The Bookwyrm's Review of Dead Tired by Ravensdagger
Rating:10/10 Stars
In the distant past, a time of magic and swordplay, there lived Harold, the mightiest lich of all, a master of arcane sciences, and a challenger of gods. After reaching the pinnacle of his power and finding it surprisingly bland, Harold waged a cataclysmic war against the gods, aiming to shatter the very system that confined him.
Then, he took a nap.
An incredibly long nap that ends with a jolt, thanks to an unwitting adventurer who trips into Harold's crypt. Blinking into the torchlight, Harold finds a world he barely recognizes. No more swords and sorcery, but a universe buzzing with cultivation, celestial sects, and far too many pretentious dialogues about the path to godhood.
Harold is no naïve cultivator, he's an ancient lich with a single ambition: to slide back into his uninterrupted eternal slumber. But the cacophony of quarreling sects and smug martial artists seems determined to keep him awake.
Undeterred, the sleep-deprived overlord is ready to confront this brave new world. After all, no aspiring deity, no grandiose sect, and certainly no self-righteous martial artist is going to rob him of his beauty sleep.
I usually roll my eyes when I see weird pen names for authors. I gave it some thought, though, and it's LitRPG, so I just started thinking of these names as Gamertags, and had some fun with it. In the case of Dead Tired, the author Ravensdagger has some fun with the tropes of both LitRPG and cultivation progression, to some hilarious results.
The world building takes some interesting turns. Its a world that at one time was a sword and sorcery type LitRPG system with character sheets, stats, classes, levels and outright magic. It was a world of warriors and wizards, of bards and rogues, where science, magic and alchemy existed side by side, and grinding levels killing mobs was how you gained power. 2100 years have passed since Harold went to sleep, and when he's awoken, he finds the world has changed significantly. Instead of the stats based system he left behind, he finds the world is now controlled by cultivators, martial artists who increase their physical abilities through meditation and channeling chi under Taoist beliefs. There's no stat sheets, no classes (that they can see) and they don't use spells. Science has disappeared, to Harold's great distress, and society has definitely regressed. The gods that are currently ruling are all young, since the older, more powerful gods were mostly killed off in the older era. This leads to some hilarious interactions, since way too many of the new gods are unfamiliar with Harold and just how little time he has for them and their machinations, and with no understanding he can do something about it. It's a great clash of cultures, with Harold being the bridge between the old and the new.
The characters in this are so much fun. This starts with the main character Harold, a wizard who, when his level maxed out, decided, well, time to make changes to get past this limit. Apparently, becoming a lich allowed for just that. Being a genius scientist, he took magic in whole new directions, since he has infinite curiosity to go along with immortality. He also doesn't have the best social skills, seeing those around him in terms of utility, since he is so insanely powerful, and such a science nerd that he sees everything scientifically. Some of his experiments are absolutely hilarious, but are completely in character. He comes across as one of the guys from Revenge of the Nerds, if you replaced obsession with sex with obsession with magic. His predilection for puns and dad jokes is so funny, especially in the audio version. He is just so well done, especially since he is so OP, but that's never rubbed in the reader's face. It just works.
The secondary characters are equally hilarious. Alex and Limpet are the two primary ones, and they are interesting in their own right. Alex is Harold's butler, although maid might be more accurate. An amalgamation of a dead human adventurer and a magic panther, Alex has some confusion to him, mostly due to being a mix of not only species, but genders, since the adventurer was a male and the panther was a female. This leads to some hilarious situations, since Harold is sure that it was only a teensie oops, and not an issue whatsoever. It's not usually, although there might have also been a tiny issue in the spell Harold used, because Alex considers Harold his/her? father, and calls him bone daddy in some hilarious scenes. He is also undead, so is ridiculously strong and fast, and immune to most damage. He is also a great servant, willing to protect Harold at all times, and will not tolerate rudeness, as the 17 cultivators who sexually harassed Alex found out painfully, and even terminally.
Limpet is a failed cultivator, a young woman that has been refused by every sect, but takes the chance to try and gain power and strength by joining Harold as his "test subject". She is naive, but doggedly determined to get strong enough to take revenge on the cultivators that killed her family. This puts her in the position to be Harold's test bed to see if modern people can still work the system he was familiar with. She is willing to put in the work, and starts learning to cast spells as she starts her own journey on the path to power and learning. She even manages to pleasantly surprise Harold with her successes at times, and their relationship is slowly growing into more a master/apprentice thing, even if Harold doesn't necessarily see it that way. She has a nice growth arc and you learn more about her as the story proceeds.
There are some other fun side characters as well. There are a couple of cultivator adventurers partnered up with some dwarves, exploring the ruins of a fallen city Harold still remembers in its prime. They add some fun bits of levity, as well as giving more of a look at the broader world Harold now finds himself in. They get their own little arcs, even for a relatively short time in the story.
There is no real villain yet, but you get the feeling the emperor may be an issue down the road. The cultivators are an arrogant bunch, following the lead of the emperor, and with his ban on the undead, he is definitely a threat to Harold and his group. The new gods and their new source of power are a sore spot with Harold, one he intends to do something about, and the cultivators sects may be a thorn in Harold and company's sides as well.
Now comes the part I have been most looking forward to, talking about the narration for the audio-book. The narration is performed by Justin Thomas James, Dorrie Sacks, Tiana Camacho and Jeff Hays, with the majority of the characters and story narration performed by Justin Thomas James. As a whole they do a fantastic job, with Dorrie Sacks doing a fantastic job bringing Limpet and her other characters to life. She really gives Limpet a sense of wonder and innocence, but she has an edge when talking about her revenge. Jeff Hays and Tiana Camacho both do a stand up job bringing their various characters to life, putting real emotional weight into them all. As far as Justin Thomas James, who I have listened to many times narrating, I think this is his defining role, Similar to how Princess Donut and Boxy Morningwood are for Jeff Hays. He does an absolutely amazing job bringing Harold into bright living, or maybe unliving, color. He is so funny, with so much snark and humor injected into the character, but also those moment of wonder as Harold admits he doesn't know everything and is always wanting to learn more. Existing for millennia this gives Harold an interesting world view, and Justin brings it to life. His method for telling Harold's Jokes and puns, and his reactions to them, are priceless. it is as close to a perfect performance as I could imagine for this story, and I recommend it as highly as I can.
I think this book will have huge appeal for a lot of people. I mean, LitRPG and cultivation fans will surely enjoy it, but I think it has a lot to recommend it to fans of regular fantasy as well, and even some sci-fi fans might find it appealing. The humor is just great, and considering we are dealing with an undead uber-powerful lich, it keeps the story from becoming dark and oppressing. The characters really make this book something extra special, and the audio-book version is my preferred edition. I give this book my highest recommendation, and it is definitely in my top 5 reads of the year. Check it out today.
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