Book 3 - Going Rogue - Stealth Series

As always a fantastic take into the minds of both players and NPCS. An exquisite romp through a well fleshed fantasy realm with a hint of danger and excitement in the real world. I cannot express the longing I have to both read the next book and to get my hands on something from broken bridge publishing.

Drew continues to weave familiar elements of tabletop role playing games into creative and colorful story, while still being approachable to the non-gamer.

A very enjoyable romp, with a small twist at the end.

This book! A wonderful adventure that pulls together components from the first two is a delightful, twisted story. The characters are like coming back to old friends and finding the new problems that they are stuck with. I love this series and can't wait till it's finished and I can just read a marathon for a few days.

I would say that the multiple story lines makes the story better. For example something might happen that will explain what is going on with the other group. All the books show this and was a complete delight to read. Looking forward to the next book.

This series continues to impress as it gets better and better. Good premise in book 1 with a strong continuation of the theme in book 2 but book 3 knocked it out of the park. Highly recommended and can't wait for the next.

I always enjoy his books. The character development is excellent, the dialogue flows naturally, and there is action and loot around every corner. And who doesn't like action and loot? Nobody, that's who.

The Spells, Swords, and Stealth series is probably my favourite book series of all time. As both a tabletop nerd, and a lover of fine fantasy novels, the books are right up my alley. The setting is rich, the characters vibrant and lovable (even if it's just antagonists that Hayes gets you to love hating), and frankly, really well done all around.

That said, I do have to knock off points because, as with all of his writing that I've read thus far (the Fred series, SSS, I believe at least three books of SuperPowereds, as well as Pears and Perils), there are always fairly noticeable mistakes in the writing which should have been caught by a proofreader. Frankly, I'd give 4.5 stars if I could, but as I can only pick between 4 and 5, I must go with 4. SSS and Fred suffer less from this than something like SuperPowereds, but I'd estimate that there's between 5 and 10 extremely obvious mistakes (missing words mostly, though there's also generally some glaring typos) in this novel, with a few more subtle ones sprinkled here and there. It's only enough to momentarily pull me out of the book as I try to figure out what was meant, but it certainly does distract from what would otherwise be a 5* experience.

Overall, it's still a series that I recommend to all my closest friends, which isn't something I say lightly, but if small, infrequent mistakes that should have been fixed in editing are a huge deal-breaker for you, Hayes may not be the author you're looking for.

I just got the notification of the book being available, and I just KNOW that I'm going to stay up way too late tonight devouring it. I've loved every single book in this series, and every single book by this author. I'm sure this book will be no different, but if it is you have my word I will come back and edit my review. ?

It's well established that the sequels of successful books tend to be worse. I don't know why it's the case, but in the vast majority of series I've read, latter books strive to recapture the magic of their predecessor. In Going Rogue, Hayes completely eclipses his first two books, and sets the stage for a dramatic continuation of the series.

If Split the Party was the story of Grumph and Gabrielle, then Going Rogue focuses on Timuscor and Eric's development. For the former, this is a story of growth: he was a shallow character at best in the previous book, but Hayes successfully develops him into a well-rounded character that is hardly comparable to his previous appearances.On the other hand, Eric's development is a long-time coming, and by the end of this book, it feels like our party has reached the pinnacle of their capabilities, but I'm sure Hayes is far from done, based on the many subplots he's laid the ground for.

If there was one complaint I had to make about the series, it would be with his heavy-handed use of foreshadowing. There are multiple parts of the book that are presented as "twists", but were so heavily hinted at, that it was no surprise. This was an issue in some of his previous works as well, but it was dramatically magnified by the scope of this story. That said, this is far from deal-breaking, and the story is a fantastic read regardless!

Book 3 has finally arrived! I actually only discovered the first two earlier this year (a must read if you haven't already done so), so I didn't need to wait too long to dive back in.

I'm not a traditional role player, more of a digital one, but I still find these books to be really addictive. If you've read the others you'll know the general format, this book sees the party well and truly embrace their status as adventurers and sees them 'level up' their equipment via a series of quests.

Some new characters get added in to the mix and of course the real world plot runs alongside as usual, but the two worlds are closer than ever before.

I've really enjoyed all 3 books, the story is progressing well and everything in book 3 continues to feel fresh, I was worried by a third book the idea might have worn a bit thin, but never fear, it's a brilliant read.

Brilliant series, if you enjoyed the other books grab this one right away!

Read this series from the beginning. It is currently my favorite ongoing series. It starts with NPCs where peace-loving locals are forced by circumstances to take over the quest of some pretty inept adventurers.

The flashiest highlight of this book was the expansion of the dual-world plot, its fresh, interesting, and keeps the story moving. The main praise is still to the characters though, their personalities and stories expanded in all the best ways, and if i didnt think it would end up costing both my watch and wallet, id hug the main group.