Judge by Michael Head

Judge is a fast paced epic fantasy filled with supernatural creatures and magical powers. James Holden is part of a Guild tasked with the duties and responsibilities to uphold justice and punish the guilty. Transported from Earth to other worlds, he desires to go home and see his family again, but in the meantime, he takes his duty as a judge to be extremely important, often delivering justice with a heavy hand, at least to the outside world. During his journey, he encounters many others, and a few aid him in his quests.

I loved the world building that Michael Head created. The images he created are full of mystery and mystic, while also being extremely entertaining. I loved the characters, although my favorite is the Wearbear, and his Carebear powers. While there was definitely a lot going on in the book, and could easily have become too much or too out there, it didn’t. The author was able to make it work. The mix of humor in the story was great. I definitely look forward to see where James Holden and his band of magical friends goes in the future. I also liked the way you got power updates as the story progressed, and although he was at max power, he was constantly still learning and earning throughout. It gave an interesting twist, that even though he was a judge, he too could be judged, and that even with his extensive powers, he was not invincible.

I enjoyed the narrator. Neil Hellegers did a great job pulling me into the story.

The LitRPG novel “Judge” by Michael Head follows the main character James Holden who is a judge traveling different realms to enact justice. But in this realm he encounters new enemies and allies that complicate things and set him on a path to uncover hints about his personal mystery.

I liked Holden as a character that is powerful but constantly underestimated by strangers. I wouldn't however describe the protagonist as a memorable character. The underlying mystery that I won't spoil here was intriguing. In addition the side characters were unique and had their own story arcs.

The plot itself and the world didn't stand out to me in comparison to other LitRPG’s.

Especially the narration by Neil Hellegers was excellent and elevated the book. His voice and narration style was a great fit for the character.

It's a solid book that was very easy to read and enjoy but probably won't linger in my mind for long.

A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tantor Audio for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐

An enjoyable read, but it just didn't stand out for me. It has some hints of developing into something more interesting in the following installments.

James Holden has been transported from Earth under mysterious circumstances to become a Judge. Each year he is sent to a new world to resolve injustices that are on too big a scale for the world to resolve them without outside intervention. Now, on his 20th world, he still doesn't have much of a clue who is behind his status and abilities. But this new world might finally have some answers.

James is an interesting character. He is not completely likable, but he is relatable. We get a picture of his past life, where he is constantly having to abandon his newly built life every year. Any bonds he makes are broken forever over and over. Not to mention his fights often lead to losses along the way. That kind of life would grind down on anyone. He is very blunt with people, and if that results in a fight, then so be it. He definitely needs to work on his people skills. Even so, he does manage to attract some people who share his goal of bringing the world's evildoers to justice.

His abilities as a judge are interesting. He can switch on this persona that instinctively knows the right punishment. In that state, he cannot be pleaded with, so afterward, a harsh punishment can weigh on him a bit. Besides that, he has all kinds of fighting, healing, and crafting abilities that make him strong enough to deal with most enemies, without making him too overpowered. He can still get defeated if he is not careful. The book is a LitRPG, so expect the usual levels and stats system with some fresh ideas.

The mystery of his function and abilities is what makes me most interested in following up with the series. He gets various quests along his journey, one of them being figuring out his situation.

The audiobook narration was not exceptional, but the voice was fitting to the character.

I received an ALC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book reminded me of a strange mix of Ready Player One and Quantum Leap along with other supernatural things. I enjoyed thins book. The main character James has quested to do to accomplish higher stats and to move onto a new world. His end goal is to make it back to him own world. But he is in some kind of strange game that tries to kill him along the way. In this world he is in he comes across corrupt rich people and he rectify what they have done wrong in a form of punishment. Along the way of trying to fulfill his quests for this world he comes across a Lyceum touched girl and he is teaching her his ways of magic so that she can help him fight the evil in the world. The first soldier that comes to kill James is sorely mistaken and loses his hand in punishment and is drug along the way with James to finish his quest. Though all the hardships they go though the soldier that first tried to kill James redeems himself and becomes a Judge himself when he proven himself.

Though the adventure was not over at the end of this book it keeps you wanting to know more. Can not wait for book 2

This book is a classic LitRPG with a rich main character. I do have a problem with this book though, we meet our hero at max level and 20 year in on his journey and I just really want the full story of his origin because it sounds so interesting. It drives me crazy to get his snippets and thoughts of the past and think damn that would be a good read.

James Holden was seemingly a regular dude from Earth, but for reasons unknown to him he was sucked into a multi-world adventure decades ago. He has been tasked with travelling from world to world, acting as Judge of those worlds and their inhabitants and meting out justice as he sees fit. Though his body no longer ages, he gets more powerful as he journeys, and we meet him at what he believes may be his peak strength after having served as Judge in 20 worlds. However, this newest world may be just what he needs to gain even more power, and it just might be his least favorite world yet.

This story has a LitRPG framework where James experiences a leveling system with stats, spells, achievements, etc. I agree with the reviewer who said that James somehow feels "both under and overpowered." He also comes off as holier than thou and kind of douchey-- I know I'd be annoyed if some dude marched in an acted like he can immediately see all the issues with myself and my world, its systems and morality, after being there for like 30 seconds. And he lacks enough self-awareness to make this quality something I can overlook or even appreciate. I'm seeing parallels to Dungeon Crawler Carl, not least of which is James's overall personality and consequences-be-damned morality. The difference here is that James's split second decisions don't have any real consequences for him. So, it sort of feels like there are no stakes, but his actions can and do negatively impact bystanders.

I enjoyed the pacing of the story. The book's universe and the design of his quest are interesting, but I feel like I only get a whiff of their complexity in this intro. I'm torn on whether I'm happy with where we were dropped into this story or if I wish we'd been able to watch James become a Judge, fall in love, and explore the first 20 worlds.

I don't think I'll personally continue with this series, but I think it will appeal to lots of folks, and I could even see if being an option for those struggling through a Dungeon Crawler Carl hangover.

The narrator was fantastic.

I struggled to get immersed in this epic fantasy story. Some of my struggle is that I found the narrator dry, which made it harder to follow the story. With these kinds of fantasy stories, I feel I would have better reading it with my eyeballs so I have put down the audiobook copy out of fairness to the author. It was just too hard to judge the quality of the actual work

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.