Here are mini reviews for progression fantasy books I read from March to April 2024. Give them a shot if they sound interesting.

The links lead to the book page on goodreads, from where I've also copied a portion of the blurbs for this post.

Book covers

Courier Quest by Flossindune

Blurb

While waiting patiently for his life to improve, a workplace accident changes everything for Trevor, including the world he resides in. After he bungles his way through a summoner’s questionnaire and gains the Power of an extradimensional inventory, he lands in the peaceful town of Tosa.

Review

Overall, it was a nice and relaxing read. I've read too many isekai stories, so I like it when the author puts a lot of effort into making the transition interesting. The System was a touch too sassy for my liking, but it was again a sign of the author's effort. The inventory power that the main character gets also had an interesting twist I hadn't come across before.

I would've preferred if the book had a little more stakes/danger — but to be fair, that would've not suited the vacation premise. However, the lack of stakes meant that I didn't really find the courier quests interesting — the stories attached to the deliveries were cool, but the actual delivering aspect wasn't anything special. Also, I didn't expect the second half to be mostly focused on the romance.

World Seal (Guardian of Aster Fall #7) by David North

Blurb

In the Void beyond Aster Fall, Sam stands watch at the fortress of Silverguard, protecting the world from an ancient enemy. His strength as an Astral Titan is all that stands between it and destruction.

Review

This was another good entry where Sam continued to gain in power and allies. Seems like the author builds up to a one major fight per book — so many sub-plots came together in this one, along with many revelations about the past and a way forward in the fight against the Outsiders. That said, the side-characters we came to cherish in the earlier novels were hardly mentioned, let alone get substantial screen time.

Global DifFusion (Magical Fusion #4) by Jonathan Brooks

Blurb

After the disastrous events in the Kingdom of Androthe, the powerful Fusionist has arrived in another part of the world. Not only is he alone and unsure of where exactly he is, but now he has to navigate the strange Sealance Empire, paying off his debt toward its people that he incurred just after arriving. However, if he can journey across its expanse, he can finally return to the Kingdom where his family and friends he left behind are located.

Review

I continued to enjoy the crafting aspect of the series (only reason I finished this book). It was good to see more of the world, but it is becoming much more darker than I'm comfortable with. The lack of side-characters from earlier books made it more difficult — there's a very valid reason why they were absent, especially with an additional reveal early on in this book, but I wish it wasn't so.

The Fabric of Reality (Edge Cases #1) by Silver Linings

Blurb

In the Prime Kingdoms, the system dominates everything. It dictates one’s strength, skills, and power. It spawns dungeons and guides the actions of their monsters. But every system has its limits, and it’s about to push four oddball adventurers to theirs.

Review

There was a lot to like about this book — an adventure team who had each other's back (even when there were secrets yet to be shared), training sessions to learn more about their powers and more importantly how to exploit them, a good mix of action and slice-of-life scenes, a plot that was full of mysteries to be solved, etc.

I liked the pacing in the first half. Once the dungeon delve started, things became a lot more weirder to the point that I wondered if it was virtual reality instead of secondary fantasy world. The explanations afterwards did help to get a better understanding, but it was bit of a chore to finish the book. I hope I'll enjoy the sequels better.

My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror by Actus

Blurb

Damien nearly ended the world. Now, his mistake might be the only thing that can save it. Good things come to those who wait. Damien Vale didn’t, and he ended up bound to an Eldritch creature from beyond the reaches of space. It has lived since the dawn of time, seen the world born and destroyed countless times, and wants to be called Henry. Unusual companion or not, Damien was still determined to go to a mage college and study magic. He wants nothing more than to live normal life as a researcher, but if Henry’s true nature is revealed, he’ll be killed.

Review

I was craving for a magical academy book and this series was satisfactory on that front. I especially liked the idea of portals and other magical stuff being used to make things easier for students and staff alike. I even liked the weird accommodation arrangement, where students were free to modify them to suit their needs. However, a few things didn't make sense — like the free meal situation (I suppose the author intended it as a humorous idea), the main character's mom not preparing him for the academy, etc.

The professors being competent was a favorable point, even if some of them were borderline insane. There was a good mix of action, training and even some slice-of-life scenes. I enjoyed the competitions, though I wish they were more fleshed out and had POV scenes from the other contestants.

A major complaint was that the series was poorly edited. The second book was full of typos and the rest had a handful each. Names got mixed up a few times, confusion between Year Two and Year Three was jarring and so on.

Overall, it was a fun series despite the epic setting. Many of the characters were memorable.