayden and Elise was perfect. They both looked out for each other and helped one another to reach their goals. I loved their thirst for knowledge - Elise's desire to map the abilities was fun. And her soul notebook! I so want one of those. Tiana was a typical younger sister - but I loved how she evolved over the course of the book. She might have got herself into trouble but she certainly works hard to get herself out of it. The rest of the characters didn't really appear or stand out until further into the book but when they do they integrate well with the existing dynamics. The plot builds over the second half, lessening a bit of the focus on levelling and more on the politics of the capital, Valtane.
A great book for those keen on litrpg with stats and power levelling and an overpowered main character. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.
April 28, 2024
This is another LitRPG book that doesn't understand what is interesting about its premise and, therefore, doesn't capitalise on the following things:
1 - Isekai and Reincarnation- This book did not need to have a protagonist from our world who was reincarnated in another world with the mind of an adult. This setup has absolutely no bearing on the 80% of the story that I read whatsoever. The protagonist never once takes advantage of the knowledge of our world nor the experience of having lived a life before. These things could have been used to make the protagonist exceptional, but instead, anything interesting about the protagonist comes from his friendship with a young woman who uses him as a guinea pig for her ideas. This same premise could have come about if he was just a normal boy born into this world.
2 - Mixed Fantasy Races - The central premise of this novel is that when you turn 12 years old, you can choose a fantasy race that is best suited to your temperament and interests. Therefore, this is a world populated with a plethora of fantasy races, with only children under 12 and a few rare adult exceptions being human. There is so much room for storytelling in this premise that gets ignored, it's kind of crazy. How do the races live together? Do adjustments to buildings, cities, organisations, and governments have to be made to cater to such a diverse population? Are there inbuilt expectations placed on someone based on what race they choose? How do romances work between people with such diversity (i.e. giants, centaurs and orcs all exist, but not with enough frequency to make me think that they breed only with their own races. However, the alternative seems bizarre)? These are just a small sample of the unlimited number of questions that should have been answered in this book, questions that would lead to richer world-building and considerably more potential for driving conflict within this book.
3 - Unique Race Discovery - It was my understanding that the gargoyle race was a unique race that people hadn't come across before and that it had a crazy amount of potential. I never really experienced that potential being realised, at least in any way that felt meaningful to the story.
4 - New way of approaching Race Selection - One of the key plot points of the novel was that one of the main characters had found a way to give people more options when it came to race selection. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom in this world and has the potential to be groundbreaking. However, other than to give the protagonist his special class and to give the secondary character something to do through the rest of the book, this isn't really seen as all that big of a deal.
Other issues with this book
Outside of the missed potential, this book struggled a lot with three fundamental elements of storytelling:
1. Show Don't Tell - This book is so caught up with the mechanics of the game system that it spends more time telling us information through exposition than it does showing us information through character action. If you're like me and your brain switches off when you hear too much information read to you from game-style system windows, then you'll soon be lost in what the characters in this novel can do because that information isn't reinforced through good storytelling.
2. Protagonist Agency- I never got the impression that the protagonist was the person leading this story. He is constantly at the mercy of the plot, either being led around by his friend or the situations he finds himself in. I didn't get any strong sense of drive from him, and ultimately, he was lacking in the forward momentum I want from a main character. His goals were nebulous at best, and usually, his motivations felt added on as an afterthought, if they were included at all.
3. Not Telling a Story - Ultimately, this book felt less like a story and more like someone trying to design a character in a video game character customisation screen. It's so chocked full of information on potential races, powers, skills and other surface-level character-building information that it felt like there wasn't much left over for any real storytelling. Even chapters where the characters did take action felt more like demo levels in a video game to test out skills than it did an attempt to tell a story.
So Why the Extra Star?
The reason this novel gets an extra star is simply that is started well. The opening chapters before the main character gets to choose his race does pretty much the opposite of all the issues listed above. It introduces a main character with a lot of potential, it crafts a world that is interesting and a premise you want to read about, it spends time creating characters that are interesting to the reader because they have clear goals and motivations, it focuses on creating relationships and giving us experiences that will be meaningful to the growth of the characters and the story overall. It did enough in those early chapters that it kept me reading long past a point where I had lost interest in the novel, and I kept hoping that I was just experiencing a lull in the story before it picked up again.
