Ruthless

The plot advances well enough in this book, but not much else. Overall, the quality of the writing is much lower than in Krout’s other work. Nearly the entire book is written in dialogue. There are very few descriptions of people, settings, or actions, and what there is is extremely basic most of the time. It often felt like I was reading the script to a radio play rather reading a novel. Joe is supposed to be living in a rapidly expanding frontier town with new buildings, restaurants, and people, but we never get to learn what any of it looks, sounds, or feels like. Segues from one setting to another were sometimes signaled with just a single sentence or two and then the start of a new dialogue with new people (or Joe talking with himself). Characters are just names on a page, with no description of their facial expressions, dress, or body language. Since people in the book rarely seem to sleep, you sometimes don’t even know what time of day it is. One of the great pleasures for me in reading a novel is picturing in my mind’s eye what is happening, and that was difficult. I also felt like the lack of description made many of the supporting characters, especially Joe’s coven and even Jess, quite flat and underdeveloped.

There is also insufficient recap of events from previous books. I found myself struggling to remember details. For instance, the story mentions new guild officers, mana batteries, and the friendship between Tara and Joe, but the author doesn’t provide any recap to remind the reader of what happened with these things in the previous installments of this story. The members of the coven just pop in and out of the story, but their personalities (which were described somewhat in the last book) aren’t really recapped either and they don’t have enough lines for the reader to really get a sense of who they are from their dialogue (imagine trying to meet someone for the first or second time on a 2 minute phone call). Some references to past events I didn’t remember at all, but the characters discuss them as though there were major or obvious plot points. I even went back to the booklist to make sure that I hadn’t missed a side story or something. I think this is linked to the ‘all dialogue’ storytelling style. Of course the characters should resume their conversations as though there has been no break in the story. But if there were more narration, the author would provide recaps and clues to help the reader track.

The bottom line is that this is not nearly as enjoyable a read as the first two installments (which I think were the best in the series). If you have access to the previous installment, you will also want to reread it before reading this one.

As enjoyable as the story itself was, the main character never seems to solve his basic issues.

Stat differences great enough to cause you to have issues of almost every type? Dont worry, no one will believe you if you point it out – no matter what their stats are. It doesnt really matter anyways because youll spend a couple of months not leveling them even though you get 3/4 reduced training time.
Joe just kept running into the same problems over and over again. After all of the things hes accomplished with his guild and on his own, no one ever just tries to be decent to him? No one cares the royals can take everything at the drop of a hat? Instead of going for a trade deal or asking him to do something with a quest, they just turtle up and die.

We keep seeing ability and term references for the world to transition to cultivation terms, but nothing has really been changed or improved for anyone who has figured some things out.

****** WARNING**************
If you pick up this book, you may not be able to put it down until you finish it.

For those of you that have already read the first 4 books in this world, this series needs no introduction. For those of you that may not have read it, go back start from the beginning. This book is worth the effort and will improve the readers enjoyment. The book does start off a little slow as Joe (main character) must work to improve his De-buffs that are similar to those experienced by Jackson (#Rexus). However, someone that has read this series at least 3 times, I was not disappointed in this newest addition. In fact, I was overwhelmed as I read through the entire book and didnt finish till very early the next morning (I cannot confirm or deny that I got in trouble with my spouse).

Summary:
The story begins with Joe working with his coven and with his team to help them grow and develop. Joe is struggling to communicate with his team and slowly begins to understand this is due to his De-buffs. The other guilds are in a competition with the Wanders guild to improve their towns.

Without creating a spoiler, one of the best part about this series are all of the hidden items that Joe discovers as he goes about in his quest. As a gamer, I was always looking for everything that I could find. Joe, doesnt just look for it. He finds it. The other thing I like about this series, is the way Dakota (Author) finishes the novel. On social media, in one of my favorite speculations, one of the fans was wondering if Ruth would be gone from Joes life forever (Ruth-Less).

I recommend this book to boys and girls over the age of 12. My son (13), who is a non-reader, loves this series and has read/listened to every book in the series.

Profanity: none
Alcohol/tobacco: a mention of making wine
Sexual content: none
COFFEE: EVERY DAY!!! LOL

****** SPOILER ****************
Joe and Sam (#Biblomancer) finally meet face to face. Dont miss their competitive quest(s).

I really didn’t see much room for improvement in the previous editions of this series but Dakota has taken it to an even higher level with this book.

The smattering of puns and Easter eggs throughout the book are so well-integrated that they flow almost seamlessly into the plot. The story starts to integrate into a larger world and does so through character development and revelation.

This was just so much fun to read and I highly recommend it.

This carries on the story of joe and the Wanderers guild. The story takes many unexpected twists and turns that leave you wondering what he was thinking when he was writing this story. There is a notable change in the feeling of the story to a very dark mood and the characters act accordingly. I hope we get the next book soon

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