Forming the Company (Alpha World Book 2)

This sequel has a completely different tone and pace from the original. I was looking forward to this next release.
While the first book had new interesting places to explore, uncertainty and peril, growth and brutality, this book has monotonous routine and piles of rotting expectations. The middle 50% of the book is literally just the previously introduced characters walking out every day to farm kobold camps, a scene were the horny imp is horny, having dinner, discussing doing the same thing tomorrow, then... with minor variation (mostly what characters are present) they again just do the same thing tomorrow.
This goes on for..idk, a week? of the world time and the majority of the book.
The remaining portions of the story are dedicated to forming a guild, making businesses agreements with local merchants, minor character building and a few lite sex scenes.

I think the author may have actually dedicated more page space writing about the purchase and installation of the guild door signs than the mc's wedding.

Every time you think something exciting is due, that something interesting is about to happen... it doesn't.

This book held all the excitement of a 6 hour slideshow presentation on the wonderous history of the library card catalog system.

I was both surprised and slightly relieved when the book abruptly ended.

Pros: This book has absolutely no cliffhangers.

The first book was okay, but this book just devolved into trash. Literally he m'lady-s his way through interactions with every single female character and they all love it. With actual mimed hat tipping and they all find it super charming. I was hoping from some earlier hints that it would turn out the MC was actually a monster fooling himself about why he was in prison. But nope, he's just that awesome and filled with justice. And God's love, he is a former prison guard with zero military experience but he runs around saluting NPC's officers because he respects the job. Some quick character highlights: didn't date much, but super experienced in BDSM master\sub relationships; literally not one woman he has met has disliked him, literally none, everyone human or NPC thinks he's great; the NPCs thee and thou, fine totally appropriate. All the humans, including ones not role-playing do too, for no reason. This whole book reads like it crawled out of neckbeard stories from Reddit. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but the turn from book 1 to book 2 in quality is incredible and in the wrong direction.

So.. there was one item description the entire book and yet the author takes more time to describe a fellatio than he does the action and loot. More conversation centers on the character sexual preferences and mommy/daddy issues than world building or lore. The MC has assured the friends and family of his bride that he isnt going to take advantage of her than the times he took a quest. Please. Please do some questing! If I haven't beat the dead horse enough: this book needs to be LitRPG with erotica elements rather than virtual reality Days of our Lives. All of the complaints I had about book one were worse in this one. The action scenes are awfully boring and the loot (which is why most people read LitRPG) is so boring I wanted to put the book down multiple times. As for the rest it is much of the same: LitRPG erotica. The things I liked were the flashbacks in the MC's dreams. That should've been done in the first book as well. I also enjoyed the last ten percent of the book which finally hinted at an OP MC and guild building that might save this series for me. Also, the coy harem building? Just do it if you're going to do it. We all know it's coming. Trying to convince us the MC isn't going to do it because of oddly placed morals that are seemingly contrary to everything the MC has exemplified thus far makes it look like the author trying to assuage his own guilt.

In this second entry of Alpha World Schinhofen puts relationship building front and center at the expense of adventure.

The writing continues to be easy to read, the characters are mostly likable, and the combat (what there was of it) is still exciting. So why the three stars? The answer is simple, Stacia.

Building the relationship between Al and Stacia is front and center in this book. This would be fine if Stacia had a personality outside of "Yes Master!". A one dimensional character is fine for a summon, Bob and Tiny are hilarious. If Stacia were only a summon, the "yes master" sex slave is interesting, a subversion of the trope comedic, but as a romantic partner it doesn't work.

There can't be romantic drama in a relationship one of the partners sole motivation is her master's desires. The only relationship conflict they've had is when Al didn't pay her for sex quickly enough. I don't particularly mind that that's the relationship the characters are in, but it's boring to read about.

Book 1 hooked my interest with it's well written fight scenes, an interesting world, and of course, cool loot! Book 2 avoided those things in order to focus on Al and Stacia's relationship. Hopefully Book 3 gets back on track.

