Great review. I know Jason is a hard character to swallow, but I think he becomes a bit easier to like once you understand more of the reasonings behind why he acts the way he acts. It takes several books of adding to and peeling back the layers of his trauma to get a better idea of why he acts the way he does. In later books, Jason even cringes about how he behaved when he first explored the world (though based on how he continues to act he does not really seem to apply these revelations). I am not promising that that will make you like him more though, just understand his actions a bit better. My point is, do yourself a favor and continue with the series. Outside of that, if you found you like LiTRPG you should check out: The Wandering Inn - One of the best ongoing LitRPG series. The whole series is free online, but I highly recommend the audiobooks as the voice actress is phenomenal. The series is also humongous. Mother of Learning - Easily a classic in the genera, which you see referenced in other LiTRPGs all the time. Arcane Assention/War of Broken Mirrors/Weapons and Weilders - 3 series by the same author that intertwine with one another, but all with very different feels and structures to them. Mark of the Fool - just an awesome series
I think it’ll be a while before I read a second HWFWM book haha. Thanks for the other recommendations. I’m currently listening to Wandering Inn. Only a couple of hours in so far though. I’ve also listened to Primal Hunter and Defiance of the Fall. Liked both but the writing on DotF was not great. I really liked the first two Battle Mage Farmer books but book 3 was dark and not so fun.
Haha. Thanks! I know suddenly adding a bunch of litrpg in when I’ve never done them before is a bit risky channel wise but I’ve been enjoying the genre the last few months. I’m switching up to SPFBOX mode here in at the end of the month and will be mostly that after around July channel wise for a bit.
@NerdBookReview No worries about keeping it channel relevant, it's cool to listen to people talk about whatever they're reading! Looking forward to your thoughts on SPFBO too. You should sign up as a judge! Haha 😉
My library has a digital copy of book 10 of HWFWM. I had no idea that is was a series, much less that it was the 10th in the series. I enjoyed the book as a stand alone novel. When I found out that it was a series and that the book was actually #10 in the series, I was both excited and somewhat disappointed. Excited because I found some more interesting books to read/listen too. Disappointed because some of the events alluded to in Jason's past seemed like they would be more fun as semi-mysterious and vaguely alluded too prior events, rather then detailed stories to actually go through in detail. That being said, Jason does change. If you ever do go back to HWFWM, skip to book 10. For myself, I think I will put off the earlier books until later and just move forward to book 11 with this better and more mature (though still very Jasony) Jason.
@@NerdBookReview Honestly, that depends if one I can get access to the audio version for free. Most of my "reading" is done while driving due to time constraints. The only books that I read instead of listen to are books that are both really high on my priority list and are unavailable to me in audiobook form. From your and some of the other commenters comments, the early books just wouldn't be worth it.
@@theethicalostrich1388if you haven’t listened to Battle Mage Farmer yet see if they’re still free on Audible if you use that. Same with Super Powereds. I know they’re still free since I’m currently listening to the last one.
The problem with that is that everyone says that personality wise Jason doesn’t change for several more books and I can’t imagine listening to a single more book of Jason being Jason.
Lit RPGs span such a huge range in terms of quality. Some are thoroughly entertaining and worth multiple rereads. Others are absolute garbage. Many people miss out on a lot of the great ones because their first Lit RPG experience is with one of the subpar ones or even just with a book that they just didn't connect with. They blame the genre, not the book or author.
@@NerdBookReview I go lucky and started with the Eric Ugland written books. Of course I followed those up with 3 DNFs. That taught me that Lit RPGs are like any other book category. Going blindly will only lead to frustration and a lot of wasted time.
I follow the series on Patreon. I have to say that you are not wrong about Jason, but his journey to mature is actually part of the whole story and also his views. Such as his socialist views and his own power and absolutely tyrannical character when he thinks he know better. The gods are jerks way too often.
I’ve had many people tell me he gets better. The problem is most say it’s book 3 or 4 and I’m just not willing to continue that long to get to it when I have so many other things to read.
@@NerdBookReview Totally fair! To be honest, if you don't like Jason in the first book, you will probably never like him. You would probably understand him better, respect where he is coming from and admire his journey perhaps, but I would not necessarily recommend continuing and I say that as a fan :D But to me that what happened with The Wanderin Inn. A beloved series, but I will not continue because it "really starts going after book 5" or something like that.
Great review. I know Jason is a hard character to swallow, but I think he becomes a bit easier to like once you understand more of the reasonings behind why he acts the way he acts. It takes several books of adding to and peeling back the layers of his trauma to get a better idea of why he acts the way he does. In later books, Jason even cringes about how he behaved when he first explored the world (though based on how he continues to act he does not really seem to apply these revelations). I am not promising that that will make you like him more though, just understand his actions a bit better. My point is, do yourself a favor and continue with the series.