Final Verdict
There is a reason why this genre is 'LitRPG' and not 'RPGlit'. Literature is first because when it comes to novel writing, story must always come first. It is the most important element of any book, and you must make sure that your fundaments are there for that before you move on to exploring the RPG elements of your book. This is one of many books in this subgenre that gets so caught up in the RPG elements of the book, that it forgets to focus on story, and as a result it falls short.
It's always a shame, because as is often the case with books that fail for this same reason, there is an awesome idea at the heart of the story, one that has way more potential than more traditional novels, and one that I would love to read. But story must come first, and for that reason I can't rate this one any higher than 2-stars.
1 - Isekai and Reincarnation- This book did not need to have a protagonist from our world who was reincarnated in another world with the mind of an adult. This setup has absolutely no bearing on the 80% of the story that I read whatsoever. The protagonist never once takes advantage of the knowledge of our world nor the experience of having lived a life before. These things could have been used to make the protagonist exceptional, but instead, anything interesting about the protagonist comes from his friendship with a young woman who uses him as a guinea pig for her ideas. This same premise could have come about if he was just a normal boy born into this world.
2 - Mixed Fantasy Races - The central premise of this novel is that when you turn 12 years old, you can choose a fantasy race that is best suited to your temperament and interests. Therefore, this is a world populated with a plethora of fantasy races, with only children under 12 and a few rare adult exceptions being human. There is so much room for storytelling in this premise that gets ignored, it's kind of crazy. How do the races live together? Do adjustments to buildings, cities, organisations, and governments have to be made to cater to such a diverse population? Are there inbuilt expectations placed on someone based on what race they choose? How do romances work between people with such diversity (i.e. giants, centaurs and orcs all exist, but not with enough frequency to make me think that they breed only with their own races. However, the alternative seems bizarre)? These are just a small sample of the unlimited number of questions that should have been answered in this book, questions that would lead to richer world-building and considerably more potential for driving conflict within this book.
3 - Unique Race Discovery - It was my understanding that the gargoyle race was a unique race that people hadn't come across before and that it had a crazy amount of potential. I never really experienced that potential being realised, at least in any way that felt meaningful to the story.
4 - New way of approaching Race Selection - One of the key plot points of the novel was that one of the main characters had found a way to give people more options when it came to race selection. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom in this world and has the potential to be groundbreaking. However, other than to give the protagonist his special class and to give the secondary character something to do through the rest of the book, this isn't really seen as all that big of a deal.
Other issues with this book
Outside of the missed potential, this book struggled a lot with three fundamental elements of storytelling:
1. Show Don't Tell - This book is so caught up with the mechanics of the game system that it spends more time telling us information through exposition than it does showing us information through character action. If you're like me and your brain switches off when you hear too much information read to you from game-style system windows, then you'll soon be lost in what the characters in this novel can do because that information isn't reinforced through good storytelling.
2. Protagonist Agency- I never got the impression that the protagonist was the person leading this story. He is constantly at the mercy of the plot, either being led around by his friend or the situations he finds himself in. I didn't get any strong sense of drive from him, and ultimately, he was lacking in the forward momentum I want from a main character. His goals were nebulous at best, and usually, his motivations felt added on as an afterthought, if they were included at all.
3. Not Telling a Story - Ultimately, this book felt less like a story and more like someone trying to design a character in a video game character customisation screen. It's so chocked full of information on potential races, powers, skills and other surface-level character-building information that it felt like there wasn't much left over for any real storytelling. Even chapters where the characters did take action felt more like demo levels in a video game to test out skills than it did an attempt to tell a story.
So Why the Extra Star?
The reason this novel gets an extra star is simply that is started well. The opening chapters before the main character gets to choose his race does pretty much the opposite of all the issues listed above. It introduces a main character with a lot of potential, it crafts a world that is interesting and a premise you want to read about, it spends time creating characters that are interesting to the reader because they have clear goals and motivations, it focuses on creating relationships and giving us experiences that will be meaningful to the growth of the characters and the story overall. It did enough in those early chapters that it kept me reading long past a point where I had lost interest in the novel, and I kept hoping that I was just experiencing a lull in the story before it picked up again.