I had hopes that the "game mechanics" would evolve during this book. But every fight is mechanically simplistic and further simplified by the fact that the main character is broken.

The concurrent "adult themed romance" is so lazy and trite I just sped through it, which was about half the book. (I think the author's warning should have been about his lack of skill in exploring this adult theme rather than the theme itself). Yes every teen to middle aged guy's fantasy is to play MMOs with sexy bicurious female gamers that love sexual innuendos, threesomes, as well as having subservient sex craving NPC/waifus that support and facilitate this.

Also the man character's internal turmoil is not well explored at all. There is no edge to this guy at all in game -he's a boy scout, and that's just not believable given his supposed emotional baggage. Perhaps his name should be Mary Sue.

But what was most disturbing this time was 4500-4501 when the author depicts a "dusky" character using the author's laughably pathetic rendition of black slang to hit on some of the ladies. Kudos! Way to enforce negative stereotypes and support the #fantasysowhite movement!

Sadly this won't matter to most of the readers...

Having enjoyed the first book in the series quite a bit, the second installment was a major disappointment. This book was so incredibly boring. We don't need to see the mc go by each and every store to sell his junk. We don't need to know what he does every single second of the day. We don't need to listen to him gush about his love life to every single person he meets. Jesus H, the friggin Twilight series had a more succinct wedding!

And where is the plot? Where is the conflict? What is the mc's goal? Why are the quests and mobs so unbelievably generic in a game with npcs that pass as human? Kill thirty knolls. Kill thirty orcs. Come on, man!

If you get this one, do yourself a favor and just skip chapters 3 through 15. I wish I had.

This was quite a tedious read. There was little if any movement in the story line with the exception being how much you learn to dislike the main character. The conversations are childish... Referring to a woman as Kitten.... Seriously? Repeating the same things over and over and over again? Ugh!

This is a fun series focused highly on the details of leveling and character stat development. The battles during the quests are extremely well written but lengthy due the minutia of the statistics being given for every blow. More attention needs to be given to the characters and an actual storyline than focusing on the points and statistics so much. Almost reads like a gaming manual at times instead of a fantasy novel.

Another great author with a different perspective.... when I first read the right up “prison guard goes to another world”.... I thought blah. I’ve read book 1 & 2 in 4 days!!!!!! I like how he stays with main character through out books - not many side stories to help book along... does not need them.

Thanks for these! And please keep them coming... ??

This was quite a tedious read. There was little if any movement in the story line with the exception being how much you learn to dislike the main character. The conversations are childish... Referring to a woman as Kitten.... Seriously? Repeating the same things over and over and over again? Ugh!

This is a fun series focused highly on the details of leveling and character stat development. The battles during the quests are extremely well written but lengthy due the minutia of the statistics being given for every blow. More attention needs to be given to the characters and an actual storyline than focusing on the points and statistics so much. Almost reads like a gaming manual at times instead of a fantasy novel.

Another great author with a different perspective.... when I first read the right up “prison guard goes to another world”.... I thought blah. I’ve read book 1 & 2 in 4 days!!!!!! I like how he stays with main character through out books - not many side stories to help book along... does not need them.

Thanks for these! And please keep them coming... ??

The series is going well. I enjoy the side characters as well as the main. I've got book 3 lined up to read presently. The combat is handled nicely where repeating strategies aren't rehashed and the first time through the encounters are given detail. Some might complain it doesn't haven enough stats, but the level progression and guild building was a nice touch.

I enjoyed the first book and was actually excited about reading the sequel. While it is still not a deep or complex story, it is fun and you get to like the characters. I am glad the author said in his notes the third novel will let us get to know the other characters better. I still wish he had included an appendix for terms that only hard core gamers would know.

