Path of the Deathless [Book 1 on KU & Audible]

I used to like this at the very beginning because it was Battles, Battles, And more violent battles, but now this Became a piece of trash where everyone  just talks talks and talks for the whole chapters more philosophy more emotional stuff more drama, None of this matter's, all that matters is power power and more power, how do you get that? more BATTLES!!!. NEVER ENDING INFINITE ENDLESS BATTLES , yet this novel Became YAPP YAPP YAP YAP ALL CHAPTERS LONG !!! YAPIDY YAPYAPYAPYAPP WTF IS THIS TRASH!!. I know that some of you will say all this talking is important to the story progression for the plot to move on, for the characters development, for the lore, NO!! THIS IS WORTHLESS!!!, at the first chapter were introduced to battling vampires second chapter when he died battles ,when he fell in underworld battles, WE LOVED THIS NOVEL. Because from the start it's BATTLES BATTLES AND NEVER ENDING BATTLES!!! This is what the story introduced to us!!!  NEVER ENDING BATTLES!!! , But the later chapter added all of this worthless talking drama tension Philosophy  ALL THIS YAPIDY YAP YAP YAP!!! ,  I loved this story because of NEVER ENDING BATTLES START FROM CHAPTER 1,  i didn't love this novel because of NEVER ENDING YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP  YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP  YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP  YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP. YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP. YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP   YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP. YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP YAP  YAPPIDY YAPYAP

Phenomenal so far and not slowing down as book 2 gets started

Shiv and Adam are both relatable protagonists with their love hate relationship being incredibly entertaining and endearing. Georges being an incredible mentor/father figure to shiv with valor later moving into the mentor role.

shivs mindset after getting his path being about self improvement rather than seeking validation/ proving himself is inspiring and shows the maturity he has gained under Georges along with his redoubled confidence despite the bleak environment that the first part of book 1 takes place in, along with Uva (best girl) acting as voice of reason for shiv's crazier and more grewsome schemes. Adam is a near perfect deuteragonist considering his conflict between respecting shiv's efforts and being slightly jealous of his abilities as a deathless. Valor is everything i enjoy about the 'once powerful person now trapped in an artifact' trope, being equal parts wise and cynical.

The world had been well fleshed out as well as the more significant of the side cast and more recently potentially reoccurring antagonists.

The chapter that gave me the aforementioned 'absolute cinema' moment was the first part of 44(III) no spoilers, go read it for yourself

Its peek.

It’s not a bad story, but it’s not very good either. The worldbuilding is quite interesting, with its factions and states on an integrated Earth. Unfortunately, the characters are written in a much weaker way. They feel one-dimensional: good characters are always good and praise the MC, while bad characters are simply bad and hate the MC.

The pacing is another issue. The story moves far too quickly. In just two weeks, the MC goes from being a pathless nobody disliked by almost everyone to a champion of the oppressed who is fighting against gods and champions of entire factions. Because of this speed, the power system also feels meaningless. The story has tiers of power (Initiate, Adept, Master, Hero, Legendary), but the progression is so rushed that these ranks don’t matter. The MC might technically be at the “Master” tier, but he can already fight against Heroes and even hold his own, to some extent, against Legendary characters.

Another problem is the plot armor. Almost every difficult situation is solved by sudden skill evolutions or breakthroughs at the moment of crisis. This, again, ties into the fast pacing.

The romance is weak. The MC meets a girl, and within a single day she is deeply in love with him. To me, this feels far too rushed and unconvincing.

Overall, I’d say this story is decent. The grammar and style of writing are good. It reads very smoothly, and not every writer can achieve that. The world is genuinely interesting, and the characters, while likable, are underdeveloped. The system is strange, with power tiers that don’t really matter for the MC. But the real weakness the thing that kills the story is the pacing. If that doesn’t bother you, you might still find this story enjoyable.

The descriptions of things are detailed, visceral but not overdone to become silly. You read as shiv's personality changes because of his powers. A uniquely deranged personality that meshes well with the world building in place.

It's long winded at times but it's never boring, that's the worse thing a novel could be.

Mammal is onto their third RR story, and it shows. The writing quality is incredible, and the action is top-tier. The world is filled with all sorts of people, monsters, and ideas that are more complex than your standard fantasy tropes. Each fight is creative and unique, with Shiv facing terrifying enemies that require unique approaches to defeat. The power-ups are fascinating, granting Shiv abilities that he utilizes in unexpected ways. 

Shiv is far from a perfect human, but between each death, he develops some more wisdom. He meets characters who challenge and support him in various ways, and through these interactions, he becomes just a bit more of a person than he was previously. He struggles and strives, becoming just a bit stronger with each death. His enemies, however, don't just dumbly watch him level up. When Shiv gets stronger, they fight harder. They react, they adapt, they get stronger in their own ways in an attempt to kill him for good.

You should read this book! There is no filler, and each chapter makes my heartbeat race like I'm about to die from a heart attack. It's all good, though, dying from peak makes the heart grow stronger.