Final Verdict
There is a reason why this genre is 'LitRPG' and not 'RPGlit'. Literature is first because when it comes to novel writing, story must always come first. It is the most important element of any book, and you must make sure that your fundaments are there for that before you move on to exploring the RPG elements of your book. This is one of many books in this subgenre that gets so caught up in the RPG elements of the book, that it forgets to focus on story, and as a result it falls short.
It's always a shame, because as is often the case with books that fail for this same reason, there is an awesome idea at the heart of the story, one that has way more potential than more traditional novels, and one that I would love to read. But story must come first, and for that reason I can't rate this one any higher than 2-stars.
June 28, 2024
Ok story and plot... But so slow. Horribly slow.
The book is a bit convoluted. The overall world building plot line and story are okay and somewhat interesting. But almost after every sentence of dialogue you have three pages of exposition to explain each character's thoughts, to have another word of dialogue, and another 3 to 20 pages of exposition on what they're thinking.
The story dells deeply into the main characters leveling build, which 90% of it doesn't matter because it changes as the character grows, making all the information irrelevant.
The story is way over explained. I can't stress that enough. Mind numbingly slow.
It takes forever for the plot line to advance.
It's hard to recommend this one and I don't think I can waste of time with any other books in the series. It's hard to recommend this series, it's just painfully paced.
The book is a bit convoluted. The overall world building plot line and story are okay and somewhat interesting. But almost after every sentence of dialogue you have three pages of exposition to explain each character's thoughts, to have another word of dialogue, and another 3 to 20 pages of exposition on what they're thinking.
The story dells deeply into the main characters leveling build, which 90% of it doesn't matter because it changes as the character grows, making all the information irrelevant.
The story is way over explained. I can't stress that enough. Mind numbingly slow.
It takes forever for the plot line to advance.
It's hard to recommend this one and I don't think I can waste of time with any other books in the series. It's hard to recommend this series, it's just painfully paced.
December 27, 2023
Entertaining Read
Cayden and his little sister are orphaned at a young age when monsters wiped out their village. He wants to become an adventurer. His best friend is a girl named Elise. She becomes the brains to his brawn in the duo. His little sister becomes a Fateweaver and is scooped up and brought to the capital for training. He gains the attention of a Princess and is appointed as a student in the adventures academy in the capital. Adventuring, intrigue, advancement, and betrayal ensue.
Cayden and his little sister are orphaned at a young age when monsters wiped out their village. He wants to become an adventurer. His best friend is a girl named Elise. She becomes the brains to his brawn in the duo. His little sister becomes a Fateweaver and is scooped up and brought to the capital for training. He gains the attention of a Princess and is appointed as a student in the adventures academy in the capital. Adventuring, intrigue, advancement, and betrayal ensue.
November 18, 2024
This story was way too good. My only issue is I feel like an addict because of the severity of my cravings for book 2!
I love the OCD study of classes that doesn’t stop even after the MC gets his class. Not just that but the profession he settles on blew my mind. I was a little thrown off at first, but as the story progressed you can really see the potential and many cool ways the author could proceed with it.
The world building was super fun and I really enjoyed how the author used his sister and best friend to give the plot depth and interesting potential. So fun!!!
I love the OCD study of classes that doesn’t stop even after the MC gets his class. Not just that but the profession he settles on blew my mind. I was a little thrown off at first, but as the story progressed you can really see the potential and many cool ways the author could proceed with it.
The world building was super fun and I really enjoyed how the author used his sister and best friend to give the plot depth and interesting potential. So fun!!!
December 30, 2023
Unique birth of an MC. Very good story line with many novel twists to the system. Unlike so many in the genre very little based on DnD. It's such a different system that I was lenient about downgrading it for the excessive number and length of the character sheets padding the page count. In this case there is actually justification though I do feel it could be reduced to just a change summary in several instances. Fortunately the story depth and detail overcomes the issue.