Drivel. So much potential at start of first book, morphed into something I couldn't force myself to finish even half of the second. His Alb/Stacia dialogue is so forced, repetitive and predictable it hurts. His female characters are shallow and predictable, the MC is simply bland. There are a ton of better books in this genre out there.

(Borrowed through Kindle Unlimited) This is a very fun LitRPG adventure, continuing to follow the life of Alburet as he plays the Alpha World Full-Immersion Virtual Reality MMORPG. Not as much action as the first book, but the characters are more fully developed in this story. I'm enjoying this series very much and look forward to the next book.

KIndle Unlimited - Yay!

Pretty much everything I'd want in a book. When you're coming to the end of a book and are dreading hitting the last page, you know the author has some serious skills and talent, AND the story is really, really good.

Love the balance of RL and the VR world building, slice of life, adventuring, etcetera. Characters are wonderfully done. The reveals hints and teasers couldn't be done any better. The whole wedding scenario was a total treat.

I especially like what I didn't find. There's conflict, but not the perpetual angst and unrelenting bullying and abuse found in so many LitRPG stories that makes you wonder why anyone would want to spend time gaming. And, it's so refreshing to find an author who can write "adult" sex banter and scenes without writing overly detailed how-to manuals that best serve to pad page counts. Also, this author has figured out that you don't need to clobber the reader with a ridiculous cliffhanger. We'll be back for more because the storyline is just that good and we like spending time with these characters.

Great continuation, you get a real sense of the scope of the world as the main character develops and grows. The romance between the characters is a bit heavy handed, but it fits into the premise fairly well. Overall the development of the story fun to follow. There is only an inkling of the main plot so far.

Not much to dislike in this series. It contains a likable hero, engaging supporting characters, humor, some adult content (without going overboard as Schinhofen did in the first Apocalypse Gates book).

A very good read. I'm off to start book 3 now...

When I started reading book one I enjoyed it, but was going to wait and see if the second book was good. It is this take on VI is very well thought out and realizes the bad side of MMOS . the lack of day to interaction with the world around you.

Much like an actual mmo, the tasks and upkeep that the author goes through for grinding mobs gets a bit repetitive but not enough to detract to greatly. The characters are simple and likeable enough to want to see how things turn out, as well as the character progression of Alburet and friends.

Fun to read. The complete shift in attitude to monogamy seemed like character dissonance from first book. The low level grind is tedious to read, but I understand it since thats what you do in low level gaming

Another excellent entry in the genre from am author I have come to respect for being able to balance storytelling and game elements. In a genre where the MC is all to often overpowered or broken in some way it is refreshing to see one who is well balanced in relation to the world. Still a story for mature readers, although it has been tamed down from the last book. Looking forward to book 3!

I loved reading this series as it brought nostalgia of my time in WoW playing a Warlock. That being said, I wish it wasn't such a rip from a lot of WoW content. Ironic huh? Overall i would say that the series is entertaining enough to get past this in my eyes. I liked the Author's Last Horizon series much more but this is definitely worth spending a number of hours on.
Thanks Daniel!

After you get over reading “kitten” and the sex talk, the second book is pretty good. Enjoy the banter between the characters, and really like the quests. Obviously have to read the third one now!

I really enjoyed this sequel. The characters have been further developed and are well thought out. The litRPG elements are lighter than some other books in the genre, but I enjoyed the greater personal development of characters over intricate detail into player stats, etc. I am very much looking forward to the next book.

A good 2nd book in the series. MC and supporting cast continue to develop and the action is well written. I would like to see a little more variety in quests/mobs/loot to change things up a bit from the routine hunting. Several intriguing hints for future story arcs. Can't wait to read the next book.

Loved the first book loved this one kinda annoyed by the way some people talk but that's minor

Some things I took notice of
First I believe Sheamus actually might be innocent of the crime he committed something In the way Victoria ai acted during there scene didn't really sit well with me there's something there not sure what it is though also I think fluf maybe the his friends daughter to begin with and he doesn't realize it who knows I could totally be wrong