I'm a big fan of most everything about this book except for the pacing, which I wouldn't even call bad, just not to my taste. Without getting into spoilers, there's little to no breaks between combat, and it feels that the breaks you get between conflict are just that, breaks, and the status quo is conflict. Said scenes are fantastically written and engaging, but it leaves me wanting in terms of character exploration. I imagine this is a known choice by the author given the themes explored, but every decision regarding story direction has tradeoffs.

Regardless, this makes it a rather exhausting read for me and limits the excellent characters and dialogue from having more time to express themselves. However, what we do get is excellent, and I look forward to more chapters. 

Relly nice, nicely long and beefy chapters with an exceptionally high publish rate.

The trope is a variation of something well known but the mc is quite different and the secondary characters are important for the story. 

The MC is a little bit of a psychopath but it evolves and it is part of the issues he has and not only considered normal by everybody.

Nice idea with the penitents and nice use of hospital gowns 😎

I really enjoy it most of the time even if the littpg part is a little bit hard to follow sometimes and the natural thresholds are skewed for the main character due to his way of growing stronger. 

Speaking of the way the mc acquires skills, the first explication (gaining skills or levels the lack of caused his death) is lacking and don't fit all his death but it appears that we'll get a more thorough understanding of the rules with the advancement of the story.

I need forty more words for the advance review... I'll just tell you to try it before it stubs and you'll like it or not, no pressure ^^. Just put your own rating and or review after 😁.

Hu, it says 202 words but still blocks me from posting, saying it needs at least 200...

tl;dr: If you are in the mood for a seeming endless stream of slug-fest fight scenes, obscenely fast MC power growth, and a soupçon of world building and character development, then this story is for you. But I got bored and dropped it.

"B-but, your review is all the way at chapter 174?," I can hear you think to yourself. And that's fair. All I can say to that is I was stuck at home, really wanted something new to read, and easily half of those chapters were me skimming/skipping after confirming they were nothing more than fighting.

Grammar: No issues here. Honestly, it's been a bit since I've had serious issues with grammar on RR. My guess is easy access to AI grammar tools, which is great.

Story: I debated giving this 1 star, but the first book kept me from doing that. It, at least, wasn't an endless stream of fighting. Also, there is an interesting storyline unfolding of how the MC came to be and what the overarching conflict is ultimately about, but it gets so buried beneath all the fighting that I stopped caring. It was these plot points that had me skimming through chapters for the latter half of my read because I was interested in that aspect of the story.

The pacing is also insane IMO. The MC basically goes from unclassed (pathed) schlub to Legendary murder hobo fighting literal gods in the span of a few months. Yes, you read that right, a few months.

Style: I'd call this a lite LitRPG. Yes, numbers go up. Brrr. But there's little rhyme or reason to it. Basically, kill stuff until you get offered a skill evolution that is exactly what you need in the middle of the fight you are currently engaged in. If I'm being honest, if I have to pick between a story that spends entire chapters on mechanics and options versus the pared down version this one uses, I prefer this.

Characters: The MC, Shiv, started out kinda interesting, but the more powerful he got, the more boring he got. It doesn't help that one of his super powers is The Power of Meh. Okay, that's not what it's literally called, but it might as well be. Basically, the MC just shrugs off any physical or mental trauma he's ever exposed to, which essentially means he never grows as a person. Shiv's primary frenemy spends most of the story blaming Shiv for the sins his parents. Shiv's love interest is... fine. I guess.

The portrayal of orcs is cool. Sickening, but cool.

Overall: And so, yeah, bottom line is despite some interesting bits, nonsensical progression speed and seemingly endless fight scenes mean I can't really recommend this story.

Good lord this is such a good book. I am in awe of the writing and quality, but most of all HOW DO YOU WRITE SO FAST??? 1500 pages in one and a half months. That is so insanely fast with such good quality I have no idea what you are or how you function Ostensiblematerial and Dath but you are truly divine. I have never had a series release fast enough for me to always have sometime to read but you have it. I don’t know if you will always keep up this pace but for how long you have done it it is incredible. I am in awe of your work. This book is truly amazing to anyone reading READ THIS BOOK!!! It is one of the best series I have ever read.

I'd rate volume 1 a 4.5/5 if not an outright 5/5. It was refreshing, balanced, especially in terms of action/lighthearted scenes. The MC was funny, heroic and somewhat cunning. His companions and enemies felt great, and their interactions were very entertaining. The world building is certainly well done too.

Unfortunately, I find it hard to continue reading this series since the start of volume 2. It's a complete regression. The MC is being stupid, not learning from previous failures, endangering everything for no reason. He's gotten cocky, feeling invincible despite knowing how easily he can be put down. But sadly, his enemies are now underwhelming. My suspension of disbelief is gone. I find myself skipping chapters, hoping for this arc to stop, to get back to volume 1's style. 

I like this story, but volume 2 has been a disappointment.