February 10, 2024
WOW
Great story but it is a bit of a slow burn. The system shows more complexity than most. It seems closer to how a system of skills would be in real life. I personally love thinking about how skills would work in reality if you don’t find this fascinating this may not be the book for you. I don’t normally read books on royal road but I immediately looked this up and continued reading.
Great story but it is a bit of a slow burn. The system shows more complexity than most. It seems closer to how a system of skills would be in real life. I personally love thinking about how skills would work in reality if you don’t find this fascinating this may not be the book for you. I don’t normally read books on royal road but I immediately looked this up and continued reading.
March 16, 2024
5 He Guesses He'll Keep It Stars
We developed a new technology that could potentially change the world as we know it. It requires an incredible amount of investment and resources that we, frankly, don’t have. Even if we did, we need to be very careful in how we use this opportunity. In my research of essence signatures, we’ve discovered a method of imprinting those signatures into internal cores.
We developed a new technology that could potentially change the world as we know it. It requires an incredible amount of investment and resources that we, frankly, don’t have. Even if we did, we need to be very careful in how we use this opportunity. In my research of essence signatures, we’ve discovered a method of imprinting those signatures into internal cores.
November 5, 2023
Well worth your time
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
'In Clawed Grasp' has a unique, well-thought-out LitRPG system, memorable world building, and a main character that truly earns his exceptionalism.
It has kept my interest and investment long past the novelty of the setting wore off, and I really can't wait for the story to continue.
Thank You.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
'In Clawed Grasp' has a unique, well-thought-out LitRPG system, memorable world building, and a main character that truly earns his exceptionalism.
It has kept my interest and investment long past the novelty of the setting wore off, and I really can't wait for the story to continue.
Thank You.
November 6, 2023
So good
It's long but I wished for more at the end. I loved the class Cayden ended with. Totally on point considering what he and Elise got up to through the book. This starts a bit slowly creating the characters and world in layers and nuances that I appreciated instead of crazed info dumping. I hope for a book two.
It's long but I wished for more at the end. I loved the class Cayden ended with. Totally on point considering what he and Elise got up to through the book. This starts a bit slowly creating the characters and world in layers and nuances that I appreciated instead of crazed info dumping. I hope for a book two.
November 28, 2023
Fantastic
This is just a great book. Well written, well done, well edited.
At first I wasn’t expecting a lot. The cover, I thought, wasn’t great and neither was the title. Never have I been so wrong and only rarely have I been so pleasantly surprised by a book.
I’m looking forward to the next book eagerly.
This is just a great book. Well written, well done, well edited.
At first I wasn’t expecting a lot. The cover, I thought, wasn’t great and neither was the title. Never have I been so wrong and only rarely have I been so pleasantly surprised by a book.
I’m looking forward to the next book eagerly.
December 27, 2023
Amazing world building
New look in the man gets drawn into a magic world. Each child is "human" till they get a choice of what race they want. But it's all about their choices beforehand. Our main character gets together with another and tries to get lots of choices. Well written. Once I bought it I just had to keep reading.
New look in the man gets drawn into a magic world. Each child is "human" till they get a choice of what race they want. But it's all about their choices beforehand. Our main character gets together with another and tries to get lots of choices. Well written. Once I bought it I just had to keep reading.
March 25, 2024
Awesome
Only one word to say about this book - simply awesome. Okay, that was two words but I would highly recommend this book to any LitRPG or progression fantasy fans. Well constructed, good characters with believable motivations and actions make it an enjoyable read. Can't wait for the sequel, hope there is one.
Only one word to say about this book - simply awesome. Okay, that was two words but I would highly recommend this book to any LitRPG or progression fantasy fans. Well constructed, good characters with believable motivations and actions make it an enjoyable read. Can't wait for the sequel, hope there is one.
April 22, 2024
DNF
Dropped it pretty quick. It's too tedious to read through for me. There could have been more to it, but I got bored very quick by the MC as a child. Some more speed in the story would have been nice...
Dropped it pretty quick. It's too tedious to read through for me. There could have been more to it, but I got bored very quick by the MC as a child. Some more speed in the story would have been nice...
