I am not confident I was the target audience for this book. It took me entirely too much effort to consume, though I can see the appeal (obviously, I did request it!).

Possible Triggers:
Death | Mild Gore

Summary:
This is the first book in a progression fantasy about a physicist dropped in a random fantasy game world.

Characters:
This book follows one main character (Edwin Maxlin) and is told from predominantly his point of view. Very occasionally it switches to another character but it is in regards to the main.

Positives:
+ Looking for a fun light fantasy that has a bunch of really cool beasties and humanoid (sorta) creatures in it. DONE. You have some that you have absolutely heard of like Dwarves and Halflings (but in a new fun way!) and others that are all brand new. Gotta say i was a really big fan of how the various species in the book are not sparse, this is a continent FULL of varied races.
+ I love how the language barriers are dealt with. Fun detail to add.

Negatives:
- Chapter 6. The whole tweaking of the hud layout and display was confusing and boring. I think this could have been removed entirely as it was described at various points in the book that he was constantly reformatting the HUD. That being said, while I thought it was a very drawn out long winded explanation, I have never read anyone interacting with the hud layout in any other book. As an avid gamer I frequently tweak my HUD to make everything flow for me personally when I play a game pretty early on, so this detail included in the book was fantastic.
-The fighting scene near the end of the book was very confusing as to what was going on. I think it could have been clarified, but I am at a loss as to what exactly made it so hard to follow. All I know is that I found myself rereading repeatedly trying to understand what was going on. Also are we ever going to find out why the feelings behind this fight happened, happened (I AM CURIOUS!).

Final Thoughts:
This book was a bit of a yoyo for me. The very beginning of the story starts at a bit of a snail's pace. I think what bogged it down was the sheer amount of detail in the tedium of everyday adventurey things, as well as Edwin’s personal musings about the science and such behind all those things. No one leaves that first part of the book not knowing that Edwin is a very analytical person. Around the 40% mark, things start getting really interesting. Suddenly you are meeting all kinds of fascinating creatures, clashes of culture, betrayal, magic, politics! Almost every chapter has something exciting going on. You really get to travel right there with Edwin as he unravels curiosity and wonder at every turn. Followed by confusion again in the last few chapters. Why the sudden change? I have a feeling it's probably addressed in the next book with more detail because it FEELS like with all the other explanations in the book for things, that this would also be explained in detail. All in all I enjoyed many aspects of the book and none of the problems with it would stop me from continuing the series.

The cover art is what drew my attention to the book. After reading the synopsis I knew that I needed to read this book. I found it very funny and enjoyable. The computer dialogue brought back so many memories of my experiences with early computer games and how frustrating it can be figuring out something for the first time. The Way Ahead was written in a way that is so relatable! I will recommend it to people who enjoy LitRPG stories.

This was a difficult one to get into, but once the ball got rolling, things got pretty interesting! I really enjoyed the video-game like system, and I especially loved the scenes that involved survival and the main character discovering how the world around him works. An enjoyable and unique fantasy read!

This book is pretty straight forward LitRPG. I really wanted to like it but was not a big fan in the end. It went from boring to better to a bit unsatisfying.

The beginning was very slow and dragged out. The MC is a bit annoying and I could picture those who like him as fanboys who want think they’re cool and powerful.

The magic parameters of this world felt like they were a bunch of separate thoughts that couldn’t be narrowed down so they were all thrown together instead.

I did like bits and pieces so I don’t want to give it a lower rating than 3, but I don’t really have anything specific I liked.

I liked this book but did not love it.

The world created was fun and magical, but at times the world building became too much and too repetitive.

Though I was not a fan of the main character. He was difficult to root for and a lot of the times I was annoyed by things he did.