Review: Dreadlord Wizard by Theo Hodges — SFF Insiders

Blurb:

His first quest is to survive the day. Then, do the same tomorrow...

When Kenny is chosen for InterRealm, a real-life wargame where defenders are portaled in from their homeworld, he is forced to survive in a violent fantasy landscape.

Build a powerful presence in InterRealm and his homeworld will likely remain safe.

Fail, and the invaders will break through.

If there’s any consolation prize between Kenny getting to be a famous wizard, or building a Dread-fortress from the bones of his enemies, it may not be enough to make up for the fact that real live orcs are trying to kill him. To top it all off, the game master in his head couldn’t be any less impressed with his assignment.

Review:

The cover of this novel intrigued me and so I picked it up, looking for a fun LitRPG to pass the time. This delivered that with a heavy dose of gaming mechanics in a classical fantasy world. There are definite moments where it is lighthearted and some witty jokes that made me chuckle. It starts with a main character that is a little hard to like at the beginning. It does take a bit to get into the story, but once it really takes off, it has a lot of exciting action points. The flair and style with which each happens makes them heart pounding. The game mechanics take a definite learning curve and really impact how the action scenes take place. The fact that some of the characters take some damage over and over again really emphasized the fact of the game mechanics. 

The strength of the novel is definitely the game part of the novel. It reads as if the reader were playing the game, numbers and stats being a huge part of the reading. It is well thought out and could definitely tell that it could be used in many game settings. The cast of characters is varied in the different types that each one is. I struggled to understand how the characters ended up into the game and what the overall stakes ended up being. It read more as a traditional fantasy with game mechanics thrown into it. When the stats are being upgraded, it can throw the reader out of the story as it focuses a lot on what each of the stats were and how it could benefit the character. 

For the fan of LitRPG, this series will be a lot of fun with some interesting characters. The idea of a dark wizard becoming the hero needed adds for some good laughs and other interesting tidbits through the story. It was unclear what the real threat was to our world when the main character is sucked into the fantasy world through his computer. The fantasy elements are definitely a highlight and the action sequences really are spectacular to read. They will keep a reader on the edge of their seat as they fight battle after battle. This book promised a lot of good things to come in the series and it will be interesting to see what the author is able to do with the world going forward.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!