February 6, 2024
Awesome LitRPG
One of the most well-written LitRPG stories I have read. A long and entertaining story. It had an Interesting skill system.
One of the most well-written LitRPG stories I have read. A long and entertaining story. It had an Interesting skill system.
February 26, 2024
Great Book
This was a great book do not ignore this, read it on a whim and I definitely have no regrets. Outstanding story.
This was a great book do not ignore this, read it on a whim and I definitely have no regrets. Outstanding story.
March 6, 2024
Thoughtful
Loved the characters and the strange system for skills, abilities, and races. Races especially are pretty cool because of the shared origin.
Loved the characters and the strange system for skills, abilities, and races. Races especially are pretty cool because of the shared origin.
March 21, 2024
Refreshing
Very interesting tale and unique premise for gaining abilities. Enjoyed it from the first page to the very last! Can't wait for book 2
Very interesting tale and unique premise for gaining abilities. Enjoyed it from the first page to the very last! Can't wait for book 2
April 10, 2024
Great crunchy litrpg
This is a great combination of an established Author Author starting in a new genre finding some awesome depth. Great training and school stuff.
This is a great combination of an established Author Author starting in a new genre finding some awesome depth. Great training and school stuff.
April 17, 2024
Excellent
Long, but nice to have a complete story. Great works building and skills are well done. Interesting read and races was interesting.
Long, but nice to have a complete story. Great works building and skills are well done. Interesting read and races was interesting.
October 26, 2024
Amazing
One of the best litrpgs I've read/listened to in a long while. If you like progression fantasy, you will love this.
One of the best litrpgs I've read/listened to in a long while. If you like progression fantasy, you will love this.
August 2, 2024
Audio: 5 Stars
Story: To summarize, frustrating. First the plot, I have no idea what it was, there is SO much going on, I didn't get a clear understanding of what is the real point of this story.
Then if you are going to be reincarnated after death, who wants to be a regular person or deal with the same issues that you did on your previous life, if that is the case leave me dead?!?!?!?! I would like to be a kick-ass OP character, so I felt NO connection or kinship for this MC. I liked the sidekick better.
Then it goes on and on about him getting strong, but he sucks. Plus, he might get a bit stronger physically speaking, but mentally, he is awful. This is supposed to be a grown-up but he acts like an angst teen. Also, his friend is the one thinking about everything that will make him a better fighter, so he really has NO personal growth!
NONE of the characters are actually likeable. I felt like pushing them off a cliff at least once per character. Especially the sister, she chose her path so then she needs to take ownership of it! That is what makes a person grow, learn from mistakes! Or maybe I just hated her since the beginning for being a spoiled brat and not listening to the person who saved her!
The story is all over the place, not sure if I would call it an adventure since it focuses more on his personal struggles and LOTS of internal monologues which is not something I'm personally looking for on a LitRPG. It is incredibly unnecessarily long, there are full segments that have no value. Maybe the book is just not for me. Boring and nonsensical. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
Story: To summarize, frustrating. First the plot, I have no idea what it was, there is SO much going on, I didn't get a clear understanding of what is the real point of this story.
Then if you are going to be reincarnated after death, who wants to be a regular person or deal with the same issues that you did on your previous life, if that is the case leave me dead?!?!?!?! I would like to be a kick-ass OP character, so I felt NO connection or kinship for this MC. I liked the sidekick better.
Then it goes on and on about him getting strong, but he sucks. Plus, he might get a bit stronger physically speaking, but mentally, he is awful. This is supposed to be a grown-up but he acts like an angst teen. Also, his friend is the one thinking about everything that will make him a better fighter, so he really has NO personal growth!
NONE of the characters are actually likeable. I felt like pushing them off a cliff at least once per character. Especially the sister, she chose her path so then she needs to take ownership of it! That is what makes a person grow, learn from mistakes! Or maybe I just hated her since the beginning for being a spoiled brat and not listening to the person who saved her!