Outside of that, if you found you like LiTRPG you should check out:
The Wandering Inn - One of the best ongoing LitRPG series. The whole series is free online, but I highly recommend the audiobooks as the voice actress is phenomenal. The series is also humongous.
Mother of Learning - Easily a classic in the genera, which you see referenced in other LiTRPGs all the time.
Arcane Assention/War of Broken Mirrors/Weapons and Weilders - 3 series by the same author that intertwine with one another, but all with very different feels and structures to them.
Mark of the Fool - just an awesome series
I think it’ll be a while before I read a second HWFWM book haha.
Thanks for the other recommendations. I’m currently listening to Wandering Inn. Only a couple of hours in so far though.
I’ve also listened to Primal Hunter and Defiance of the Fall. Liked both but the writing on DotF was not great. I really liked the first two Battle Mage Farmer books but book 3 was dark and not so fun.
Great to see someone talking about HWFWM! Excellent video!
Thanks! Love the world and litRPG element.
Awesome review Cam! Love hearing your thoughts on books, even ones I don't think are for me 😅
Haha. Thanks! I know suddenly adding a bunch of litrpg in when I’ve never done them before is a bit risky channel wise but I’ve been enjoying the genre the last few months. I’m switching up to SPFBOX mode here in at the end of the month and will be mostly that after around July channel wise for a bit.
@NerdBookReview No worries about keeping it channel relevant, it's cool to listen to people talk about whatever they're reading!
Looking forward to your thoughts on SPFBO too. You should sign up as a judge! Haha 😉
@@ZOMGfantasyI will be a judge actually haha! I’m on the Before We Go Blog team this year! Really looking forward to it.
My library has a digital copy of book 10 of HWFWM. I had no idea that is was a series, much less that it was the 10th in the series.
I enjoyed the book as a stand alone novel. When I found out that it was a series and that the book was actually #10 in the series, I was both excited and somewhat disappointed. Excited because I found some more interesting books to read/listen too. Disappointed because some of the events alluded to in Jason's past seemed like they would be more fun as semi-mysterious and vaguely alluded too prior events, rather then detailed stories to actually go through in detail.
That being said, Jason does change. If you ever do go back to HWFWM, skip to book 10. For myself, I think I will put off the earlier books until later and just move forward to book 11 with this better and more mature (though still very Jasony) Jason.
Haha! That’s definitely a unique way to go about it. Do you plan on going back and reading them?
@@NerdBookReview Honestly, that depends if one I can get access to the audio version for free. Most of my "reading" is done while driving due to time constraints. The only books that I read instead of listen to are books that are both really high on my priority list and are unavailable to me in audiobook form. From your and some of the other commenters comments, the early books just wouldn't be worth it.
@@theethicalostrich1388if you haven’t listened to Battle Mage Farmer yet see if they’re still free on Audible if you use that. Same with Super Powereds. I know they’re still free since I’m currently listening to the last one.
Read the rest of the books, it a journey series not a one shot deal.
The problem with that is that everyone says that personality wise Jason doesn’t change for several more books and I can’t imagine listening to a single more book of Jason being Jason.
Lit RPGs span such a huge range in terms of quality. Some are thoroughly entertaining and worth multiple rereads. Others are absolute garbage.
Many people miss out on a lot of the great ones because their first Lit RPG experience is with one of the subpar ones or even just with a book that they just didn't connect with. They blame the genre, not the book or author.
Absolutely! My first two attempts at LitRP made me avoid the genre for years.
@@NerdBookReview I go lucky and started with the Eric Ugland written books. Of course I followed those up with 3 DNFs. That taught me that Lit RPGs are like any other book category. Going blindly will only lead to frustration and a lot of wasted time.
I follow the series on Patreon. I have to say that you are not wrong about Jason, but his journey to mature is actually part of the whole story and also his views. Such as his socialist views and his own power and absolutely tyrannical character when he thinks he know better.
The gods are jerks way too often.
I’ve had many people tell me he gets better. The problem is most say it’s book 3 or 4 and I’m just not willing to continue that long to get to it when I have so many other things to read.
@@NerdBookReview Totally fair! To be honest, if you don't like Jason in the first book, you will probably never like him. You would probably understand him better, respect where he is coming from and admire his journey perhaps, but I would not necessarily recommend continuing and I say that as a fan :D
But to me that what happened with The Wanderin Inn. A beloved series, but I will not continue because it "really starts going after book 5" or something like that.