The story is all over the place, not sure if I would call it an adventure since it focuses more on his personal struggles and LOTS of internal monologues which is not something I'm personally looking for on a LitRPG. It is incredibly unnecessarily long, there are full segments that have no value. Maybe the book is just not for me. Boring and nonsensical. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
December 25, 2023
In Clawed Grasp is a rather interesting story. I've read similar stories before, but none with this particular type of skill system, or the absolutely huge number of skills that are shown. Sure, other systems hint there's unlimited combinations, and skills that can be combined and such to make new ones, but the most interesting part of this I really enjoyed was the whole you'll get a chance to unlock a class based on what you've done up to the time the system unlocked.
Sure, that kind of thing has been done before as well, but again, it's the shear amount of options that are so masterfully shown here. This system is awesome, and it's developed with such amazing detail, you can practically visualize the skills, classes, and combinations. Love this system, and most definitely want to read more. I generally make it a practice *not* to read books in progress, but I just might have to drop by royal road and read the next book in this series as it's being written.
Sure, that kind of thing has been done before as well, but again, it's the shear amount of options that are so masterfully shown here. This system is awesome, and it's developed with such amazing detail, you can practically visualize the skills, classes, and combinations. Love this system, and most definitely want to read more. I generally make it a practice *not* to read books in progress, but I just might have to drop by royal road and read the next book in this series as it's being written.
December 18, 2023
okay
I generally enjoyed the story ,didn't really like the magic system and far to much of the book was spent with Cayden worrying about his "build" and spending pages debating which skills were best for him which grew increasingly tedious , my main problem was that I felt no empathy with any of the characters , they were all two dimensional and I know no more about their world now than I did before I started reading , the ending felt rushed and left things open but not in a totally unsatisfactory way.
I generally enjoyed the story ,didn't really like the magic system and far to much of the book was spent with Cayden worrying about his "build" and spending pages debating which skills were best for him which grew increasingly tedious , my main problem was that I felt no empathy with any of the characters , they were all two dimensional and I know no more about their world now than I did before I started reading , the ending felt rushed and left things open but not in a totally unsatisfactory way.
January 14, 2024
I enjoyed it
Generally, the story was good, I want more.
I felt that some parts were a little disjointed and the world building was a little off, I cannot put my finger on it.
It seemed like there was some disconnect in the story, like the students were supposed to get a stipend of exp crystals and the MC does tons of dungeon runs and his leveling died.
Also the merge skills seems a little off, let's take three/four skills and merge them for something "better" and then lose an important function. I am curious to see how it moves forward.
Generally, the story was good, I want more.
I felt that some parts were a little disjointed and the world building was a little off, I cannot put my finger on it.
It seemed like there was some disconnect in the story, like the students were supposed to get a stipend of exp crystals and the MC does tons of dungeon runs and his leveling died.
Also the merge skills seems a little off, let's take three/four skills and merge them for something "better" and then lose an important function. I am curious to see how it moves forward.
March 13, 2024
I really enjoyed this book but it felt a little disjointed. The beginning of the book is excellent and really makes you care for the characters. The middle of the book didn't seem to have a direction that it wanted to go in while the end of the book makes you question if this book was actually written well.
Overall the character relationships are great and actually make sense. They don't get into one fight and are suddenly best friends. It takes time and feels natural. The world is well thought out and there is clearly shady things going on in the background.
Hopefully the next book will have a more clear direction for the plot.
Overall the character relationships are great and actually make sense. They don't get into one fight and are suddenly best friends. It takes time and feels natural. The world is well thought out and there is clearly shady things going on in the background.
Hopefully the next book will have a more clear direction for the plot.
November 22, 2023
A good addition to Isekai LitRPG novels
I like the book's world the most. A world where what you do makes you what you will become. Its a good story with a nice plotline and a likeable, not overpowered, main character. Its only flaw is it's almost singular point of view. Little side character development, especially since many of the characters have a lot to build off of and would have fleshed out the story nicely.
I like the book's world the most. A world where what you do makes you what you will become. Its a good story with a nice plotline and a likeable, not overpowered, main character. Its only flaw is it's almost singular point of view. Little side character development, especially since many of the characters have a lot to build off of and would have fleshed out the story nicely.
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